At the iconic Philadelphia Eastern State Penitentiary Terror Behind the Walls is open for Halloween. There are six attractions that lead you through the supposedly haunted prison. Throughout the tour you’ll watch prisoners in their jail cells, see the machine shop, greenhouses, and infirmary. New this year, you’ll be led through hallucinations and guided through a disorienting fence maze. All are marked by creepy creatures straight from your nightmares!
The ESP turns into a haunted house at night. Image from http://www.easternstate.org/
A few brave Her Campus members went to check it out. Here’s the scale they used to rate the scare factor:
That was cute ESP.
Okay, maybe I was a little scared.
I held in my screams though!
Totally scary, totally worth it.
Not doing that again!
I definitely peed myself a little!
Jacqueline:
I don’t like scary movies or anything scary for that matter. I can barely watch action movies as it is without jumping out of my skin every time something loud happens. Ask my roommates: they’ve caught me multiple times gasping and flinching while I watch Hawaii Five-0 on Netflix. However, I love haunted houses or attractions like these where you go with a big group of friends and have fun!
Terror Behind the walls was an awesome experience! I highly recommend it for anyone no matter how easily you get scared. It was fun with all the actors, special effects and, of course, being with friends! Some parts were more fun than scary!
My rating:
Anna:
I absolutely hate watching scary movies because it’s all about not knowing what will come next. However, I really like shows like American Horror Story, and watching the suspense build to a big reveal! The thing about Terror Behind the Walls is that it’s a whole different kind of scare than watching a movie or TV show. The horror really comes to life!
The tour covered so many different fears so they could scare virtually anyone who came! I wasn’t as scared of people jumping out at me as I was of them walking towards us slowly or following behind us. This was especially spooky during the attractions where people could easily sneak up on you. Other parts involved a lot of people jumping, which to me is more annoying than scary. Overall, I was really impressed with the actors’ performances and how good they were at creating a creepy aura.
My rating:
Kellyn:
I’m not a horror person. When I saw my first (and only) horror movie I spent a good chunk of it crying. I never do haunted houses or haunted anything, so this was something new and terrifying for me.
They put on a great show at Terror Behind the Walls. I wouldn’t want to go through it without holding someone’s hand. It was the perfect amount of scary for me! The best part was Quarantine 4D, where you had to walk through with 3D glasses, trying to find your way through dark rooms covered in neon paint. It felt unreal and I thought I was in a dream when we finished it.They did a fantastic job of interacting with us while staying in character and keeping it creepy.
My rating:
Overall, HC PHU had a great time taking on ghosts and zombies together. There’s still time to get to the ESP’s Terror Behind Walls! The OSE trip is sold out, but you can buy tickets on its website.