Haunted Circus brings thrills and chills to Draper

At first glance, the grounds of the Strangling Brother’s Haunted Circus doesn’t look that scary. A large white big top tent is flanked by a group of trailers on one side and midway games and carnival rides on the other. It looks like an old-fashioned circus complete with food, games and other sights and smells found at the circus. But once you leave the big top and enter into the maze of trailers that make up the haunted part of the attraction, prepare to be terrified.

Bob Tillitson and Jim Thornton are the Strangling Brother’s, and their scary concept has been several years in the making. Tillitson is behind other popular haunted attractions such as the Haunted Forrest in American Fork and the Haunted Hollow in Ogden.

“Bob came up with the concept of the haunted circus. The big barrier for a lot of haunted attractions has to do with owning a big building or expensive piece of property,” Thornton said. “People tend to put a lot of money into the infrastructure and not into the production, and that’s what’s so awesome about this. All of our resources have gone into creating a really scary haunt. And honestly, is there anything scarier than clowns?”

The Strangling Brother’s Haunted Circus is located at 98 East 13800 South. It opened Sept. 16 and runs Monday through Saturday through Oct. 31. The scaring starts at 7:30 p.m. The experience begins in the 150-foot Big Top Tent of Horrors, an electrifying experience of animated 3-D clowns. If you’re not freaked out by clowns before you set foot in the tent, you might be after you leave.

Strangling Brothers offers a different twist to the haunt industry with frightful experiences in 23 custom designed tractor-trailers, each outfitted with different cutting-edge animatronics and innovative lighting and sound environments, Thornton said. The haunted attraction will include many never before seen features in Utah like: Frankinswine, Goreliath, Forced Perspective and Demented Fun House.

In addition, the Haunted Circus will feature death-defying midway attractions including the Fun House, Scrambler, Bungee Jump, Swing Ride, Ferris Wheel and Tubs of Fun in Zombieland. Thornton said the original plan did not include the midway games or carnival rides. As the circus tent was erected, he said many people approached Thornton and Tillitson and wanted to be a part of it.

The attraction is open to people of all ages but does contain some scary elements that might not be appropriate for all age groups. Thornton said they wanted to make this a family attraction and offer ride swapping for families with little children.

“The cool thing about this concept is not stand in line and then spend a half an hour in the haunt,” Thornton said. “This is a full evening of fun for families. There are rides and fun for the adults and the kids.”

Ticket prices start at $20 and fast passes can be purchased for an additional $5. The circus also offers bounce back coupons to visit the attraction again. To purchase tickets or for more information about the Strangling Brother’s Haunted Circus visit www.stranglingbros.com.