Get Wrapped Up In The Halloween Spirit With Another Year Of Local And Frightful Fun
By Nicole Cleri
Staff Writer
Enigma Haunt all started 18 years ago with a simple set-up at the family’s home. As years passed, the haunted house started to become extremely popular, catering to 500 people on Halloween night.
“It all started with me, my husband and our four kids doing the haunted house,” said Karen Groenveld, owner and head of administration. “As the kids got older, props got bigger and more special effects were added, leading to our location change and opening of Enigma Haunt.”
Enigma Haunt is ranked #1 in the Top Haunts list in Florida and #2 nationwide on The Scare Factor’s 31 Must See Haunt List. Also, in 2014 and 2015, the Haunt was ranked in the top 10 nominees for Floridahauntedhouses.com.
With over 20,000 square feet divided into three haunted dimensions–Pandemic, Into the Oblivion and Realms of Terror–visitors will truly be amazed with the artwork and details of this haunted house.
“Our team has worked extremely hard with all of the detail that goes into this,” said Ivonne Perez, PR representative. “It really makes the haunted houses come to life.”
As the Haunt enters its sixth year, its continued growth has been immense.
“Our haunted house expanded a lot; it now takes 45 minutes to an hour to completely get through all of the dimensions,” said Groenveld. “The makeup crew transforms nearly 100 actors each night within three hours before they open the haunt. We have actors as young as 11 years old and also a good amount of adults who are featured throughout the haunted house.”
Enigma Haunt does many different events, including their recent Friday the 13th Lights Out Experience. For this, they change the rules at midnight, where people must go through the Haunt in total darkness with just a glow stick. Selling roughly 200 tickets, this year’s event was a huge success.
“This really is a patron driven experience,” said Billy Groeneveld, owner and co-creator of Enigma Haunt. “We posed this as a possible event on our social media outlets and the response was impressive. It takes the scare factor up a few notches.”
With Enigma Haunt being located at 1751 N. Military Trail, only 5 minutes away from the Lynn campus, this is a great opportunity for Lynn students to go and experience the haunted house.
“On the first year we opened, we did student discounts, but little to no students came,” said Karen Groenveld. “Now with it getting more popular, we will be bringing back the student discounts in the future.”
While Enigma Haunt had small, front yard beginnings, it has continued to see success in the local community. If the past is any indication, this is the ideal festive experience around Halloween for individuals of any age.
