The FDNY is shutting down what it called a “death trap” of a haunted house in New York City.
On Friday, Oct. 11, local outlets WABC and FOX 5 NY reported that the New York City Fire Department shut down a haunted house in Queens on alleged safety violations after department members reported the attraction to the Bureau of Fire Prevention.
According to its website, “A Haunting In Hollis” offers a maze, escape rooms with live actors and overnight stays, with tickets starting at $30 for the maze.
However, the FDNY told the local outlets that the Queens home was a private dwelling that was using unsafe practices, including blocked exits, use and accumulation of combustible materials, poor electrical practices and holes in the walls and floors.
Footage from inside the haunted house, from the attraction’s Instagram page.
ahauntinginhollis/Instagram
“The building itself [of] the interior was altered, it had a very heavy fire load, there was a lot of plastic hanging,” FDNY Chief of Fire Prevention Thomas Currao told WABC.
“There was a smoke machine that was illegal, like [you] couldn’t find a small place that had more hazards in it,” Currao added. “But thank God we were alerted to it.”
New York City’s Department of Buildings confirmed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that it had inspected the building alongside FDNY, calling it a “real horror show.”
Additional footage of the haunted house.
ahauntinginhollis/Instagram
“We inspected a real horror show in Queens last week,” the post states. “DOB and @FDNY personnel were called to conduct a joint inspection to investigate reports that a 2-story residential building had illegally been converted into a commercial haunted house, with a literal maze inside…”
The FDNY added in a statement to FOX 5 that “all of the conditions and violations required immediate action as they posed Life Safety Hazards that could have been tragic if there was a fire at this location.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams commented on the investigation, writing in his own X post: “DO have spooky fun this Halloween. DON’T get tricked by illegal haunted houses.”
“Thank you to the @FDNY and @NYC_Buildings teams for quickly shutting down this dangerous operation that was scary for all the wrong reasons.”
The outlets reported that the Department of Buildings issued a full vacate order as well as summonses to the attraction’s owners.
“We want everyone to enjoy Halloween, it’s a great, great holiday, I have children, but we want them to do it safely,” FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker told WABC. “And that is a death trap that we came upon.”
