Staff photo by Clay Schuldt The Krampus themed haunted house is back from the dead, with more creepy Christmas scenes. New Ulm Nightmare’s previously canceled holiday haunted house has been rescheduled for one night only on Saturday, Jan. 30.

NEW ULM — The Krampus Haunted House is returning from the dead.

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, January 30 the holiday-themed haunted house at 21 S. Minnesota Street will finally open to visitors.

Last month Doug Hughes, of New Ulm Nightmares, scheduled a special event called “A Krampus Christmas” featuring the Grinch. Unfortunately, due to a statewide restriction on indoor entertainment as part of the COVID dial back, the holiday event was canceled. Now that enough restrictions are lifted, the haunted house event can continue.

Hughes said it will be called the “Krampus After Christmas” event. When the first event was originally canceled, the decorations had already been hung with care. Hughes decided to keep the decorations up and reopen when restrictions were lifted. Since he had additional time he was able to add onto the haunted house, creating additional rooms with new scares.

The basic setup for this haunted house will be the same as the one planned in December. People touring the haunted house will go in with their group only to prevent potential COVID spread. All performers will be wearing masks or will be separated from guests by plexiglass. Instead of ghosts and goblins, it will be scary nightmare elves and the infamous Christmas demon: Krampus.

Hughes said visitors to this haunted house will need to navigate several rooms of holiday-themed horror. Many are designed to look like a traditional home during Christmas, but there will be one room designed to simulate the outdoors, complete with an artificial snowstorm.

Hughes wants to keep some of the scares a secret, but visitors will need to get past Krampus and the Grinch before escaping.

Hughes said he originally thought the haunted house would need to reopen closer to Valentine’s Day, but he was concerned the weather would be too cold for people to wait outside. He is confident the weather will be more favorable on Jan. 30 but advised visitors to wear a coat in addition to masks.

COVID restrictions still require all visitors and actors in the haunted house wear a face mask.

Hughes is excited to try something new with the haunted house. Public response to the holiday-themed haunted house has been positive.

“It is something fun for people to do,” Hughes said.

If this haunted house goes over well, there could be other holiday-themed haunted houses in the future.

For more information on the event, visit the New Ulm Nightmares website.