Hutchings Haunt in Parkersburg, Illinois, inspired the creation of Warehouse 13. Dreamed about and created from a show watched by one of the owners of the Haunt, Warehouse 13 is a crazy mix of horror films and most everything you can think of that should be in a haunted house. This year, they celebrated a decade of haunting local and distant patrons, and they didn’t hesitate to give us a phenomenal show!
Illinois and the football games! The cast members who were available on the night we visited were still giving it their all to provide an excellent scare. Even with a few missing members, there weren’t many times when we weren’t met by a queue actor, inside or outside the haunt. It was horror movie galore – from Ghostface, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason, Valak the Defiler, and more – Hutchings Haunt had quite the selection of characters to terrorize us! There were talkative creatures, some that screamed, and a handful that you met with eerie silence… and they made it work!
They were in the mode for giving scares, and they were convincing in their craft.
Masks Galore! Understandable for a haunt that featured mainly horror movie characters. Most of the masks of the night fit into the scenes surrounding them. There were a few moments when we could see clean hands or bare skin under masks, but that honestly didn’t detract from the terror this cast induced. The masks and costumes were mostly complete and stayed true to the films they represented. We never could tell which horror maniac we’d run into next!
Throughout our visit, various queue actors rotated between terrorizing guests inside and outside the haunt. Their masks and costumes were of similar quality to those worn by the main cast. This seamless transition between indoor and outdoor actors kept the atmosphere consistent as we moved through the haunt. We met Michael Myers outside the building, giving us straight chills with his deadly accurate stare.
Thick as thieves! Energetic and ready to please the customers with smiles and scares. Hutchings Haunt is easy-going and ready to communicate and be helpful. You can find information about this haunt on their Facebook page, including operating hours, days they’ll be open for the season, price ranges, address, and other ways to contact them besides Facebook Messenger.
And currently, they’ve posted about their final weekend and what to expect when you show up!
Walking up to Warehouse 13, we could hear screams and music coming from the inside. The inside of the barn was low-lit, and the decor gave us some serious “this place is a haunted house” vibes. With a giant skeleton and an entry door marked on top with the numbers 6666, we felt that we were in for it. These impressions set the tone for the immersive experience that awaited inside.
Although there was no specific storyline, they adhered to the horror-movie theme and included sections such as the meat/catering room, the elevator, and the school bus. Warehouse 13 kept us immersed with its cast and scenery. We never knew what we’d encounter next. Some elements felt thrown together or incomplete, but knowing the show’s inspiration made sense of it. Overall, we were immersed before, during, and after. Ghostface is probably still stalking us!
Sound effects ranged from haunted noises to upbeat music, along with screams from both ahead and behind us, movie soundtracks, and eerie silence – these could all be heard before we even exited our car. The upbeat music created a strange mix of excitement and fear, making us want to dance and run simultaneously. When only screams – coming from unknown guests or cast – were audible, we instinctively wanted to run the other way. The disorienting changes heightened the experience!
Several scenes were found to be incredibly realistic. One of the rooms we walked into was a complete bar, with dusty bottles and glasses, and dirty money spread across the bar. The meat/café room had a certain deathly smell. The chapel had church benches and a podium that screamed church, and then we rode an elevator that spun us! They even had an entire bus in there! I’m baffled by how they managed to include that inside the barn.
They used more fog than we’ve seen at a single haunt this year, giving the swamp area chilling nighttime vibes. While the fog definitely contributed to the mood, it also caused some minor eye irritation that lingered until we reached the neon-lit section of the night. The use of a few animatronics, including one that suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, added to the surprise. Be sure to watch out for that one!
Warehouse 13 hit 4 out of 5 senses! From gross deathly smells, body bags hitting your skin, and plenty to hear and see, we were pleasantly? Surprised. This multi-sensory approach flowed directly into the scare factor we experienced next.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 7.8
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9.65
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 7.65
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7.9
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 8.4
“It’s a horror film. People live, people die, and you’d better start running!” A famous quote from Scream 4, and it fits perfectly for the horrific time Team Brady Pack had inside of Warehouse 13. The different casts, featuring various horror movies, did a good job of catching both of our teammates off guard. We were stalked, screamed at, jumped at, crawled at, screetched at, ran at, and more.
Although the cast caught us off guard at times, some scares were predictable, making a few moments awkward. One cast member asked us if we wanted to play, but seemed unprepared for our responses. Rehearsed comebacks could create a scarier, more effective experience. Notably, this haunt is family-friendly and offers light scare passes.
We experienced an elevator, the lights shut off for a good second, and then came back on in a flickering fashion. When they went off, there was no one in front of me, and as they flickered back on, I had 2 nuns: one normal-sized and one very small-human-sized. The way that little human stared into my soul made me seriously consider going to confession myself. That little girl stared straight into all the parts of my soul! Freaking terrifying!
The finale kept Morgan’s 2025 haunted house run for her life streak alive. A few different characters appeared, including one wielding a chainsaw. With body bags surrounding us, strobe lights, and the sound of a chainsaw in action, there seemed to be nowhere to run, until the exit was found. We were chased well out of the exit and to the front of the barn, where we continued to be stalked and terrorized until we departed the property.
We made our way through Hutchings Haunt – walking, skipping, running, and even riding. It took us 13 minutes to complete Warehouse 13. At $17 per ticket for anyone over 12, this sets our minute-per-dollar (MPD) at .76, though slightly below our preferred 1 MPD standard. Despite this, Warehouse 13 offers several extras with admission. For example, the included 10ish-minute hayride was incredibly enjoyable in the crisp night air, giving off haunted small-town vibes as we passed the closed post office, dead-end streets, and a building illuminated with various colored lights -with Michael Myers watching from the outside. We never determined whether he was real or a mannequin. Additionally, a bonfire was available to keep guests warm while they processed or prepared for the haunted house experience at this hidden gem in Parkersburg, Illinois.
“You’ll wish it were only a nightmare.” (Friday the 13th- 1980 film)
206 East Parker Street, Parkersburg, Illinois 62452
