Today we’d like to introduce you to Robby Laurain.
Robby, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our story really starts with the S.S. City of Milwaukee itself. The ship is a historic 1931 railroad car ferry and National Historic Landmark that is preserved by our nonprofit, the Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee. The earliest beginnings of Ghost Ship began when the City of Milwaukee was moved to Manistee in 2000, the haunted attraction came aboard the ship as a way to raise additional money for its preservation.
What started as a relatively small fundraiser has grown tremendously over the past 25 years. Today, we transform four to five decks of the 360-foot ship into a completely different haunted attraction every October. We use a combination of live actors, elaborate sets, animatronics, pneumatics, lighting, sound effects, and the ship itself, which is probably our best prop. The narrow passageways, steep stairways, machinery, and nearly 100 year old steel ship create an atmosphere that is almost impossible to duplicate in a traditional haunted house.
One thing that has stayed the same is that Ghost Ship is very much a community and volunteer driven event. A huge amount of work goes into designing, building, operating, and then completely tearing down the attraction every year. We also try not to simply put the same haunted house back together each season; we change the route, themes, sets, and scares so returning visitors have something new to experience.
Today, Manistee’s Ghost Ship has become our organization’s largest annual fundraiser and one of our most recognizable events. As much fun as we have scaring people, there is a much bigger purpose behind it. Every ticket helps us continue preserving the S.S. City of Milwaukee so that this incredibly rare piece of Great Lakes maritime history can remain here for future generations.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road. One of our biggest challenges has always been that we are a nonprofit and a largely volunteer-driven organization. Ghost Ship takes an enormous amount of manpower to build, operate, and tear down every year. We have nights where we have plenty of actors and volunteers, and other nights where we’re trying to figure out how to make everything work with a much smaller crew. Over the years, we’ve added more animatronics, pneumatics, lighting, and automated effects that help, but there’s really no replacement for a good live actor.
The ship itself also presents some unique challenges. We’re building a haunted house inside a nearly 100-year-old National Historic Landmark, so we have to work around narrow passageways, steep stairways, machinery, weather, and the limitations that come with preserving a historic vessel. We also try to completely change the experience every year, which means we aren’t simply pulling the same decorations out of storage and putting them back in the same places.
Time is another big challenge. We operate the City of Milwaukee as a museum and overnight attraction throughout the summer, and then in a matter of weeks we have to transform several decks of the ship into Ghost Ship. Once October is over, it all has to come back down again so we can continue preservation and maintenance work.
COVID was probably one of the strangest challenges we’ve faced. We still operated in 2020, but we had to rethink almost everything; social distancing, smaller groups, masks, sanitizing between groups, and even eliminating some of the tight spaces and close up scares that normally make a haunted house effective.
And, of course, there is always the financial side. The entire reason Ghost Ship exists is to raise money to preserve the S.S. City of Milwaukee, so we have to balance investing enough into the attraction to keep it fresh and competitive while making sure it actually accomplishes its purpose as a fundraiser.
But a lot of those challenges are also what make Ghost Ship special. Every year is a little different, something unexpected always happens, and somehow our volunteers and crew come together and make it work.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Manistee’s Ghost Ship is a haunted attraction unlike just about anything else because our haunted house is actually aboard a 360-foot, 1931 railroad car ferry. Every October, we transform four to five decks of the historic S.S. City of Milwaukee into a completely immersive haunted experience.
The ship itself is really what sets us apart. We aren’t trying to make a building look like an old, creepy ship…we already have one. Guests are walking through narrow steel passageways, climbing steep stairways, passing through machinery spaces and exploring areas of a nearly 100-year-old vessel. There are sounds, movements and an atmosphere that you simply can’t recreate in a traditional haunted house. We build on that with live actors, animatronics, pneumatics, custom sound and lighting effects, and elaborate themed sets.
We also put a lot of effort into changing the attraction every year. We don’t want someone who visited last year to know exactly what is around the next corner. Routes change, rooms are rebuilt, new effects are added and old concepts are reimagined. Some of our props and sets have become favorites over the years, but we are constantly experimenting with new ways to scare people. A lot of it is built in-house by our crew and volunteers, which gives Ghost Ship its own personality rather than feeling like a commercially packaged haunted attraction.
We try to offer something for different types of visitors as well. In addition to our regular Ghost Ship nights, we offer Fast Pass admission, our Fright Club membership for frequent visitors, and Scaredy Pants Night, where the lights are on and the scares are turned off for younger visitors and anyone who wants to see the sets without the full haunted-house experience.
What I am probably most proud of from a brand standpoint is that Ghost Ship has developed its own identity while still staying connected to the reason it exists. We have people who look forward to it every October, people who come back multiple times in a season, and volunteers who started coming through as customers and eventually became part of our crew.
But at the end of the day, Manistee’s Ghost Ship is much more than a Halloween event. It is the largest annual fundraiser for the nonprofit Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee. The money we raise goes directly back into preserving and operating the ship as a National Historic Landmark and museum. That’s something we’re extremely proud of. You can come out, have a great time getting scared, and at the same time help preserve an irreplaceable piece of Great Lakes maritime history.
Pricing:
- General Admission: $15–$20 per person, depending on the night.
- Children 6 & under: Free admission.
- 2026 Fright Club: $85 — includes unlimited General Admission for the 2026 season, admission to Scaredy Pants Night, approximately 30% off Ghost Ship merchandise, and an exclusive Fright Club sticker.
- Group Rates: Discounted rates are available for groups of 15 or more when paying together; advance arrangements are requested.
- Parking: Free.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ManisteesGhostShip.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ghostshipmanistee
