Haunted Happening Hovers on the Horizon for Bethany

It’s a little too early (or maybe too late?) to think about Halloween, but for Eric Soltis, it’s pretty much the focus of his life – he’s a self-confessed haunted house junkie. Last night the approved his application to run a haunted attraction at 667 Amity Road, and Soltis could hardly contain his excitement.

“I’ve been looking for a spot to do this for years,” said Soltis, who got hooked on haunted events as a 5-year old when his parents took him to his first one. 

The Shelton resident said he looked everywhere for a suitable spot to hold one but found nothing. And then his girlfriend, Rebekkah Gambardella, learned that her grandfather was in possession of a large parcel of land in Bethany on Route 63.

“I didn’t even know he owned it,” Gambardella said with a shrug.

The couple visited the property, decided it was perfect and began the process of applying for a permit. Last month, Soltis appeared before the commission and outlined his plan, and last night, with a few provisions, it was approved.

The motion passed by planning and zoning allows Soltis to run his event 20 nights per year, predominantly Fridays and Saturdays with a few Thursdays, starting at the end of September. The haunting would begin at 6:30 p.m. and be done by 11 p.m. on weekends, and 10 p.m. on the occasional Thursday night. Soltis would have to inform police and neighbors which nights he would hold hauntings, and the well, which is near the old bank building on the property, would need to be barricaded to keep cars from driving over it. Also, the permit would be for one year only; if there are any issues with the event, he would have to negotiate through those with planning and zoning before he would get approval for a second year.

“I’m thrilled,” Soltis said. “I’ve been involved with haunted houses since I was 10. I go to so many of them, and I’ve been doing them out of my house for years. People keep telling me I should do them professionally, and now here I am.”

The haunted event is tentatively titled “The Amity Road Horror." In his brochure, Soltis writes, “ I’m looking to provide a safe, fun, entertaining and most of all ‘scary’ experience for families and people of all ages . . . my ultimate goal is to be the best and ‘scariest’ attraction in Connecticut . . . I believe we can make a great event in the town of Bethany.”