10/18/2026
Oops! I invited everybody to the Haunted Dungeon. Its The Haunted B**r Cellar at Steel City Brewing, Coatesville PA ! (I updated the name — same event, same RSVP list. Don't worry if you already said you’re going)
My brain was 40 years in the past... On October 31, 1984 — just five weeks after I bought this building — the Coatesville Area Jaycees, the Washington Hose Company, and the Brandywine Fire Company opened the first Haunted Dungeon in this exact cellar. We threw it together in under a month. Thousands of you walked through it.
We held it for 3 years. It raised money for the Coatesville Christmas Parade, if I remember correctly.
The Jaycees gave me this "Outstanding Committee Chairman" award for it, signed by Joe Catanese and Bill Nast.
Here's the kicker: I took the award off the wall to photograph it, and found a Milanese Aluminum envelope scotch-taped to the back — with the original newspaper clippings still inside.
It made the FRONT PAGE of The Coatesville Record — "There Was A Haunted Dungeon in Town…" — and page 3 of the Village News: "Ghosts And Goblins Had a Night to Howl Last Week."
Augie Jones was interviewed by "The Coatesville Record" and said, "This was a real low-budget affair. We spent about $50 on the liquid for the smoke machine and $28 for the black lights. The rest is all scrounged material" and "Next year, we're going to get real sophisticated. We'll start in September and really do it right."
We created it from scraps. We were creative, and fearless. And we proved that, if you build it, they will come.
That Dungeon is one of the reasons I had the courage to believe this community would support a brewery on my hometown's Main Street.
I know I can count on you to support my efforts, and will do all i can to earn your support.
I believe the Haunted Speakeasy will grow into part of future Coatesville's Halloween celebrations for years to come. And it all started with the Haunted Dungeon.
On Friday, October 30, the ghosts come home to the Steel City Brewing B**r Cellar...
Our very first soft opening — The Haunted Speakeasy — opens in that same cellar, 7–10 PM. Costumes encouraged.
PS... If you walked through that dungeon back in the day, I want your story in the comments.
I'm sure I'll tell some of my own.
See you at the Dungeon. Oops, I mean the Haunted Speakeasy!
