Long-time ‘haunted house’ relocates to new permanent digs

A long-time haunted house attraction on Indianapolis’ south side will reopen this fall in a new spot where the owners can keep the scares coming beyond the Halloween season.

Nightmare on Edgewood recently moved into a 30,000-square-foot space at the former May Mattress Co. warehouse, located between South Meridian Street and Madison Avenue just south of Adler Street. Previously, the attraction operated out of a 15,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor space at the Edgewood Athletic Association, a youth baseball and softball organization at 6004 S. Camden St. just east of U.S. 31.

Nightmare on Edgewood was established in 1978 as a fund-raiser for the athletic organization. Brothers Kevin Cook and Paul Cook acquired the attraction in 2009 and now operate it as a business, though they still donate to numerous not-for-profit organizations.

Kevin Cook lives in the Wanamaker community in southeastern Indianapolis and owns a swimming pool service company. Paul Cook lives in Greenwood and is a firefighter with the Greenwood Fire Department.

The new space, which the Cooks are leasing, will give Nightmare on Edgewood a longer operating season—and the opportunity to open for other seasonal events at other times of year.

At the old location, the attraction had limited time to operate because it had to work around baseball season, Kevin Cook said. “The old place, we had about six weeks to assemble a 15,000-square-foot haunted house.”

This season, Nightmare on Edgewood plans to open on Sept. 20—about two weeks earlier than in previous years. The Cooks plan to use about 20,000 square feet of their new space, with an eye toward expanding into the full 30,000 square feet over time.

The new building will also allow the owners to keep things in place year-round and to open at other times of the year. Kevin Cook said they’d like to offer a “Nightmare Before Christmas” holiday haunted house, and another event around Valentine’s Day.

The new space will also offer an all-indoor waiting area and more options for configuring the space. At the previous location, Kevin Cook said, the haunted attraction’s indoor areas were in old semi truck trailers. “A semi trailer’s only eight feet wide. There’s only so much you can do with that.”

Coincidentally, Nightmare on Edgewood’s new location is adjacent to a separate haunted attraction called House of Trepidation, which is owned by Ken Carter.

The two establishments have worked together for the past few years to offer joint discount tickets for patrons who visit both sites, Kevin Cook said.

That relationship will continue, and a new outdoor attraction now under construction will offer an additional experience for visitors to either establishment, Kevin Cook said.

In other news this week:

The Fletcher Place distillery Hotel Tango is opening a special events space called The Foxhole, with a grand opening set for next week.

The venue is in a storefront space at 670 Virginia Ave., adjacent to Hotel Tango, which is at 702 Virginia Ave.

The husband/wife team of Travis and Hilary Barnes established Hotel Tango in 2014. Travis Barnes is a military veteran. The distillery takes its name from the Barnes’ first names, using the phonetic alphabet used by the military and other groups.

Shoe Show plans to open late next month at Circle Centre mall, in the second-level space recently vacated by Payless ShoeSource.

Shoe Show, which is part of Shoe Dept. Encore, is a North Carolina-based retailer that sells brands including Fila, New Balance, Nike, Skechers and others.

This will be the retailer’s 11th Indiana store. Existing central Indiana locations include two in Indianapolis and one each in Franklin, Greenfield, Whitestown, Shelbyville and Martinsville.

A new restaurant, Aloha Poke, is set to open this week in the food court at Circle Centre. The eatery is taking the place of Thai Sweet House, which sold rolled ice cream.