Creepy Hollow moves beyond fire nightmare

By Cal Braid
Westwind Weekly News

On May 20, 2022, between the hours of 10:30 -11:00 p.m., Richard Reimer saw smoke coming out of his haunted house, called Creepy Hollow. He made a 911 call immediately. Fire crews from four municipalities responded through the night and stayed on-scene until the following afternoon. By then, fire had destroyed the entire house.
Reimer and his wife, Glory, are the owners of the property. “Creepy Hollow was an abandoned farmstead that sat for years before the Reimers bought it and made it what it is today,” said Victoria Holmes, a supervisor at the site. “It’s located five minutes north of Warner and 35 mins south of Lethbridge.”
“The owners bought the property in March of 2015. Since then, there has been constant work on the property,” Holmes continued. “The property had a few buildings that we renovated and made them what they are now. We are open all year long with Static Tours (museum styled tours with no spooking, but lots of interesting facts), camping and murder mystery parties. We also host an annual Zombie Run game each year. Last September we introduced a new event, called Frankenfest. It has bands, food trucks, and camping that weekend. We are always open for indoor events as well as weddings; I’m having mine this August outside the Church of Glory.”
Upon opening, the site didn’t attract as many visitors as the hosts would have liked, but they have steadily grown “busier and busier,” Holmes said. “I believe we had close to 1,000 people attend in 2021.”
Describing her role there, Holmes said, “I answer the front door and give you the beginning spook before I send you on your way down the dark hallway where my friends are waiting for you. I also take care of new volunteers. I get them costumed and make sure they have the proper training and safety information to safely spook.”
To deepen the mystique of Creepy Hollow, she said, “We still have no idea how the fire happened. We all have different suspicions, but that’s all they are.”
“All the work, paintings, props, animatronics, antiques, furniture, taxidermy animals, and so much more, all gone. It was a tragic loss. There’s hardly anything that was salvaged.”
Having experienced such a setback might have dampened the spirits of the hosts, but they are moving forward with hopes to rebuild. “On June 18, we are hosting a huge fundraiser event. We have quite a few bands who are playing, comedians, a silent and live auction, camping, bouncy castles, face-painting, laser tag, pony rides, beer garden, we are also going to have items to buy with all proceeds going towards the eventual rebuild of our beloved haunted house attraction,” Holmes announced. “We also have four accounts open for bottle donations at Greens Pop Shop west and north side locations, as well as Ability Bottle Depot south and north side locations. To donate, just let them know it’s for Creepy Hollow. (We also have) a GoFundMe – Creepy Hollow Haunted House by Kelsie Reimer.”
“We look forward to spooking once again. Like a phoenix we will rise from the ashes. We will be bigger and better, just wait and see.”

Get More Westwind Weekly →