Cave Creek gets haunted house, bar crawl for Halloween

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The Western-themed town of Cave Creek finally has a big 21-and-older Halloween event to call its own.

Cody's Smokehouse and Grill, which officially opens in December, will be transformed into a haunted nightmare, for visitors to enter if they dare, starting Oct. 15. The venue will also host a beer garden when the haunted house is open, and on Halloween, there will be a kickoff party before a bar crawl through the watering holes of downtown Cave Creek.

“We are at the point in Cave Creek where all the bars are working together, and Halloween hasn't really been a big thing in Cave Creek, so we thought a bar crawl would be a good fit,” said Teresa Thompson, event organizer and manager of the Cave Creek Coffee Company. “There's not a lot in the Valley for people who are 25 to 36 years old, and most Halloween events are for college-aged people. But this is also something people in their 50s will enjoy.”

Haunted saloon: The story behind the restaurant is intriguing enough to bring curious Halloween lovers from afar.

“We were told by Cave Creekers that Cody's was built on an old Indian burial ground,” said Jessica Berry, a haunted-house organizer. “There have been movies shot there and when it was another restaurant, people claimed to see ghosts and say it is haunted.”

The name of the restaurant was switched from “smoke” to “death” because when people enter they will walk into a bloodbath with bodies of the evening restaurant staff lying around. Haunted house goers need to find their way out, facing several obstacles along the way.

“This is a mind-teaser, and people won't see characters from Number 1 horror movies of the past,” Berry said. “In one part, you are in a dark room, and it's a maze with fake exits. People are running on top of the maze, and you are underneath it and have to find your way out, but there is no way out until the actors open the doors to let you out.”

Berry said that actors will follow the visitors and pretend to be part of their groups, only to be tricked later. She said the biggest draw is the realism of the haunted house compared with others around the Valley. It will be very gory, and “the building itself will seem like it's bleeding,” she said.

The haunted house is recommended for people 13 and older, but Berry said they will gauge the reaction on opening night to see if they need to raise the age limit. Organizers boast the only Budweiser beer garden attached to the haunted house, where good-looking bartenders will be dressed in costumes slinging cocktails, and old horror movies will play on a tattered white sheet.

Several radio stations, including the Edge (KEDJ-FM 103.9)4 plan to broadcast live on select nights, and live bands will perform on Thursday, Oct. 29, and on Halloween.

Bar crawl: Thompson said this Halloween event has been a long time coming. The town hosts a family event called Wicked during the day on Halloween but has never done a nighttime activity for adults.

The free bar crawl will start with a kickoff party at Cody's, then guests can hop on a free shuttle starting at 8 p.m. that will loop around to five bars. Each joint will host costume contests with a combined prize of $4,000.

“There will be drink specials at every bar, and there is no charge to enter the contests or enter the bars,” Berry said. “Each bar is doing it up big time so no bar gets over-crowded, with extensions and outside bars.”

Costume contest schedule:
• 8:30 p.m., Los Mesquites Taqueria
• 9:30 p.m., C4
• 10:30 p.m., Buffalo Chip Saloon
• 11:30 p.m., Harold's Cave Creek Corral
• 12:30 a.m., the Hideaway

Although it's only the first year, organizers expect more than 5,000 to show up.

“We just hope that Cave Creek becomes the Halloween destination for the entire state because the town has a creepy air about it that is just perfect for Halloween,” Thompson said.