Haunt 223 is an impressively detailed, ten to fifteen minute long, walkthrough home haunt located in Monrovia, California (in the San Gabriel Valley) and in their 9th year. In their first year using flats and panels, this haunt combines ten actors, gorgeous sets, impressive sound design unique to each room, and engineering know-how to create some of the best scares we’ve had this season. They even engineered a solution to turn off the streetlights over their haunt to ensure that their haunt is lit only as they deem fit. It’s an incredible undertaking and the result is a home haunt that has better quality than most professional haunts we went to this year.

Haunt 223 started out three generations ago with Nate Collins’ grandfather in Georgia who would wear a gorilla glove with candy placed upon it, and then make scared children grab the treat from the palm of a hairy ape. This tradition was passed down to Nate’s father, Tim, who added a tunnel of scares to the effect, creating a haunted house. But as Nate’s passion grew, Nate took lead to bring Haunt 223 to life. At age 13 he was creating with easy-ups and tarps, but now in his twenties and working as a welder for set constructions and a prop maker, Collins now has the capacity to build steel frames for the haunt—including a full gate (that he can do pull-ups on) to welcome guests into the haunt. There’s no foam or PVC here; it’s as authentic as it can get.

Further, Collins designed this haunt to perfection. He drafts the haunt’s footprint on paper and then models it on SketchUp. Utilizing the exact dimensions of his yard (right up to the edge of the sidewalk), he designs each room to maximize the space available. As we spoke with him, he pulled out a tape measure, showing us that his model and the actual haunt align with tolerances even an engineer would be proud of.

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