For nearly 20 years, Darkness Rising has been a huge part of my life.

What started as a small haunted attraction in my backyard grew into something much bigger than I ever imagined. Thousands of people visit us every Halloween, hundreds of actors and staff members have been part of our family over the years, and along the way we've been fortunate enough to help raise more than $250,000 for local charities.

This year, we set out to build what we believed would be our biggest and most ambitious haunted house yet. We documented the entire process on our socials to give people an inside look at just how much work it takes to pull this event off.

Unfortunately, after we signed the lease, we discovered an underlying issue involving the building itself that we were not aware of. We met with the Town to determine what we could do to resolve it, but were told the process couldn't be completed before November.

Since our lease ends in November and we are a subtenant, there was no way for us to postpone the event, and we were forced to cancel the season.

At this point the haunt was built, our staff was hired and an enormous amount of money had already been spent on rent, payroll, construction materials, advertising, props, equipment and everything else that goes into creating Darkness Rising each year. And now, for the first time, nobody will ever get to experience what we built, and the entire haunt will have to get torn down.

We put approximately $100,000 into preparing for this season. Some of that money was used to buy props, costumes and other assets that we plan on selling to recover as much as we can. However over $62,000 of that is money that was spent on rent, labor and certain materials that are unrecoverable.

Like many small business owners, I've taken on significant personal debt to keep this attraction going, with much of this year's investment being financed through credit cards. Losing an entire season after the attraction was already built has put me in a financial position that I don't know how to recover from on my own.

I'm not asking our community to make us completely whole, but I do realize that this is a big ask. I've set the goal of this fundraiser at $50,000, and I'm going to continue doing everything I can personally to make up the rest. I've poured nearly everything I've made from Darkness Rising back into keeping the haunt alive and making it better every year. For nearly two decades, Darkness Rising has helped support local charities and organizations in our community. This year, for the first time, we're the ones asking for help.

Every donation will go toward helping Darkness Rising recover from the cancellation of our 2026 season and giving us the opportunity to rebuild and return. And if we're fortunate enough to exceed our goal, every additional dollar will go toward the next chapter of Darkness Rising, including our ultimate goal of finding a permanent home where we can continue creating bigger and better experiences for years to come.

Darkness Rising means the world to me, and I'm not ready for this to be the end. If you've ever screamed inside our haunted house, acted with us, worked with us, followed our builds online, supported one of the organizations we've raised money for, or simply want to see what we create next, please consider helping us Save Darkness Rising.

If you aren't in a position to donate, sharing this fundraiser is just as meaningful. Every share helps our story reach someone new.

Thank you for the unbelievable amount of support you've already shown us.

Kevin

Owner & Creator, Darkness Rising