- Emprize Brew Mill is located at 200 Main Street in downtown Menasha.
- Upstairs is The Attic, a venue you can rent out for events — and one that's supposedly been visited by spirits over the years.
- Watch to learn about other spooky features, like the Murder Door, and a mysterious door to nowhere.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
It’s spooky season! And here, in a space that’s more than 100 years old, you can find a host of haunted history.
I’m your Menasha Neighborhood Reporter Darby McCarthy, and I came downtown on a hunt for ghost stories.
At 200 Main Street, you'll find Emprize Brew Mill. It’s an old building…
“This phone booth actually goes back to the old Hotel Menasha”
... with its share of secrets.
“Welcome to what we affectionately call the Murder Door.”
"I had one customer who told me that – I think it was her grandfather or great uncle, allegedly got into a bar fight… basically was killed in the fight, pushed down the stairs and died at the bottom of the steps, resting against the door.”
But the Murder Door isn't its creepy claim to fame. And it’s more than this mysterious door to nowhere.
"It's a super tiny door. There's no way to get there — unless you're a spirit.”
"A lot of employees have been freaked out by this door and don't like to be here and alone at night. Some people believe that there's ghosts and stuff that live in there.”
The main haunted attraction is the upstairs venue — a space where spirits have supposedly been spotted, simply called “The Attic.”
Emprize co-founder Craig Zoltowski said he heard that a D-Jay once saw a giant glowing orb late at night that blocked the exit when he was alone.
Zoltowski says he didn't buy it right away.
"I've heard lots of sounds. I haven't seen any lights."
But he’s had a few strange experiences of his own. And there’s one that stands out... when he was in an office in the basement with someone else.
"We heard somebody run across the floor right above our heads. And we knew that everything was locked. Lights were off. It was at night. We just sort of looked at each other and we're like, ‘somebody's in the building.’ We came up, and of course, there was no one here."
He says guests and the previous owners of The Attic told him that a female spirit lives in The Attic, but they say she’s not a negative energy.
Zoltowski isn’t sure what to believe about it all, but he welcomes anyone who's curious to come check it out.
