Frightful Fun Awaits at Cheyenne’s ‘Nightmare on Arapaho Street’

A suburban lot lined with mid-1960s ranch-style homes isn't the first place you'd look for a haunted house in Cheyenne. But, one glance at 707 Arapaho Street, and you'll know you're in the right place.

The golden leaves and the skeletal remains of a pet cemetery litter the lawn, with a healthy smattering of Jack-o-lanterns and the errant zombie adding to the fray. A trio of singing skeletons serenades visitors, providing the spooky soundtrack to your jaunt through the haunted house.

Creating 'Nightmare on Arapaho Street'

For Brian Allen and his wife Tammy, the first night of 'Nightmare on Arapaho Street' marks the culmination of a months-long project. "I start planning next year the day after Halloween," Allen joked as he showed off the 2023 edition of the haunted house. But why do it? Why make a haunted house in your own garage, I asked.

"I like to build stuff, and I like to scare people," he explained. When he put it that way, a haunted house makes perfect sense.

'Nightmare on Arapaho Street' began fourteen years ago as little more than a six-foot by eight-foot room. The DIY attraction has grown each year, garnering more props, effects, and tech as the years go by. This year's haunted house spans several rooms - the hallmark of which features a terrifying display of haunted dolls (we're talking baby dolls, porcelain dolls, even a Raggedy Anne doll - an homage to the 'Annabelle' doll made infamous by the Conjuring films.)

A Haunted House for All Ages

The free haunted house welcomed more than a thousand visitors last year. The attraction has no age limit - the first hour of each show dates to smaller children, offering them flashlights and trick-or-treating before the real scares begin. "You know, it's funny," Brian said as we walked past a wall of potions and decorative skulls, "I get a lot of little ones who don't get as scared as the big kids."

Entire families make their way through the haunted house. It's not uncommon to see a line stretching down the block as folks wait to see what thrills and chills the Allens have up their sleeves each year.

The 'Nightmare on Arapaho Street' opens on Friday, October 20, 2023, for eight nights of tours. Each showing of the haunted house features a 'less scary' tour between 5 and 6 p.m. and 'scary' tours from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. And, in case you didn't catch it earlier, the haunted house at 707 Arapaho Street is 100% free to visit. Check out the schedule of dates below:

• Friday, October 20
• Saturday, October 21
• Sunday, October 22
• Friday, October 27
• Saturday, October 28
• Sunday, October 29
• Monday, October 30
• Tuesday, October 31

For more info on 'Nightmare on Arapaho Street,' click here.