Just the name “house of torment” is enough to make one feel a bit uneasy, and as we neared the building stationed in the parking lot Highland Mall, the apprehension started kicking in. It became clear as soon as the enormous figure of a bat-like creature holding bloody, dismantled body parts came into view that my maiden voyage into a haunted house would be anything but mild. Enduring harassment by everything from half-pig mutants to deranged clowns to the usual too-close-for-comfort, creepy butler who told me I “smelled pretty,” DT Weekend got a behind-the-scenes look at the business-side of freaking people out.
House of Torment claims to be one of America’s best haunted houses and has received recognition from Travel Channel and Hauntworld.com. With 20,000 square feet of terror, highly trained actors and innovative behind-the-scenes operations, the popular Halloween attraction is a handful to keep up with.
“What makes our show such a success is that we work up here year round,” said Jon Love, House of Torment vice president. “I think we’re one of the only haunted houses that does that. So we’re about to pull off a lot of illusions and kind of communicate misconceptions to customers. If we put customers in a situation where they feel unsafe or uncertain, that’s what people are really afraid of, the unknown.”
That seems to be the overriding tone of this year’s House of Torment — the unknown. It’s the phrase art director Matt Garcia used to describe his creations, the characters that interact with customers inside the attraction.
“This year its a post-apocalyptic destroyed city, it’s called Rise of the Abominations and its almost like a portal from hell,” Garcia said. “But they’re not zombies, and they’re not aliens, just unknown creatures from another dimension. A lot of inspiration came from Blockbuster movies, its got that apocalyptic feel. Some of it came from video games, like Silent Hill.
They’re not like the norm from other haunted attractions. We try to push the boundaries.”
But even when customers are being chased around by a disfigured, bloody ghoul with a real chainsaw, operators at the House of Torment know their stuff and say their attraction is one of the safest there is. Beyond the destroyed post-apocalyptic landscape where “unknown creatures” harass customers is a small control room with about a dozen monitors and a panel of buttons that control various props which, alongside the actors, make the experience positively petrifying.
“We have all these night vision cameras in all the rooms, and we have people sitting in front of TV monitors and they’re pressing the buttons at the right time,” Love said. “It helps with the timing and efficiency and making sure we’re delivering the best product we can. I don’t know if I’ve ever come across another haunted house that does that. Most people use step pads and trip sensors, but we do it this way, and I think it’s pretty unique.”
Perhaps a gory wasteland isn’t your fancy. No problem, because attached to the House of Torment is its sister attraction, Illusion Manor. Set in the more traditional haunted mansion style, the manor delivers thrills with a different theme.
“There’s two philosophies when it comes to haunted houses, for me,” said Daniel McCullough, owner and founder. “I’m a nostalgic kind of guy, and I love the haunted mansion, old-school Halloween. We want to give both of those products to our customers.
Now, it doesn’t mean it’s for kids, but its traditional. It is what it sounds like, it’s a manor filled with ghosts and illusions, and it messes with your mind a lot.”
Even after seven years of running the show, McCullough said he still gets a kick out of thebusiness of scaring people.
“I love doing the animatronics, I love sitting upstairs, and I love seeing the results of all the planning and work that goes into one effect and one room,” he said. “Multiply that by about 40 or 50 rooms, and it makes it even more rewarding.”
