This nearly 130,000 square foot former Walmart building has been vacant since 2018, when megaretailer moved across the street to occupy the former Dan Gamel Camp America Store. Photo via Google Street View

A former Fresno Walmart location is going to see some spooky action this fall — the first since the megaretailer closed the storefront in 2018.

Scare Factory Fresno is currently hiring for more than 50 people to run their haunted attraction, which debuts Sept. 27 through Nov. 3., said owner Tony Gonzales. The haunt will take up about 66,000 square feet inside the former Walmart at 3680 W. Shaw Ave., with multiple mazes and scare rooms.

The Walmart at the northeast corner of West Shaw and North Brawley avenues closed in 2018, relocated across Brawley Avenue into a former Dan Gamel Camp America location. Walmart purchased the 223,378-square-foot building in 2012 with plans to convert it into one of its department stores while closing the smaller, 127,000-square-foot Walmart across the street.

Halloween has proven a hotbed for seasonal lease activity, with more storefronts finding new life as retail and haunt venues.

In 2023, the National Retail Federation commissioned a survey that found that total Halloween spending would reach a record $12.2 billion, exceeding the previous record of $10.6 billion in 2022.

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Reporter Frank Lopez contributed to this report. See his story about Scare Factory Fresno on Friday, Sept. 13 at thebusinessjournal.com.