With the sun setting earlier, spooky attractions have begun to creep out of the shadows of Southeastern Idaho.
Both Blackfoot’s Slaughter’s Realm and Menan’s Haunted River bring heart-pounding scares and screams for thrill seekers in the area.
In Blackfoot, Slaughter’s Realm lets you choose just exactly how far you want to go, with three different levels of scares.
“Level one is just a regular haunted house walkthrough, no contact,” Tom Waters, a co-owner of the attraction, said. “Level two is light contact so we can interact with you, we can touch you, we can kind of move you around within the room, but we're not going to remove you from the room or your group.”
Level three takes the haunt up a notch, requiring a waiver and for participants to be over the age of sixteen.
“Level three is a full contact experience. There is a lot of physical interactions between our characters and you. You could be pushed around, you could be locked in things, you're gonna get wet, and you could have a bag placed over your head and drug off,” Waters said.
The attraction takes you through many different worlds, from a mental asylum to pirate coves, every corner brings a new terrifying surprise.
Heading north on I-15 to Menan, the Haunted River offers a different kind of haunt.
Teresa Stoker, along with her husband, James run the attraction out of their backyard. A backyard that has a few secrets buried in it.
Legend says that back in the early 1800s the area was inhabited by a native tribe that coexisted with white settlers. Tensions arose between the two groups when the Reverend Elias Beane arrived and preached against them intermingling. Eventually things came to a head when a group of settlers led by Beane confronted the natives with violence and mysteriously disappeared. Which led the natives to believe the “Soul Taker” of the river had protected them.
At night, the old legend is brought back to life as small groups venture onto Stoker’s backyard island equipped with two dim lanterns to guide them.
“Long story short, we had a little bit of a kerfuffle with the soul taker and in that exchange one of my men happened to blast me in the face. So, they put me in the ground thinking I was done for,” Private Jenkins, a character and employee of the attraction said.
Through the forest, ghouls and creatures come to greet and scare all who dare to walk on their land.
“We aim to not just scare, but also to entertain. And we want to make you scream, pee, and laugh too,” Stoker said.
To visit Slaughter’s Realm, visit their website. Ticket pricing depends on the level participants choose.
The Haunted River ticket pricing depends on the day you attend and can be found on their website.
Both attractions are open through November first, visit their websites for information on dates and special events.