In 1920, the Moxley family moved to Texas. Over the years, each of the family members was found murdered. The suspect was the family nurse, Lillian Marshall. The house in which the Moxley family lived stood desolate for many years,  as potential buyers were turned off by the horrific tales told by townspeople.

The case remains open as Marshall’s whereabouts remain a mystery.

The names and location of the incident have been changed, but Richard Alvarado has used this real-life story as the background to turn the family house into the Moxley Manor Haunted House, where lights and sounds are used to recreate haunting scenes.

  This Halloween season, Moxley Manor is featuring several skits, hoping to offer visitors frightful experiences. Strobe lights, loud noises, fog effects, props, cinematic gore, power tools, uneven flooring, tight spaces and in some cases, no lights at all are used to create special effects to enhance the performances.

Different skits are played out in each room as visitors take the two to six minute tour through the haunted house.

“We try to maintain a skit-driven house,” Alvarado said.

He said that while the skits are scripted, the actors are sometimes given creative license.

As a child, Alvarado frequented haunted houses.  

“I used to look forward to the season,” he said. “It gave me something to do.”

Two years ago, Alvarado was asked to volunteer at a haunted house.

“That is when I decided to open my own,” he said.  

He then built his first haunted house inside a warehouse and has been in business ever since.

Alvarado said haunted houses have been in Dallas for several years and have evolved with time.

Among the haunted competition in town, he also recognized that there was competition  in the industry, and also from the movie industry which produces horror films.

“One has to step up to the plate in order to remain competitive,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado said that visitors come from all over the DFW Metroplex, and he expects large crowds this upcoming holiday weekend. The Halloween program will be followed by the Christmas-themed haunted attraction, “NightScare at the Manor” in December.

The Moxley Manor is located in the Harwood Village Shopping Center in Bedford. It will be open from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday through Sunday. General admission is $15 or $13  online at their website, www.moxleymanor.com.

other haunted houses in the DFW area metroplex this year include Terrorplex Scream Park in Mansfield and Thrillvania/Verdun Manor in Terrell.