MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — During spooky season, there's no better way to get your screams out than at a haunted house. In Morristown, there's a dark history behind a popular haunted attraction.
Frightmare Manor is an old, yellow house on the side of highway 11-E in the crosshairs of Hamblen and Jefferson Counties. For the past 13 years, people have paid to get scared there.
The screams aren't hard to hear in or outside the haunted halls.
"We like to have a lot of fun, we like to go for all your senses," Frightmare's owner Michael Wooden said. "We like to attack you from every different side, every different angle."
The creepiest thing about the attraction is the history behind the haunt.
"This is the home of one of Tennessee's earliest serial killers, Jeremiah Lexer, built back in the 1800s," Wooden said. "Now today, we've turned it into a haunted attraction."
Wooden said Lexer is known for killing his family and dozens of others in and outside the home. The Jeremiah Lexer character can be seen throughout the haunt carrying an ax.
"It is the real property, it's the real house, all the surrounding land, it's all real," Wooden said.
Hundreds come out to get scared and have done just that, for over a decade.
"People love to get scared, people pay to get scared," Wooden said. "People love the rush, the adrenaline, they love that feeling of just that slight little bit of, 'Oh no, something's happening.'"
The house isn't the only attraction on the grounds, though. You can jump onto a pad from a tall tower, throw some axes and walk through smaller rooms on the outside of the main house.
"Different people are scared by different things, no one person is going to be scared by exactly the same thing," Wooden said. "People like to come out to Frightmare Manor because they know they're going to have a good time. They know they will be entertained. They know it's real."
Wooden added, the attraction is safe and visitors don't have to worry about getting hurt during their trip.
There's also an option to do "The Money Back Haunt," which Wooden describes as being along the same lines as Fear Factor.
The haunted attractions will be open on weekends until November 6. For full hours, visit the Frightmare website.
Masks are optional this season.