Demon House (Monongahela, PA) - So The Hauntfinder General and crew arrived at the Demon House parking lot last night around 9:30pm after a long 3 1/2 hr. drive from Lancaster filled with the sounds of old school metal (pretty much the standard for all Halloween voyages). Parking is free fortunately, and youre even shuttled to the places gates via a bus adorned with bloody hand prints all over the sides. Arriving at the Demon House gates is always a fun experience. The walkway leading up to the sizable property is decorated on either side by oil lamps and pumpkins and whatnot with creepy soundtrack music piped in. It was raining slightly last night, but not enough to spoil anything fortunately. At the end of the winding driveway is the ticket booth where you are given a number. Basically, you wander around the premises until they sound a bell and call your group. So in the meantime, they have games, merchandise, concessions, and a make shift movie projection theater (Goonies was the movie playing) on the property to keep you occupied while you wait. Since there was basically no one there (since it is the first weekend of Sept. and no one is thinking about Halloween except me) we got right in. The first portion of the attraction takes you through a series of outdoor and make shift tunnels some of which are more effective than others. We could do without the mineshaft section which is rather dull and hasnt changed much in the 3 times Ive been there before. Eventually you wind up in front of the actual Demon House itself, which looks amazing as always with their effective use of lighting and decor. The house is only about 15 min. in length (the lead up being about 15 min. as well) but definitely the central focal point of the attraction. A strong Gothic vibe makes up the majority of the house with much attention to detail (which is always a good thing). The actors are good, but the architecture and set design is the main point of interest. However, the mood is ruined by the last third of the attraction which devolves into stupid 3D fun house horseshit that wrecks the overall mood established up to that point. Not a good way to end your attraction... We met one of the owners afterwards and I expressed my overall impression and ideas on how to improve some of the attraction, which he was more than happy to listen to. Apparently major changes will be afoot for 2015, so who knows what the next year will bring for this place... And so after the purchase of a sweet Demon House hoodie and stop at a local diner its time to head home. Overall a solid attraction which has its shortcomings (but what attraction doesnt?), but well worth the $18 admission fee. You could certainly do much worse for your money (Jasons Woods). Is it scary? Not really. But creepy, yes. And most of all, very cool and unique. The atmosphere there is one of a kind and worth the trip alone. And... its the only haunted attraction open in PA the first week of Sept. So if you happen to find yourself out in the suburbs of Pittsburgh this season for some reason, make sure you visit the Demon House for a unique attraction that you will definitely remember afterwards. Recommended :) Hauntfinder Rating: * * *
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 17:29:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015