Every year, Downtown Springfield sees a crowd of locals during the Halloween season. These people are almost always present for one reason: haunted houses.
Dungeons of Doom and Hotel of Terror, owned by Sterling and Melissa Mathis, are a family-owned and operated business started in 1978.
Even though we only see the final product during the fall months of September and October, work is put into the attractions all year long.
“We go to haunt shows in February and get ideas, props, and other things. Then, throughout the off-season, we’ll change and add rooms to give the people something new,” Melissa said.
While the house gets much love from the general public, there’s been some pushback from the city to shut them down.
“They’ve been after Hotel of Terror since the mid-’90s. They had plans with MSU to revitalize Brick City, and if they did do that, a park would be implemented, so they’ve been trying to put us out of business ever since,” Sterling said
That hasn’t stopped them, though. The Mathis family have been determined to stay open. They have submitted petition after petition, paying thousands of dollars to do everything they can to avoid shutting down.
“Whether anybody wins or not, we don’t know, but we’re going to stick it out,” Mathis said.
Jordan Mathis, the eldest son and a scare actor, has taken on a big role in the business. He works at Dungeons of Doom all season long and helps with the construction of the rooms during the off time. It’s hard work, but he loves every bit of it.
“I don’t come for the money, I come for the scare,” Jordan said.
The work, physical activity of running, constant screaming, and long hours into the middle of the night, are draining. That doesn’t stop the true horror fans from showing up every night for a good scare.
“You have to love the job; the workers who love the job are amazing. We’ve had people who have worked for us for 25 years, and they love it. It’s just like we call it, our haunt family,” Melissa said.
With all the pushback and long hours, you start to wonder why they even continue anymore. Financially, sure, but the effect on the community is much more important for them.
“The people come here and say how much they love what we’re doing, and they look forward to it. It gives you that satisfaction for the community,” Melissa said.
