Mambo Baptise wanted to open a haunted house from the first time she visited one at age 14. After years of hoping, researching, and planning, she’s getting ready to ring in the most frightening time of year with the opening of the Conjure Haunted Attraction!
But Conjure is more than one girl’s dream come true. As Conjure’s co-owner and a domestic violence survivor, Mambo is using this venture as a way to support fellow survivors. Proceeds will benefit her nonprofit, Andrew’s Place, a refuge for domestic violence survivors with an emphasis on helping LGBTQIA+ individuals who struggle to find the support they need elsewhere.
Here’s everything you need to know about this spine-tingling attraction and the cause it supports.
The Conjure Experience
The Conjure Haunted Attraction is an immersive production that seeks to haunt, frighten, and thrill. “We have 50,000 square feet of scare,” Mambo shares. Around every terrifying corner is a new hair-raising scene to revel in or flee from. And you can go at your own pace. “The experience can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how fast you run,” Mambo jokes.
For its inaugural haunting season, the Conjure Haunted Attraction features a bone-chilling storyline following the perils of Ouija boards. Visitors begin the experience by entering a home, assuming the role of kids playing with a board, and then suffering the consequences.
But meddling with the Ouija board comes at a price. Visitors will make their way through room after terrifying room, doomed to suffer the horrifying events of those who died.
Fear not if you lose your enthusiasm for the chills and thrills along the way. The attraction offers exit doors for those who opt to end their experience early. While there are no refunds, escaping with your composure intact is its own form of bravery.
Mambo envisions new storylines and scary surprises each year and hopes to expand the Conjure Haunted Attraction calendar to include productions for other holidays, too (Spooky Valentine’s Day, anyone?). This will allow her to continue supporting Andrew’s Place year-round.
Andrew’s Place: The Cause Behind ‘Conjure’
Mambo’s lifelong dream of opening a haunted house was derailed by her domestic violence experience. “I was fortunate enough that I was able to get away,” she says. “I need to make sure that I can help someone else.”
Leaving an abusive relationship, she says, is often more complicated than people realize. Not only are survivors frequently isolated from their support system at the hands of their abuser, but attempting to leave often results in the most violent attacks, dissuading victims from trying to escape.
When they do escape, survivors need swift and comprehensive assistance to protect themselves and reestablish the safety nets their abusers destroyed. “We are trying to build a 24-hour facility to house survivors … and help them land softly somewhere,” Mambo says.
Named in honor of a domestic violence victim, Andrew’s Place seeks to provide all the support survivors need — from housing and employment to legal assistance and more. “We help them get a bank account, résumé, car, phone … all the things the abuser typically takes from them to isolate them,” Mambo explains.
Ultimately, the Conjure Haunted Attraction bridges Mambo’s love for Halloween and her passion for helping domestic abuse survivors. “With Halloween, I love that you can be whatever or whoever you want to be,” she says. Andrew’s Place seeks to provide that same hope and freedom to domestic violence survivors.
You can experience the Conjure Haunted Attraction at 906 40th Street North from Wednesday, October 2, through Saturday, November 9. The attraction runs from Wednesday through Sunday, 8 p.m. until midnight. It will also be open the entire week of Halloween. General admission is $25, and you can purchase tickets HERE. For more information, visit conjurebham.com or make a donation through andrewsplacebham.com.
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