The roughly 30-minute journey begins with a descent into total darkness, facilitated by an undead elevator operator. As the machine lowers, the man explains the rules of the attraction. Strange, multicolored lights pass outside the windows.
And then the elevator shudders to a stop and everything goes dark.
This is 13th Gate Haunted House in downtown Baton Rouge, named the top haunted attraction this year by haunted house directory hauntworld.com. I visit on a Friday, when the line stretches around St. Philip Street and down South Boulevard.
Bryce LaCour, 16, right, screams and shrinks from a scary scene as Campbell Dunn, 16, left, follows as they make their way through the dark passages of The 13th Gate haunted house experience Sunday.
Dwayne Sanburn, 13th Gate’s owner and artistic director, has operated out of the building since 2002. But he’s been crafting professional haunted houses for 31 years in total.
“It's really about creating an immersive environment that tells the story,” he explains. “Each character in there has their own back story and it helps the actor. You know, if you give them a great set, a great costume, great makeup, a great story, it's very easy for them to become the character that you create.”
And it becomes very easy to forget they are actors.
Sanburn places me with another group, including Denham Springs residents Morgan Fitzgerald, 30, Terrah Altazin, 42, and her daughter Reese, 11. They elect me to lead them into this underworld, apparently thinking I have some sort of insider knowledge that will save us.
Alyssa Hedoby as “Squibbles” makes a scary pose before the doors open for patrons Sunday at The 13th Gate haunted house experience.
They are sorely mistaken.
I have visited a few of the top haunted houses in the country, though. About nine years ago, I survived Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano, Texas. Two years back, I visited Haunted Overload in Lee, New Hampshire, which Haunt World ranked as the third-best haunted house in the country for 2024.
The set design and effects for Dark Hour and Haunted Overload were excellent. The 13th Gate experience is even better.
Eerie doll heads make a scary scene Sunday at The 13th Gate haunted house experience.
City of the Dead
A little way into the experience, we emerge outside onto one of the most elaborate sets. It’s a classic Louisiana cemetery of above-ground tombs, with fog rolling across the ground and screams in the distance.
Sanburn and his team have designed it for maximum impact. The path crisscrosses among the vaults, making me lose my sense of direction in relation to the outside world. Actors hide inside — and above — the crypts, leaping out as we pass.
They’ve been trained well. I bear the brunt of their attacks, but some actors lay in wait for the Altazin family, for those who think they’re safe at the back.
Shadowy mannikins make a scary scene Sunday at The 13th Gate haunted house experience.
I don’t scare easily. But between the actors, loud noises, compressed air shooters and other startling effects hidden throughout the haunted house, around 20% of the ones aimed at me land. A massive chain saw contraption in the grotesque meat factory, one of the most impressive sets, caused me to lunge away from the group.
That’s a testament to the intricate design and psychological manipulation at play. Sanburn says a good scare depends on some time-tested techniques, like misdirection. A brightly illuminated object in one room — or the light at the end of a tunnel of mannequins — distracts us from what waits in the shadows.
And then there’s the animatronic demon goat that emerges from one of the cemetery vaults.
Eerie doll heads make a scary scene Sunday at The 13th Gate haunted house experience.
“Just like a horror movie, we use humor,” Sanburn said. “So, you'll see a lot of funny, subtle things in the haunted house. And that's to make you relax, so you’re not so stressed out.”
What lies beneath
Around the time we reach the sewers, I’m beginning to understand amygdala hijacking in all its forms.
The smell hits me first: An overpowering scent of raw sewage. Then my eyes adjust to the Stygian gloom. We’re in a network of tunnels, surrounded by bubbling fountains, waterfalls and steaming grates. Human heads stare blankly up at us — and then I round the corner and see the clowns.
Long-time cast member Drew Cothern strikes a scary pose before the doors open for patrons Sunday at The 13th Gate haunted house experience.
It’s a new set, as Sanburn changes around 25% of the attraction each year. Additionally, he uses around 20 scents throughout the attraction, though the sewer smell is most noticeable.
The entire haunted house has about 120 actors, assisted by a crew of close to 40 people. About 15 minutes before the attraction opened, backstage was a flurry of makeup artists applying finishing touches to an assortment of ghouls, clowns and zombies.
The haunt morphs from scene to scene, with each turn in the walls bringing a new terror. An alligator lurks in a room filled with fog, while a winged vampire watches us from atop a castle wall.
Long-time haunted house actor Drew Cothern strikes a scary pose before the doors open for patrons Sunday at The 13th Gate haunted house experience.
Shortly after surviving the Upside Down from Stranger Things, we exit into the evening air.
“It’s the testament of all the great people, dedicated people that work for me, that have been with me for years,” Sanburn said after. “They love it. It’s just such a fun job.”
The haunt runs through Nov. 2, with the two post-Halloween dates as flashlight-only nights. The crew turns all the set lights off, while those who choose to brave the darkness are given small flashlights.
I might return, against my better judgment.
Details: General admission for 13th Gate starts at $35. It is located at 832 St. Philip St., downtown Baton Rouge. For more information, go to 13thgate.com.