This Former Banker Opened a ‘Terrifying’ Haunted House in a Strip Mall as a Side Hustle. 24 Years Later, It’s a Multimillion-Dollar Empire.

Chris Stafford was 15 when a friend invited him to help scare people at his haunted house for Halloween. “I was bit by the bug,” Stafford tells People.

Years later, while working in banking in Colorado, he reconnected with fellow haunted house alum Warren Conard. In 2002, the pair opened a haunted house in a Denver strip mall, funding it themselves and charging about $15 a ticket. “It was terrifying,” Stafford recalls. “People were running out the exit.”

That business started as a side hustle, but the 2008 financial crisis convinced Stafford to eventually leave his job in banking and make it a full-time creep fest. Today, Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group is a multimillion-dollar company with 18 seasonal Halloween properties, including the LA Haunted Hayride, plus axe-throwing venues, escape rooms, and an immersive art installation in Philadelphia. It has about 80 full-time employees and paid roughly 4,500 people last Halloween season. This year, it’s expanding into less scary Christmas attractions.

Stafford says the experiences his company delivers let people step outside their day-to-day realities and bond with one another. “It’s not just about how you screamed in the haunted house,” he told People. “It’s about remembering how your friends screamed in the haunted house.”

Chris Stafford was 15 when a friend invited him to help scare people at his haunted house for Halloween. “I was bit by the bug,” Stafford tells People.

Years later, while working in banking in Colorado, he reconnected with fellow haunted house alum Warren Conard. In 2002, the pair opened a haunted house in a Denver strip mall, funding it themselves and charging about $15 a ticket. “It was terrifying,” Stafford recalls. “People were running out the exit.”

That business started as a side hustle, but the 2008 financial crisis convinced Stafford to eventually leave his job in banking and make it a full-time creep fest. Today, Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group is a multimillion-dollar company with 18 seasonal Halloween properties, including the LA Haunted Hayride, plus axe-throwing venues, escape rooms, and an immersive art installation in Philadelphia. It has about 80 full-time employees and paid roughly 4,500 people last Halloween season. This year, it’s expanding into less scary Christmas attractions.

Stafford says the experiences his company delivers let people step outside their day-to-day realities and bond with one another. “It’s not just about how you screamed in the haunted house,” he told People. “It’s about remembering how your friends screamed in the haunted house.”