Reinke Bros | 5663 S Prince Street
What started as a small make-shift operation in the basement of brothers Greg and Chris Reinke in 1968 is now one of the longest running haunted houses in the country. With a full-scale haunted house during the season and a Halloween superstore year-round, Reinke Bros is officially known as Colorado’s Halloween headquarters. In their 56th year of operation, we decided to catch up with Greg Reinke and learn a little more about what makes this place so spooktacular.
Who are you?
Reinke Bros is owned by brothers, Greg and Chris Reinke. They started their Halloween-themed activities is their basement as kids. Eventually the duo started building and producing haunted houses for the masses becoming known as spooky entertainment and promotion specialists. Their productions include everything from special effects and animatronics to specialty costumes and theatrical sets. Back when they started, masks and costumes weren’t mass-produced like they are now, so they had to make their own masks and costumes, which they still do to this day for their productions. The retail component of Reinke Bros is an offshoot of their haunted house business and helps supplement the business year around.
What makes Reinke Bros unique?
For Reinke Bros, Halloween is about 40% of the business — the rest is attributed to supplying props and sets for others’ productions. They have produced sets for some of the biggest entertainment venues in Colorado — Denver Botanical Gardens, the Denver Nature & Science Museum, and the Denver Zoo to name a few.
What differentiates the Reinke Bros Haunted House is that it truly is a family-oriented environment and experience. They don’t do any “blood and guts” and try to incorporate fun and excitement for the whole family. Think lots of special effects, illusions, animatronics, and actors. They are one of the only known haunted houses that has a production specifically for children, when they “send the monsters home” and let kids and parents see the ins and outs of the haunted house operation with the lights on. This is more of a learning experience as opposed to a scary experience. They’ve have 5 generations of families come through with their children to teach the basics and learn how they scare people. During the season, this tour is offered on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 10am – 1pm.
Why Downtown Littleton?
Reinke Bros moved to Littleton in February 1999, the same year the light rail opened. Greg and Chris were looking for a place that was big enough for their haunted house and retail needs that also provided ample parking. They ended up leasing a space that used to be a Piggly Wiggly and Food Giant, and eventually purchased the building in 2004. Reinke Bros was instrumental in helping to revitalize Downtown Littleton, drawing thousands of visitors to their haunted house each fall.
What do you want people to know?
With the growing popularity of Halloween and the elaborate costumes and decorations that go with it, they encourage people to come early in the season because the store gets really busy. Visitors from all around have already begun to come in for their Halloween needs.
In addition to that, the Haunted House will be open from September 27th – November 3rd. Tickets are ON SALE NOW!
