FearFest is now in its 19th year of Terror!! Featuring 4 amazing attractions at one location! Hawthorn State Asylum and The Mortuary (Haunted Houses), Terror in the Woods (Haunted Trail) and the new home of Necropolis!! Speed passes and the ability to customize your scare level! Both more intense and less intense options are available!

HAWTHORNE STATE ASYLUM

Hawthorne State Asylum '

Built in 1856, Hawthorne State Asylum was

designed to house the most disturbed and

dangerous patients from around the

midwest. It was the last stop for persons too

violent for other facilities. Conditions inside

he Asylum became horrible due to

overcrowding and loss of funding. The

facility's extreme use of lobotomies, electric treatment and torture contributed to its

eventual closing. However it was a horrific event that finally closed its doors forever.

Under a full moon on August 23rd, 1948, a riot erupted throughout the complex. A small

group of especially devious patients had finally had enough of the treatment and

managed to set several fires and free the other patients during the mayhem. After police

were able to regain control and the smoke cleared, the full horror of the

massacre was revealed.

53 dead: 31; patients and 22 staff.

The doors were locked, windows boarded over, and Hawthorne State

was left to rot in the hopes that all could be

forgotten. Rumors quickly began of ghosts, strange happenings, and the screams of all

those that burned to death inside.

In the late 1970's, a new urban legend swirled around the now dilapidated and crumbling

building. Stories of a strange man livinginside. Stories of a man with a hook for one

hand, Stories of a man who kidnapped,

tortured and killed. Stories of a disfigured man who carried away his victims in a large,

bloody burlap bag. And after police finally

recovered several sacks full of the body parts of missing persons, he became forever-

known as

The Bagman.

He was never found, but even to this day, it is said he still roams the old halls of the Asylum, waiting for his next victims.

THE MORTUARY

A century ago, an odd man named Ezekiel Helmsley established a mortuary on the grounds of the old Hawthorn State Asylum. Rumors quickly began of improper burials and forbidden experimentation. After decades of dealing with death, Ezekiel became obsessed with preventing his own. Through some corrupt combination of science and dark arts, the creepy mortician managed to prolong his life. Legend says that Ezekiel had a family he kept hidden due to their twisted appearances and odd eating habits. A family he kept alive by switching out body parts piece by piece. Some even say Ezekiel is still working to this day, always looking for fresh specimens.

NECROPOLIS HAUNTED HOUSE

Description coming soon!

TERROR IN THE WOODS

In the fall of 1941, the Happy Time Circus was ready for their biggest performance to date just outside of Columbia. However, due to horribly unsafe conditions, a tragic accident involving several large circus animals led to panic and chaos. The resulting stampede caused the deaths of dozens of customers and the clowns who were performing nearby. Fearing legal action, the circus promoter hastily hid the bodies deep in the woods behind a nearby asylum. With the chill of Fall in the air, the clowns have risen from their shallow graves and roam the dark woods, seeking revenge for their untimely demise.