Haunted house coming back to Old Joliet Prison

Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group will reopen its Old Joliet Haunted Prison on Sept. 13.

Tickets for the haunted house venue at the old women’s prison at the former Joliet Correctional Center are on sale now.

Thirteenth Floor has operated a haunted house at the Old Joliet Prison during Halloween seasons since 2021.

The Denver, Colorado-based operator of haunted houses across the country also runs 13th Floor Haunted House Chicago in Schiller Park.

Tickets start at $19.99 for both sites, according to a news release from Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group.

The Joliet haunted house will include features capitalizing on the history of the prison and the criminals who have been incarcerated there along with their victims.

They include:

• “Carnage in Cell Block 13″ in which infamous child killers Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb are animated for what Third Entertainment Group calls “a battle against bloodthirsty cadavers”

• “Inmates Row,” which is “filled with toxic zombies and grisly remnants of past victims” according to a news release from 13th Floor Entertainment

•“Zombie Laser Tag” challenges teams to fight through a horde of zombies armed with laser tag rifles, according to the release

“With a rich history of disturbing stories, Chicagoans are invited inside The Old Joliet Haunted Prison to explore the new attractions for themselves,” according to the release from 13th Floor Entertainment.

This will be 13th Floor Entertainment’s fourth Halloween season operating a haunted house at the former prison.

The Joliet Area Historical Museum manages the former Joliet Correctional Center, which it has renamed Old Joliet Prison as a destination site and events venue. The city of Joliet holds a lease on the property, which is owned by the state of Illinois.

The prison was closed in 2002 but was reopened by the city of Joliet for tours and events.

Other features of the Old Joliet Haunted Prison this year include: mini escape games, a “Neon Cowboy Secret Bar,” a “Shriekeasy Secret Bar” and a “Behind the Screams Tour.”