Ravenwood Manor
 |
| "The Bloody End"; 13th Year |
Beccaria, Pennsylvania
October 7, 2012
I don’t know why I was under the misconception that I
couldn’t be scared around here for Halloween.
Don’t believe everything that you think.
I also thought I was maybe a little old for a night out in fake blood
and zombie face, but it turns out 32 is not too old to have a good time and
almost piss yourself in public. Last
night I went to Ravenwood Manor, a haunted house attraction in Beccaria,
Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful seasonal experience; it
was pleasantly and freakishly exciting to discover something so local and legit
was offered to the public.
Ravenwood is offering their 13th year of scares
this October. I have never even been to
the place until now. I actually wasn’t
even aware of its existence these whole 13 years it has been happening. Needless to say, this was fairly exciting for
me. It is located at the Hegerty
Mansion, in Becarria at Hegerty
Crossroads which is a little out in the middle of nowhere. This only adds to the creepy atmosphere.
The mansion is decked out in its own Halloween costume,
under the glow of eerie colored lights, accessories and sounds. There is a backing of eerie music loud enough
to be heard from the parking lot. We hit
up the port-a-potties beforehand, which was probably for the best as I am sure
it prevented some urine from escaping throughout the tour. The grounds are complete with a Cadaver Café
where you can get refreshments prior to or after your tour. The ticket booth is outside and there is a
roped section to accommodate a line when there is a crowd. I was informed it was quite busy the night
before we went, and people waited almost two hours for the approximate half
hour tour. Even the ticket taker was in
costume. Thankfully we didn’t have to
wait and were able to go right in, and by that I mean purchase our tickets at
the booth to be immediately chased across the yard onto the porch by a creepy
clown wielding a chain saw. There were
four of us in the group I went with and we huddled into the form we would assume
through most of the house, a ball of squeals.
There are supposedly 27 rooms in Ravenwood Manor. I am not sure how many we viewed; I have to
admit in all honesty I wasn’t counting as we were going through the tour. We were ushered into a foyer of sorts and
then led into a study type room by a man in full costume. Our guide had a top hat, sunken eyes and a
bit of a gimp to him. With a booming
voice one could hear at a theatrical production he gave us back history about
Ravenwood Manor. A resounding voice beckoned
to you through the darkness. “This
way!” Actors were jumping out behind us
from unseen hiding spots. We were led to
room after room, each one adorned with horrifying scenes and disturbing
characters. Every room I entered I
assessed in the darkness, finding a spot to stand that I didn’t think was in
front of a lurking actor waiting to jump out at me. They were coming from all sides! This shit was authentic!
In one room we were approached by a scary clown, in another
a creepy doll woman, surrounded by large doll figures. A lot of the actors were so convincing that
it took a little time in the poor light to discern if they were real or not. By the time you figured it out, they were
jumping at you with a startling scream or coming at you with knives or hatchets. In one room a mad dentist drilled into a
mechanical body. In one room a clown
swung sideways down the wall at us. The
actors approached us and were convincingly freaky with their interactions. It was hard not to laugh in defense, which I
hoped didn’t make them think I was mocking them. They all did a very good job.
We moved from room to room, the doors closed behind us, all
the while being guided from room to room by the tour guide. In one room that sported body parts hanging
from every inch of the ceiling, we were urged to “Step toward the bed...” This is when I had a moment of physical
defense and stress. In a normal life
situation this wouldn’t be very wise and would have drastically different
results. It was authentically scary and
if all of the limbs weren’t obviously fake you could have sworn that you had
been abducted into a house of torture. After
veering through narrow stairways and hallways being warned to “Use the
handrail, 3 steps down!” in a villainy vibrato voice, we eventually came out into what
seemed a large vagina. I jest, but that
was what it was like, being born. I
actually got hung up in it at one point.
It was a pitch black tunnel that was vibrating. There were curtain type foam barriers you had
to push your way past. I lost my friend
I was with at one point and couldn’t see where I was going so I slowed to a
near crawl for part of the tunnel, fumbling through the dark, feeling for the
floor, until I could see my surroundings again.
It successfully threw me off balance and was genuinely hard to
navigate.
After finally making it out of the pitch black vibrating
vaginal canal, we were spit out into a smoke filled room with three clowns
coming at us with cowbells, chainsaws and scurry faces. At this point our group wasn’t exactly sure
where to go so my friend just asked them; it was quite humorous. With straight faces in full character, still
coming at us with noises he nods to the end of the tent we were in. Apparently we had exited the house via the
vagina and entered a party tent filled with clowns and smoke. All around it was a good little spook
show!
 |
| Front of Ravenwood Manor |
For only being $12 and within 100 miles of my house, I must
say it was a very good local attraction.
Until now the scariest Haunted House I had ever been to was one I had
visited in Daytona Beach while on
vacation; you had to sign a Death
Certificate before entering. Ravenwood
Manor was more authentically scary and interesting to tour by far than the
house in Daytona. The house itself was
magnificent; I would love to tour it without all of the haunted tour décor, let
alone just see it in the daylight! The
ceilings looked to be about 12 feet high in most of the rooms and each doorway was
fashioned with a gloriously tall ornate door.
There were tiny passages and interesting angles. I was very pleased with this attraction! Kudos to the actors, staff, and owners at
Ravenwood Manor! Thank you for offering
such an entertaining local haunted attraction!
Boo to You!
Missie Sue
No comments:
Post a Comment