Copiague's Darkness Rising haunted house closed for the 2026 Halloween season

It's lights out for the Darkness Rising haunted attraction in Copiague this Halloween season as the building at 800 Chettic Ave. that houses the haunt has been condemned.

"We were defeated by a paperwork issue," founder/operator Kevin Baird says. "Now we are about to tear down the entire haunt."

This season's version of the 12,000-square-foot haunt, which has been in existence since 2006 but running at the Copiague location from 2019, was being built since May and had to halt production after an inspection by the fire marshal.

According to a statement from the Town of Babylon, "The haunted house was operating inside a building with no certificate of occupancy for that use and without the fire protections required of a special amusement under the fire code. The town is willing to work with the operators on that process for next year."

Darkness Rising, which typically draws up to 9,000 visitors per season and employs 85 people, is a subtenant that rents the space May through October from the main tenant, 360 Sports Center.

"There’s a big sign in the lobby that says that it has occupancy for 300 people. We were under the impression that it was totally OK," Baird says. "We need a specific variance on the use of the building. The building has public assembly permits but there’s a difference between public assembly and special amusement."

Baird was willing to make any adjustments needed but the time frame is too tight as the haunt planned to open on Oct. 3 and run for 14 nights up to Halloween, Oct. 31.

"Once we went to the town, they said it would take two months to resolve if they were moving as fast as possible," Baird says. "There was no way for us to open in time because that would be the beginning of November."

Baird has already invested over $100,000 in this year’s attraction and put in four months of prep work.

"We had the whole thing framed out and a decent amount of sets done. Many were in the middle of being worked on," Baird says. "It was all coming along. We were just about to put the electric in when we had to stop."

The theme of the haunt this year was set to be into two parts for up to a 30-minute experience at $40 per ticket.

The first section was a zombie apocalypse called Dead City. "You are going through a city and there is a military escort trying to get you from one end to the other," Baird says.

The second section was supposed to have a fairy-tale theme called Twisted Tales.

"This was a big collection of dark Grimm fairy-tales mixed with 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Snow White,' Baird says. "All the props were totally custom-made."

When asked if it was possible to temporarily move to another location for this year, Baird says, "It would take too long to get permits for this kind of thing. Plus, it’s too much risk to change it for one season. It might lose us more money if we tried to do something like that."

Baird is trying to recoup his investment by selling off some handmade props and through a GoFundMe campaign.

"I have no idea what else to do right now," he says. "It’s a crazy amount of money that we have lost."

In terms of next year, Baird plans to revive Darkness Rising once again.

"We want to stay at the same location," he says. "The town and the fire marshal seem to be willing to work with us."