The Winchester Mystery House is now offering Axe Throwing at the Stables and an expanded Explore More Tour. Later this year, they will also introduce a Houdini themed challenge room.
In an announcement made last week, the Winchester Mystery House said that these activities offer visitors unique ways to engage with the history of the Estate through fun, immersive experiences.
“From riveting historical accounts told through our Explore More Tour to fun games, interactive challenges, and ghoulish stories experienced during Unhinged, Winchester Mystery House is sure to be the ultimate destination this fall,” said Winchester Mystery House General Manager Walter Magnuson.
Designed as a game that anyone can play, Axe Throwing at the Stables provides visitors with five outdoor lanes where they can throw axes at dartboard-like targets while scoring points. Built by Global Fun Pros based in Chino, CA, all lanes and targets are built to meet the requirements of the World Axe Throwing League. This attraction is now open — for ages 18+ — during operating hours. Axe throwing hosts will be on-site to offer detailed instructions to guests. Private rentals are also available for groups of 15 or more.
The Houdini Themed Challenge Room is an escape room experience featuring puzzles inspired by Houdini, who visited Sarah Winchester’s home in October 1924 with his wife, Bess, during his nationwide spiritualism lecture tour. His intention was to debunk the theories that the house was haunted, but he left with more questions than answers. The experience is designed by Paradox Escape Rooms. The Houdini Themed Challenge Room will open to the public this Fall in the former Firearms Museum, which has been temporarily closed while its collection is cleaned and curated by firearms experts. For ongoing updates, visit www.winchestermysteryhouse.com.
The Explore More Tour, which originally debuted in 2017 and allows access to areas of the house never before open to the public, now showcases additional areas including the stables, estate garden walk, and third floor servants’ area that have been closed for more than 90 years. The tour now also features new stories of Sarah’s estate workers, including her private secretary and her foreman, whose private stories and letters inspired the updated tour.
Also new to Winchester Mystery House this fall is Unhinged, a fully immersive horror experience beginning Friday, Sept. 6 and running 28 select nights through Saturday, Nov. 2. General admission tickets start at $44 and are available now at winchesterunhinged.com
Visitors can also enjoy a 3D projection mapped light show using the home’s unique architecture as a canvas produced by Paintscaping in the Estate’s front gardens, running multiple times on the nights Unhinged takes place. There will also be a giant edible gothic-inspired replica of the Winchester Mystery House created by Christine McConnell of Netflix’s “Curious Creations of Christine McConnell” on display in the Mercantile.