LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Waverly Hills Sanatorium is offering visitors a new way to "escape" a place said to be among the most haunted in America.
The owners behind the building have opened the "Escape Waverly: Did You Hear That?" escape room on the first floor of the sanatorium, with another already in the works. Owner Charlie Mattingly said the attraction stands apart from traditional escape rooms because it incorporates the sanatorium's history into the experience.
Players will enter the room and embark on an investigative journey to discover a missing locket. That story is loosely based on a tale passed down from a former maintenance worker about a young girl who died in the building when it was a tuberculosis hospital.
"The locket come up missing, and her dad went searching for it, couldn't find it, and then they swore they saw this little girl wandering around looking for where the locket was," Mattingly said. "So now you get to go into the escape room, figure out all the clues, and find the locket so we can return it back to their family."
Waverly Hills treated thousands of tuberculosis patients from across the region during the height of the disease. Now the facility has become known for its ghost stories and paranormal reputation, featuring a seasonal haunted house and tours. Mattingly said the new escape room will help generate revenue during the winter months, when tours typically slow down.
"We need something to fill in over the winter time when we cut back on our tours," he said. "Well, this right here is heat and air conditioned. It's climate-controlled, and it's something you could do all through the winter."
The escape room is currently open Saturdays and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Reservations can be made here, and Mattingly said additional days could be added if demand grows.
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