As I stepped onto the plywood walkway, I could hear the “gatekeepers” behind me yell into their talkies, “We got two in the yard boys!” And that was that. The fence behind me snapped shut and everything outside of it immediately fell silent. I got the chills. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The walk through the yard of the House of Hell was pretty laid back. Well, minus the tight low ceiling and narrow walkway with a less than stable wooden path. The utter darkness along with minute ambient lighting set the spooky mood perfectly. However, there wasn’t much interaction between characters and victims.
Stepping into the front yard of the house brought back the same creepy feeling as every other year I had been to the House. But this year was different, since our undead guide no longer held us in the yard to tell us the “story” of the House. It was something that had been almost tradition in previous years.
Be prepared for a seemingly random person to step up to the front of the line and say “We’re going to go through behind you.” This person is key to making the house better. He or she will follow you through the House and gauge your reactions to each of the tricks hidden in the shadows.
Going through the door initially places you in total darkness. It slams shut behind you and you’re at the whim of whatever is inside. From here you will be introduced to three different types of rooms: obstacle rooms, laser rooms and trick rooms.
Obstacle rooms aren’t scary so much as they are annoying. You crawl on your hands and knees, set off loud and obnoxious alarms, and have scary scenes light up in your face. The extra gore is a nice touch, but everything else takes away from the fear and leaves House victims with a headache.
The darkest rooms in the House of Hell hold the best surprises. The effect of fog machines and laser lights make walking through “laser rooms” exceedingly difficult. With laser patterns the only thing visible in the area, it’s almost impossible to see, but as long as you walk straight ahead, finding where you are supposed to go isn’t too much of a scavenger hunt.
The best rooms of the House are the bloodiest, most wicked, and frightful. Trick rooms have eerie ways of making you look one direction, while in a corner, a creature waits to jump out at you. You find yourself staring at the person who melted into the bed, while in the corner Freddy Kreuger sticks out his bladed hand and catches you off guard.
If you are easily scared, or do not deal with blood, spiders, or graphic scenes, then it would be best not to visit the House of Hell. But if you can handle those, then this year’s haunted house on Seventh Street will make your Halloween complete.
The House of Hell on Seventh Street is $10 to go through the actual haunted house. There is a separate “house” as well that is now open to the public, and also costs $10 per ticket. Both haunted attractions are located at 5301 West 7th St.
