Distinguished Haunted House Makes Its Return for Halloween Season

With the arrival of the fall season and Halloween just around the corner, haunted houses are beginning to emerge throughout the nation. One of the most renowned haunted houses in the country is here in Austin, Texas.

Located in the northeast corner of the Highland Mall, the famed House of Torment is now open to the public who dare to attempt the hair-raising experience. The seasonal event has been delivering endless hours of spine-chilling adventures over the past ten years. It offers three different attractions this year, each with separate takes on the Mayan’s prophesized end of the world.

Tens of thousands of people attempt the attractions every year. With the House of Torment’s success over time, there are now locations in San Antonio and Phoenix. The idea of this popular event stems from the House of Torment’s President Daniel McCullough.

Customers can purchase their tickets at the Box Office located at the Highland Mall or skip the lines by purchasing them online in advance at the House of Torment's website. 

“My business partner, Dan McCullough, started it in his South Austin backyard pre-2003,” says Jon Love, Vice President of the House of Torment. “No one was doing Halloween stuff in his neighborhood.”

Love says McCullough, who had a background in construction, decided to create his very own haunted house. For several years it grew in popularity as a home haunted house, until in 2002 when McCullough came home from church the day of Halloween only to discover lines of anxious people waiting to experience his creation. McCullough’s family decided that their backyard haunted house was beginning to be too much for them to handle.

“In order to continue to do what had become his passion, [McCullough] had to do it commercially,” says Love. “So that kind of spawned the commercial, professional House of Torment haunted house.”

In 2003, Love visited the House of Torment and fell in love with the idea. After volunteering and helping scare people, Love decided that he wanted to be a part of McCullough’s passion. Love earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas and had a background in concert promotion, event marketing and management. With his experience, Love joined McCullough and helped transform what is now a successful business.

The haunted attraction has been successful enough to have its own gift shop. Margo Fesas,center, and her son's friend Jay Adascal browse through the House of Torment's Scare Store. 

The House of Torment’s first year consisted of volunteers only. Since then business has grown, and Love says there are 150 seasonal and half a dozen fulltime employees at the Austin location. With the locations in San Antonio and Phoenix, there are over 500 seasonal employees.

Changing the show each year and never doing the same thing twice is important to Love and the rest of the Torment crew. The combined 25,000 square feet area of eerie, dark adventures and spooky monsters keeps avid fans returning every year with new scares and thrills. Jay Baltierra, a sophomore at the University of Texas, has made going to the House of Torment a yearly tradition.

Customers line up for the Slaughterhouse, the House of Torment's newest grisly attraction.

“The tradition of going with a group of friends as well as new scary houses and themes offered by the House of Torment keeps me going,” says Baltierra. “I like the fact that the Torment actors are walking around outside the house, and they scare people waiting in line. Their makeup and acting is on point!”

The makeup and acting are important factors to the House of Torment’s huge success. Love says that the amount of time and detail it takes to get the employees ready varies. The more simple costumes and makeup can be ready in about 20 minutes. The costumes with more detail and makeup can easily take over an hour to hour and a half.

Kaylinn Hosca, left, hides behind her friend Ishmel Ray as one of the many actors approaches her while waiting in line.

“It really depends on the character and the complexity of the costumes,” says Love. “Some costumes have four pieces, some have 24. And there’s a special effects make-up that is involved with it also.”

The makeup, costumes, acting and attractions don’t go unnoticed. Each year lots of haunted house industry lists have fans and media outlets vote on the best in the country. HauntWorld, the world’s largest online directory of haunted houses, placed the House of Torment number five on their top 13 haunted attractions in the country.

Another new addition to the House of Torment is a group of choreographed zombie dancers, who perform various routines throughout the night and roam through the crowds as well.

“Consistently House of Torment is on those lists and toward the top of those lists,” says Love. “Every year we’re getting awards and accolades in some sort from national media outlets and industry sources because the production value here is insane, and the entertainment value is over the top. Lots of people come, and I think we put on a good show.”