Lincoln Mill Haunted House to Return with Halfway To Halloween Haunted House Experience This Month

Philadelphia's scariest new haunted attraction is reopening its doors for a one-night only pop-up event on Saturday, April 29th. Lincoln Mill Haunted House will present
Viktor's Vengeance, Halfway To Halloween featuring a special spring-time haunted tour in the chamber that has been lit up in ultraviolet light and features messages from the mill's inhabitants. Guests will descend below the streets of Manayunk into the famous mill at 4100 Main Street and follow the messages to discover what possessed Viktor Kane in the 1930s. The Lincoln Mill is haunted by many spirits, among them is the former mill owner, Viktor Kane. To discover why he conducted such evil acts, a paranormal research team will return to the mill when the spirits are very active, the halfway point to Hallow's Eve. Be prepared to come up close and personal with the inhabitants of the mill. Warning: Proceed with caution as this experience is meant to be scary. Dozens of scare-actors will bring the experience to life. Tours leave between 6:30pm and 10:00pm, with tickets only $25 per person. All tickets include access before and after to the deck overlooking the Schuylkill River. Souvenir t-shirts are also available for only $12.00 when purchased in advance. Tickets are on sale now at www.lincolnmillhaunt.com.

"Spring has arrived but October is still six months away. For those that love horror, there aren't many opportunities outside of the Fall season to get scared with your friends," said Lincoln Mill Haunted House Co-Founder Jared Bilsak. "For us, it seemed like the perfect time to open up the haunted house again at the halfway mark to Halloween. The end of April and the end of October both mark the transition between seasons, but most people are only familiar with Halloween. In some parts of the world, there is a significance to the last day of April, which is referred to as the second Halloween. We wanted to tell that story."

Viktor's Vengeance: Halfway To Halloween will pop-up in Manayunk for one-night only. For the storyline, Lincoln Mill co-founders Jared Bilsak and Brian Corcodilos wanted to offer something different than the prior two experiences, and something more interactive. They also want to introduce new characters and continue to evolve the experience and test their creative limits.

For the new storyline, Mill is haunted by many spirits, among them is the former mill owner, Viktor Kane. To discover why he conducted such evil acts, a paranormal research team will return to the mill when the spirits are very active, the halfway point to Hallow's Eve. The end of April marks the transition between seasons and is one of the few nights when the veil between the spirit world and ours is very thin. The chamber has been lit up in ultraviolet light to reveal unnatural activity. Since then, messages have appeared, revealing the presence of a demon and a dark truth about Viktor Kane.

For inspiration, Bilsak said, "There is a European and Scandinavian festival called Walpurgis Night that takes place on the evening of April 30th. The festival is often referred to as "the second Halloween" and it is believed to be one of the few nights when the veil between the spirit world and ours is at its thinnest. After learning more about this celebration, it seemed like the perfect time to offer a paranormal haunted house experience inside the historic Lincoln Mill. The haunted house has been lit up in ultraviolet light, providing an almost entirely different look than our past events. The theme for this event will revolve around a paranormal investigation that will explore the mill's dark past."

He added, "We thought there would be something interesting about taking our guests on a paranormal ghost adventure. They will venture though the attraction by following messages that have been left by the mill's ghostly inhabitants. These messages will explore the mill's dark past and what drove the mill's main villain, Viktor Kane to conduct such evil acts. This experience will feature plenty of scare-actors and surprises around every corner."

Viktor's Vengeance: Halfway To Halloween is the third haunted experience and tour to pop-up in the former home of Mad River. Each experience connects to each other but each also has a specific story to share and new things to experience. Viktor's Valentine in February was a complete blackout, candlelit experience that took guests on a murder mystery to discover who Viktor's valentine and killer was. For this new springtime experience, it will be a blacklight experience with ultraviolet lights where guests will embark on a paranormal investigation - gone wrong. While Viktor's Valentine was about his killer and lover, Viktor's Vengeance is an unnatural force that possessed Viktor in the 1930s.

For other updates for the April experience, Bilsak said, "We have been busy making changes inside the attraction through the creation of new scenes, sets, and surprises. Specifically for the story behind this event, we installed blacklights throughout the attraction and introduced UV messages that will guide guests on their journey. The installation of new lights for this event provides a drastically different feel than what guests experienced in October."

After Viktor's Vengeance, haunted house fans can look forward to the main October haunt, plus there talks for a future Christmas event and there are talks of a potential escape room offerings. Bilsak said, "We are actively working on and expanding the attraction throughout the year. Next season, guests can expect a longer experience that will feature several new areas. We will also be introducing an outdoor themed part of the attraction that will tie in the Schuylkill River behind the building. We are constantly changing things up so our guests will never have the same experience twice!"

