The 13th Gate Haunted House, Baton Rouge, LA

October 24th, 2009

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I don’t think I have heard haunters talk about any other haunt as much as they do The 13th Gate Haunted House in Baton Rouge. Needless to say, I was very interested in seeing it in person for myself.

Due to some bad weather and a traffic accident ahead of me on the road to Baton Rouge, I didn’t get to The 13th Gate Haunted House until after it was open and I was hoping to get some photos beforehand so I was a sad puppy. But I got to the ticket booth and met Kathryn Sanburn who was very kind and welcoming and called her husband Dwayne to come out an meet me. After a brief chat, Dwayne led me to the front of the line and offered that I could go through twice if I’d like – once to have fun and and second to take some photos.

The haunt starts with guests riding an elevator down into the depths, but before you can get to the elevator, you queue in an area with bricks and plastered archways – all designed and constructed for the haunt. These look so amazingly real that you would have thought you were in a much older building. You know right away if they pay this much attention to the queue line area that the rest of the haunt will be amazing.

I’m sure most of you have heard that The 13th Gate has the best scenic design of any haunt out there and I have to agree. Everything you have heard is true. The place looks spectacular. The attention to detail and realistic set design will blow you away. The brick walls look and feel like real bricks because they casted all the bricks themselves in plaster. You have probably seen pictures of their skull room with 2,000 individually casted skulls. It might seem insane to some, but Dwayne clearly loves what he does and it couldn’t be more obvious – this place is clearly a labor of love. They try to change out about 1/3 of the haunt each year and it sometimes breaks Dwayne’s heart to rip some of it out but he wants to keep the show fresh so he does what he must.

But don’t think this is a haunt that just looks pretty. The scenic design and the lighting create an incredibly eerie mood and there are plenty of actors to deliver the scares around every corner. Once again, the detail that goes into the scenes is evident in every aspect of the show. The masks (a lot of CFX), prosthetics (more CFX), makeup and props are all extremely realistic and well done. The actors were very good and made sure the crowd was screaming or laughing.

I also saw something else I haven’t seen elsewhere. The second time I went through, I went with a group of hearing impaired teenagers. We got to a part of the haunt where guests crawl through a furnace after receiving instructions. The guests couldn’t hear the instructions and when the actor saw that, he started signing to them and they went right on through. That was pretty awesome and the guides with the kids were very appreciative of the effort. And for the record, these kids got scared plenty throughout the show.

Dwayne and Kathryn were great hosts and I really appreciated their hospitality. The accolades and publicity that their show receives is well earned. This is a fantastic show that you have to see sometime. Dwayne and Kathryn, I hope you have a great season.