Haunted House Video Spotlight: Eastern State Penitentiary’s Terror Behind the Walls

In late September, Eastern State Penitentiary places its ominous gargoyles atop of their entranceway, and Philadelphia officially announces the start of the Halloween season. Yes, Eastern State Penitentiary’s Terror Behind the Walls is the official Halloween Mecca of Philadelphia. If you live in the city of Brotherly Love, and HAVEN’T been to Eastern State’s Terror Behind the Walls—you haven’t experienced Halloween in its entirety!

Unless you live under a rock, you already know that Eastern State Penitentiary was the home to questionable Quaker repentance practices in its early days, and famous convicts like Al Capone. Eastern State’s mission is to preserve this historic building, and question the correctional system in America today. Eastern State is an important part of our history, and Terror Behind the Walls is it’s main fundraiser.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Terror Behind the Walls has become the must see haunted attraction no only on Philadelphia, but in the entire United States. It has been ranked the #1 Haunted House in America by AOL, and has received countless recognition in mainstream media.

What’s especially exciting about the 2011 season are the two new attractions premiered this year. These attractions make Terror Behind the Walls the largest and longest show in the haunt’s history. The Gauntlet is a new, high energy opening attraction, featuring overhead catwalks and custom props above a massive outdoor maze. This attraction is filled with unexpected obstacles, objects, and very unfriendly creatures blocking your way to freedom. The second new attraction, Break Out!, is a new finale and consists of an outdoor scare zone in the final courtyard before visitors leave the event.

I’m also very excited about their 20th Anniversary Celebration. On November 12th, there will be a special encore performance where you’ll have the opportunity to mix and mingle with hundreds of haunted house owners and operators from around the country! Want more of a reason to go? Get this, paranormal celebrities will be talking about some of the firsthand experiences they’ve had with real ghosts inside Eastern State!

Here are some tips to help you enjoy your experience at Eastern State Penitentiary’s Terror Behind the Walls:

1) Buy your tickets ahead of time! Unlike other local haunts, Terror Behind the Walls actually sells out! If you know you want to go through the haunt on a certain night you should definitely buy your tickets online. You wouldn’t want to show up and find out you can’t get in!

2) Monster be good! Terror Behind the Walls is not only a great haunt, it strives to be a family event! You can bring your brave little ones, but if they’re getting a little too scared just tell them to yell, “Monster be good!” and the ghoul will slink off into its respective corner.