Why You Should Visit Unhinged: Nightshade’s Curse at the Winchester Mystery House for Halloween

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for new, exciting, frightening Halloween experiences each year on cue as October rolls around. That’s why I was thrilled to hear that Unhinged: Nightshade’s Curse was returning to the Winchester Mystery House after a two-year hiatus. And I wasn’t alone! When we arrived at Unhinged, I was delighted to find a line of people forming around the property directly behind me. In other words, the attraction was booming, and it was easy to see why.

If you don’t already know what makes this property so special, read our previous piece on the Winchester Mystery House via our exclusive interview and article here, which was conducted in 2019 when we visited the property to film Weird World Adventures. To sum it up, what makes the Winchester Mystery House so unique is the motivations of Sarah Winchester. The heiress of Winchester Repeating Arms moved to San Jose, California after the death of her husband and began renovations on a 6-room farmhouse. While it all started out seemingly normal, her construction on the property turned into a 38-year job, as she added rooms, unique designs, and strange architectural phenomenon continuously onto the home from 1884 until her death in 1922. At one point in time, prior to damage from the 1906 earthquake, the property had a tower that stood 7-stories tall.

Today, the mansion is 24,000 square feet in size and consists of 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 160 rooms, 52 skylights, 47 stairways and fireplaces, 17 chimneys, 13 bathroom, and 6 kitchens. There is a stairway that leads to nowhere and a door that opens from the second story out into the garden below.

What adds to the allure of the property is that no one knows why Sarah continued to build onto her home. While it’s likely she had a love for architecture (and did have a history with it), many people believe that Sarah was haunted by the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles and that she believed something terrible would happen if she ever stopped construction on her home. Because Sarah didn’t leave much behind expressing her intentions, the spooky stories have continued to cultivate and flourish, and today the Winchester Mystery House is known as one of the most haunted houses in America. This leads me to the main reason you should visit Unhinged- don’t you want to attend a haunt that takes place in one of the most haunted houses in America?

Unhinged leads you through the maze-like environment of the Winchester Mystery House as you experience one (or two if you get a VIP ticket) routes throughout the darkened corridors of the infamous mansion. While many San Jose Halloween celebrations are leaning more into the family-friendly route, the Winchester Mystery House General Manager, Walter Magnuson, explains that they used this opportunity to make the experience at the Winchester House even more frightening.

As you arrive, you are led around the grounds of the property into Madame Nightshade’s Spirit Carnival where you can experience delicious snacks, extremely thematic drinks, and fun activities. We loved the Spookeasy Bar’s rum punch drink, which is served in a container that resembles a blood bag, as well as the Witch’s Brew. As someone who isn’t a real drinker, I truly enjoyed these treats. They were that good. After experiencing the carnival, guests are led into the interior of the home for their own self-guided tour complete with frightening ambiance and several scares.

Personally, what I loved most about Unhinged: Nightshade’s Curse is that it relied on the naturally confusing, spooky, and off-putting elements of the home to create the perfect Halloween-like ambiance. While there are some scares inside the Haunt, for sure, it’s all heightened by the natural architecture and ambiance of Sarah’s home. There’s nothing like tackling the long corridors, unbelievable amount of stairs, and strange designs all set to spooky lighting, bookshelves with books moving about on their own, and the occasional actor to send a chill down your spine.

We loved the experience so much that we’re thinking about coming back later in the month to do the VIP tickets so we can experience both paths throughout the Winchester Mystery House. So, if you find yourself in the San Jose area or surrounding areas during Halloween, be sure to stop by the Winchester Mystery House for Unhinged, happening on select nights now through Halloween, all starting at 6:30pm with different timeslots throughout the night.

We LOVED our experience, and I think you will, too.