This past weekend, during a tour of LA County haunted events with the folks from IsItOctoberYet and Park Journey, I got the opportunity to checkout the new haunted house from Evil Twin Studios, called the Raymond Hill Mortuary. I had not initially intended to write a review of the haunted house until I emerged from its gates, exhilarated and craving another go-through. The Fremont Centre Theatre in Pasadena, CA serves as host to the Raymond Hill Mortuary, which has twisted the building’s normally-beautiful facade into a nightmare, waiting for unsuspecting guests to enter its maw. We arrived at roughly 9pm and found parking was not bad at all – being available both on the street and in a few scattered lots nearby. We parked in the nearby church parking lot and had a very short walk to the haunted house’s entrance. I was surprised to find that the line of guests waiting to get inside was stretched down the sidewalk for quite some distance.
While the Raymond Hill Mortuary has its share of monsters that jump out at you, it is the additional level of interactivity that they offer which pushes the experience over the top. With this haunted house, you will be asked to push on your comfort zones with tight, dark spaces and uncomfortable situations. I would not consider Raymond Hill Mortuary an “extreme haunt” like the infamous Blackout, but it does a masterful job of skirting the line every so often. I would caution those of you with bad knees or mobility issues to ask for the “chicken bypass” during these moments just to avoid any potential issues.
The actors inside the haunted house were all very energetic and engrossed into their roles – with only one monster slightly breaking character during my walk-through. Even then, it was to assist me in finding the exit to the room I was in. Guests of the haunted house are put into groups of 8 people each and these groups have to be spaced out accordingly to avoid bunching up.
While sending people into the experience in smaller groups means that the portions of haunted house best suited for guest interactivity can be better enjoyed by all, it also makes for a varied level of pacing during your journey. Sometimes monsters will be yelling at you to move and get out of their haunting grounds and other times you could be asked to wait somewhere longer than you probably want to as a group ahead of you finishes up.
The folks at Evil Twin Studios and the volunteers working to make the Raymond Hill Mortuary the best haunted house it can be should be very proud of themselves. The Raymond Hill Mortuary is easily one of the best haunted attractions I have visited over the course of this entire haunt season. It has just the right amount of straight-up scares mixed with slightly uncomfortable moments that make it extremely memorable without requiring a change of trousers.
The Raymond Hill Mortuary is open October 18, 24, 25, 26, 31, and November 1. Tickets cost $13 dollars online and $15 dollars at the door. The front of the line option is an additional cost of $10 dollars but well worth it if the line stretches down the block like it did during our visit. Proceeds benefit the South Pasadena Educational Foundation (SPEF). This means you can have a great time getting scared and also support a good cause.
You can find ticket information and more at the Evil Twin Studios official website.
