The Nightmare Chamber and Nightmares on the Rogue haunted houses are both no-touch, meaning actors will scare but not touch attendees, with the same required by attendees. (Courtesy photo)

Two Medford haunted houses, The Nightmare Chamber and Nightmares on the Rogue, are collaborating for a night of fun and fear. 

The Halfway to Halloween Summer Festival will include two haunted houses from the collaborating organizations, music spun by local DJs, costume contest, a spooky-themed bar, photo ops, arts and crafts vendors and food and drinks. 

“It’s just a fun environment for people to get their spook on before October,” said Robin Downward, owner and producer of The Nightmare Chamber. “To be able to watch people have fun and appreciate what we’re doing outside of October is a lot of fun; the other thing too is to have (Nightmares on the Rogue) and I doing this as part of a carnival atmosphere, which is what we both have wanted to do for a long time.” 

“We’re just super excited. … I think the biggest thing I’m excited for is getting the community together and giving the Rogue Valley a fun thing to do with families with safe, fun entertainment,” said Devin Price, owner of Nightmares on the Rogue.

Halfway to Halloween is scheduled for 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 13. 

The haunted houses are located one block away from each other in Medford, with The Nightmare Chamber at 10 E. Third St., and Nightmares on the Rogue at 502 N. Fir St. 

Tickets range from $30 for general admission to $40 for fast passes, and organizers intend to make the Midway — the section that will have vendors, food, music and more — free to get into, though as of Friday, tickets for the Midway were set at $10. 

To purchase tickets, visit summerofchills.fearticket.com.

This marks the second year of doing Halfway to Halloween, with last year’s effort showing Downward and Price that local horror enthusiasts were into the idea. 

“There were probably, I’d say, about 600 people that came for the day,” Downward said. 

“People really loved it; it was a really successful event,” Price said. “Going into this year, we were looking at doing it again and figuring out the right time and Friday the 13th lined up in June.” 

While June 13 doesn’t quite line up with the halfway point to Halloween, the organizers couldn’t miss a golden opportunity to hold the event on the ominous day, Downward said. 

The Nightmare Chamber and Nightmare on the Rogue operate as no-touch haunted houses, where actors will not touch participants, with the same being required of the visitors.

“We are a haunted house and it’s scary and we don’t pull punches; if it’s a movie, it’s the equivalent of a PG-13 movie,” Price said. 

Both haunted house owners see themselves teaming up as a win for themselves and the spooky-loving community alike, offering more resources pooled together for better attractions and more things to do for visitors.

“We’re always trying to find ways to partner together, because having so few haunted houses in the area, we want to be able to support each other as much as possible,” Downward said. “(Price) and I basically are the same person separated by about 30 years; we both have the same interests and way of thinking about putting it all together.” 

Both owners enjoy providing an immersive experience, building out stories within the scares, they said.

For Nightmares on the Rogue, Price’s story will revolve around tales of Halloween and will be pumpkin-based with a temple of terror. 

Downward’s The Nightmare Chamber will build out on the recurring hillbilly cannibal family used in previous haunted houses. 

While Halfway to Halloween is the main focus for organizers, efforts are already underway as they look forward to Halloween. 

“We have totally revamped our show this year, and guests can expect a longer experience that’s the same quality, if not better,” Price said. 

Nightmares on the Rogue recently moved its operations a couple streets over to a 30,000-square-foot facility, offering more room for scares. 

With The Nightmare Chamber, Downward intends to continue building up its carnival-like atmosphere with more vendors and activities outside of just the haunted house. 

“What we’d really like to do is create basically a Southern Oregon scream park,” Downward said. 

For more information on Halfway to Halloween, visit frightsonfront.com. 

Reach reporter James Sloan at james.sloan@rv-times.com.