There are many things to do in the Denver Metro Area on and around Halloween. The choices available accommodate people of all ages and abilities. Similarly, admission fees vary, and just about anyone ought to be able to afford an outing. There are many events targeted at families, such as hayrides, corn mazes, and seasonal programs at the Denver Zoo and Denver Botanic Gardens. There are also several commercial haunted houses, such as those operated by Screamworks Entertainment. There are also many “real” haunted houses, and even haunted castles, in the Denver area.

One such example is the South Broadway Christian Church, located at Ellsworth and Lincoln. John Sutton built the structure in the early 1890s. Nicknamed “Uncle” John, Mr. Sutton lived in a two-room apartment in the tower. Many haunted house stories have very logical explanations for the strange noises, footsteps, or eerie happenings, but the goings-on here are pretty hard to attribute to natural causes.

Today, somebody lives in the church, and some guess it’s Uncle John. “He” is a talented fellow, and plays the organ when the church is dark and the organ is shut up. Once a member, Dustin Adkins, was vacuuming, with the cord coiled at his feet, when the vacuum stopped. Dustin turned to find the plug on the floor. Puzzled, he plugged it back in and again started vacuuming, when it quit again. This time, the plug was on the floor and four feet from the outlet, and it was obvious that tension had not caused the cord to pull out. Dustin left, in a big hurry.

Rochelle Chartier, president of the Denver Classical Guitar Society, was at the church alone late one evening. Pushing on the front door, she just couldn’t get it to open, though she tried for several minutes. Finally, and quite suddenly, the door released and opened with the greatest of ease. She left again for more boxes and the problem repeated itself. Neither before nor since has the door stuck; never again has Rochelle stayed late alone.

Source: (”Castles of Colorado,” Westerberg)

What exactly is a ghost? In terms of psychic research, a ghost appears to be a surviving emotional memory of someone who died traumatically or tragically, but is unaware of his or her death. Those ghosts who do know are confused about where they are, or why they don’t feel quite the way they used to feel. When a person has lived in a place for a very long time, acquiring certain routines and becoming very attached to the premises, sudden death comes as a shock. Unwilling to part with the physical world, those human personalities stay on at the spot where their tragedy or their emotional attachment existed prior to their physical death.

In seeking out a haunted house, keep in mind that a relaxed, open-minded attitude toward the phenomena is helpful. Patience is a must. What might not happen on the first visit might very well occur on a subsequent trip. There is no hard and fast rule concerning a successful ghostly experience, but there is a reasonable likelihood of experiencing something in a haunted house if one is somewhat psychic. If one is psychic to a high degree, chances are that one will at least feel something of the unseen inhabitant of the place. Whenever possible, take photographs using black and white film and a timed exposure. Something that the naked eye doesn’t see might very well show up on your film.

But even if you don’t encounter ghosts or have a psychic experience in a haunted house, you will find them fascinating places. As an adventure in historical research, haunted houses have no equal.

(Source: “Hans Holzer’s Travel Guide to Haunted Houses”)

Where is the 13th Floor, and why is it absent in so many buildings? Come with us, as we attempt to explain the legend of the 13th floor, and introduce you to Denver’s most horrifying haunted experience, the 13th Floor Haunted House.

The levels of a multi story building are frequently numbered sequentially, from “basement”, “lobby”, “ground”, “one”, “two” etc. In some countries, as it is here in the United States, the number 13 is considered unlucky and building owners will sometimes purposefully omit a floor numbered 13. Hence, the 13th floor is sometimes given the number 14. Even building owners who are not superstitious realize that the desirability of units on a floor numbered 13 might be compromised because of superstitious tenants, or commercial tenants who worry about losing superstitious customers.

Based on an internal review of records, the Otis Elevator Company estimates that 85% of the buildings with their elevators do not have a named 13th floor. So why does this happen? Why are even skeptics so easily convinced that the majority would just rather avoid this floor? What has happened in history to create such a stigma about a 13th floor? For whatever reasons there may be, there seems to be a multitude of stories about what happens on the 13th floor of numerous buildings, some documented, some not. It seems that it has become largely accepted to just leave it alone, brush it under the rug, and don’t talk about it.

A good example is that some have suggested the 13th floor in government buildings is not really missing, but actually contains top-secret governmental departments, or more generally that it is proof of something sinister or clandestine going on.

It should be noted that to place a floor between those accessible from an elevator, it is necessary to either take longer to travel between the neighboring floors, or accelerate, both of which would be noticed by the riders. It would also be noticeable from the exterior, requiring either an extra row of windows or a conspicuous gap between rows.

Thus, it would make much more sense to build a secret floor, such as the 13th floor as a basement, making it much easier to hide 13th floor locations, in what appear to be single story buildings, underground.

The creators of the 13th Floor Haunted House have discovered locations, right here in Denver, Colorado, constructed in the manor described above. Not completely sure of what all of their past uses may have been, it seems that the majority of these locations are currently inhabited by unfortunate souls, living and dead. They have discovered their secret locations when seeking shelter from the environment, or society. Various species of rats, snakes and spiders have also taken up residence here, living in secret, and by their own rules.

(Source: 13th Floor Haunted House)

Written By: Nick Hantge

If you are wondering which haunted house you want to bring your friends to or maybe even a date, you are going to want to check out Colorado Haunted Houses.   It is a website dedicated to reviewing all of the Haunted houses in Colorado.  The great thing about this site is it doens’t just list the good ones, you also get a taste of the bad ones and what people thought about them as well.

There is also a map section on the site that has all of the haunted houses in Colorado so you can see which ones are in close proximity and which ones are kind of a hike.  This way you can plan out a way to visit a few haunted houses in a night!  With the reviews on the site you can also see which ones are worth driving the extra mile for an extra scare.  Along with the map section of the site there are links that will directly take you to the Haunted House websites themselves.  This is nice so you don’t have to open another window and look up the haunted house on Google.

I would highly recommend checking out the site to plan your next halloween night!  There is nothing worse than waiting in line for a half hour for a haunted house that just isn’t worth it.  Save yourself some time and check out the haunted house review site for Colorado haunted houses.  I promise it will be worth it!