Terror Behind the Walls

Happy Halloween everyone!

Being a horror movie buff and fan of anything creepy, Halloween definitely ranks as one of my favorite holidays. Unfortunately, I married a man who can't stand scary stuff. It's not that he's scared (well, maybe a little - deep down), it's that he finds it silly and doesn't see how people get enjoyment out of it. He also HATES people jumping out at him (or on a screen) because he doesn't like being startled, so that really limits my ability to ease him into the genre.

Luckily, he had enough other positive attributes and things in common with me that the disinterest in horror wasn't a deal breaker early in our relationship (it probably would have been for anyone else, which proves I married the right guy!).

That said, if there was one thing I could change about Joe, it would be that he liked scary stuff even a fraction as much as me. Seriously, it means so much to me that if I found a genie I'd use one of my three wishes on it.

I have made some headway in the 5 years we've been together.  When we met, he didn't like dressing up for Halloween. Over the years, we have had some wicked cool costumes and this year he excitedly made the executive decision as to what we would be (after 4 couples costumes chosen by moi, it was only fair he get a shot). He's also watched some scary movies with me - all of the Scream movies, the Exorcist, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Paranormal Activity.

But the one thing that I could never get him to budge on was going to a haunted house. So I'd always go alone while he stood outside catching up on espn.com.

Until last week :)

***Side Note*** I specifically saved this post for Halloween since we won't be celebrating until tomorrow. I couldn't NOT have a Halloween related post on October 31. See how great of a planner I am?! ***End of Side Note***

Philadelphia has one of the premiere haunted houses in the country: Terror Behind the Walls. It's 45 minutes long (SERIOUSLY!) and takes place at Eastern State Penitentiary, an old prison in Philadelphia that is literally falling apart (and which I described in this blog post).

When we visited Philly for his interview last year, I wanted to go but since Joe wasn't game we skipped it. When I found out he got accepted to Penn, my second reaction (after
"OMG his first choice!") was "YES! Four years of Terror Behind the Walls!"

Not kidding.

Of course, I never expected Joe to attend. After all, how could I possibly think he'd be willing to pop his haunted house cherry on not just the scariest haunted house I've ever heard of, but one he couldn't escape for 45 whole minutes?!

Well, I married a man full of surprises because a couple weeks ago while I was doing dishes he presented me with an envelope. I opened it to find two tickets to Terror Behind the Walls. I was in shock (and should do dishes more often, apparently haha). 

Our tickets were for last Wednesday, and I took photos on my iPhone to document the experience:

Terror Behind the Walls, as I mentioned, takes place at Eastern State Penitentiary. A wicked cool setting for a haunted house!

When we arrived, we had to sign waivers. For reals.

That's me pretending to be scared. Secretly I was about to pee myself with excitement at the fact that a haunted house needed a waiver to be signed. I expected to be horrified, and couldn't wait.

After signing the waivers, we got into line and heard an announcer shout that we had a choice to make: we could opt for a scarier experience by wearing a glow necklace and blood on our face, or we could have the regular experience. The catch is, the scarier experience means that the people in the haunted houses can touch you, grab you, and even "abduct" you!

Joe was caught off guard at the option, because before we got there I promised him that no one would be able to touch him (I've never been to a haunted house where it's been allowed). Although I tried to persuade him otherwise, he opted NOT to have the scarier experience.

Scared at the thought he might be touched.

I, of course, readily opted FOR the scarier experience:

Most everyone else did as well, as you can see from these  line pics:

I couldn't get any photos inside the haunted house (which is really 6 different haunted houses, all with different themes), but it was awesome! Definitely the scariest I've been too.

And the good news, besides the fact we both survived, is that Joe didn't hate it! In fact, he said he'll come back next year since he loved seeing me have such a good time :)

What a man I married :)

More good news. My 19-year-old brother Brian made a last minute decision to visit us in Philly for a week. He gets here Saturday night, and our first stop is Terror Behind the Walls. He loves haunted houses, and I can't wait for him to experience this one!

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