Is Vegas poised to become the horror capital of the U.S.?

When it comes to Vegas, casinos and showgirls are usually the first things that come to mind, not horror. Because as far as U.S. cities go, Salem, Massachusetts, or New Orleans, Louisiana, may seem like more obvious choices for a horror capital than Las Vegas, Nevada. Both of those other two cities boast numerous haunted places, not to mention ghost tours and witch and vampire connections.

Las Vegas also offers a couple of ghost tours and investigations. (One of which, Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum, is included on this list.) But when it comes to horror activities, Las Vegas is in contention to claim the horror capital title. If such a thing existed, which it doesn’t. But maybe it should?

Where to Find Horror in Vegas

I started viewing Vegas in a new horror light at the beginning of this year when Universal Parks & Resorts announced they were going to add a year-round horror experience to AREA15.

Okay, first off. I hadn’t been to Vegas since the end of 2019. At that time, Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum was the biggest horror attraction in town. Maybe it was even the only one? (Well, at least in Vegas proper. But not too far outside of town is another horror lovers’ destination, which we’ll get to.)

Anyway, as times do, they’ve changed and now there are several more spooky spots around town, including AREA15, which opened in 2020. Let’s start there and work our way through the list of all the horror hot spots to explore in Vegas.

Area15

On its site, Area15 explains itself as an “experiential entertainment district offering live events, immersive activations, monumental art installations, extraordinary design elements, unique retail, bars and eateries, and much more.”

It’s not just horror, per se. It has everything from ax throwing to zombie hunting to shows. There are numerous ways to enjoy yourself in this huge event space, and not all of them are spooky. However, it will only get bigger with the 20-acre addition of the Universal Parks & Resorts horror attraction.

It’s also where you’ll find the Lost Spirits Distillery, which describes itself as “an immersive Las Vegas show & distillery tour that resembles a surreal amusement park.” But they also include some other descriptions of it, like from Playboy Magazine, which called it the “Willy Wonka of Booze,” and WIRED, which proclaimed it’s like the “Disneyland for Liquor.”

It’s not far from the Strip at all, making it a quick cab or rideshare drive away for horror lovers.

To learn more, visit https://area15.com.

Halloween Emporium & Haunted Tea Room

One of the places that I wrote about for the “Bloody Tea” edition of Horror Curated was this Halloween and horror movie lovers’ haven. But as I noted in the article, the Halloween Emporium & Haunted Tea Room is not a sit-down cafe. You can buy loose-leaf and bagged teas here, as well as haunted dolls and crystals, candles and sage sticks for your metaphysical work. If you’re looking to do a little spooky shopping on your Vegas vacation, the Halloween Emporium & Haunted Tea Room is a place you’d want to head!

To learn more, visit https://halloween-emporium.com.

The Neon Boneyard at the Neon Museum

As they explain on their website, “The Neon Museum is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting iconic Las Vegas signs for educational, historic, arts and cultural enrichment.”

There are actually two “Boneyards” at the museum, the Neon Boneyard Main Collection and the Neon Boneyard North Gallery. The Main Collection has over 250 signs and at night, they’re all lit up. It’s where you’ll find the “Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse” sign recreated to look like the one from the movie Beetlejuice. It was part of a very popular Tim Burton “Lost Vegas” exhibit at the museum that’s no longer on display. But four pieces from it still are, and I believe that sign is one of them. (But I’m not positive. If you’ve been to the museum lately, let me know if you spotted it.)

To learn more, visit https://www.neonmuseum.org/the-collection/neon-boneyard.

Nightmare Cafe

In 2021, Nightmare Toys (who we’ll get to next) announced they’d bought the space next to their store, which they planned to turn into additional retail space and a restaurant. Guess what? They did it!

The horror bar’s menu doesn’t disappoint. All items have great names. Like on the Appetizers, you can choose from things like Killer Corn From Outer Space (beer battered corn cobs), Avotopsy (an avocado dip of some sort I think), and 3 From Hell (three fried Deviled Eggs).

Salads include Portrait of a Salad Killer or the Monster Salad, both of which you can add protein to. Feasts include offerings like Poultrygeist (fried chicken), The Blaire Waffle Project (waffles and fried chicken), Kujo (bacon-wrapped hot dog), and the Sea Beast (fried catfish).

