Friday the 13th: Winchester Mystery House opens Halloween scare fest

It’s Friday the 13th, which is just the perfect night for the Winchester Mystery House to open its latest Halloween event, “Unhinged: Hotel.”

The annual nighttime scare fests have been really popular in recent years, drawing in a younger crowd than the usual tourgoers at the San Jose tourist attraction, the 160-room mansion built by Sarah Winchester and home to about as many eerie stories — mostly fiction — as it has doors.

Attendees stroll around the garden during the Winchester Mystery House 100th anniversary ceremony at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calif. on Friday, June 30, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group

The Symphony San Jose performs inside the Winchester Mystery House as part of the Winchester Mystery House 100th anniversary in San Jose, Calif. on Friday, June 30, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose has announced events for its 100th anniversary as a tourist attraction, taking place June 30-July 2, 2023. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)

To celebrate 100 years as a tourist attraction, the Winchester Mystery House has a lineup of events starting Friday, June 30, with a proclamation ceremony to recognize the date as Winchester Mystery House Day in San Jose. (Photo courtesy of Winchester Mystery House)

Photo by Anne Gelhaus

Visitors to ˜Unhinged” got a scarier-than-usual look at the Winchester Mystery House in 2019. The immersive theater show is returning this Halloween season with “Unhinged: Nightshade’s Curse,” playing Sept. 30-Oct. 31 on 13 select nights. (Photo by Anne Gelhaus)

The entrance to the Winchester Mystery House has been decorated for “Spirit of Christmas” tours in November and December 2020.

The entrance to the Winchester Mystery House has been decorated for “Spirit of Christmas” tours in November and December 2020.

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 12: A view inside The Winchester Mystery House is photographed through a window on Dec. 12, 2019, in San Jose, Calif. On Friday, Dec. 13th, the holiday decorated mansion will have a rare event Ñ a Friday the 13th evening flashlight tour. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 12: A view inside The Winchester Mystery House is seen on Dec. 12, 2019, in San Jose, Calif. On Friday, Dec. 13th, the holiday decorated mansion will have a rare event Ñ a Friday the 13th evening flashlight tour. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – OCTOBER 26: Visitors forma line at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. The home owned and built by Sarah Winchester is kicking off the Halloween season with a family friendly trick or treat trail. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

A spooky light show is projected on the front of the Winchester Mystery House on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, in San Jose, Calif. Winchester Mystery House’s newest attraction for the Halloween season is “Unhinged,” an immersive walk-through horror experience.(Jim Gensheimer/Special to Bay Area News Group)

A spooky light show is projected on the front of the Winchester Mystery House on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, in San Jose, Calif. Winchester Mystery House’s newest attraction for the Halloween season is “Unhinged,” an immersive walk-through horror experience.(Jim Gensheimer/Special to Bay Area News Group)

An actor plays out a haunted scene in a room at Winchester Mystery House on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, in San Jose, Calif. Winchester Mystery House’s newest attraction for the Halloween season is “Unhinged,” an immersive walk-through horror experience.(Jim Gensheimer/Special to Bay Area News Group)

Visitors tour the dressing room at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)

Sarah Winchester’s bedroom at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)

Visitors to the Winchester Mystery House view the South Turret Witch’s Cap, a room never before seen by the public, on Thursday, May 25, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. With today’s launch of the Explore More Tour, 40 rooms, hallways and other strange spaces have been added to house tours. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Several of the art glass windows throughout the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Callifornia, were made to order in Austria and imported by Tiffany’s of New York. (Manny Crisostomo/Sacramento Bee/MCT)

An exterior view of the Winchester Mystery House on Sept. 9, 2016 in San Jose. The Skeleton Key Club is the mansion’s new annual pass program which includes discounts, special benefits and the new Explore More Tour, starting in November. The tour will take visitors to rooms that have not been part of the general tours in the 93 years the mansion has been open to the public — places such as an attic over the ballroom, or inside the unfinished north turret. For now, Explore More is only available to club members, but may be open for general admission next year. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

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Attendees stroll around the garden during the Winchester Mystery House 100th anniversary ceremony at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calif. on Friday, June 30, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

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For this year’s haunted hotel take, which runs weekends and few other nights through Nov. 2, guests will find some new jumps mixed in with the general elegant spookiness of the house, as well as the return of The Mists, an outdoor scare zone. Themed food and drinks — including “creepy cocktails” — will be available, and there’s new merch in the gift store. Also opening Friday is a Halloween Museum on the estate that will be free for guests to check out and includes a collection of vintage Halloween decor and memorabilia.

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Winchester Mystery House Executive Director Walter Magnuson says the immersive experience brings in visitors from around the Bay Area.

“We are thrilled to work with dozens of local artists who will bring their unique talents and eerie creativity to life, transforming the historic mansion into a mesmerizing and spine-chilling spectacle,” he said.

Tickests start at $69.99, and kids under 13 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Get more details at www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/unhinged.

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