What started as a fun, once-a-year hobby for two Denver friends to create the ultimate haunted house has turned into a multi-city entertainment company that employs almost 4,000 workers and teams with celebrities.

The Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group opened its 13th Floor haunted house in north Denver last month for the 16th year. It’s one of the longest running and most popular haunted house attractions in metro Denver.

The 13th Floor has been delivering screams, jumps and the creepy-crawlies since 2008. It started on Brighton Boulevard in north Denver’s River North (RiNo) neighborhood, but the soaring real estate prices there forced its move to the current 32,000-square-foot location at 3400 E. 52nd Ave. in Denver.

CEO Chris Stafford, who started the company with business partner Warren Conrad, said the company is on a good growth trajectory with operations in 18 locations nationwide.

\That includes the Shaqtoberfest Halloween Festival at the R.M.S. Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif., in partnership with former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, and the Otherworld in Philadelphia. The latter is described as “countless rooms of large-scale interactive art, mixed reality playgrounds, and secret passageways await you in our surreal landscape of science fiction and fantasy,” according to its website.

“The plan and vision for the company is to continue to create unique events that people want to share socially,” Stafford said. “It’s basically giving people a reason to get together.”

The company has expanded its metro Denver area operations this year as well. New for 2023 is the Hyper Haunt room on the 13th floor of The Curtis Hotel, 1405 Curtis St. The hotel features themed floors and rooms, like fun and games, and already had a 13th floor scary theme going (the elevator announces the floor with Jack Nicholson’s The Shining character saying “Heeere’s Johnny”).

And it started its third year of the Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns show at Hudson Gardens in Littleton. It’s described as a “walk along a glowing trail of over 7,000 magnificent, hand-carved pumpkins.” The show, dreamed up by Stafford and his team during the pandemic, also has a Los Angeles location this year.

“I used the downtime during COVID to reimagine that event into what I wanted it to be and how we were positioned in the market,” Stafford said. “It has been going fantastic — a fall favorites for all ages. You go there, and you just feel like you’re in Halloween.”

As far as the partnership with The Curtis, Squad Captain (aka Director of Sales and Marketing) Megan Pierce said Thirteenth Floor officials pitched the idea to them.

“We were thrilled by the opportunity to elevate the experience on our very own 13th floor,” Pierce said via email. “Each room has a Hyper themed Junior Suite, and we thought it was such a great idea to take a Hyper room to the next level.”

“The 13th floor production team did a full takeover of one of the rooms and added props that aligned with the theme of the 13th Floor Haunt this year,” she said. “They have been a supportive partner in the launch of the package, providing props, scare actors and guest tickets, along with merchandise for the guests that book the Hyper Haunt room.”

No, the scare actors don’t burst in during the night for a live haunting.

The room, available only through Oct. 31, has been a guest favorite.

“The props are so realistic, and the first-look responses are priceless,” Pierce said. “The scares that are tucked into each and every corner of the room provide a realistic, immersive dive into your favorite nightmares. It is a must-see for this Halloween season.”

“We’re super excited to do the overnight room experience and it’s been super fun to work with them,” Stafford said. “Halloween lovers can go and experience this, and not just going to one of our events. But they can still go. They get tickets to the 13th Floor when they stay.”

For more information on the Hudson Gardens Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns show, visit magicofthejackolanterns.com.

To book a stay at The Curtis’ Hyper Haunt room, visit thecurtis.com/offers.

For tickets to the 13th Floor, visit thirteenthfloor.com.