Zoo Man’s Nightmare Underground

Brent “Zoo Man” Mielke has give tours of his location at 145 East Main Street in Sleepy Eye for over 40 years now and has a collection of over 50,000 props on display. The props reside underneath the 1895 Opera House across 7,500 square feet of space and features several sections, including the “Werewolf Forest,” the “Clown Circus” and the “Head Room.” Props range from various animatronics to a prison cell taken from the 1865 Leavenworth State Prison. Mielke takes pride in the little details throughout the house with all the props he has collected.

“It takes a lot of visits to see everything,” Mielke said.

Mielke said the Nightmare Underground used to have more scares in it, but he has toned down the scare factor in favor of having more people stick around for the sights instead of running away out of fright for a more friendly experience.

An animatronic of “Frankenstein’s Wife” at Zoo Man’s Nightmare Underground

“My passion is the true crimes and true bizarre stories,” Mielke said. “That’s my passion. I just love reading the old newspapers and finding out what’s in there. And then sharing with everybody. When we go down in the basement, it’s not so much about being scared, I’ll tell the stories about what happend in the basement. And that’s fun. There’s a lot of history in this building.”

Mielke manages several other attractions in Sleepy Eye, including tours of the 1985 Opera House, the Ghost Tours of Sleepy Eye and has even written a book called “True Crimes and Bizarre Stories of Sleepy Eye Minnesota,” which came out earlier this month.

“I like to act, and I like to perform,” Mielke said. “And so does Larry [Hanson], my other guy who helps me. It’s fun. My book just came out, and this is my second book. My third book is coming out shortly … I don’t know how much more I want to go, but I’ll keep going as long as I enjoy it. I don’t see myself retiring yet.”

Those wishing for a tour of the Nightmare Underground can call 507- 766-2523 to schedule an appointment through Halloween. Tours start every 20 minutes from 4-6 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, visit Zoo Man’s Nightmare Underground or Ghost Tours of Sleepy Eye Minnesota on Facebook.

New Ulm Nightmares Haunted House

One of 50,000 props that make up Zoo Man’s Nightmare Underground in Sleepy Eye.

At the Brown County Fairgrounds, Doug Hughes is hosting his 11th Annual New Ulm Nightmares Haunted Houses on Friday and Saturday through Nov. 1.

This year, Huges has two haunted houses at the fairgrounds.

“The first one is Mrs. Olson’s School for the Unusual,” Doug Hughes, the organizer of the haunted house for the past 11 years, said. “Its a school she founded in 1870 for unusual people with unusual abilities or looks. You can see what the classrooms look like and what the dorms are like.”

Two of Mrs. Olson’s former students have also visited New Ulm this year in the Tripoli Brothers.

“They opened their circus, so you can go and take a tour of their circus too,” Hughes said. “They’re both indoor, walk-through haunts.”

Along with the haunts, the will be home to several other activities, including two escape rooms, a pumpkin slingshot and gel ball blasters. The house is open Friday and Saturday from 7-10 p.m., with different activities happening each weekend.

“This Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. is blackout,” Hughes said. “The lights are off in the haunt and you go through with a glow stick. Then Saturday the 25th, 11 to 1 p.m., we have kids day, where you can bring kids and come see the haunts with no lights on.”

For the first time ever, the New Ulm Nightmares Haunted House will be open for the first day of November, carrying over from Halloween Day on Friday to the weekend.

“We’re going to have an event from 7 to 9 that is going to be ‘Tag, you’re it,'” Hughes said. “There’s going to be a tag event where all the lights go out, and the students and clowns in there are going to try to tag you on the shoulder or back. You have to get through without getting tagged.”

Hughes and several volunteers start designing and planning the next haunted house as soon as this year’s is done. Building out the haunted houses starts right after the Brown County Fair, though this year they had about a week to get one of the houses done due to the Pumpkin Smash Demolition Derby on Oct. 4. The haunted houses have different themes every year. Tickets are available online at newulmnightmares.com or at the fairgrounds when you arrive.