Hurricane Milton may have put the brakes on the largest haunted house event in Southwest Florida, but Halloween will happen at the Lee Civic Center.

The Legends of Oblivion’s “Alien Invasion: (Chapter 2) Area 31,” which was set to kick off Friday at the center’s Tinsley Pavilion, has been postponed and will begin on Halloween Night, Thursday, Oct. 31.

The new dates are Oct. 31-Nov. 3 and Nov. 8-10. Gates will open at 7:30 p.m. and the doors will open at 8.

The civic center is being used for recovery staging post-Milton, which is a reason for the postponement.

Those who purchased tickets for the event on Oct. 18-20 and Oct. 25-27 are welcome to show up with those tickets for any date of their choosing.

The largest haunt in Southwest Florida features a 17,000-square-foot walk through maze, with frights at every corner. The size of the attraction allows for storytelling that transports visitors to the journey of the unknown.

Wayne Anderson created this spectacle. Originally from Fort Myers, he spent more than a decade in Los Angeles as a special effects creature designer, working on films such as “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and the remake of “Ghostbusters.”

In 2018, he returned to the area to achieve his goal to create the ultimate haunting experience and held his first event at the Lee Civic Center.

This time the event is meant to be a sequel for the first one.

“A lot of the characters are original, sculpted by me and cast and painted. The Area 31 vibe is kind of like Area 51,” Anderson said. “Since it’s on State Road 31, we decided to call it Area 31 and had an alien abduction vibe.”

However, what was supposed to be an annual event ran into issues, both personal and out of his control.

“In 2019 we had our first child, in 2020 was COVID. We had another child in 2021 and then there was Ian and then the future of the civic center was up in the air with the contract with the fair association expiring,” Anderson said. “We kept it low key until we were able to come back,” which was six years.

“Alien Invasion” is not going through the motions for this. For them, this is a big deal to make this season the best and scariest and they need all the help they can get, especially following the postponement.

They have nearly 60 people on board, putting the set together, doing makeup, portraying the characters, and doing the things behind the scenes to make this a success.

General admission tickets are $28 online ($30 at the door), VIP Express Line is $45 online ($50 at the door) and for the Close Encounters Experience it’s $69 ($74 at the door), which includes a priority line, secret rooms within the haunt and a mystery swag box at the gift shop. Children under 12 are free.

For parents, the attraction may be too intense for children under 12. Parental discretion is advised.

Parking is $1, which will be donated to The Marine Corps Toys for Tots of Lee County. The entrance is through Old Bayshore Road.

The Lee Civic Center is at 11831 Bayshore Road on the corner of State Road 31. For more, go to hauntedswfl.com.