Two Louisville Scavenger Haunts For one low price

Don’t worry — all Nightmare Run route answers will be posted online during the event so you never stay lost.

Ghost Run was the term given to events like Nightmare Run that began over 40 years ago, right here in Louisville, KY. They are events where you gather your friends and follow rhyming clues in your car, not knowing where you are going or what cool adventures you might encounter along the way. The goal is to follow the rhyming clues to make the correct turns, which will lead you to Haunted Houses.

The routes are NOT designed to take you the “direct” route or “fastest” route. They are intentionally designed to give you a tour of roads you’ve probably never been on, even though they may be right in your area of town. The Game and Haunted Attractions on Nightmare Run are all INCLUDED in your ticket price, and by following the rhyming clues, you can turn what would be a quick evening attending haunts into an interactive, full night of fun for you and your group of friends.

Nightmare Run’s origins came under the conglomerate in the late 1990s that was called Nightmare Network. That group included legendary haunted attractions, including Nightmare Run, Industrial Nightmare, Nightmare Forest, and Haunted Hotel! Nightmare Run was briefly brought back in 2005 and has not been a local event since 2023. Some other names besides Nightmare Run that might ring a bell for Ghost Run fans would include The Spirit Chase, The Buechel Fern Creek Jaycees Ghost Run, and The Danger Run. All of these events were fun events for a group of friends to participate in.

Fast forward to 2023, when a couple of lifetime Halloween fanatics with over 40 Years of Halloween Entertainment experience – Jeff Howlett of Nightmare Forest & Trail Of Terror and Mike Kimzey of The Danger Run (25 YEARS) & Nightmare Run – decided to bring back a RETRO style Ghost Run! What better way to do that than to bring back Nightmare Run? We are excited that you are here to check us out, and we can’t wait for you to experience Nightmare Run.

Nightmare Run is designed to be enjoyed YOUR way. It’s technically possible to complete a route in under an hour (but we wouldn’t recommend doing it that way). Also, your ticket includes admission to two of the area’s best haunted attractions, which can be enjoyed on the night you do the routes OR any other! For most groups, 2-3 hours is sufficient to experience the whole event in one night without being rushed.

Pro Tip – The earlier you start, the shorter the lines will be at each haunt.

This is a tricky one… lol. How lost will you get? There are four different routes, which are randomly distributed at the start gate (this prevents each car leaving the gate from just following the car in front). Mileage varies by route, and while we can’t give you the total, we can say that you will travel more than your direct route to each location would be. We take great strides to make sure your drive is 45 minutes to an hour on each of your two routes you will follow.

Remember, the object of the game is to follow the correct route, not the most direct or fastest route.

If you bring multiple carloads with you, and you want to participate together, make sure you request to have the same route. Otherwise, your check-in person will randomly place each car on whatever route they grab. We actually have large groups play each way. Some WANT the same route, whereas others prefer to compete against each other using separate routes.

Each car gets a randomly selected route from our four different routes. If you follow the car in front of you, you probably will start off lost as soon as you leave the starting point.

Although the haunts close at 1 AM, that only means you have to be IN LINE by that time. As long as you are in line by that time, you will be granted admission to either haunt. If you do not get to your final stop the first night, your haunt tickets are valid any night that the haunt is open the rest of the season.

If you are submitting your mileage for prizes, your mileage must be submitted to nightmarerun.com by noon the following day after completing your adventure.

You do not have to check back in with us if you decide to do the run in more than one evening. BUT, you are only eligible for prizes by completing the event the same night you start.

Make sure to fill out the completion Form. Go to NightmareRun.com BEFORE noon the following day and submit your Completion Form information to be eligible for prizes.

Every person 18 or older in a participating vehicle is eligible for prizes, not just the driver.

The start location is the only thing that closes at 10 PM. We chose an early closing time to give all players ample time to complete the event in one night (should they choose to do so).

EITHER… You can buy tickets online, OR you can buy tickets at the Preston Lowe’s Parking Lot. We will have an express lane for those who have bought tickets online.

Any child under 12 who will not be going inside the Haunted Attractions can ride along on your journey for free. Determining the age for children to go inside the haunts lies solely with the parent. If you want them to participate, you will be required to buy them a ticket.

You can call our Nightmare Run Haunted Hotline at (502) 576-6999 and select option 3 to leave a message. We will be notified immediately that we have a message. We won’t be able to guide you through deciphering clues, but if there is a road closure or something like that, we can get you back on track without you having to open your Emergency Rescue Envelope.

We monitor routes multiple times all season long to make sure the routes still work. It’s rare, but there have been surprises in the past with road closures or new stop signs or stop lights. When that happens, we close routes or we make changes to the clues. This is the exact reason that we have multiple routes for people to participate.