TrunkSpace: What is it about your particular haunted attraction that you feel helps it stand out compared to other seasonal locations targeting the same audience? What makes it unique? In a well-designed haunt you need to see it, feel it, hear it, smell it, and hope it doesn’t bite! (Laughter) With the advancements in technology, we are able to control more now than ever! Plus, add the human or inhuman element to it and you have a masterpiece of scary proportions. With all the new technology out there and what everyone sees in the movies, consumers want more. Terebus: Yes and yes! Everyone wants more. Where have those changes impacted your business most? Is it in consumer tastes? Advancements in technology? TrunkSpace: The Halloween-related industry seems to grow year after year. We held the record for five seasons until 2009, as the world’s largest walk-through haunted house. In 1998 we purchased the building we’re now in, and in 2000 Erebus was born!!!!īoth Jim and I made sacrifices to make our dream a reality – Jim remortgaged his house and I sold mine to make the deal work! With hard work and dedication, in August of 2005 we took the Guinness Book of World Records away from a haunt in Japan. We then moved into bigger, longer trailers (14 feet wide and 70 feet long), we put 10 trailers together to create a 9,800 square foot haunted house. We eventually sold the original trailers to a church, for a whopping $1.00. How has it grown over the years? In 1982 we converted to four trailers, which increased the size to 2800 square feet, and in 1984, we added a fifth trailer to further increase the size to 3400 square feet. That was the Haunted Gallery, a 1200 square foot pre-fab haunt that cost $1.50 admission.

When did it begin? Our adventure began in 1981 when my brother Jim got laid off from Ford Motor Co. Prior to our purchasing the building it had been used as an indoor junkyard, so when we purchased it we inherited some interesting items including several Cadillacs from the 1930s – 1960s. Terebus: Our current location was an empty shell of a building with no running water, gas, and limited electric. TrunkSpace: Can you start by giving us a little bit of history about your location? We’re chatting with Erebus Haunted Attraction co-founder Ed Terebus about the long-running Pontiac, Michigan haunt!

Erebus haunted house