When I first entered into the haunt world, I never expected that there were so many haunts or that it was even a big industry. Honestly, for the longest, I thought a haunted house was just some idiots in someone's garage with chainsaws. (Not that far off. Am I right?) Thanks to the people I work with at my haunt, I've come to discover that there are literally hundreds of haunts, big and small, family friendly and X-Rated (I'm talking about you, Haunted Hoochie. Ya nasties.), non-touch and extreme touch, etc. Short and simple: There are as many different haunts as one can imagine. There's a flavor for everyone.
In Louisiana, the main haunts you ever hear about are The 13th Gate, House of Shock, The Mortuary, and RISE Haunted House. For the sake of the the blog, I'll refer to my home haunt only as "Ravenwood Manor." (That sounds catchy and mysterious enough, right?) A fun fact that I learned is that not every haunted house is the same. Each of these haunts are well known in the area, but they are all known for different things.
First up, we have The 13th Gate, located in Downtown Baton Rouge. This was the first haunt I ever went to as a kid, and by kid, I mean fifteen year old because I had conservative parents and all my friends had zero balls. The 13th Gate contains thirteen different themes within its dark and musty walls, starting with the ever famous Hellivator and ending with...well...I'll just have to let you go check it out for yourself. If you manage to survive The Gate, you can head across the street to check out their Necropolis graveyard and 5 Minute Escape games. (I promise, I'll talk about escape games soon!) They are wildly popular and very well known. Their marketing and their talent outreach is amazing, working with local businesses and it probably helps that they are in the city AND next to LSU's campus. (You can practically hear the LSU Theatre program losing their minds come audition time.) The main thing I've noticed that the 13th Gate excels in are their scene and set designs. I've heard it called "The Disney Effect" by the boss people over at Ravenwood Manor. The incredible thing about the 13th Gate is that when you walk into each and every scene, you feel like you are really there. When I walk into 1800's London, I'm literally looking at the night sky and smelling rotting bodies and plague through each cobblestone corridor. It's absolutely breathtaking to just stand in each scene for a second and just take it all in. (But please don't. Haunters should know better, keep the pace going, and not hold up the show.)
Next, we have the House of Shock, located in New Orleans. I went there for the first time two years ago, and all I have to say is it was Hell on Earth. It was every evil, little devil's dream. The only haunt in Louisiana (that I know of) with a bar, satanic and demonic themes, freak show performances, and some fun, cue line entertainment. The main feature I want to talk about, though, is the stage show. Hands down, House of Shock is known for it's stage show among haunters I've talked to. Every year, there's a general theme (the Trump/Hillary election was the theme the first year I went) and it's accompanied by heavy metal music, crazy, dangerous stunts, demons (of course), and fire! It blew my mind how insane, energetic, and hellish the entire show was. It got the entire crowd pumped and had me praising Satan. Calm down, kiddies, the Reverend made me do it.
Then, there is The Mortuary, again, located in New Orleans. The Mortuary is known for a few different things. It's the only multiple story haunt in Louisiana, it's actually SUPER haunted by real ghosts, AND (the most interesting thing) it's a "pop-up haunt". When I say it's a "pop-up haunt," I mean The Mortuary puts up all their sets, decorations, and haunt stuff before the season starts and once the season is over, they completely remove EVERYTHING until the next season, but I hear they will be opening escape rooms in the off season, now. (I know, I'm just teasing you with all the escape room talk.) But the fact that it's really haunted is another hot topic when talking about The Mortuary. You would think EVERY haunted house has some spooks, but nope. Lurking in it's dark stairwells are not only actors but souls of the not so recently departed.
Last, but definitely not least, is RISE Haunted House, located in Tickfaw. RISE started off as a family owned haunt which quickly gained momentum in the six years it's been open. One of the coolest features about this haunt is that it is the ONLY, strictly-followed, story driven haunt. It also houses four attractions on one massive property: The Risewell Bed and Breakfast, The Risewell Mental Asylum and Research Facility, Zombie Paintball, and the year round escape rooms, and I'm sure there will soon be more attractions to come. (You can't have all that land just for parking, you know.) The main feature that RISE is most well known for in the haunt community is their insane actors! The acting at RISE is on a completely different level than any other haunt I've ever been to. Partially to blame for these amazing talents is RISE's stage manager and training team, but the actual actors come in with such a fire and passion for what they do. I even heard that one year an actor had a tendon sticking out of her foot and she continued to act like nothing was wrong! It was sticking OUT of her FOOT!!!!! RISE, what the hell kind of drugs are you giving these actors!? In all honesty, when you walk into this haunt, you really feel like you are meeting these characters. These actors make their roles so real and believable, there's no other way to describe it. Ana, the hellish maid, is the only being inhabiting that body. There isn't an actress, just Ana. Mr. Nibbles and Coraline are REALLY a little girl and her pet zombie. That voodoo priestess, who's name I refuse to butcher, will really send you home with a curse if you make it out alive. And Benny...I'm sure that blind bastard would really kill me if I ran into him outside of the haunt.
So, that's the basic sum up of every haunt in Louisiana (that I've been to and know most about). As you can see, they are all pretty awesome, but in their own unique and spooky ways. Not every haunt will have each of these special features down pact. Hell, there are even more themes and topics I can elaborate on.
What do you think? Have you been to any of these haunts or do you want to? What do you think of them? Do you have any opinions that I may have left out? Let's get a conversation going in the comments!
-Jaz ☾
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