They also serve burgers and under Goodies you’ll find a selection of We All Scream ice cream flavors and a Don’t Panic chocolate cake that sounds to die for. And in addition to also offering a killer specialty drink menu, another cool thing they do is host regular horror trivia nights.

To learn more, visit https://nightmarecafelv.com.

Nightmare Toys

Nightmare Toys bills itself as a “one stop horror shop” where you can find horror memorabilia of all kinds, including collectibles.  Clothing, props, accessories, costumes, decor…is there anything they don’t have? Not that I can see.

Horror movie lovers might definitely want to carve out some time on their Vegas vacation to shop here and then grab a bite at the Nightmare Cafe next door (or vice versa). Even better, Nightmare Toys offers online shopping too, so if you have no plans to head to Vegas anytime soon, but want to pick up a pair of Redrum shoes, a Chucky doll, or even a Terrifier 2 Barf Bag (because, really, who can ever have enough of those?), all that and more is just a click away.

To learn more, visit https://www.nightmaretoys.com.

Pennywise Escape Room

One of the most recent additions to the horror scene in Vegas is the Escape IT: Pennywise Room of Horror. The Chapter 1 room just opened this month. Chapter 2 is coming soon.

But “room” is sort of a misnomer. Escape IT spans a whopping 30,000 square feet, which encompasses “more than 20 interactive rooms,” according to its website. Visitors navigate their way through recognizable locations from the films, including the Neibolt House, the Losers’ Clubhouse, the Derry Canal Days Festival, and the sewers below Derry.

“State-of-the-art special FX, lighting, animatronics, and live actors” ensure it’s a “fully immersive and terrifying experience.” And, yes, the goal is to evade Pennywise’s “we all float down here” clutches. Best of luck to all who embark on that endeavor…

To learn more, visit https://escapeit.com.

Tom Devlin’s Monster Museum

Tom Devlin was a professional special effects makeup artist. As I spoke about during the Monster Museums episode of the Macabre Museum season on the podcast, the mission of his Monster Museum is to preserve the art and history of special effects makeup. Per the museum’s website, it contains “everything from screen used props and creature suits to custom pieces representing monsters throughout movie history.”

Now, granted, this museum isn’t in Vegas proper. It’s located in nearby Boulder City, Nevada, which is just over 30 minutes away between the city and Hoover Dam. But close enough, right? Especially for horror movie lovers.

To learn more, visit http://www.tomdevlinsmonstermuseum.com.

Twilight Zone Mini Golf

The Twilight Zone was a combo of sci-fi with some spookier episodes that bordered on horror mixed in, so this entry might be a stretch. However, I’m a sucker for anything Twilight Zone and putt-putt golf. They had me at “Putt into the 5th dimension!” when I took a quick gander at their website.

The gallery includes photos of Twilight Zone scenes and characters gracing the holes of the blacklight mini golf course. But they also offer bowling and an arcade and are set up to host events like weddings and birthday parties.

To learn more, visit https://syfyminigolf.com.

Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum

Another one that some might argue is a stretch to include as a “horror” entry would be Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum. While its Ghost Adventures connection puts it in the paranormal realm, it also gives off a right proper spooky vibe. Especially if you’re afraid of dolls. There’s a doll room, where a surprise often awaits visitors, as well as a room reserved for Peggy the haunted doll, where you get a chance to ask her questions.

Or maybe you suffer from coulrophobia, a fear of clowns. Depending on how intense your fear is, you could feel trapped in a horror movie when you get to the clown hallway. It’s lined shoulder to shoulder with clowns you have to walk past. And you know not all are mannequins, but you can’t tell until they start popping out at you.

At least, the museum included a clown hallway four years ago when we went. Maybe they’ve switched things up now. (If you’ve been lately, feel free to share if the clowns are still included or not.)

Either way, there are some parts that are more museum-like where you can see artifacts from famous serial killers and dark moments in history as well as items connected to hauntings Bagans has investigated.

But it is Vegas and above all else, Bagans is a consummate showman. He knows there’s a level of terror people want and expect. He delivers. So, yes. Since there is a horror aspect, I’d be remiss not to include his museum on this list.

Check-In

Do you know of any other place(s) with a high concentration of horror tourism?