He concluded, "The Legend of Lincoln Mill is an ongoing story that will continue to evolve from year to year. This chapter of the story revolves around an evil force that has been with the mill for a long time. This force is believed to have possessed Viktor and is what caused him to conduct such evil acts. But stay tuned- as this story is just beginning!"

Tickets are on sale now and selling fast at www.lincolnmillhaunt.com for $25 each - and all include access to the deck overlooking the Schuylkill River. Souvenir t-shirts are also available for only $12.00 when purchased in advance.

TRANSPORTATION

By Car - If you are traveling by car, there are multiple parking lots and side street parking in Manayunk. You can prepay parking for nights of events by purchasing a parking ticket on our ticket website. There is a limited amount of parking in the lots per night. The parking will be valid until 6am the following morning.

By Train - One of the best ways to arrive at the Haunted House is by train utilizing SEPTA. There are two train stops within walking distance, Wissahickon Station and Manayunk Station, both on the SEPTA Regional Rail.

By Bus - Please refer to the Philadelphia SEPTA bus schedule

Uber and Lyft - We recommend you enter the address 4050 Main Street for your Uber and Lyft rides for the destination so you can arrive not at a busy intersection. You can then walk 100 feet to the entry at 4100 Main Street.

THE CO-FOUNDERS AND BACKSTORY

Lincoln Mill Haunted House is a partnership between owners Brian Corcodilos, who owns the building, and Jared Bilsak who is the creative mastermind behind the design and storyline.

Corcodilos oversees 25 employees at Designblendz, recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in America in 2020 on the INC 5000 list at #579. Brian has a passion for teaching and loves to help drive others to success. Whether he is speaking in front of thousands of people, mentoring 1-on-1, or business coaching a small group, he captivates his audience with his energetic truth-telling stories. He runs a podcast on Apple Itunes called the New How Podcast, interviewing business owners around building businesses through the use of new technology.

Bilsak is a licensed architect at Breslin Architects in Allentown, Pennsylvania specializing in K-12 School Architecture. Jared is also LEED Accredited Professional, WELL Accredited Professional, Construction Document Technologist and an FAA Certified Drone Pilot.

The two met in 2009, at Philadelphia University (now Jefferson University). Corcodilos was a sophomore at the time while Bilsak was a Freshman. They met through Alpha Chi Rho Fraternity (AXP) where Corcodilos was Bilsak's "Big Brother". In 2012, the Fraternity was seeking new ideas for charitable events on campus. Bilsak had a background in creating Haunted Houses at his childhood home each October season. He floated the idea out to Corcodilos about doing a haunted house on campus in the historic Ravenhill Mansion. The likeliness of the school ever letting two fraternity guys turn their most historic and valuable building on campus seemed very unlikely at the time... Corcodilos decided to pitch the idea to the school's leadership and somehow they let them move forward with the idea!

They successfully ran the haunted house entitled "Ravenkill Mansion" during the last weekend in October for the remainder of their time in college. Each brother in the fraternity was an actor inside of the haunted house. They divided up the mansion into smaller rooms and introduced many special effects and characters throughout. The haunted house attracted hundreds of college students and members of the community and all proceeds were raised towards the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). After they both graduated, they returned each October season and led the Fraternity to continue carrying out the event until about 2018.

During these college years of running "Ravenkill Mansion", they thought it would be fun to one day open up their own professional haunted house. They will realize this dream with the opening of Lincoln Mill Haunted House.

When asked how the idea came together, they said to flash forward ten years when Corcodilos purchased the old Mad River in Manayunk, Philadelphia during the COVID-19 pandemic and was seeking a tenant for the first floor. It wasn't long after when Hurricane Ida struck Philadelphia and flooded the Lincoln Mill to historic water levels. The building suffered significant water damage and he was concerned about finding the right tenant for the space.

Somewhere along the line, he had a flashback to their old college days of operating Ravenkill Mansion and saw a new business opportunity. He reached out to Bilsak about the idea.. Bilsak had been running a haunted house at his residential home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at the time and had been content with his home haunt operation. After seeing the photos from the flood on facebook specifically of the Lincoln Mill under water, Bilsak saw high risk in the venture and was not interested.

They met several months later and after a few drinks, discussed the idea again. They analyzed the flood maps over the course of 200 hundred years and discovered that the latest flood was one of the worst in history and after weighing the odds, they decided to give it a go!

They decided to use their biggest fear, the potential of another flood, to their advantage. The flood became the premise to the backstory for the debut of Lincoln Mill Haunted House in October of 2022. The new attraction garnered critical raves from local, regional and national press, as well as guests. Now, Lincoln Mill is back again bringing together everything Philadelphia loved about spooky season and pairing it with a new experience just in time for Valentine's Weekend.

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