Chambers of Hell, Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze will not return for Halloween

Halloween might be three months away, but the spooky season has already suffered two casualties. Chambers of Hell, a three-part extreme haunt in Hauppauge which ran for over a decade, has closed its doors. Additionally, the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, a hand-carved pumpkin Halloween experience that typically takes place at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, is not returning this fall.

For Chambers of Hell, the decision to close was strictly financial as costs were on the rise, the owners said.

“When I asked about renewing my lease, my landlord said he was interested in selling the building,” co-owner Matt Guiliano said. “But he said if he continues to rent the space, the price was going to go from $9 per square foot to $16 per square foot. It would’ve run us $42,000 a month to operate. Our entrance fee was already $45. How much higher can you go on a ticket?”

Originally, the haunt was a branch of Guiliano’s Play Like a Pro baseball battle cage business. However, once that business closed three years ago, the haunt had to survive on its own.

“You really need to own the building and property or have a full-time business that helps support you through the rest of the months,” Guiliano noted. “Gateway’s Haunted Playhouse has a full-time theater business and does the haunt for the season. Darkside Haunted House owns their property and building. Schmitt’s Farm has a full-time business and holds their haunt in the fall.”

Guiliano looked into the possibility of doing a pop-up event at another location but discovered that wasn’t feasible. “Doing a pop-up involves storing everything, which is going to take three trailers costing about $30,000 a year. Plus, the rent for the venue would be about $70,000. Then you have to build it out. It would end up costing about $150,000 before you even open,” Guiliano said. “I could go smaller, but it wouldn’t draw the crowd that we typically do. We have a reputation for changing up our haunt every year with brand new rooms. Ours wasn’t a 10-room haunt, we had over 50 rooms.”

Guiliano added that the Chambers of Hell was successful and highly rated at No. 39 on the list of best live action haunted houses in the country by hauntworld.com.

“We were growing every year and production wise turning up the experience each season,” Guiliano said. “You can save money by keeping the same design layout and walk-through, but are people going to come back? No one wants the same haunt every year.”

Is it possible for Chambers of Hell to return? “I want to bring it back somewhere, but I have to figure it out. Unfortunately, it won’t be for this year,” Guiliano said. “Possibly we could return in 2026 if the right situation comes along. Currently, I think we’re going to take a break and reevaluate.”

Meanwhile, the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, a half-mile-long Halloween-themed walk-through that featured over 7,000 illuminated pumpkins hand carved by local artists, will not light up Old Bethpage this fall.

“After an enjoyable and successful five years at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, Historic Hudson Valley is not bringing the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze back to Long Island this year, choosing instead to focus on further developing our roster of exciting fall events at our own sites in Westchester County,” Rob Schweitzer, vice president of communications and commerce for Historic Hudson Valley, said. “We enjoyed our time bringing Blaze to Long Island and would definitely consider returning in the future.”

Those missing Blaze can take a road trip upstate to catch it at its original location at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson. For more information, visit hudsonvalley.org.