Mansion of Terror (or Why I Can't Sleep at Night)

Alright kids, it's become somewhat of a tradition of mine to plan some sort of outing when Halloween-time comes rolling around.  Last year, my friends and I had SUCH an amazing time so we felt like we had to outdo ourselves this year.  This meant that we couldn't just stick around San Antonio.  We had heard that the haunted houses in Austin were so much better.  We decided to give it a go.  Why not, right?  It's only an hour away.  

We hit up House of Torment first (the one near Highland Mall.)  That one was ALRIGHT.  A little scary.  Definitely not worth the price, though.  At one point, this "monster" came out to scare us and the entire group I went in with sighed, groaned, and booed...and then laughed at his pathetic attempt.  They SUCKED at scaring us.  I'm not going to lie, I did grab the person in front of me (and probably rather inappropriately) a few times and I screamed a couple of times as well, but we didn't come out of it completely satisfied.  We had seen better.  We had built up this trip to Austin so much and we ended up totally disappointed.  

We didn't give up, though.  And I cannot tell you how glad I am that we didn't!

We ended up at the Mansion of Terror in Round Rock, TX.  To put things into perspective, let me tell you that two from our group (who made it all the way through both House of Torment attractions quite easily) ran away before even getting into any of the Mansion of Terror attractions!  We were greeted by a freaky ass clown with a chainsaw so two of the girls we were with ran out and away towards a nearby Hastings.  They didn't come back.  Wusses. 

Little did we know, though.

This year they had TWO attractions at the Mansion of Terror -- "Slaughter Circus" and "Blood Frenzy."  True to their names, they were bloody and disgusting and truly terrifying.  I'm very surprised that we all made it out of there without throwing up or pissing our pants, seriously.  THAT awesome.  

I won't give much away.  You're definitely going to have to go see for yourself because a lot of it cannot even be described (and thinking about it actually sends shivers down my spine.)  I will say though that the costumes, makeup, and set were all AMAZING.  It really felt like I had just stepped into the set of a horror movie.  No, let's make it 20 horror movies combined.  It was very obvious to me that the people who work hard to keep this nightmare factory running are talented people who care a lot about making things look as real as possible.  

I was screaming the entire way through!!!  I don't think I've ever reacted that way to anything in my life.  The guy behind me was much worse though, so I didn't feel as bad.  ;-) At one point, two actors came up to either side of me and followed me, whispering things and making me shake in fear!  I would close my eyes and just when I thought that FOR SURE they'd be gone, I'd slowly open an eye only to see that they were still there!  God, I was terrified.  

I just could not get over how real it all seemed!  I even got fake blood on me (All washable, so I hear) and I could feel the warmth on my arm of the sparks that were flying off the set.   

We talked about it all the way back to San Antonio.  It's been two days and I'm STILL having trouble getting to sleep.  Once it gets dark, I check EVERYTHING.  Under my bed, inside my closet, I open the shower curtain -- nothing goes unturned.  Just a bit ago my internet connection went out and I panicked because I knew full well that the wireless router is in a different room and it would mean that I would have to face the darkness and all the images from the Mansion of Terror that will be forever etched in my brain...or at least until next year when we go again and they (I'm positive) will have even more terrifying stuff going on in there.  I shudder at the thought.  *shudders again*

Head out to Round Rock and pay the crazy folk at the Mansion of Terror a visit!  It's totally worth the money and in addition to being really impressive and absolutely terrifying, the people who work hard to put it on seem really GREAT!  

But I totally suggest you pee beforehand.  You don't want to be the one to pee inside.  No, you don't want to be THAT dude.  :-)