Tipp City’s Haunted Garage: “It’s Halloween eye-candy”
By Matt Bayman | This Local Life
TIPP CITY – For more than two decades, families from throughout the Miami Valley have made it an October tradition to visit The Haunted Garage in Tipp City.
Part haunted house, part Halloween museum, The Haunted Garage contains one of the largest collections of horror and Halloween props in the region, including many that move, speak, light up and even lunge at visitors.
Located at the private residence of Charline Werts at 7373 Bard Rd. (just outside of town), The Haunted Garage began in 1999 when Charline and her late fiancé, Keith Allen, ordered a pizza.
Allen grew up with a passion for all things Halloween and, over the years, amassed a huge collection of horror items that he kept and displayed in the couple’s garage and during Halloween parties. One day, a pizza deliveryman noticed the collection and encouraged Keith and Charline to open it to the public, which they did.
In 2004, after Charline’s mother, Betty, passed away after battling multiple sclerosis, the couple decided to turn the Haunted Garage into a donation-based fundraiser for the local MS Society, something that continues to this day, along with supporting other local charities. Over the years, thousands of people visited the Garage and thousands of dollars were raised for the MS Society.
Unfortunately, Keith passed away suddenly in 2016, and Charline decided to put the event on hiatus, possibly for good. However, in 2022, in honor of Keith and with the help of good friends and neighbors, she brought it back to life and has carried the tradition forward ever since, including continuing to add to the collection.
This year’s display, featuring 14 scenes and thousands of props, is bound to be one of the most memorable in the event’s history, not to mention a wonderful tribute to Keith.
Jeff Krodel, a friend of Charline who staged this year’s display (pictured above right with Charline), said it is about 90 percent new compared to last year, including new animatronics, props, scenes and, by popular demand, more jump scares.
“We love hearing the reactions and comments (of guests), and they’re really interested in the jump scares and haunted house feel, so we’ve added more ‘action’ this year,” he said. “But it’s also very much like a Halloween museum; it’s Halloween eye-candy. It’s nostalgic, the characters, the cheesy flicks and an Old World feel.”
Krodel, who has assisted Charline for two years, said each of the 14 scenes has its own environment, featuring animatronics, lights and sounds. Visitors can enter through the front of the Garage and make their way through four rooms.
One room is a demented nursery. Another is a macabre dining room. You’ll come face-to-face with Frankenstein, Leatherface, Nosferatu and other famous faces, as well as unknown, yet equally frightening, monsters, witches and ghosts. And watch out, there might be some actual real-life people among the crowd!
Charline and Krodel said the experience is appropriate for all ages and that, usually, parents are more scared than the kids who go through.
“We want all family members to feel comfortable here,” Krodel said.
The Haunted Garage is open from 7-10 p.m. every Friday and Saturday in October, as well as on Trick or Treat Night on Oct. 29. Along with the National MS Society, any donations given by guests will also benefit Tip Kitty, a trap-neuter-return nonprofit.
WARNING: Turn down your volume before listening to this video!
