Iconic Netherworld Haunted House celebrates 30 years of screams

Roaming creatures, giant jack-o'-lanterns and a whole lot of spooky fun. For 30 years in the Atlanta area, Netherworld Haunted House has been turning fear into an art form, and the screams haven't stopped yet.

What started as a much smaller operation with only a few special effects has grown into an immersive horror experience, an entire world of monsters, mayhem and things that go bump in the night.

Film and television industry veterans Billy Messina and Ben Armstrong founded Netherworld in 1997. They have spent three decades dreaming up new ways to terrify their guests. And after all this time, they're still trying to top themselves.

"Looking back at how we started and the fact that 30 years has passed, it's kind of crazy," Armstrong said. "I mean, I remember 10 years. I remember 15. I remember 20, even 25."

The operation has grown considerably since those early days.

"Now, the scale of the thing is just enormous. We're on 10 acres of land," Armstrong said. "On a given night, we have about 200 employees working here, 500 will work here seasonally. It's just massive."

Today, Netherworld is much more than a walk-through haunted house. The campus in the Stone Mountain area has a combined walking distance of more than 10 football fields and has become a staple for Halloween crowds in metro Atlanta.

Netherworld now features multiple attractions, escape rooms, a "spooktacular" monster museum with tales and archival pieces, and food trucks, making it a full-blown Halloween destination.

But before the monsters can make their grand entrance, there's some serious behind-the-scenes magic. From the hair and makeup to every creepy, crawling detail, the transformation is all part of the show.

Nevada, a scare actor, said the work can be physically demanding.

"You're spending five, six, sometimes even seven hours just repeating the same move over and over again," Nevada said.

"Maybe that's jumping, for some people that's sliding across the ground," Nevada said. "So it can be physically taxing. It's definitely about endurance."

And once those doors open, Nevada's job is to make sure guests get the scare they came for. It's creativity, craftsmanship and a whole lot of controlled chaos, all packed into an experience designed to keep people coming back for more.

Thirty years later, the nightmares are still getting bigger and scarier, and the team behind Netherworld is far from finished.

"The amount of work we do changing the scenes, coming up with all the technology, we even meet with our actors year-round," Armstrong said. "We have classes for the staff. So it is an ongoing thing, constantly."

Armstrong said the team also visits trade shows, tours other attractions and teaches seminars.

"It's absolutely a year-round endeavor, even for something that only lasts just about a month," he said.