A masked killer with a machete is taking over a 40,000-square-foot former cold storage warehouse on San Antonio's east side this fall, and this time guests get a say in how he does his killing. 13th Floor Haunted House is bringing Jason Voorhees to its East Commerce Street location for the first time with a new attraction called Jason Universe: Survive the Night, running select nights from September 12 through November 8.
Guests Get a Hand on the Controls
The new maze invites visitors to confront the hockey-masked slasher in winding corridors filled with what the attraction promises will be new dangers around every corner, according to CultureMap San Antonio. The centerpiece is something called the Director's Cut, a four-button control panel available during limited times each night that lets guests decide whether Jason panics, slashes, strikes, or stalks his victims. It's a level of audience participation that goes beyond the typical jump-scare formula, turning bystanders into something closer to co-directors of their own slasher scene.
“We wanted to give San Antonio something wilder and more intense than ever,” said Blaine Skreenock, general manager of 13th Floor Haunted House, per the same report. Skreenock added that the combination of the Jason Universe license, a new attraction called Dose of Decay, sound upgrades, and set upgrades creates a different level of scares for the venue this season.
A Chemical Wasteland Joins the Lineup
Dose of Decay is the haunt's other new addition, depicting a decrepit cityscape overrun by victims mutated by a rogue chemist, with the Pharmacist cast as the rogue chemist pulling the strings inside that chemical wasteland. The attraction also teases a terrifying grand finale and adds new theatrical staging throughout, alongside a hi-fi sound system meant to sharpen the scares in every room. New this season is the Last of the Spinehelm zombie shooting range, giving guests a more interactive way to fight back against the undead.
Beyond the mazes, 13th Floor has built out its footprint into something closer to a full-evening entertainment venue. The complex now includes two hidden speakeasies, an Expedition Bar, and a food truck, letting guests eat and drink between scares rather than treating the haunt as a quick walk-through. Ticket prices start at $19.99, and a Respawn Pass is available for guests who want to skip the line.
A 1905 Building With Its Own Reputation
The venue itself has history baked into its brick walls. The multi-story structure at 1203 E. Commerce St. was originally built in 1905 as the San Antonio Machine and Supply Company, and its converted basements and industrial layout have made it a favorite backdrop for haunt designers since 13th Floor first opened there in 2010, according to America Haunts. A 2011 expansion added a 10,000-square-foot New Orleans-style graveyard maze and introduced early custom character hosts named Mr. Hallows and Gravedigger, as detailed by MySA.
The building has also attracted attention beyond its seasonal scares. Local paranormal investigators and ghost tour operators have cataloged unscripted claims from staff inside the facility's non-public sections, including reports of shadow figures, disembodied voices, and doppelgänger sightings, per RJA Ghost Tours. Staff members have specifically reported unscripted encounters near an old elevator shaft, the same account notes. The haunt holds official safety certification from the Haunted Attraction Association, an industry body that evaluates commercial haunts against 10 specific safety, facility design, and staff education criteria, as reported by CultureMap San Antonio.
Why Jason Is Showing Up Everywhere This Year
13th Floor's Jason deal traces back to Horror, Inc., which officially launched its Jason Universe initiative in May 2024 to expand the Friday the 13th slasher franchise across interactive games, location-based experiences, and merchandise after resolving a multi-year copyright lawsuit, according to IGN. Horror, Inc. President Robert Barsamian has spearheaded that cross-platform expansion of the 1980 horror franchise. San Antonio isn't the only stop for Jason this fall: Six Flags announced its 2026 Fright Fest lineup includes 29 licensed haunted attractions, including new Jason-themed and Final Destination mazes, putting 13th Floor in direct competition with theme park giants for the same horror intellectual property, per Deep Arrival.
That competition reflects pressure across the entire haunt industry. The U.S. commercial haunted attraction sector generates between $300 million and $500 million in annual ticket sales across more than 2,000 for-profit venues, though fewer than 3% of attractions draw more than 35,000 paid guests per season, according to America Haunts. A 2025 industry report from HauntPay found that high-revenue mega-haunts are expanding their market share through multi-attraction midways and advanced tech, while smaller haunts under $25,000 in revenue face declining sales tied to rising insurance and compliance costs — a dynamic that helps explain why 13th Floor keeps stacking on speakeasies, shooting ranges, and interactive control panels rather than sticking to a simple walk-through format.
13th Floor's parent, Denver-based Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, is recognized as the nation's leading creator of immersive Halloween entertainment, operating haunted attractions across 18 U.S. markets including Texas, California, and Illinois, according to Built In. The San Antonio location's fall 2026 upgrades arrive as the city's downtown horror scene keeps growing beyond the Halloween season, following the Alamo Plaza scare debut of Phillips Entertainment's Scream Experiment attraction earlier this year.
