Netherworld is kicking off its 30th season of frights, opening two brand-new haunted attractions inside a 70,000-square-foot warehouse in Stone Mountain. The anniversary lineup, Curse of the Collector and Beyond Oblivion: Legacy of Evil, runs most days through Nov. 7, backed by hundreds of animatronics, elaborate special effects and a cast of live scare actors roaming the halls.
Co-owners Billy Messina and Ben Armstrong founded Netherworld together, and according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the operation deploys live scare actors across its attractions. The report also considers the rise of AI-generated content in entertainment. Armstrong described the haunted house's guiding philosophy more bluntly, calling its modus operandi “chaotic insanity,” per the same report.
From a Kennesaw Storefront to a Stone Mountain Landmark
Netherworld's roots trace back to a 4,000-square-foot space in Kennesaw, where, according to WSB-TV, only eight people came through the door on one early night. Accounts differ on the exact founding year: Netherworld's own website states the operation has run since 1997, while Atlanta Magazine reports Armstrong and Messina launched Netherworld in 1996 after the Silo-X haunted attraction closed its Atlanta location.
The attraction was in Norcross in 2011, as documented by Creative Loafing, before relocating to its current permanent home in Stone Mountain in 2017, according to Secret Atlanta, at what is now listed as 1313 Netherworld Way. The AJC notes the haunted house first appeared in its own Leisure section back on Oct. 25, 1997.
Two New Haunts, a Monster Museum and Year-Round Escape Rooms
This season's two flagship haunts, Curse of the Collector and Beyond Oblivion: Legacy of Evil, join a lineup that also includes the House of Creeps Monster Museum, which the AJC describes as home to monsters and rare movie props. Netherworld builds its two seasonal haunted attractions fresh each year inside its warehouse, according to Atlanta Magazine, layering new scares onto decades of proprietary lore rather than resetting from scratch. The operation has never relied on licensed film characters, instead betting on original creatures and sets built by a crew with backgrounds in film and television, per Netherworld's official site.
Outside the Halloween season, Netherworld keeps five escape rooms open year-round, according to Haunted Attraction Network. Admission for this season is priced at $25 for one haunted experience or $35 for both, per the AJC's reporting.
A National Reputation Built on Live Scares
Netherworld's standing in the haunt industry extends well beyond Stone Mountain. Hauntworld Magazine named it the Most Influential Haunted Attraction of All-Time in 2013, according to the VoyageATL interview with Messina, and this year Netherworld is currently ranked No. 3 out of 19 nominees in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for Best Haunted House, per FOX 5 Atlanta. The same competitive landscape includes major theme-park productions like Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 35, which this year leaned on its own history by bringing back icons Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow, according to Haunted Attraction Network.
Messina's swipe at AI lands amid broader shifts in how people plan their Halloween outings. No specific survey figures are included here about search engines, generative AI, animatronics or when the Halloween season begins.
For now, Netherworld's answer to that digital shift is more live actors, more built sets and more hand-crafted scares inside its Stone Mountain warehouse. Details on hours, tickets and the season's full schedule are available through Netherworld's official website.
