Beginning in 2016, The Haunted Rose has become one of the most impressive home haunts in Southern California. With a background as a professional haunter at Knott’s Scary Farm, and credits at Disney and Cirque du Soleil, creator Ryan Banfield can tell an evocative narrative with gorgeous set design and strong theming. In the past, Banfield drew inspiration from the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, exploring themes such as Maritime Horror in 2017, “The Statement of Randolph Carter” in 2019 (at Millmur Manor in La Habra), and “The Colour Out of Space” in 2020 back in Whittier. In 2021, The Haunted Rose shed its home haunt status and was offered residence at The Whittier Museum, debuting with Realm of the Supernatural—focusing on the lore and ghost stories of Uptown Whittier (and their first year not focusing on the lore of Lovecraft). Now in 2022, they are back with Beyond the Gates of Turnbull.

This year, The Haunted Rose has continued the trend started in 2021 by focusing on Whittier itself with Beyond the Gates of Turnbull, a love letter to Turnbull Canyon’s dark history, lore, and mythology. The experience is the longest walkthrough for The Haunted Rose yet, running fifteen minutes or longer, depending on your walking speed. Participants navigate numerous scenes and settings from Turnbull’s past, filled with insane asylum inmates, monstrous creatures, shamanic skeletons, and of course, William Haight and his famous electrodome! This is a standard walkthrough haunt, focused on history and scares, with no actor contact, no crawling, and an impressive use of space.

As mentioned above, the theming is focused on Turnbull Canyon’s lore. What some may know as a peaceful hiking trail has been rumored to be a place of occult meetings, ghostly haunts, brutal murders, and tragic accidents. Robert Turnbull, the canyon’s namesake, arrived in 1873 and was murdered in 1888. On April 18^th, 1952, LAX lost contact with Flight 416—and it crashed into the narrow canyon below. There’s also the ramshackled gates leading to the proposed gates of hell—but beyond them is unknown. Some say it leads to the Hidden Hills Asylum, a rumored location that burned down in the early 1940’s. But most impressive is the Electrodome, a story beginning 1925 where William Haight tried to control the weather via a large tower that could alternate electrical currents. There’s so much history to pull from—and The Haunted Rose selected the absolute best and most interesting for Beyond the Gates of Turnbull.

As audiences explore Beyond the Gates of Turnbull, its difficult to tell where the haunt begins and the Whittier Museum ends. The Haunted Rose has integrated itself so perfectly into the existing structure of the museum, utilizing the 1900’s facades of old Whittier to house a rancher and his daughter—before you step past their farm and find yourself in the wards of Hidden Hills Asylum. The asylum shifts, leading down the canyon path, through the overgrowth, and towards the downed Flight 416 (there is a full downed plane in this room!). The experience ends with the massive electrodome—and William Haight proclaiming his wonderous invention to all from atop the Whittier Line train. It’s a site-specific marvel to see these real-life historical sets brought to life with wonderfully supernatural and eerie aesthetics.

Yet, it’s the actors that further immerse you in this world. Inmates scream loudly at you, speaking quickly and crazily of the Asylum horrors—and Doctor Macabro’s evil experimentations. The monstrous skeletal creatures that fill the canyon emerge from dark crevices, scaring participants from all sides and above, as you explore the dark foliage-covered pathway. Their long claws cut through the fog with ease, and create some truly memorable imagery that only serves to further elevate this haunt. The rancher warns all of the weird sights in that canyon—trying to dissuade you from going forward—but the naivety of his daughter creates a nice juxtaposition as she tells of only cute fluffy animals in the canyon.

The electrodome is a fantastic finish to this strongly themed and wonderfully acted haunt. If you don’t know the history prior to entering, this scene may be confusing, but with the appropriate understanding, William Haight’s dialogue echoes the past, of a man who believed he could follow in Nikola Telsa’s abandoned Wardenclyffe Tower, yet was never able to control the weather. The crackle and lights burst out from above, as a towering beast resides next to it—a harbinger warning of the dangers of trying to control nature. It’s a fantastic scene brought to life—and the fact that it’s real, only creates more weight to the overall room.

The Haunted Rose’s Beyond the Gates of Turnbull captures the fear, the mystery, and the awe of the history of Whittier. It’s more than just a fun haunted attraction—it’s a walk down a dark path where we can glimpse into the fear and the wonder of what lies beyond a gate of darkness. Is it a rumored asylum in which the inmates have been released after the fire? Is it a man in his hubris in trying to control the weather opens a portal to hell? Or is it a fear of the dark, of the unknown, that rests in each person’s mind?

For more information about The Haunted Rose, checkout their Facebook, Instagram, and website. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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