RANTOUL, Ill. (WAND) — The Necrosis Haunted House was voted in the Top 10 Haunted Houses by HauntedIllinois.com, but the owners are hoping to make season five even better.
"We own the buildings so we can spend all the time we want tearing the building apart. Unfortunately for us sometimes we overdo it, but we like to make sure its a good show," Greg Lavender, co-owner of Necrosis, told WAND News.
Lavender and his partners bought this building in 2017. Each year they spend months preparing elaborate designs to scare visitors.
"We start usually in about February, we start planning. We have a TransWorld Haunted House Show we go to every year," Lavendar explained.
Each year they add new special effects and lighting, and layers of detail, to make every season unique.
"Come back tear things apart, build things back, and really kind of start kind of start the process over. So its really a long term, year round process," Lavender said.
While he is obsessed with all things haunted, it didn't start that way. One of his partners convinced him to help with a haunted house a few years back.
"I didn't want to go. He said 'no you're going to come with me'. And I'm like 'no I'm not, I'm not going to go'. But he drug me along and the rest is history," Lavender told WAND News.
They rented a space to launch their first haunted house in Gilman. But after three seasons, they were ready to buy their own property.
"I think people still love haunted houses. We see demand grow every year," Lavender explained.
Necrosis is now the only haunted house in Champaign County, so crowds this year are bigger than ever.
"As we get into the bigger weekends, you'll see up into 1,000 people in a night. The average is 500-600 people a lot of the nights," Lavender added.
His staff of 50 concession workers, security and actors are ready to ensure a fun and spooky night for each and every visitor.
Click here to get your tickets. Necrosis is open next weekend from 8pm until lights out.
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