Las Vegas haunts that didn’t survive

In October, locals and tourists flock to haunted attractions across the Valley for a good spook, but not all have lived to see the light of day. Here is a graveyard of popular Las Vegas haunts and why they closed.

Fright Dome

No one was safe at Fright Dome. The evil brainchild of Jason Egan, Fright Dome was a one-stop-shop for a good scare. Located inside Adventuredome Theme Park at Circus Circus, Fright Dome opened in 2003 and became a scarily lucrative venture. The attraction was ranked as one of the top 10 best haunted attractions in the country, with many celebrity visitors like Ozzy Osbourne, Dana White, Paris Hilton and Michael Jackson.

Guests got the ultimate thrill being able to enjoy classic Adventuredome roller coasters and a myriad of haunted attractions. Fright Dome had 250,000 “scare feet of fear”, six haunted houses that would rotate themes, live shows and multiple themed scare zones.

Roaming the theme park, guests were immersed in the chilling experience with fog, chainsaw sounds, spooky music and, of course, neon clowns — some of which became local celebrities.

Fright Dome’s 15-year reign of terror came to a close in 2018, when the original lease agreement between the Circus Circus and Egan Productions expired and decided to close, with 2017 being its final year. Although, Egan has still continued to scare the Valley with Warner Bros. escape room collaboration Escape IT.

Bonnie Screams

During October, Bonnie Springs Ranch would transfigure into local fright favorite: Bonnie Screams. Located in Red Rock Canyon, the ranch was home to spirits who lost their lives during the trek through the Spanish Trail towards the West Coast, or so the story goes.

Guests would board a train to the frontier-era themed ghost town where the locals were chainsaw wielding clowns, murdering cowboys and spooky saloon girls. The ranch had four haunted houses, a zombie paintball train, the beloved haunted corn maze and much more. Even the streets weren’t a safe zone, with scare actors rattling trash cans and spooking visitors as they roamed the streets.

The screams and spooks at the ranch weren’t all fake, with many workers saying they heard and saw many apparitions concentrated near the opera house.

The last year for Bonnie Screams was 2018 — a tough year for Las Vegas horror lovers — after Bonnie Springs closed in early 2019. Previous owners Alan Levinson and April Hopper sold the property to developer Joel Laub, who demolished the structures and broke ground on a custom home community in 2022.

Goretorium

The brighter you shine, the faster you burn: this is true for this short-lived haunt: Goretorium, which opened October 2012 and closed the following year.

From gore-loving Hollywood writer, director and producer Eli Roth, Goretorium aimed to offer yearlong scares to locals and tourists alike, with a production price tag of $10 million. Located on the Strip off Harmon Avenue, Goretorium was a casino-themed, 15,000-square-foot self-guided horror attraction, with a bar and lounge attached.

Upon opening, the haunt received swaths of national attention and their soft opening had over 1,000 people lined up on the sky bridge across South Las Vegas Boulevard. For $40 to $60, patrons would guide themselves through a maze of zombie bellhops, severed baby heads, detached limbs, cannibals and lots of splattered blood. After, guests could stop at bar Bloody Mary’s or enjoy zombie dancers in the lounge

Almost exactly a year later, Goretorium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2013 and closed in October 2013. Roth wrote on his blog: “for a variety of reasons, the business was not sustainable as a year-round event.”

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.