Looking for a room in Indianapolis? Stay with Freddy, Jason and Beetlejuice — if you dare

Typically, you don’t want to think about murder when staying at an Airbnb. Those noises you hear at night are just the rumblings of an unfamiliar home. Probably.

But for one unique Fountain Square rental, horror-movie scenarios are part of the appeal.

For more than a year, Dennis Brackenridge has poured his time and money into nailing the details on a property much different than the 100 or so he owns around the city.

“I might have spent $1 million on this place,” Brackenridge said. “I’m at the point in my career where I just want to have fun.”

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For a half-century before Brackenridge purchased the building at 1122 Shelby St., the space was known for true, real horror.

It was a dental office.

“We found people’s teeth still in here when we got the place,” Brackenridge recalled.

He gutted the building with dual goals in mind: A short-term rental home based around classic and modern horror films, and an adjoining café themed around the same.

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Black House Café opened last month, with drinks like the Never Sleep Again (an almond-milk horchata and espresso mix) and the Booberry (a banana and blueberry smoothie). Its detailed horror décor — fake newspaper clippings, a Jigsaw doll, a “Gremlins”-themed bathroom complete with a life-sized gremlin prop — quickly became a popular Instagram haunt.

A giant mural featuring the nearby Fountain Square Theatre façade and Brackenridge’s children fleeing Freddy Kreuger points the way to “dreams and coffee.”

But on the other side of the building, subtler and uncanny paintings of Norman Bates and Brackenridge in full Bates Motel bellhop garb welcome prospective guests to the rental space.

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Sleeping among killers like Dracula and Freddy Krueger

The makeshift home features three bedrooms, themed after “Friday the 13th,” “Scream” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and two-and-a-half bathrooms, with “Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Dracula” and an immaculate “Ghostbusters.”

Local muralist Pamela Bliss, who painted the Kurt Vonnegut and Reggie Miller murals, worked on the building’s exterior. Graffiti artist Slice painted the interior, which includes a massive Beetlejuice in snake form along the living room and a perfect Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the “Ghostbusters” bathroom.

A large wooden and repurposed metal dining room table was made locally, as was a coffin-shaped cabinet. Brackenridge and his team spent months stocking the place with much smaller details, as well: A realistic mask of Beetlejuice’s head, Camp Crystal Lake pillows, a succulent planter shaped like Chucky.

Brackenridge had originally planned to convert the space into some sort of 4-D interactive movie theater but pivoted to the horror themed rental and café. He is also planning a gangster-themed café in Irvington, with Bliss on board to paint a John Dillinger mural.

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The rental will be available for $275 per weekday and $345 per weekend day, with a two-night minimum. It will host a free open house from noon to 3 p.m. on Jan. 20, and reservations officially open on Jan. 22. Brackenridge recommends booking directly through Instagram at @indys_fletcherplace_experience, but it will be available through Airbnb and other services.

Future plans to enhance, expand rental and café

Brackenridge is also working on a rooftop patio for the rental unit, but it won’t be ready for this month’s launch.

Black House Café will also expand its indoor seating area. Manager Mari Ramirez Reyes said she and Brackenridge originally conceived of it as a walk-up space, but the unique look has lent to folks sitting around awhile.

“It has been wild,” Ramirez Reyes said. “People love the theme and the vibe. We didn’t know it would be so popular.”

Brackenridge hopes access to the café and Fountain Square draws like the Hi-Fi will add to his rental’s appeal. But the plan is to lean into the niche horror audience.

“It really breaks up the monotony,” Brackenridge said. “You are definitely not at home.”

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Rory Appleton is the pop culture reporter at IndyStar. Contact him at 317-552-9044 and rappleton@indystar.com, or follow him on Twitter at @RoryEHAppleton.