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Edited By Chase Clements, McClatchy Media Commerce
It makes sense that The Horrorland emerged during one of the scariest times in recent memory — the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Miami haunted attraction started as a drive-thru experience that not only provided audiences with a safe way to enjoy live entertainment but also created jobs and supported the local entertainment industry.
Seven seasons later, the Santos family — Francisco, Lisbeth, and their 18-year-old daughter Luna — have evolved The Horrorland into one of the best haunted houses in South Florida. The Jungle Island attraction features haunted houses, scare zones, and a Circus of Terror, creating an immersive, live experience for their guests.
The experience also extends beyond Halloween with special seasonal productions, including Krampus during the Christmas season and Love Kills for Valentine’s Day. The Horrorland also returns to Jungle Island on Sept. 10 for its seventh season, featuring six haunted houses, scare zones, the Circus of Terror, the nightly Monster Parade, and new themed experiences, including Frankenstein Bar and the Transfusion Station.
“We want to create the kind of experience people share with their friends and family, talk about afterward, and want to come back and experience again year after year,” Francisco Santos said.
A Miami Haunted House That’s All in the Family
The Horrorland is a family project.
Francisco is a producer and director who’s a Cirque du Soleil veteran with 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry. His wife, Lisbeth, is also a producer, with a background in costume, makeup, and set design.
Their daughter, Luna, who grew up around The Horrorland, is now the attraction’s creative director and brings a fresh understanding of what her generation wants from an immersive entertainment experience.
“Being 18 gives me a perspective that someone who has been doing this for 30 years simply can’t have,” Luna said. “Just like they have experience that I don’t have yet.”
As creative director, Luna has worked to make every experience interactive, not just the haunted houses. When a guest is inside The Horrorland, they’re inside a world where anything can happen, anywhere.
“We don’t want guests to feel like they’re walking through a museum of scary things,” Francisco said. “We want the world to react to them. A character might follow you, remember something about you, speak to you, make you uncomfortable, make you laugh, or pull you into something happening around you.”
The evolution of The Horrorland from a drive-thru experience guests experienced from their cars to a fully immersive world is an accomplishment the Santos family is most proud of.
Why The Horrorland Is One of the Best Haunted Houses in Miami
Is The Horrorland scary? Absolutely. It’s also funny, weird, and enjoyable.
“You’re going to get scared,” Francisco said. “You’re going to scream. But you’re also going to laugh — a lot. I think that’s one of the things that makes us different. Horror doesn’t have to be serious all the time.”
That juxtaposition starts with the Santos family and their team, who create the attractions, costumes, lighting, and special effects.
The team works through the summer to get ready for opening in September, and most of the work happens at night to avoid the worst of the summer heat.
“Jungle Island can get very dark at those hours, so imagine a team building a haunted attraction in the middle of the night, surrounded by monsters, props, unfinished haunted houses,” Francisco said.
The workers laugh, sing, dance, and joke as they work until sunrise. They also make a game of pranking and scaring one another in dark hallways.
“Sometimes, we end up scaring each other more than we scare the guests,” Francisco said.
It’s all part of the magic behind The Horrorland. Everything the guests experience is the result of a diverse team of performers, technicians, builders, makeup artists, designers, operators, and producers who love what they do.
The Moments That Made The Horrorland More Than a Haunted Attraction
Looking back at the attraction’s early days, Francisco said a few moments stand out that helped him realize The Horrorland could become much bigger.
He received a message from a guest who said this was the first time they had brought their grandmother to a haunted attraction. Because she’d experienced it safely from the car, she’d had an incredible time.
Another time, a mother brought her son who had cancer to the drive-thru experience, allowing him to safely enjoy it. She thanked them for creating such a unique, safe experience during the COVID pandemic.
“I don’t think you forget something like that,” Francisco said. “For us, it might be another night of performances. For somebody sitting in that car, it could be a memory with someone they love.”
The Horrorland has come a long way since then, but what hasn’t changed is the team’s passion for creating an unforgettable experience for their guests.
“We want people to leave The Horrorland talking about what happened, laughing about who screamed the loudest, sharing the stories with their friends and family, and coming back the following year to do it all over again,” Francisco said.
Book your exciting, immersive, unforgettable experience and learn more at The Horrorland website.
McClatchy Commerce
Based in Kansas City, Chase Clements is the Commerce Content Manager for McClatchy.