Petersburg haunted house delivers scares with creativity, finesse

October 21, 2009
By Tori Stowell
Staff Reporter

Halloween is like a morbid version of Christmas. You wait an entire month for that one climatic night filled with costumes, candy, decorations, surprises and fun. With its roots in Celtic paganism and Christianity, some consider it to have highly religious undertones- but I just think its fun to be scared.

Photo by Luke Runyon High-tech haunted house Terror on the Square showcases optical illusions, holograms and special effects at every turn.

Luke and I decided to make the short journey to Petersburg for the haunted house, Terror on the Square (TOTS). On the drive over, I began to creep myself out, just a little bit, but enough to build up a fair amount of attention and excitement.

It was the perfect night; cold, crisp air and a starless sky. Luke and I pulled into the quaint town square and immediately noticed a family owned pizza shop.

Even though we had feasted on sushi hours before, we decided to go in and grab a slice, unknowingly subjecting ourselves to the creepiest dining experience of our lives.

The walls were painted blood red and featured various paintings of the Virgin Mary. A crucifix had been hung above the kitchen door and when we walked in, the entire restaurant went silent. Our waiter did not look like he was old enough to be legally employed and I thought he resembled some sort of socially awkward zombie.

The pizza was delicious but in the dimly lit façade I couldn’t avert Virgin Mary’s gaze throughout my entire dinner. When we went to the back counter to pay for our meal, the woman informed us that they “didn’t take plastic”-alas, we had forgotten that we were in some sort of 1930’s time warp.

The restaurant made both of us feel a bit taken a back, out of our element and unsettled; the perfect preface to our haunted house escapade.

Since 1993, TOTS has been located in a 200-year-old former funeral home on the town square. Founder, Shawn McKinney, started creating haunted houses at the age of twelve in the upstairs level of his parent’s house.

Photo by Luke Runyon Inside the Terror on the Square gift shop sits the trunk of a formerly functional herse. The brains behind the small town attraction, Shawn McKinney, said he split the car himself and built the gift shop around the herse.

He said his mother thought he was a bit disturbed with his enthusiastic love of zombies and ghosts, however, McKinney ended up turning his passion into a fulfilling side career.

“When it comes to planning, it’s a year round deal but it hits full on in September,” McKinney said. “It’s a creative outlet for me and I’m not out of ideas yet.” 

TOTS received 3rd in state for best haunted house in 2006, an honor McKinney is very proud of because of the caliber of haunted houses located in the St. Louis and Chicago areas.

TOTS is known for its vivid illusions and use of technology to distract and scare. Luke and I received VIP treatment and were taken to the front of the line where we were given a special tour and were allowed to take photos of all the haunts and spooks.

In my opinion, TOTS was one of the most organized and well put together haunted houses I’d ever been in. There were no cheesy costumes or stereotypical Halloween monsters.

The fact that the haunted house takes place in an old funeral home makes you wonder if everything you see is just a part of the experience or if it may be a little bit too realistic.

And I’m not going to lie; I did get a little too wrapped up in the illusions that were projected onto the wall and screamed whenever a “real” haunt popped out of nowhere.

“There’s a lot of things that happen here that can’t be explained,” tour guide Shelly Aiken said. “The funeral home atmosphere makes it great for folk’s viewing pleasure and some people actually think it’s real.”

Upon completion of our haunted house tour, neither Luke or myself left in tears or in shock, but we were in mutual appreciation of some one else’s vision, hard work and creativity.

“I could never pull this off without all of these people behind me,” McKinney said of his staff of over 50 people. “I’m always working to improve the house, however if I can’t improve on something why change it? It’s unique…and small children leave crying”

TOTS is definitely something worthwhile to visit during this Halloween season. But trust us- if you want to start the night off on the right foot, make sure to go to that pizza place on the square beforehand. We don’t need to tell you the name--the décor speaks volumes the minute you walk through the door; just make sure you bring something besides “plastic.”