NEWPORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — During the day, the ancient ship on the bank of the Ohio River right on the state line is relatively unassuming.
However, come nightfall, the mood changes.
The USS Nightmare comes alive.
Just as it has for the last 31 years, thanks to general manager (captain if you will) Allen Rizzo.
“For four or five years, I had a love for haunted houses and I told my boss ‘hey you have an old rusty boat that would make a great haunted house.’ He thought I was nuts," Rizzo said.
"One day he was in a meeting with the right people and the topic came up of something to do for a fall event. Four weeks later we were in the haunted house business.”
There's substantial history to this spooky vessel prior to its transformation.
Its first name was the USS Mitchell, christened in the 1930's as part of the decades long mission to make the Missouri more navigable.
“After the embargo of the 1980’s, they were going to turn it into a museum, it was given to a museum corporation," Rizzo said.
"While it was being transformed into a museum, it broke loose and hit four bridges. It was destined for the scrapyard. It was called the Mitchell Massacre on the Kansas City news that night. That’s really when the Mitchell became the nightmare.”
Over the years, the Nightmare certainly has leaned into its new persona.
The rust and wear of nearly a century pairs with a dedicated team of actors hopping aboard every night to scare guests.
Like Lizzie Schreibeis, a.k.a "The Captain's Daughter" Anna.
“Anna is the captain’s daughter. She thinks that she runs everything (which she does)," Schreibeis said.
"Her and her dad feud a lot but really her focus is to just make new dolls or clowns. She was always lonely so she created the clowns to have some friends. She’s a little diva that runs everything around here.”
From being read Fangoria novels when she was born, Schreibeis has always been around horror in some way.
There's plenty of excitement for her every night suiting up with her scary squad.
“It’s fun, you make a lot of fun friends. You’re practically making family. It’s almost like a stress reliever," Schreibeis.
Not sure how many people would agree with the stress reliever part.....but it is meant to be a fun experience as much as it is a night of fright.
Over 30 years, Rizzo has learned to love connecting with people waiting in line, learning where they are from or why they came, even seeing multiple generations come to see ghosts.
I’ll have a guy with a couple young kids with him. He was telling how he remembered doing this when he was a kid. He loved it so much he had to make sure his kids enjoyed the same thing," Rizzo said
"It’s become a family tradition. His parents start to pass it down over the next generation. It kinda warms your heart. It makes Halloween special.”
If you want to get tickets to hop aboard the USS Nightmare, click here.
