Stephen F. Austin State University’s Student Activities Association hosted “House of Horrors” on the eve of Halloween. It was a small haunted house created inside the Student Center designed to scare anyone who chooses to enter. I personally do not like haunted houses for several reasons. I mean, why would anyone want to voluntarily feel like they are being chased by a murderer or be attacked? I like watching scary movies and all, but haunted houses are another story. I have volunteered at haunted house in Magnolia for the past three years, so I’ve learned to gain a little courage. Even though I loved scaring the life out of people, I still got scared walking through it while trying to leave on my break. I just don’t like not being able to see since there’s usually fog and strobe lights going off in these houses.
This haunted house featured your normal scary characters like clowns, zombies, and even a werewolf. Of course, someone jumps out at you when you first walk in which wasn’t very fun, but that’s what I signed up for. We had to walk around a corner to reveal this giant clown with eyes that lit up. We were so worried about it moving that we didn’t realize other actors walking towards us with knives and other various weapons. After running through the beginning, we found ourselves having to walk across the first room and into the second, but it wasn’t that easy. We were being screamed at by a crawling zombie and yelled at by various actors who were crowding around us. Once we stopped freaking out, we were able to make our way across the first room.
It was all fun and games until you get to that last room which was lit up with blacklight. All you could really see was the line that guided you to the exit and the actors who wore all black except for their white masks. They looked like they came straight out of the Purge movies which are terrifying in and of themselves. At first, I thought it would be easy because they just stood there, but then they started to crowd around us making noise. One person was banging something on the props behind us to add to the terrifying ambiance. We eventually got to the exit door, but the actors were blocking it. This forced us to be brave and go through them to open the door.
In conclusion, this was absolutely terrifying, and I hope everyone goes next year. I know there are a lot of people that don’t like haunted houses or being scared, but I feel like this was quick and easy to get through even if you’re screaming the whole time. Before going in, you must sign a waiver that lets you know you can’t touch any of the actors, and they can’t touch you. I took comfort in this because I knew if they couldn’t touch me, I would be okay. This is true for most haunted houses, but it’s better to know this beforehand. If you like a good scare, I would definitely recommend SAA’s House of Horrors. I hope everyone had a great and spooky Halloween!