Fairbrook Manor Haunt  is a home haunt—and community wide experience—located in Long Beach, California. Now in its third year, and sophomore year as a walkthrough haunted house, the experience offers a snaking path throughout the front sidewalk and yard of the Long Beach home, creating an experience that lasts a six to eight minutes—but will last far longer in your mind after your experience. Further, with a longer line and strong actors, the line almost becomes an extension of the haunt, allowing actors to engage with you, act in front of you, tell you the narrative background, and scare others around you, creating some memorable moments before the haunt even begins. This home haunt has actors with so much heart and passion—and a strong narrative lore that explores the downfall of Victoria Fairbrook.

The oil boom of 1910 made Victoria Fairbrook and her husband very rich—allowing them to construct a beautiful home, Fairbrook Manor Haunt. Yet, tragedy befall the family as their two children drowned in the lake behind the house, sending Victoria into delusional madness spawned from grief and loneliness. To fill this void, Victoria began kidnapping local children, giving them the life she couldn’t give her children. They had sweets, toys, dolls, no bedtimes, and no baths. But the kids did not help cure her loneliness, and in 1932, Victoria put cyanide in the wine, killing all the housekeepers as well as herself, leaving the children to die slowly—writhing in their own filth. Now, every October, the imprisoned souls appear in the mist, as people start lining up at her door, much as you are lined up tonight.

The narrative above provides a perfect introduction to what participants will experience inside. As such, Fairbrook Manor Haunt transports participants back to 1932, as they traverse the lake outside, meeting the two Fairbrook children in their afterlife. If you survive the lake, you can enter the manor, as Victoria follows behind you, pushing you past her dolls, past the children she’s kidnapped, until you are ready to sit down and have tea with her yourself. If you decide to reject her offer, you’ll need to escape—rushing through the remainder of the manor, as the halls twist and turn, with actors screaming at you from within the walls.

The manor is gorgeous—aptly creating an accurate Victorian 1930’s mansion filled with antiques, ghastly paintings, candelabras, and a decadent tea sets full of sweets and cyanide. Stand out scenes were a hallway lined with all the dolls Victoria provided to her children, the narrative weight of their meaning only making this scene feel more ominous than other haunts with doll rooms; a living room with a roaring fire, and a hand that clawed out from within, creating a slow, deliberate scrapping noise as the creature within digs its nails across the cement; and the tea room where Victoria and her housekeeper banter back and forth—and with the audience—in a theatrical scene in which they try to attempt you to take the tea. This interplay feels straight out of immersive horror experiences and helps elevate this home haunt into something really special—as well as an avenue for these actors to improv with audiences.

The heart of this experience is the actors. The majority of the cast comes from drama classes from the local schools. This includes Milikan, St. Anthony’s, Wilson, and McBride High Schools as well as Stanbridge and Patrick Henry Middle Schools. These actors are having the absolute best time, as they navigate the line, scaring the children and adults alike within it. They pose with groups who survived Fairbrook Manor Haunt, appearing in the background of their congratulatory images. They use props to frighten anyone and everyone in front of the haunt. Fairbrook Manor Haunt has created an entire scare zone in front of their home—and it’s the best thing I’ve seen I’ve seen from a home haunt.

As most the actors come from the drama department of local schools, every 45 minutes one actor will take lead, pause the line, and tell the waiting crowds the story of Fairbrook Manor Haunt and the inhabitants within. This is a wonderfully dramatic way to convey the narrative to the audience, creating a sense of dread and wonder before they even step inside—but it also accomplishes something else, something more logistical. It offers all actors a short break to use the restroom, drink water, and rest their screams before the next groups enter the manor all over again. This is an extremely clever way to allow the kids a chance at acting in front of the lined audience, and also ensuring that the actors inside the haunt are well taken care of—and we appreciate that so much.

Once you leave the haunt, the experience is still not over. You can pose with a “I survived Fairbrook Manor” sign—in which many of the actors may jump in the background of your image to add an extra dash of creepy to your Instagram post. You can donate to the Long Beach Rescue Mission, via cans you’ve brought or money, that only adds a charitable and caring component to the scares they provide. And you can adopt a gnome, get stickers, or magnets, to help further support the haunt. It’s a nice addition that helps organic reach to their marketing. A smart addition—and will only help this haunt grow into their future.

Fairbrook Manor Haunt is a home haunt that has the power of a community behind it. This community fills the manor with the children Victoria kidnapped, as well as their parents who have come out, filled the queue, in an effort to support this haunt and their kids acting in it. There’s something truly special in seeing the next generation of haunt actors play and scare with such passion. But beyond just the actors, Fairbrook Manor Haunt has created a strong mythos and lore that they can continue to develop for years in a manor that immerses audiences in its décor and details. If Victoria offers us her tea, we will take it next time, just to spend more time in Fairbrook Manor Haunt.

Fairbrook Manor Haunt is located at 5426 E Fairbrook St, Long Beach, CA 90815. For more information about Fairbrook Manor Haunt, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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