Terror Behind the Walls celebrates 20 years with an encore performance...and I went solo!

Have you ever been to a haunted house...BY YOURSELF?! 

When I heard that Terror Behind the Walls, the massive haunted house located within the historic Eastern State Penitentiary, was celebrating its 20th year this past weekend; I immediately jumped at the opportunity to attend.  

Now, it's not that I don't have any friends, because I know that's what you're all thinking, it's just that...flying solo allows me as Nerdsburgh's exclusive nerd liason to observe events as they unfold without distraction, interruption or outside influence.

Under the guise of "press" and in the interest of acute observation and thorough documentation I went to Terror Behind the Walls, and I did it all by myself.

More on my solo trip to Terror Behind the Walls, after the jump...


Even the ticket takers at Terror Behind the Walls were dressed in ghoulish attire

 Honestly, when I had initially made arrangements to visit the 142 year old dilapidated prison turned super ultra mega haunted multiplex, I didn't consider the implications my "press methodology" would have on the experience.  In other words, what the hell was I thinking when I decided to attend one of the most spectacular and potentially scariest haunted house I have ever been to...alone?  

Despite the reasoning behind it, within minutes of arriving to the Penitentiary I was ticketed and ushered inside so quickly I had virtually no time to talk myself out of it.  Which is fortunate, otherwise you would probably be reading an article right now about some bar down the street from Eastern State Penitentiary instead.  

As with any popular attraction, once inside I was greeted by a sprawling line of trepidatious patrons that snaked all the way from Fairmount Ave, past the guard tower and through the courtyard of the prison to the entrance proper at the start of Terror Behind the Walls.  However, despite the daunting length of the line, great measures were taken by staff members and the creators of the haunted prison tour to make standing in line an experience in itself and by the end of my wait, I was more than a little anxious and ready to escape the courtyard to someplace a little safer.  

Affectionately named "Yard Out," guests standing in the courtyard queue are constantly bombarded by lurking cast members patiently waiting to surprise unsuspecting patrons with a loud bang or a buzzing chainsaw.  When not being attacked by spooky inmates and disgruntled dead guards, guests can also watch the televisions posted along the prison's 30 foot walls airing past episodes of popular ghost hunting programs' individual visits to the Penitentiary. 

Before entering the facility, I had hoped that being a small, fragile girl would provide me with an advantage over the writhing groups of scardy cats around me.  I believed foolishly that braving a haunted house all by my lonesome would somehow illicit sympathy from the performers and perhaps earn me a reprieve from being jumped at and startled.  

But, that was certainly not the case.  In fact, it was quite the opposite. 

The temptation to scare a solitary, therefore easily frightened, female was too great and even seemed to attract more attention than not from the skulking staff.       

Terror Behind the Walls is comprised of 6 individually haunted attractions all within the Penitentiary's expansive compound.   Between each section of the individual "haunted houses," guests are asked to line up in an attempt to pace rushing patrons and avoid overcrowding.  For the staff at TBTW, this was merely a routine form of crowd control.  For me, it was a periodic stopping point where I could attach myself to larger groups and avoid entering smokey rooms and dimly lit hallways alone.

THE GAUNTLET
The first portion of Terror Behind the Walls, entitled "The Gauntlet," was probably my least favorite of the six haunted attractions.  I found the twists and turns of this section to be underwhelming, dizzying and pedestrian; almost reminiscent of those makeshift plywood mazes commonly found in the children's corner of a state Renaissance Faire.  It was no fault of any of the enthusiastic and talented cast nor did my distaste for "The Gauntlet" have anything to do with the expertly made props that buzzed and moaned at every turn.  I frankly just didn't care for the layout of the rooms and, once having walked through the rest of TBTW, my over-all impression of "The Gauntlet" was that the area in particular lacked the "scare factor" I encountered at some of the more innovative themes later in the TBTW experience.

LOCKDOWN, BREAK OUT and THE INFIRMARY
I left "The Gauntlet" feeling confident, brave and even a little bit cocky about my mental constitution to withstand the remainder of the 5 haunted houses.  With a stupid swagger and a ridiculous smile, I made the dreadful error of deciding to brave both "Lockdown" and "The Infirmary" unaccompanied. 

I know, I know...again what was I thinking? 

The props and the elaborate scenes coupled with the already creepy history of the Penitentiary's true horror stories made "The Infirmary," "Lockdown" and eventually "Break Out" some of the most spine-chilling sections of the entire tour.  Between the real ghosts purported to haunt these areas and the talented actors leaping from dark corners, I couldn't discern if I was more afraid of the cast members acting like murderous prisoners or of the prison rooms themselves that once incarcerated actual murderous prisoners so many years ago.

Now officially freaked out, for the remaining sections of the haunted house I opted to join a group of squealing teenagers who were happy to welcome me into their posse.  While they proved to be equally as jumpy as I was, the girls' over-the-top reactions to the actors offered some comic relief and I was grateful for the companionship.

THE EXPERIMENT and NIGHT WATCH

Upon entering "The Experiment," each guest was handed a pair of 3D glasses with which to view the strategically painted walls and props.  The glasses effectively distorted the already disoriented guests and convinced even the biggest skeptics to swear that they had witnessed walls appearing to shift and sway.    

My personal favorite of the entire Terror Behind the Walls experience was the section entitled "Night Watch."  Equipped with only a small flashlight the size of a key chain at the beginning of the attraction, patrons must navigate through narrow halls and around strategically placed set pieces to get to the end.  I found the tiny flashlights extremely difficult to keep on and therefore was constantly scared of dropping the damned thing and being forced to finish the section lost in the dark.  

Playing on the theory that most people are more frightened of what they can't see, being engulfed in darkness at "Night Watch" was officially the most terrfying portion of the entire evening...well the dark yes, and the fact that one cast member followed me around for a good minute and a half whispering creepy things in my ear.  But, even though it scared the piss out of me, it was that kind of dogged determination and follow-through from the actors that made Terror Behind the Walls one of the coolest, scariest and life-like haunted houses that I have ever been to and had me jumping at shadows long after leaving the prison walls.  

I don't recommend traversing many haunted houses alone,  especially if you are going to one as extensive and committed to excellence in the "art of the perfect scare" as is Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary.

Thanks to the aid of some brave folks, and a few horrified ones as well, I made it through the entire haunted experience without once attempting to bail.  Although I'm proud to have survived, I think if I go to Terror Behind the Walls next Halloween season, I'm not walking through the front gate unless I have the steady arm of a friend for me to cling to...or at least one that doesn't mind a little light bruising.

Special thanks to Terror Behind the Walls cast members for an incredible job well done and the Eastern State Penitentiary staff for their gracious hospitality.   Also, thank you to Ellen Feist, Aaron Sagers and Josh Wolf for making what was a truly terrifying evening possible.

GHOST HUNTING AT EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY
*Following the year's final performance of Terror Behind the Walls, Nerdsburgh correspondent Erin Wolf was fortunate enough to attend a special two night event of Ghost Hunting with Kris Williams of Ghost Hunters International fame and paranormal pop culture expert Aaron Sagers.  Check out http://www.paranormalpopculture.com/ for Erin Wolf's re-cap and review of the spooky after hours ghost investigation and once in a lifetime event.