Halloween is the second most popular holiday in the United States for many reasons, but perhaps the most prominent reason is that  people are obsessed with being scared.

Proving this is the fact that over $1 billion was brought in through newly released horror films in 2017.  In addition, Americans spend approximately $300 million  at haunted houses each year, according to Forbes.com.

A local business built around that obsession is the Museum of Shadows.

The Plattsmouth business lays claim to having some of the world’s most haunted items. Visitors are not limited to only viewing from afar, but are invited to partake in interactive activities such as ghost hunts and sit challenges.

“We have the largest assortment of haunted artifacts, over 1,800,” owner Kaleigh Raterman said. “We get about 60 items donated on a daily basis, so between that and having the most haunted doll in the world, people come from all over to see it.”

Their most visited item is an infamous doll named Ayda which was voted the most haunted doll in the world via polls conducted by  New Light Hollywood and the LA Times.

The legend behind the doll is that it was found in a house when a new family moved in. The family was so freaked out they threw her away. She was found two years later, to the family’s surprise, sitting on a bag of fertilizer that they had used a week prior.

“They [the family] knew us and called us immediately and said, ‘you need to get her out of here,’” Raterman said. “They threw her in the trash can again and by the time they had come back from calling us she was already outside the trash can and halfway up the driveway.”

Additionally, the two-story museum holds artifacts like weapons, exploding bowling pins and coffins, each with their own mysterious and unsettling tale. In addition, the building itself is rumored to be haunted.

“There’s even someone who was killed in the front room, shot when they got into an argument over a poker game,” Raterman said.

For the most daring of thrill seekers, the museum has a “sit challenge” in the basement. According to the owners, in the 1800s when the building was a brothel, a woman by the name of Sara was violently murdered in a small room in the basement, the same room as the sit challenge.

Entrance to the museum is $15, but for an additional $10 guests can sit in the same room that Sara’s body was found. Patrons sit in the pitch-black room for 15 minutes all alone. If they don’t tap out and they successfully complete the challenge, they get to sign a pillar of fame.

“I feel like what makes our museum so successful is people are able to come through and feel the energy on their own,” Raterman said. “It’s a place where -whether you are skeptic, or curious or you believe- you can come through and  see if you feel the energy.”

Not only has the museum received local attention, but currently an unannounced television network is filming a show about the museum and its owners’ lives.  Filming has been going on for about a year with hopes of premiering the show in the near future.

“It will be neat for people to see somewhere in Nebraska featured on TV,” Raterman said. “The museum will be featured in every week’s episode, so it will be an actual TV series based on my husband and I and what we do.”