House of Lecter and The Catacombs Review (2026)

Making our way to the House of Lecter was easy, thanks to the downtown setting and bright, well-lit streets. Nestled between fun restaurants, an arcade, and a cookie shop, it would be easy to make the House of Lecter part of an entire night out. One drawback to being in a downtown setting like this, though, is parking. We circled a bit searching for a spot, so we suggest making note of parking garages in the area and aiming for one of them if you aren’t lucky enough to score close street parking.

The website for the haunt had all the information we needed to plan our visit, with dates and times easily accessible. While on the website, you can grab tickets in advance, and even grab tickets for specific time slots to make the wait on busy nights manageable. For even faster access to the haunt, Fast Pass tickets are also available. As we mentioned above, the inner portion of the queue line has beautiful art on display from the previous owner, in addition to amazing queue actors who kept us entertained while we waited.

House of Lecter is tucked into downtown Evansville, where the hearse parked outside immediately signaled that something sinister was waiting within. Eerie green light filled the windows, while a handful of colorful creatures roamed near the entrance. We would love to see a large House of Lecter sign added to the front of the building, making the attraction easier to spot from a distance.

Guests can find the basics of Lecter’s story on the website, and several characters welcomed us into his world before we entered. However, the dialogue offered few additional details to deepen the storyline. One character warned us that the beings inside would bite, but we never fully learned who they were, what happened to them, or why they had become so rabid. Adding more hints to these opening interactions would strengthen the setup and help guests understand the madness they were about to enter.

Inside, some scenes pulled us completely into Lecter’s twisted world, while others felt unfinished. The third floor had been completely gutted earlier in the year and was only about 30% complete during our visit. Returning guests will likely appreciate the dramatic changes, but the renovation also left several stretches of plain black walls with minimal detailing. As these areas became more frequent, they occasionally pulled us out of the experience. However, the work this crew did in these areas, compared with what was there previously (we did a behind-the-scenes tour last December), was impressive!

The darkness worked far better inside The Catacombs, where the absence of detail felt more intentional and made us question what might be sharing the basement with us. Although we’d love to see even more detail there too when the lighting gets bright, even if momentarily, such as skull-lined or brick walls.

After escaping, we were sent outside and deposited directly between a chainsaw and the merchandise tent – talk about choosing your next move carefully! A young entrepreneur was also on-site selling drinks and candy, giving guests another way to refuel after their descent into madness.

There are some truly beautiful scenes in the House of Lecter. The lab scene on the third floor is one we could not stop talking about when we left. The lights from the controls surrounding us, screens reading out alarming data, a ruptured corpse on the table that had somehow started spreading itself around the room – were it not for the menacing doctor in the room threatening us with a similar fate to the person on the table, we might’ve liked to stay and have a look around. There were a few standout rooms like this, such as the opening scene and the kitchen scene. As we mentioned above, this haunt is a work in progress – so there are stretches of empty or almost empty halls where the energy drops a bit.

Color theory in the lighting was fascinating. Some of them evoked a nightmare-like feeling; others captured a visceral feeling of unease that left our skin crawling. Sound design, like the scene building, is still being built out. Some scenes had sound creeping in from other scenes, like in the halls on the third floor; others could have louder or deeper sound to emphasize the effect, like in the room with the giant mechanical claw. We’d also like to see more sensory scares included, like interactive textures or smells throughout.

Speaking of the giant mechanical claw, we were thrilled to see that actor pull off a double tap on their own. Not only did they come after us with the giant claw, but once we thought we had made it safely past, they revealed a second smaller claw on their arm that was, unfortunately, very mobile. It did motivate us to scramble out of there quickly, though! Other large ‘actormatronics’ (large interactive props that are piloted by an actor instead of automation) were located throughout the haunt and always made us jump when they popped out, sometimes even grabbing at us.

Simply being around this cast was wild! Even as customers, we could feel their passion and see how naturally they fed off one another’s energy. A great haunt needs a great cast, and House of Lecter could go very far with this crew!

The creatures outside immediately proved how skilled they were at selecting a target and striking when least expected. They slid, sparked, unleashed bizarre attack noises, and sometimes combined all three at once! A stilt walker towered over the crowd while several others worked the area so effectively that we remained outside longer than necessary just to watch them do their thing.

Inside, many actors showcased excellent timing, energy, and physicality. Performers climbed, crawled, and lunged toward us, while the character paired with an electronic trigger in The Catacombs delivered some amazingly frightening vocals! The woman rummaging through beans in the kitchen before offering them to us was thoroughly disgusting – and we mean that as a compliment.

A few performers mostly watched us pass without doing much else. Although this added some behavioral variety, stronger movements, dialogue, or follow-up interactions would have made them feel more believable. We also encountered the same handful of characters several times. While they helped fill the space and kept the action moving, greater character variety would make each encounter feel more distinct.

Their appearances featured impressive airbrushed details, unique masks, colored contacts, different tooth styles, mouth goo, distressed fabrics, and plenty of layered accessories. Glowing jars of liquid, oversized glasses, hair curlers, and filthy, tangled hairstyles gave us plenty to study. A lot was happening with these creatures – and most of it looked delightfully nasty!

The primary element holding some looks back was the use of recognizable everyday clothing. Although several T-shirts and pants were distressed, adding more layers and character-specific details would help complete those looks. Dr. Lecter, the silent stalker who handed us the syringes, and the towering stilt performer were among the strongest looks of the night.

The team at House of Lecter did an excellent job of going after everyone in our group, sometimes even remaining completely hidden until the last person approached before going in for the scare. That also worked to keep the front members on their toes, always looking over their shoulders. The mix of horrific scenery, large actormatronics, and varied characters made sure there was a large variety of scares. Whether it was the giant rats popping out to nip at us, or the roadkill hunter that tricked us into believing they had an offering for the good doctor, only to end up sicking that same roadkill on us in the end, we never knew exactly how the scares would be coming at us during our visit.

Like with the scenery we mentioned earlier, there are some points where the energy drops a bit in the House. The halls on the third floor, or the long walk back down to the first floor for the finale, are areas where scares or scenery/sounds could be incorporated to keep that fear high (no actual scares on stairs, though). The Catacombs, though, is where the sparse detailing works in their favor. The blackout portion of the haunt left us bumping our way through, with actors taking full advantage of our disorientation. One particularly adept demented pig bearer kept emerging from the darkness only to honk in our ears, making us jump. Who knew pigs had night vision!

House of Lecter packs a lot into its downtown building. Although we spent a combined 14 minutes inside the attractions, the constantly changing environments and three-floor journey made the experience feel longer.

General admission was $25 on the night of our visit, which came to 0.56 minutes of inside-haunt entertainment per dollar. While this falls below the nationwide average of one minute per dollar we most commonly encounter, the Monster Museum waiting area and entertaining outdoor characters added more to the overall experience.

House of Lecter utilizes timed, dynamic ticketing. General admission ranges from $25 to $35, while Fast Pass tickets range from $40 to $50, depending on the date selected. Keep in mind that credit card purchases made on-site are subject to an additional 3% fee.

After escaping The Catacombs, we went back out front to watch the roaming creatures continue terrorizing the crowd. They were so entertaining that we didn’t mind sticking around! They also had an on-site food truck during our visit.

If you want to support a haunt overflowing with passion and unique ideas that combine high-tech scares with old-school techniques, give House of Lecter and The Catacombs a try. The doctor will be waiting for you; just stay away from those creatures rummaging through the trash outside! No street pickles!!