Gwinnett County family stages epic haunted house to celebrate Halloween

When Halloween rolls around, the Haunt Junkies get busy.

Lawrenceville residents Vilonte McCloud and Megan Johnson — who call themselves the Haunt Junkies — revel in the scare, bringing their shared love of horror movies, haunted attractions and all things macabre in a Halloween extravaganza in their home.

The couple, along with their daughter Trinity, turn their suburban home into a scary Halloween attraction, utilizing their main floor (minus the living room), garage and front yard to provide chills for those who come from near and far to see their unique creativity and their devotion to hair-raising visuals.

“With the time and effort and money we put into this, we have a pro show house,” McCloud said.

Lawrenceville residents Vilonte McCloud and Megan Johnson - who call themselves the Haunt Junkies - host a haunted house every Halloween season. (Courtesy of Haunt Junkies)

This is the fifth year the Haunt Junkies have put their appreciation for the terrifying on display. The last couple of years have been hit or miss due to COVID and a death in the family, so McCloud and Johnson will stage “McCloud Manor” on four nights — Friday, Oct. 28, Saturday, Oct. 29, Sunday, Oct. 30 and Monday, Oct. 31.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and won’t close until the last person has gone through the haunted experience. The home is located at 2100 Carlysle Park Lane in Lawrenceville.

It’s a little misleading to say the Haunt Junkies get busy at Halloween. It takes many months to put together the kind of haunted attraction that widens eyeballs and stops hearts. And the family is working right up to the last minute to make sure every prop is in place.

“Adding the garage and cemetery, we started in February and built all the way to October. We were going hard all the way to the end,” said McCloud. “We act in it as well, which is gratifying. We enjoy it seeing other people enjoy it. It’s so much fun.”

This is the fifth year the Haunt Junkies have put their appreciation for the terrifying on display. (Courtesy of Haunt Junkies)

When the Haunt Junkies aren’t working on their own attraction, they’re checking out similar presentations in other towns and in other states. Once they established a blog with reviews of haunted houses, they visited more than 100 attractions in 16 states. In recent years, they’ve surveyed attractions in Georgia and Kentucky and are headed to Michigan this year.

McCloud said he’s looking forward to seeing attractions in Michigan because of the available space for expansive eeriness.

“Their style of haunted attractions is more of the three-story factory haunt,” he said. “People repurpose … buildings and we’re excited to see some of these big haunts. Georgia has great haunts but the video they sent us was so awesome and people love it.”

McCloud and Johnson have also established the Golden Ghost Awards, which recognizes excellence in the field. The couple has a YouTube show and posts reviews on its website. Although creating and executing their haunted attraction is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor, seeing haunted attractions all over the country also scratches an itch.

“We take a break after the haunted attraction, but Haunt Junkies as a whole is like a business, almost,” said McCloud.

It takes about 10 minutes to experience “McCloud Manor” and in previous years folks waited up to an hour to be terrified. For more information about the Haunt Junkies, visit www.hauntjunkies.com