The ScareHouse Haunted House in Pittsburgh

October 2nd, 2009

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I was really looking forward to getting to Pittsburgh to visit The ScareHouse. I had visited a couple of times previously but never during the season. I got there early so one of the owners/producers of the show, Scott Simmons met me downtown at Primanti’s and then we headed to the Haunted House.

After a great meal, we started toward the ScareHouse with a quick stop at a bakery along the way to pick up some of the oddest and best tasting cupcakes I have ever seen/eaten at Dozens Bakery. (They had one with bacon on it, but I had the chocolate.) So, I haven’t even made it to The ScareHouse yet and I have been filled with bologna and cupcakes – that’s how Pittsburgh rolls I guess.

We made it to the Haunted House early in the day which gave me a long time to wander around, meet with actors and crew and see how the ScareHouse crew gets ready. You can see from all the photos below that they have a good size group who seem to really enjoy working together.

The make-up looked great and the detail on the costumes was terrific. The costumes for Rampage (one of the three haunts at The ScareHouse) are really cool looking and have a strong steam-punk vibe. The ScareHouse details past the point of the guests noticing. For instance, little details like an emblem on a hat that 95% of guests won’t notice and the rest won’t see clearly in the lighting inside of the Haunt, but that emblem is custom made to match the theme and style of the Haunt. That demonstrates the kind of care and attention that this Haunted House approaches the event. Scott, his wife Barb and father Wayne who are co-owners/co-producers all approach the show this way. While one individual element such as a hat emblem may not make the difference, the compilation of all the details combine to provide a detailed and immersive atmosphere and experience for the guests that is really enjoyable to guests and impressive to Haunters.

The ScareHouse itself consists of three different Haunted Houses: The Hall of Nightmares, Delirium 3-D, and Rampage! When you first enter the building you wait in one of the queue lines while a loop of old horror movie trailers run. The first Haunt you enter is Hall of Nightmares which is a more traditional Haunted House with a variety of scares. A couple of the scares I liked were a Raggedy Ann doll in a child’s bedroom and then a dirty clown in a dining room. He let out one of the best lines I have heard all trip, “Now we are gonna play Mommy doesn’t love you.”  His delivery and intonation were perfect and freaky.

The second Haunted House was Delirium 3-D. As I have posted several times, I am not a fan of 3-D as a guest, but this was my favorite 3-D Haunt ever. I can’t tell you a particular gag or paint scheme or prop that makes it my favorite. Its more of what they try to do with it and as important, what they don’t try to do with it. Its fun, freaky and a nice change nestled in between the traditional scares of Hall of Nightmares and the more intense Rampage!. At one point during the 3-D, I actually started clapping because I appreciated the startle that a puppet provided. (They should have small version made and sell them in their merchandise booth.)

Rampage! was next and was a very ambitious endeavor. The haunt has very a strong and distinct style to it. The overall aesthetic is a blend of communist propaganda film, steam-punk, and a video game. Not an easy thing to pull off, but the costumes and sets were consistent and worked together very well. You can’t just go to the communist propaganda store either so they had to work hard to create the props or modify existing items to fit the scheme. The Haunt picks up pace as you go through with a big finale that is very chaotic and fun.

If it’s not obvious, I really enjoyed The ScareHouse. They aren’t afraid to try new things and stray away from some of the usual themes and ideas that are found at many Haunted Houses. I find it inspiring to visit The ScareHouse and to talk to Scott, Barb and Wayne. And just so you don’t think, the bologna and cupcake swayed my opinion, here are some of the things I heard in our group as we walked through, “Freaking awesome!”, “Oh my god this is so scary”, “Oh @#$*!” and “This is so cool.” In fact, when we got out, the people I was with, walked back up to the ticket booth, paid for new tickets and went through again.

Scott, Barb, Wayne, thank you for your hospitality and for letting me hang out before the show. I has a great time and hope you have a great season!