The Haunted House of Horror 2023 has been scaring since 2011 in the old Courtland High School building at 1205 Tennessee Street, Courtland, Alabama. When asked what was new this year, owner Stephanie Jones smiled with excitement and revealed the recent purchase of an entire haunt’s worth of props and settings. Some of these items are in her haunt now, while others are being added as time allows for new set building.

Tickets this year are General Admission $25, Contact $35, VIP (skip the line) $45 and VIP Contact $50. Cash discounts are offered for all tickets. Another new addition this year is the Rage Room. Two levels of “Smash Sesh” are available, Small $15 and Large $20. The difference is the number of breakable objects waiting to be the focus of your ire. Ticket packages combining the Rage Room and haunt are also available.

Haunted House of Horror 2023 was moderately busy, especially for a drizzly Friday night during high school football season. This haunt uses a group ticketing system, eliminating the need to wait in long lines. One group was at the haunt door and another was hanging out in the old gym. A scary movie played on the back wall of the old gym, next to the concession stand, and the Rage Room was only a few steps away

I chose the contact option for my tour, expecting to be creeped out instead of flung around. DeLisa, who joined me this evening to take whatever photos were allowed, opted out of the tour, choosing to look for photo ops. I joined a young couple with VIP passes. Mine was the only neck decorated with a glowstick. We entered the haunt and made our way down the first long twisty hallway. A large actor with a grisly black and white mask and make up ambushed us from a corner. He spent a few seconds looming over the couple, but when he noticed the glowstick, his attention turned to me. Up close and personal, his hand on the back of my neck, firm but not aggressive, he growled threats and invitations before sending us on our way.

The walk through Haunted House of Horror 2023 follows a looping, twisting path through the sprawling old school, showcasing a collection of horror scenes enhanced by the actor’s personality, and if you picked contact, also their personal touches. The new props were immediately noticeable the settings. One of the first scenes encountered was an electric chair execution, complete with an inmate who escaped his cage to block our way. The scene was lively and complex, with two actors, sparking props, and animatronics.

Photo by WyldArt

Along the way, we stopped to view a scene projected inside a door, a crazed woman trying to smash her way out. Our attention focused on the door, expecting it to open. Of course the scare came from elsewhere.

Brother and sister cannibals Tiny and Molly feasted on the grisly remains of an unfortunate victim, the blood smeared bed, walls, and faces just visible enough in the dim red light to be ghastly. They had a chatty charm which made the grisly scene more horrific in comparison.

Outside the spinning tunnel leading to the small complex of rooms containing the clowns, I saw a woman standing, utterly still. She moved, I’m certain. No, she’s a statue or a mannequin. No again, I saw her breathe. I could have waited much longer, but the clowns were insistent. Haunted House of Horror 2023 is particularly proud of its clowns. Last year, owner Stephanie said the best actors are put into the clown rooms.

Yes, rooms. Fluorescently painted, black-lit rooms with capering clowns that follow groups or cut through secret passages between the walls to vanish and appear again. They crowd. They chat. They are all the creepier for their lack of immediate, overt menace. Clownish friendliness on overdrive offsets the blood and screams of the other rooms, but creates a fright flavor all its own. Adding contact invites playful pats, hair ruffles, and other light but disconcerting touch.

The doll room is exactly what it sounds like, but more. A room with a hundred or more dolls, lit well enough to see and accompanied by an unusual audio effect, a clear soundtrack of a woman predicting your death and promising that there is no escape. The room is topped off by the young actor who always invites her guests to play.

Immediately following the doll room waited several school rooms complete with lockers and reminiscent of those disturbing nightmares of being in middle school again. The ‘teacher’ arrived with a shriek and tolerated no misbehavior from her students. The sound of her screaming harangue propelled us right out into the night.

Photo by WyldArt

Behind the Scenes

Back inside the waiting area, we found Savannah and Stephanie. I asked about the woman outside the clown rooms and Stephanie laughed without revealing the truth. She likes to maintain the mystery of her haunt, though she does it with a smile.

We accepted the gracious offer of a quick behind the scenes tour, which provided a fascinating glimpse into the operation of the haunt. Savannah walked quickly, guiding us unerringly through the darkness. When asked if she ever got lost in her own haunt she laughed, saying, “I could find my way with my eyes closed. I grew up here.”

From the other side of a hidden door, we listened to Tiny and Molly loudly argue and threaten the group they entertained. Multiple appeals to an unseen Mama were made while the shouts and nervous laughter of the guests could be heard. Between groups, we ducked into the room to take pictures and meet the actors.

Savannah led us to the clowns next. I got to answer my own question about the standing woman, but I am following Stephanie’s example and inviting you to find out by visiting. We met the clowns, but another group was coming up fast and we had to leave. Savannah finished the tour by showing us the Rage Room, which is one of her projects. We also learned she built the doll room, using years of donated dolls to create the scene.

Photo by WyldArt

The Creation and Life of Haunted House of Horror 2023

Haunted House of Horror began as a family endeavor and continues as a family enterprise today. Stephanie and her late husband, Keith, discovered the building in 2011 and leased it immediately, recognizing, as Stephanie said, “This place would make an awesome haunted house!” The haunt opened following a year of renovation, design, and construction.

Stephanie and daughters Savannah and Sydney continued the family tradition after Keith’s untimely death in 2016. Together, they are the team that makes the creative and operational decisions that keep the haunt going and continuously improving. Savannah was not kidding about growing up in the Haunted House of Horror.

Stephanie’s favorite scares are the ones dished out to the big, tough guys who aren’t scared of anything, making their reactions even funnier. She says they are also usually good sports about it. She did admit that her personal scares happen when she’s working by herself at the haunt, which never seems to settle down and rest, but instead has a haunted life of its own.

The ideas for scares come from the guests themselves. The haunt family listens when customers express their fears and phobias. Then they do everything possible to bring those fears to life in carefully crafted scenes. The off season is full of new room creation and maintenance of scenes being carried forward to the next season. An off season event, Valoween Weekend, was produced in 2023, and Stephanie is thinking about doing it again in 2024.

We ended the interview with Stephanie’s thanks to her family, friends, haunt actors, and the guests of Haunted House of Horror 2023 . She’s especially proud of her Halloween loving family and with their support, and the support of the community, plans to continue the haunt for years to come.

For more information about Haunted House of Horror 2023 , check out their Facebook and website. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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