 |
| Last Rites Funeral Parlor, the newest attraction at Reaper's Revenge near Scranton, Pa. |
by Tara Adams
Writer, Haunt Hunters App SCRANTON, Pa. — An eerie, two-story Victorian house stands along a dark mountain path in Lackawanna County, its grey, weathered clapboard siding and towering mansard roof masking what lies behind the front doors. Inside, the scent of fresh wood mixes with damp air as owner Paul Kotran opens Last Rites Funeral Parlor, the newest addition to the Reaper’s Revenge complex. It's the sixth haunt at the nationally-recognized haunted attraction.
The detailed set design boosts Last Rites’ twisted theme. A once elegant dining room features skeletal remains seated at a fully dressed, decaying table. Wall chalking in a pitch-black corridor reads, "I think I'm gunna die in this house," alongside tally marks scratched into the wood. Down another hallway, a funeral scene displays a clear glass-topped casket flanked by mourners clad in black while praying and holding rosaries. Elsewhere, a human-crow hybrid figure framed by dark feathers stands guarded by twin pillars of artificial skulls. .jpg) "When you open a new attraction … this is number 6, you hope to get 70 percent of your vision year one," Kotran said. "I'm going to say out of the gate this is 85. We'll dial this in a little more next year." The physical structure was constructed in 2022 and originally teased for a 2023 debut, but the project required extra time and preparation. "Our eyes were bigger than our bellies," Kotran said. "We had to save our money. We had to clean some things up, but in the process of doing that, knowing we were going to do a funeral parlor, we were saving and hoarding and going to the flea markets, and we were gathering stuff for three years. So as the rooms got built, we had so much stuff to just drop on and make it really nice." Kotran and his team partnered with outside industry experts to bring the interior spaces together. "We subbed out five of our rooms to 13th Floor Entertainment, some of the best people in the business," Kotran said. "Our team did the other 12 rooms." Work on the house picked up immediately following the close of the previous haunt season. “We had 10 days-two weeks to tear down,” Kotran said. “We started immediately in November framing it out. This was a workshop, and it looked like an airport hanger. It had the cement and that's it. For the first time in 18 years, we plowed the roads. We came up here for two-three days every week. Got it all framed out. In April, we were able to start putting up walls, set design, lighting, fire emergency stuff." Public anticipation built constantly during the delay. "What became a PR nightmare, ‘When's that haunted house going to open?’ is now, hopefully, a windfall for us, so we're really pushing that narrative, ‘It’s here,’" Kotran said. He said people often approached him to ask when the new haunt would open. "I can go anywhere in the middle of nowhere … and somebody would go, ‘Oh, you're with Reaper's. When's the haunted house opening?’ So, we had no choice. We had to open it,” Kotran joked. The new addition pushed the entire Reaper's attraction from 90 minutes to 105 minutes and increased staff from 280 people to 310, Kotran said. The haunt's storyline centers on Last Rites Funeral Parlor, a once-respected funeral home until Samuel “Little Sam” Moon, Jr. returned from embalming school with an obsession with the occult. Following his father's death, Little Sam conducted occult experiments and reanimation attempts inside the building before vanishing. “Now, after decades of silence, the doors of Last Rites have reopened … and those who enter must confront the darkness that was never truly laid to rest,” according to the Reaper's Revenge website. Haunt-goers are met at the front steps of the funeral parlor by a woman in a dark Victorian dress with a pale face, carrying a rosary and what appears to be a Bible. "Good evening, dearest family and friends," she tells attendees. "On behalf of the Moon family, I would like to extend my sincerest condolences on the passing of your loved one. For the deceased, the agony and suffering of this world are over. For you, your misery is just beginning,” she warns. “Only the purest of souls will pass peacefully into the light,” she said. “For others, their place may not be so peaceful. Come, let us protect and console each other, as we mourn our sister." Guests then enter the house and have an encounter with the funeral director. "Peace be with you," the director calmly tells guests. "Just down the stairs, the viewing will begin shortly." Attendees enter in small groups to the viewing parlor, where they begin their journey through the nightmarish house. "Sorry for your loss. So sorry for your loss," the funeral director tells guests, as the door closes behind them. It doesn't take long for guests to notice that something has gone horribly wrong. Actors in masks, makeup, and blood-soaked costuming operate within tight wall cutouts, popping out from narrow spaces to catch visitors off-guard. Props inside range from a grotesque adult head on a baby's body resting inside a vintage carriage, an overhead creature suspended from a dark ceiling, stretching its limbs over the pathway below, to a towering antique pipe organ running from floor to ceiling. Custom wall treatments include inverted crucifixes covered in heavy cobwebs.
"It takes two years to get a feel for a new attraction to decide what's working, what's not," Kotran said. "So, we've got a few nights in on this one. We've already been making adjustments as we go. And then, like, next year we'll do some of the finishing touches. And then it'll become part of our attractions that get a little love every year, which is what we do.” Last Rites joins Sector 13, Pitch Black, Lost Carnival, Delirium, and the signature Haunted Hayride on the approximately 66-acre property. Reaper's Revenge is open Friday through Sunday nights through November 1, 2026. Tickets, specific dates, and gate times are available on the Reaper's Revenge website. |
