New business spotlight: Monster Mac’s Escape Rooms

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

Mac McCune describes himself growing up in Las Vegas as a skinny little kid with a big mouth who didn’t have many friends. To entertain himself, he watched horror movies hosted by a male Elvira-like character called the Vegas Vampire.

What started as a childhood hobby eventually became a livelihood, when McCune, then living in Klamath Falls, Ore. began hosting haunted houses and eventually expanded to year-round escape room haunts.

Now, McCune’s latest move has brought the concept to Fernley, where he has opened Monster Mac’s Escape Rooms at 15 E. Main St.

Monster Mac’s currently offers two escape rooms, with a third under development, and with fall approaching, McCune is already deep into the planning process for a haunted house that he plans to open the last week of September and run through the whole month of October.

After serving in the Coast Guard, McCune got into art and graphic design, and as a paranormal investigator doing a podcast, McCune found out that Jim Parker, who played the Vegas Vampire, was still alive. McCune interviewed Parker as a guest on his podcast, and eventually the two became close enough that Parker later ended up living with McCune and his wife Kristi.

“We would go to haunts, and eventually we said why don’t we do our own?” McCune said.

He attended the TransWorld Halloween & Attractions Show in St. Louis and brought home $20,000 in equipment, and has only continued to add.

“I wanted stuff that you don’t see in regular haunted houses,” McCune said. “It’s not your Walmart, JC Penny’s plastic spiders and skulls. I buy from high-end designers and prop makers, and I want it to be just a little bit better than anyone else.”

Customers interested in visiting Monster Mac’s Escape Rooms can currently choose between the Captain’s Curse, a pirate-themed 30-minute challenge, or Escape the Murphy Mansion, a 1-hour challenge for $25. Discounts for both rooms are offered for first responders and veterans.

A third scare room, Zombie Bunker is still being developed.

The escape rooms are an interactive environment in which customers must find clues and solve a series of puzzles in order to escape before time runs out.

“Our haunt is not for the faint of heart,” McCune said. “I design things to scare me, and I’m a rock. It takes a lot.”

More information and videos of the escape rooms are available on Facebook at Monster Macs Escape Rooms, and appointments can be booked online at monstermacsescape.com or during walk-in hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.