{"id":32697,"date":"2022-11-26T16:39:14","date_gmt":"2022-11-27T00:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/?p=32697"},"modified":"2022-12-04T14:09:17","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T22:09:17","slug":"gershon-dungeon-haunt-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/gershon-dungeon-haunt-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Gershon Dungeon Haunt is the Longest Running OC Home Haunt & Here’s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I take a seat on the bench, to wait my execution. I hear the creak of metal and wood\u2014and the seat begins to move, spinning around to reveal a secret room behind me\u2014and a cloaked figure with a demonic face. \u201cAre humans still flammable?\u201d He asks me. And I nod simply. \u201cMa, turn the broiler down to a simmer.\u201d He then looks back at me. \u201cYou have five seconds to make it past that black door, or Ma is going to get you. Five\u2026 four\u2026 three\u2026 two\u2026\u201d And before he hits one, I hear the growl of Ma. Gershon Dungeon Haunt is a home haunt in Tustin, CA.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Gershon<\/a><\/p>\n

Gershon Dungeon<\/a> Haunt is one of the oldest home haunts in Southern California, starting in 1991 in Tustin, California. Spoken among the names of other amazing and veteran home haunts, such as Rotten Apple 907<\/a>, Boot Hill<\/a>, and Beware the Dark Realm<\/a>, the Gershon Dungeon is a classic home haunted house reminiscent of a Knott\u2019s Scary Farm<\/a> (with more innovation) or Freakling Bros. The scares are practical in effect, focusing on atmosphere and moving parts, instead of fancy lighting shifts tied to sound cues and electronics. Audiences will be intimately scared as they enter elevators, crawl through Dungeon passages, and navigate lengthy tunnels, tombs, and swamps\u2014ultimately finding their escape. This is one of the longest home haunts in Orange County, ranging between fifteen and twenty minutes, depending on your speed and scare level.<\/p>\n

Gershon Dungeon Haunt was named after the street that creator Mike Gustaveson’s lives on in Tustin–and started with just Gustaveson and his best friend Skip building props in their garage. Their first big prop was a “crush box” that slowly shrunk in size, as it trapped their victims inside. Since then, they found themselves trying to out “prop” themselves each year, with more and more impressive engineering feats. Now, they have employed over twenty builders (including Dave and Jacob Larson<\/a> of Pirate’s Cave<\/a> for their elevator) and twenty-three scare actors to create something special for the over 800 people who visit over two nights.<\/p>\n

The lore of Gershon Dungeon follows Queen Guinevere Holt, who ordered the construction of a dungeon after her King never returned from the battlefield. After all the villains of the area were sent to the dungeon, she began sending all who questioned her actions. The people of the land soon rebelled against her and threw her down into her own dungeon, never to be seen until… 1991, when the new property owner was digging out the earth for a pool, he found the queen’s grave, her crown, and an elevator down. Now, the souls trapped in the dungeon haunt the grounds as well as the dungeon unearthed on the property.<\/p>\n

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\"Gershon<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gershon Dungeon Haunt earns its reputation as one of the oldest\u2014and best\u2014home haunts by incorporating many novel effects that feel reminiscent of the day of great haunted houses of the 90\u2019s and 2000\u2019s. Chairs that spin around, bookshelves that move to reveal hidden passages and even fully blacked out rooms\u2014this is not your normal home haunt. Similar to Pirate\u2019s Cave<\/a> (and now Dark Harvest<\/a>), an elevator scene that sends guests crashing to the dungeon below is wonderful and was a delight for our entire group. The effects and the twists and turns are truly impressive.<\/p>\n

Yet, beyond just the fantastic effects scattered throughout the haunt, the actors also bring intensity to this experience. They don\u2019t physically touch you\u2014but they will get in your face and force you into small areas. A grim reaper with shovel stands in your path as a man with a chainsaw chases you from behind. In a blacked out room, creatures move through the darkness and impede your path\u2014preventing you from finding yourself off path. This level of in-your-face effects serves to keep guests in line, but also increases the fear of the experience. We also want to note that while one actor did carry a \u201cshocking device\u201d to scare the lines, it was never used and contact did not exist in this haunt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Gershon<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gershon Dungeon Haunt supports Tara\u2019s Chance Charity<\/a>, helping special needs children ride horses for the first time, offering them equestrian therapy. As most great home haunts support some charity (see Fairbrook Manor<\/a>), it\u2019s great to see this charity, and their support of this great cause. There\u2019s donation opportunities at the start of the haunt as well as at the end, so please bring some cash and donate to this great cause.<\/p>\n

Overall, Gershon Dungeon Haunt combines some fantastic practical effects with intense in-your-face acting to create not just one of the best home haunts we\u2019ve done but also one of the scariest. We\u2019d compare this to Castle Vampyre at Freakling Bro\u2019s<\/a> with some effects from Coven of 13 added in\u2014if you\u2019re a fan of either of those mazes, please check out Gershon Dungeon Haunt. It\u2019s long, its well staffed, and the effects are amazing. Just make sure the ghouls stay there\u2014and don\u2019t follow you home.<\/p>\n

The Gershon Dungeon is located at 13861 Gershon Pl., Tustin, CA 92705<\/a>. For more information about Gershon Dungeon, check out their Facebook<\/a> page or their website<\/a>. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_media_grid style=”load-more” items_per_page=”8″ element_width=”3″ item=”masonryMedia_SimpleBlurWithScale” btn_title=”More Haunting Pictures” btn_style=”modern” btn_color=”default” btn_size=”xs” grid_id=”vc_gid:1667257843777-d3599f44-4306-5″ include=”32712,32710,32709,32708,32707,32705,32704,32703,32702,32701,32700,32699,32698,32706,32711″][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I take a seat on the bench, to wait my execution. I hear the creak of metal and wood\u2014and the seat begins to move, spinning around to reveal a secret room behind me\u2014and a cloaked figure with a demonic face. \u201cAre humans still flammable?\u201d He asks me. And I nod simply. \u201cMa, turn the broiler […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[27416,11839,80],"tags":[26491,27375,8653,27366],"yst_prominent_words":[5792,4010,190,13346,13343,4375,4856,5026,12852,1694,5954,16759,13165,4975],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.haunting.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Gershon-Dungeon-2022-Home-Haunt-Tustin-CA-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p89hUA-8vn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32697"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33060,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32697\/revisions\/33060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32697"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haunting.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=32697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}