Your heart is beating, you can’t breathe, and you can’t see where you’re going. It’s pitch black in the room you stumbled into. You go to take the first step and the floor isn’t flat, it’s slanted. You take another and it’s the same way. You’re feeling all around you, trying to hold onto something so you don’t fall and there is nothing to be found. Your eyes won’t adjust to the darkness in the room so you can see. You’re terrified trying to navigate your way through a room that you cannot see nor the floor is flat and as you keep moving forward there is a monster in the middle of it waiting to jump out and scare you.  That was what it was like when I stepped into one of the rooms in the House of Torment.

This year’s House of Torment will be open Nov. 6-7 and Nov. 13-14. The House of Torment has been a favorite attraction for mainly teenagers since it opened in 2003 at North Cross Mall. Then, in 2005, when the former Laser Quest shut down at Highland Mall, the House of Torment moved into that location.

There are three haunted houses to go through, plus an additional separate attraction. All of the houses have fog machines, strobe lighting, scent machines, pop-out props and many actors with detailed costumes and makeup. It is definitely worth the money you spend on your ticket.

The prices range from $25-40 per ticket depending on if you buy online and if you buy regular or VIP entry. VIP allows you to cut to the front of the lines, but is more expensive. If you buy online, you actually pay $5 more for the convenience, but it might be a better idea because the line to the ticket booth is an hour to an hour-and-a-half wait.

It takes between 10 and 30 minutes to get through the line for each house, depending on which one you go through and whether it’s on the weekend. The second house has the longest line. However, they have actors in all sorts of different types of costumes from scary clown to evil creepy-looking monsters walking around the outside of the houses and in between lines. Anyone is welcome to take pictures with them if you dare get that close to them. They have been known to “terrorize” those who show fear or act like they are aren’t scared at all.

The monsters walking around are things like a zombie-fied mechanic, a werewolf, and an over-sized robot with an over-sized gas-mask around his face and chest. They drag their fake weapons around with them and get in people’s faces all without touching them.

My personal experience was one for the books. I have gone to the House of Torment for the past three years, and every year it has been different and thrilling. I went with two other friends, and for each house we rotated who was in front and back. We all death gripped one another like our life depended on the person in front of and behind us. Once when I was in the back and terrified that the monster from the previous room was coming after me, I was trying to move faster than anyone else and I pushed my friend in front of me, and we stumbled down a small flight of stairs.

Each room has a different scene such as a doctor’s office or a bathroom. They made plenty of places for actors to jump out at you. There is even a trapdoor in the ceiling above you. The scent machine is truly nauseating and does its job of giving some authenticity to the creepiness of gore, flesh, and whatever else comes to the imagination. One of the rooms is built completely slanted and even changes directions three times which makes the navigation of the room difficult and tricky to move about.

It only takes about 10-15 minutes to actually make it all the way through one house, but it feels like you are in the house for an eternity. When you finally get out, the feeling of fresh air and freedom is unbelievable.

The second house is the longest with an Aztec entrance and was scarier than the first, but this house has the longest line. The third house is called “The Slaughter House.” It has the shortest line, but is the creepiest of them all. It has scent machines throughout the house which imitate the disgusting stench of rotting meat and flesh. There are dead victims and dead animals, flashing strobelights and more actors popping out of what seems like nowhere.

Overall I would say my experience of going to the House of Torment was like nothing I have ever experienced. I have tried to find haunted houses that would give me the same thrill or experience, and nothing has come close to it. The House of Torment was worth every penny and every second I spent waiting in line to go in. I would recommend this thrilling attraction to anyone who wants to get their heart beat up and adrenaline going.