New Myrtle Beach hotel opening for Halloween. It’s so scary that only adults can get in
Myrtle Beach is getting another hotel, but the amenities and clientele might not be what you expect at a normal vacation resort.
Hello Hotel, which has lost the “O” on its sign, making it Hotel Hell, is opening Sept. 26 and will be what is believed to be Myrtle Beach’s only haunted house.
Bryan Campanile and his partners, Jason Frahm and Devin Stiles, are the people behind the attraction, which is located at 1901 Mr. Joe White Avenue, next door to the Masters Gentleman’s Club.
While Hotel Hell will be adults only because of the scares and themes, Campanile said it is not part of the strip club. “We don’t want people to get confused,” he said.
The partners rented out the 15,000-square-foot space to create the 20 rooms of horrors and haunts. While Campanile has done other one-night haunted events, he has wanted to do a full Halloween attraction for a number of years.
But there are still remnants that the space was once used for the exotic dancers, as glitter can be seen embedded in the carpet of what was once a locker room. Stiles said they are using that to their advantage, as it appears to be broken glass when the lighting effects are turned on.
The room also has been turned into a dominatrix torture chamber.
Stiles is the mastermind of the horrors, writing the script and building the majority of the creatures, props and animatronics. The terrifying ideas for each of the 20 rooms comes from Stiles’ mind.
The married father, whose 10-year-old will also be a part of the attraction, has done this type of work for most of his life, working previously on other haunted attractions. Stiles has spent the last 2 1/2 weeks almost round the clock building and installing the horrors to get ready for the opening.
What horrors await guests?
People will enter a hotel lobby where they will “register” and be taken to their room by a bellhop. But as they go to get on the elevator, it’s broken, so they have to walk through various rooms to get to the stairs. That’s when the horrors begin.
The haunt will include things that a person would see when they enter a hotel. There are guest rooms, bathroom, a fitness room, banquet hall, nursery and an outside patio.
“All things that you would associate with a high-end hotel,” Campanile said.
In the bathroom there are clowns with circus music playing; in another room, guests will be invited to sit down at the banquet table where they will be served dinner; and another point, they will experience the raining of blood.
There will also be live actors placed throughout the hotel.
That includes evil clown Max Wheeler, who is standing in the lobby fully dressed in his costume. Wheeler has been a haunted actor for 11 years, having taken part in other haunted attractions in New Jersey and San Diego. When he heard about the auditions, he knew he needed to be a part of it, Wheeler said.
The attraction also will include 3-D imagery and holograms woven throughout the 20- to 25-minute tour.
The final scare will bring the “guests” to the back patio that overlooks a pond. After being chased once again, people will end at the Wicked Lounge, where it will be a haunted night club experience with DJs and drinks. Or, they can check out the vendors that will offer food, costumes, jewelry and Hotel Hell merchandise.
If people don’t want to go through the haunted hotel, they can hang out at the Wicked Lounge.
Campanile said the partners have invested heavily in the attraction. And while the final numbers aren’t in yet, at least $100,000 has been spent so far.
The attraction is open 7 p.m. to midnight Thursday through Fridays through Oct. 26 and then daily through Nov. 2. It’s also open on Oct. 27.
“I think it’s going to be great,” Campanile said. “People are going to get excited right off the bat. There’s nothing (in Myrtle Beach) that capitalizes on this desire for an attraction for Halloween. And I know what we’re producing.”
