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Monday, October 28, 2013

Erebus: The World's Largest Haunted House

Erebus is a four-story haunted house in Pontiac, Michigan. From August 2005 - September 2009, it was listed in the Guinness Book of Worlds Records as the world's largest walk-through haunted attraction. For more information, please visit their website at .

Er·e·bus noun \ˈer-ə-bəs\

1:  a personification of darkness in Greek mythology
2:  a place of darkness in the underworld on the way to Hades 
Erebus Review by Emily R.
Been wanting to go to Erebus for many years now, and this year I was finally able to get a group together and go.  It costs $28 a person to enter, but I believe it was well worth the price. I went with my mom, uncle and cousins for a total of 7 of us in our group.  We were thrilled to start our adventure, but when we got there, they told us the MAXIMUM number of people per group that can enter at once is 6. So we split up into four and three.  I went with my mom, cousin Angela and her friend, Jesse. The other group consisted of my uncle and cousins, Aaron and Alicia.

It all started before we even entered the facility. A young girl came from outside and was crawling around on the floor trying to scare the people in line (it was very similar to the scene in The Ring, with the girl crawling out of the tv, at least that is what it reminded me of).  It didn't bother me, I was more concerned that people were going to step on her haha. Needless to say though, I was very nervous about entering based on stories I have heard in the past.  My biggest fear was being split from the group. I was surprised that for a Friday night, it was not very crowded and the wait time was very short.  We were scheduled to go in at 8:30, according to our tickets, but got in about 8:15. Before entering though, they do warn everyone that you should not go in if you have any sort of heart problems or are pregnant. They also have a "wimp out" board, which includes the number of people that have wimped out and could not finish going through the house. To add to that, they also have the number of people that have wet themselves or puked on themselves.  I couldn't believe how high the numbers were.

As we entered, they direct you towards one of the many doors.  When your group enters, they close it behind you, (so now you are in a small space, like an elevator with doors on both sides--so I can see why they only want 6 per group....) and the lights flicker over and over as a voice over the intercom comes on. When the door on the other end opens, we immediately scream at the first guy who opens the door lol, such idiots haha.  There is only one pathway to go, so you can't get lost, just follow the trail. We sent Jesse up front, followed by Angela, then me and my mom in back.

The first area when you walk in, the man tells you to stand up against the wall as we may be infected with a virus.  He shows us what happens when you get the virus (a man inside a cage explodes). Angela responds with, "oh cool" and I say, "that's awesome" lol.  So then we proceed on, as a woman is yelling at us to hurry up because we have to escape before we get infected. We took our sweet old time and went very slow lol.

For the rest of the haunted house, we proceeded to go up and down stairs and ramps many times, so if you are handicapped, I don't think you would be able to go in unfortunately.  There is one area where you have to walk across a ledge, or so it seems.  Angela and I tested it out to make sure there was an actual platform and we weren't gonna die lol. There is, but you can't see it, and of course, the wall will start caving in on you trying to push you off that ledge.  It was a brilliant special effect. As we continued through, there were walls that would open and close and you had to make your way through them.  Not wanting to be split up, we hung onto each other's shirts, and my mom got stuck in the wall lol.  The wall closed on her, so we waited for it to be open to release her because she didn't want us leaving her behind.  The walls felt like they were made of Styrofoam, so all was good.

Angela's favorite part was the swamp that we had to walk through.  It was just like walking on tires or something, but it definitely made it feel like a swamp because of the special effects they use. And of course, there were dead things coming out of the swamp.

After the swamp, we proceeded to get buried alive. We had to wait for it though (so they could clear the group that was ahead of us), so they put us against the wall. The man asked us who wanted to die first.  Of course, Angela raised her hand lol. Another group came behind us and the man directed them farther down the hall.  I replied with, "why do they get to go down there, I want to go" and the man replied back with, "because you get to die here".  I just said okay lol.  While we were waiting, someone comes around the corner and low and behold, it's Aaron!! He was alone.  Confused, I asked him where the others were, and he said they got split up!  I was so happy I was not in his group now haha, so he got to get buried with us since he was alone.  When our wait was over, we entered a very small room and were told to hold onto the bars. Then 10,000 balls come falling on top of your head, ultimately burying you.  It only lasts for a couple seconds though, but it was fun. Aaron ended up finishing the haunted house with our group.

Other things that went on: you get attacked by a large clapping monkey, eaten by a shark, and many times things will grab at you when you can't see them, so you don't expect it.

There was one section of the haunted house where they take your picture.  As a guy tries to scare you, 50 cameras in all different angles snap your photo at once.  You can see this photo when you exit the haunted house.  As much as I would have loved to have the photo, I didn't want to spend the $20 it cost to get it.

A few recommendations...I would not recommend this haunted house for small children. If you suffer from things like panic attacks or are claustrophobic, I wouldn't recommend it. You do have many times when you are in small spaces, walls closing in on you, many people jumping out at you (expected and unexpected), and one area where you have to kneel down to get through..not good if you have back or knee issues, but it isn't a long section, so you should be okay.  If you are one that freaks out a lot, many of the people in the haunted house will constantly harass you as they think it's fun.  So the best position to be in is the middle.  Jesse was our leader and NOTHING scared him. He didn't even flinch and was wondering why we were all screaming.  Typical guy...Being in the back can be horrifying. The Zombies/monsters would constantly follow you and get in your face, as you are an easy target.

Overall I had a great time. The makeup many of the "actors" are using is phenomenal, the special effects were brilliant.  Good times, I would give Erebus a 10 out of 10.



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