The newest Baymo Productions experience at Galleria Dallas will make Halloween a little more mysterious this year. For Scot and Kristi Redman and their partners at Baymo, every holiday should be both immersive and unforgettable. Having mastered the magic of Christmas with their annual Santaland and SNOWDAY! events at the mall, the couple (along with designers Joel and Scott Bayer and Ben Haschke) are taking on spooky season in their inimitable style with the new BooMont Hotel — opening on September 5.
“We love experiences, we love holidays,” says Scot Redman. “I think all of us love haunted houses, as it’s the one experience you go to as a kid growing up in Texas. Ben and his friends built a free haunted house when he was 16, so it’s just something we’re all fascinated with. But the big puzzle for us was, how do we do something unique for Halloween that’s not just about haunted houses? I think, hopefully, we’ve created an experience that’s basically the first of its kind.”
On the North End of the Galleria on Level 3 in a space that once housed a fast fashion brand (just above the new Netflix House), the 10,000-square-foot BooMont Hotel will include 13 rooms and hallways to explore.
Drawing more from the puzzling vibe of the immersive theatrical work Sleep No More than a jump-scare horror house, The BooMont features a cinematic backstory cooked up by its enterprising owners.
Says Scot Redman, “We had a whole other idea, and someone was like, ‘What if we do a hotel?’ With a hotel, there’s so much you can do with it. Slowly but surely, the story came together, with each person adding a piece. We leaned into all these hotels that did things first. It’s the golden age when hotels were built by billionaires, not corporations.”
Inspired by the rich history of luxurious spots like the Roosevelt, the Chateau Marmont, and Dallas’ The Adolphus, the fictional BooMont was founded in 1901 by oil and electricity tycoon Rupert B. BooMont (better known as “Boo”) and his wife, Emerald. The experience takes you through the founder’s “life journey,” from its successful opening day to the sad demise of Emerald, who can still be sensed within its walls. Included in the lore of this hotel built on its founder’s patented electrical designs, the BooMont was supposedly hit with a major lightning storm in the 1920s that caused blue fire to shoot from the heavens (and guests to disappear from their beds).
After entering through a refurbished lobby decorated in rich golds and greens, guests will take an elevator to explore what lurks behind 41 working doors. Each one will open to reveal various immersive experiences, and visitors are encouraged to dig through drawers, gaze into mirrors, and read letters from the BooMonts. Like SNOWDAY!, the whole space is photo-worthy, with image opportunities connected to each guest’s “hotel key” for an instant download into their cellphones.
“There’s going to be all these moments with phones you can pick up and a scientific lab that breaks apart — it’s anything goes,” says Redman.
The experience will be spooky (not scary) according to its founders, and blissfully gore-free. Designed to be suitable for even the most nervous of littles, the puzzle aspect of The BooMont should also appeal to grown-ups, and adult nights will be added after the September 5 opening. The Redmans say if all goes well, they hope to keep the doors open into the holiday season, adapting the mystery as a complement to the seven-year-old SNOWDAY!
“My hope is even after Halloween, we can stay open and do a spooky Christmas,” says Redman. “I think there’s enough of a story — it’s not necessarily Halloween witches and jack-o-lanterns, it’s spooky and dynamic, like a movie. We’re all movie people and super hyper creative, so for me this is one of the most fun projects we’ve done yet.”
Tickets start at $15 for children 12 and younger, $25 for adults.