Valentine’s Day SUCKS – Necropolis Underground Haunted Attraction (2024)

Visit Date: 2/10/24
Visited By: Team Lone Wolf & Team Zombillies

Leaving its outskirts behind and moving deeper into the heart of the decaying city, we faithfully follow the crimson robed… monk? Plague doctor?… who has come to collect us. The path brings us to a series of dark alleys leading to our first destination: an ominous-looking old house. Here, he turns and dangles the thurible in front of us, thoroughly coating our bodies in tendrils of pleasant-smelling white smoke. A blessing, surely… but will it be enough to protect us when the bloodthirsty undead overrun the whole place at this “Valentine’s Day Sucks” event at Necropolis Underground Haunted Attraction?

There’s no more time to think on that. Our mysterious guide turns and stalks away into the shadows, and our Valentine adventure through the Dead City known as Necropolis Underground has officially begun.

So, you might be scratching your head right now. “Haunted houses? In February?!” Yep… that’s a thing! Several of us at The Scare Factor are blessed to live near haunts that love to keep the scares rolling all year. Vampire-themed Valentine’s Day Sucks is the first of six different shows- including their haunt season production- put on annually by Indianapolis megahaunt Necropolis Underground. For these special events, ticket prices remain the same as during haunt season: $35 for General Admission, $50 for VIP Fast Pass, and $75 for super speedy Front of the Line access! Parking is free; you can grab a spot right out front or somewhere around the complex the haunt calls home.

For this adventure, I was joined by Alicia, a recently welcomed addition to the Scare Factor family and one of the newest members of Team Zombillies. Following a quick security check, we headed downstairs- literally underground– to the ticket counter. The level of decor in the lobby, complete with a gigantic fanged photo op, left no question that this was a vampiric Valentine show… but what (well, who) really grabbed our attention was the big cheery Heart that bounced right up to Alicia and stole her away for a photo right after we got our tickets! Cute!

In contrast to the Underground’s usual dingy, gritty atmosphere, the vibe we felt upon walking into the queue next door was what I can only describe as… romantic? Garlands- and hearts of all sizes- glittered in hues of red and pink. Red roses bloomed along the fences, and strings of gold lights lit the room while soft music played in the background. Of course, we still had to contend with the heavy fog that clouded our way and swirled ominously at our feet- a reminder that we were there for scares- but the haunt absolutely set the tone here for the type of show we would experience.

By the way, if you choose to attend any of Necropolis’ events, show up with plenty of time to buy your tickets and hop in line for the opening ceremony. When the haunt opens each night, they kick things off with an energetic preshow where several of the Dead City’s monsters are turned loose on the line! Actors dance, scare people, mess around with the groups and each other, and are a real pleasure to watch and interact with. Something that isn’t to be missed for sure!

All four of the Underground’s attractions are open for every event: Nightmare House, Cemetery of the Damned, Dead and Breakfast, and The Bunker. I personally thought the whole building was decked out pretty well for the show; some areas a little more than others, but the Valentine theme was carried faithfully throughout the Valentine’s Day Sucks show. (Dead and Breakfast’s front desk scene was one of my favorite overhauls. So lovely!)

True to the event name, we were menaced and stalked by our share of vampires, but a number of other creepers- including some vampire hunters– came for us, too. The costumes and makeup were excellent across the board. I was happy to see one roaming actor’s Van Helsing look make a return, the cherub/angel on roller skates (!) was nothing short of awesome, and one of our favorite additions was the thurible that Pestilence– a plague doctor/monk character- was swinging back and forth, with real Dragon’s Blood incense burning in it! Too cool!

Many monsters crawled out of their crypts in search of their Valentines… or maybe just some fresh blood. They were thoroughly spread out between the four houses, and we never had to wait long to encounter an actor. (That’s not even counting the roamers we had to deal with. They can turn up anywhere!)

One deadly little lady in Nightmare House got right up in our faces and would not back down for anything! We also got a laugh out of the actor in the graveyard, who struck a pose and asked us to “Paint him like one of our dead girls!”

When we escaped from the house of nightmares and reached the Cemetery, we were immediately greeted by Eerie Erich announcing he had a “candlelit dinner” waiting for us. Aww, how romantic… if only we weren’t the main course. The energy in this particular house was nothing short of insane; actors came at us almost nonstop! It’s hard to name anyone who stood out because they were all going crazy in there!

We somehow made it out of the Cemetery with our souls intact – just in time for our reservation at the Dead and Breakfast. The lovely lady working the front desk warned us to avoid any room but our own- lucky number 13 for the curious- because “the guests in rooms 11 and 12 can get a little… weird.” Just the ones in those rooms? No, ma’am, try all of them.

While searching for our room, we met many interesting “guests.” I was intrigued by the Phantom of the Underground lurking in the tunnels, who seemed delighted his “Angel of Music” had finally come to him… but which of us was it? Maybe both? We’ll never know.

Further mayhem ensued when we made it to The Bunker, the Dead City’s local hospital – we got harassed from start to finish! (One of us more than the other… being known here is not a good thing.) Actors ganged up on us constantly, including Che, with crazy eyes and a smile full of fangs, a red-haired vampiress (?) gnawing on a severed foot, a scary character wearing a muzzle, and many others. Trying to escape this house was especially hard – we were chased out by both Che and a winged, long-haired slider at the end! Yikes!

I can’t leave out the Underground’s roaming cast, all of whom were a blast to watch as they messed around with customers and each other for this Valentine’s Day Sucks event. (Heart was on a rampage all night long! Heart attack!) But I want to drop a little extra shout-out to Pestilence, whose company we kept for most of our visit. I honestly had a hard time reading this guy… sometimes he was benevolent toward us; other times, not so much. (I think he knew he was dealing with a witch and a wolf and was making it clear there would be no funny business. He had his hands full enough with the vamps!) He led us the whole way through Nightmare House and returned for further scares and interactions between the cemetery and the hotel. Such a great character! Also, Alicia and I reported smelling like incense the following day, and it was all over my apartment. Consider us well blessed.

No visit to Necropolis is complete without some time spent in the Dead City Festival, their indoor midway. Groups can purchase merch, unwind with snacks and drinks, tackle one (or both) of the two escape rooms, throw a few axes, and more. We hung out there for a while, talking with each other and a couple of the actors and watching the shenanigans unfold around us. It was an excellent way to close out our night.

We love Necropolis Underground, and 2024’s edition of Valentine’s Day Sucks was another one for the books! The decor and characters were awesome; they had a lot of actors working, and the customers seemed to be into it – just great all around. At the time of writing, there’s still one more night for you to experience the show for yourself: Necropolis will reopen on February 17 from 7 – 10 PM.

Are you looking for something a little different to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Grab your sweetie and venture underground for some scary fun.