👻😱 Our Visit to Laurel’s House of Horror 😱😈
Date: Friday 9/27
Location: Laurel, Maryland
Laurel’s House of Horror brought out all the stops and is truly back with a vengeance for their incredible 10th year anniversary!! Primed and ready to provide a frightfully fun experience, Laurel’s House of Horror did not disappoint! This almost unrecognizable attraction received a MAJOR facelift since our visit during Valentine’s Day, revamping easily 75% of the entire haunt! These folks have been an annual stop for our squad since our inception back in 2016, and for absolutely good reason. Their experience never goes stale, as they keep things fresh and truly never fail to entertain and frighten the brave guests who are willing to test their fate at the old abandoned theater!
For those who’ve yet to experience Laurel’s House of Horror, it is housed within a rather unique location, an old abandoned movie theater with documented paranormal activity - spooky! The location itself is located in a dark and somewhat desolate portion of the Laurel Centre Mall. The dreary weather the evening we attended certainly added to the creepy atmosphere surrounding Laurel’s House of Horror!
Prior to arriving onsite your attention is drawn to the orbs of light swirling in the dark sky, acting as your guide to Laurel’s House of Horror. As guests park their cars and head towards the haunt you’ll begin hearing screams of the guests and music pumping out from the nearby DJ stand. Once in front of the old abandoned theater guests are immediately immersed into the old school movie theater vibe. The old movie theater build board advertises the haunt walkthrough and escape rooms (open year round). Guests can snag their tickets online ahead of their visit or at the old ticket booth. For those looking to make a full night's worth of spooky fun, consider purchasing the RIP Pass which includes both express admission into the haunt & an escape room of your choosing! Laurel’s House of Horror currently offers FOUR escape room experiences: Escape the Movies, Escape the Witch, Escape the Ghost, and Escape the Afterlife!
Our crew had the pleasure of testing our luck in Escape the Afterlife, their version of a Beetlejuice themed escape room! To no surprise, we failed miserably & were unsuccessful at escaping! We enjoyed the theming of the room and they incorporated several cool special effects. But boy were those riddles, puzzles and clues challenging to decipher! It’ll definitely take an escape room wizard to successfully navigate this tricky escape challenge!
We had the pleasure of chatting with Charlie, owner of Laurel’s House of Horror, and several other management members on the Laurel’s team prior to our experience & we can’t thank them enough for their hospitality! The Laurel’s House of Horror gang always goes out of their way to ensure our squad has a SPOOKY FUN time!
As you enter into the building doors you’ll congregate in a lobby type area. Several horror film character outfits are on showcase for your enjoyment. This initial room serves as a way to review the rules of the attraction and certainly helps to intimidate the guests, as intense audio & visual effects are utilized to amp you up for the experience that lies ahead. A second but short queue line wraps around the original concession stand from the movie theaters operating days. The walls were distressed & possessed peeling wallpaper, giving off a decrepit & authentic vibe. Movie posters & several more life-size horror movie mannequins were scattered about, helping to create an authentic movie theater atmosphere! Small groups of 4-6 patrons were being admitted into the attraction at a steady clip, but with plenty enough spacing to prevent a conga-line through the haunt. After another brief wait it was eventually our turn to venture through Laurel’s House of Horror!
At Laurel’s House of Horror you should expect a solid 20 minute nerve-racking, action-packed, and bone-chilling experience! Laurel’s used to be heavily an old school style haunt with minimal use of pneumatic props, animatronics, and special effects… Well those days are far gone, as this experience is now loaded with startling special effects, impressive animatronics, and cutting-edge audio & lighting effects!! Couple all of this with the hand-crafted and elegantly detailed scenes and you have yourself an incredibly immersive experience. The energized and interactive cast were fully committed to their characters, further bringing this house of horrors to life!
Our journey began by traversing through the almost entirely NEW Carlisle Hotel, which featured countless elegantly crafted scenes, all which followed the theming to absolute perfection (from scenic design to costuming & makeup, they truly nailed it!). The opening facade for the Carlisle Hotel was visually stunning & easily 2 stories high! A truly extravagant opening scene that set the tone for what was an absolutely impressive show! While we’d love to delve deep into detail as we rave about Laurel’s House of Horror, we don’t want to give away too many spoilers! There’s truly no preparation that can be done to prepare you for the horrors you’ll encounter along this mind blowing adventure! Scene after scene we had to keep our head on a swivel in order to not miss anything in these meticulously crafted scenes! In several areas we came nearly to a halt as we were absolutely jaw-dropped by the elegance & spooky beauty! We truly never knew what to expect around each turn, as we encountered quite literally a little bit of everything on our journey! All we can say is WOW!! This was truly unlike any experience we’ve endured at Laurel’s House of Horror before! The scenic design team truly poured their heart and soul into crafting this unrelenting, downright sinister, and absolutely visually stunning House of Horror!
We have to give major kudos to the cast & crew encountered throughout Laurel’s House of Horror! The spooks were plentiful along our journey and damn were they a committed bunch! They donned impressive costuming and makeup, which was a major upgrade compared to seasons past! Their ability to immerse themselves into their role was truly remarkable, leaving us to question if some of these deranged souls were still human! Many of the characters were super interactive and possessed excellent skits/dialogue, something we haven’t always seen at Laurel’s in past visits! Not to mention their distinct ability to blend in with their scenes and then pounce on us at the right moment to provoke countless blood-curdling screams! The asylum patients were absolutely manic, as they executed all sorts of creepy body jirations. Laurel herself in the theater is always an unforgettable encounter! There’s no debate here, this was easily the best we’ve seen the Laurel’s cast in the many years of us visiting!
As you exit Laurel’s House of Horror you’ll end up on the backside of the attraction. You’ll be funneled towards their impressive horror shop and photo-op area! It is here where you can sit down for a moment to catch your breath before you parooze the well stocked gift shop! All sorts of Halloween knick knacks, spooky tumblers, creepy candles, jewelry, Laurel’s merch, and MUCH more!
At the conclusion of our experience we were delighted to chat with Charlie (owner) & Antonio (scenic designer, make-up guru, & creative mastermind)! These folks are incredibly passionate about providing a spooky fun experience for their guests and have lots of great ideas swirling for seasons to come.
Laurel’s House of Horror continues to impress, as they consistently enhance their attraction to ensure they’ll please even the most seasoned haunt goers. We truly can’t express enough how impressive our experience was, it’ll be one we talk about for many seasons to come! We suggest grabbing a group of fellow spooky lovers and paying a visit to Laurel’s House of Horror before it’s too late! If you happen to miss out on visiting Laurel’s House of Horror this spooky season, have no fear, as they’ll once again be open for special Christmas, Valentines Day, and Halfway to Halloween shows!! Enjoy your show at Laurel’s House of Horror but know it’s sure to cause long-lasting nightmarish dreams!
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