HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Claimed longest-running haunted attraction in Texas since 1974, built on a 1920 estate where Matthew Sharp poisoned his wife and hanged himself after the 1929 crash.
500 W Madison St, Waxahachie, TX 75165
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
$100 per person for the haunted house experience; see website for seasonal pricing and package options.
Access
Limited Access
Indoor haunted attraction with multiple themed rooms and corridors; uneven floors and strobe lighting used
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1920 · Claimed longest-running haunted house in Texas (operating since 1974) · 1920 brick estate built by oilman James Sharp · Site of 1929-era family tragedy (Matthew Sharp murder-suicide)
The estate at the core of Reindeer Manor was built in 1920 by James Sharp, a prominent oil and gas investor in the Dallas area. Sharp had acquired several hundred acres in the Red Oak area around 1910, but a lightning fire destroyed the original farmhouse, killing the immigrant family who rented it. Sharp rebuilt in brick, constructing a substantial manor house, generator building, water cistern, barns, and outbuildings. Before the property was fully complete, Sharp was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
His son Matthew inherited the estate and made it a productive racehorce operation through the 1920s. The 1929 Wall Street crash erased most of Matthew's inheritance. According to the account documented by CBS Texas and co-owner Alex Lohmann, who lives on the property, Matthew poisoned his wife in the manor house, then hanged himself in the horse barn. The barn structure later became part of the themed attraction known as the 13th Street Morgue.
In October 1974, a group asked permission to use the manor for a pay-to-enter Halloween attraction — making Reindeer Manor what its operators and coverage in multiple outlets describe as the longest-running commercial haunted house in Texas. The venue operated in Red Oak for nearly 50 years before developing properties forced a relocation; it re-opened at 500 W Madison St in Waxahachie. The original 1920 building's history, including the Sharp family tragedy, remains central to the attraction's identity.
Sources
The legend promoted by Reindeer Manor's operators is grounded in a documented family tragedy. Per co-owner Alex Lohmann's account to CBS Texas, Matthew Sharp — who inherited the 1920 estate from his father James — lost most of his fortune when the stock market collapsed in October 1929. In the following months, he poisoned his wife inside the manor house, then hanged himself in the barn he had used for his racehorses. That barn structure, retained on the property, is now themed and operated as the 13th Street Morgue attraction.
The attraction's storytelling layers an earlier event on top of Matthew's tragedy: James Sharp, the original builder, died by self-inflicted gunshot before the estate was fully complete, and a fire in the 1910s killed a renting immigrant family at an earlier structure on the same land. Operators present the accumulated deaths on the property as the source of its haunted character.
No corroborating newspaper accounts of the Sharp poisoning or hanging have been cited in available coverage; the story rests on oral tradition passed down through Lohmann's family and the venue's own promotional history. The attraction itself is theatrical rather than paranormal-investigation focused.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Walk-through haunted attraction featuring three main haunts — Reindeer Manor, 13th Street Morgue, and Dungeon of Doom — plus The Shadow House, a fog-filled maze. The original 1920s manor building is part of the attraction footprint.
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