LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s been a long road for the American Horrorplex haunted house in Kentuckiana. Owner Travis Boling has been working in the scare business since he was 14 years old, and this haunt means a lot to him.
“Whenever we started, we were the trash haunt. We used everything we could from the side of the road and burnt up props from other [haunts] and now we’re number one, and it feels great,’” said Boling.
That number one ranking is according to thescarefactor.com. That website ranks haunted houses through three different states. This year, American Horrorplex ranked number one in the Commonwealth.
Boling says what makes a good haunted house is the family.
That’s something that Boling learned when he first started working as a haunt actor at age 14 out at the old Psychomania in Clarksville. He said that when that haunted house burned down he told his mom they needed to do something to keep the haunt family together. That desire led to opening up 7th Street Haunt which in turned into American Horrorplex.
“It’s what brings a group of misfits together to focus on one good thing, tell that story together, and have a good time doing it. And if you’re having a good time then so are the customers,” said Boling.
A good time can mean different things for different people at a haunted house. Boling says for him it’s the things the actors say that can really get under his skin.
“It can be something that’s truly terrifying, it can be something as scary as the monster under the bed or is it a real-life fear that they’re whispering in your ears? I mean there’s some twisted things that they say,” said Boling.
The American Horrorplex is open every Friday and Saturday night though Nov. 2nd from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m.