A ScareHouse Supercut
Since 1999 a team of primarily Pittsburgh-based artists and actors have worked tirelessly to create highly elaborate and immersive haunted attractions based on original concepts and characters. This commitment to creativity extends to the highly elaborate trailers, teasers, and online videos that have been posted online to a worldwide audience of fans for nearly 20 years! ScareHouse currently remains on hiatus, but our team hopes to bring the attraction back to life in a new form and new location soon. ScareHouse is forever! Few haunted attractions have garnered as much attention as ScareHouse. Every year, the Pittsburgh Halloween staple has lured crowds with high-quality frights executed by dedicated, professional scare actors and crew members. Oscar-winning horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and actor Elijah Wood gave ScareHouse their approval and, in 2023, it earned the title of Top Haunt by the…
A Lights on Look at ScareHouse
We invited Jordan the Grey Witch to take an exclusive, lights on look at ScareHouse! Thanks to Jordan and every one who has provided such overwhelming support to ScareHouse this year! October is almost over, don’t miss your chance to check us aht! Guarantee admission when you buy tickets online. Happy Halloween yinz guys! ð…
“My ScareHouse dreams have been realized!”
As one of the new faces to the ScareHouse team this season, Alex Vogelsong just celebrated her Pittsburghaversy. “It was a year ago this August that I came to Pittsburgh for the first time,” says Vogelsong. “I worked as a casting assistant and background actor on a film production [Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls], and relocation…
Chiller Theater is Back
Hey there weirdos! This is ScareHouse Creative Director and co-owner Scott Simmons and I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the enthusiasm and support for the new episodes of “Chiller Theater!” Many years before ScareHouse I worked as a writer/producer for WPXI-TV (1990) which means I not only worked within the same studios…
“Hey, I fix stuff!”
One thing to know about working at ScareHouse: If you volunteer to take on a bigger job, they will take you up on it! Thatâs something Mark Hawley, whoâs become a bit of a Mr. Tech Fixit, recently learned. âI donât think I have an official title,â says Hawley. âLast year I was an actor,…
Even More Easter Eggs
When terrorized inside the Demon Hour room filled with dolls, watch out for a sound from overhead. How sure can you be that one hasn’t started talking? Sound designer Bengt Alexsander said he included a sample from the band Le Tigre’s song “Decepticon,” that sounds like it originally came from a children’s book. “It’s this…
A ScareHouse Builder’s Work is Never Done
Mike Richter found his calling as a carpenter because of the haunted house industry—even if he says he was scared of haunted houses growing up. “About nine years ago, my buddy got me to audition for a haunted house up in Erie,” says Richter, “and I just kinda fell in love with it. Then I…
ScareHouse Easter Eggs
After narrowly missing an alien spaceship’s crash-landing, unsuspecting survivors look up above a crashed car, avoiding zombies lurching toward them, to see: A billboard for cheese? At ScareHouse, details like what objects go inside a fridge, on a table or become part of a billboard all start with being a part of the overall set…
The Light Guys For The Job
The father-and-son team of Bert and Adam Zelten go by many titles at ScareHouse: “Lighting/tech,” “saviors,” and most notably “the guys from Wisconsin” who make the long drive to “vacation” in Pittsburgh every summer (even though they’re really helping get ScareHouse off the ground for the season). “All the people at ScareHouse make the scenes…
A Visit from Hollywood Legends
ScareHouse attractions have hosted all kinds of famous faces over the last 20 years: Martin Lawrence, Elijah Wood, Kristin Stewart, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and even the Impractical Jokers… but as die-hard horror nerds, the most mind-blowing visit will always be the night that writer/directors Guillermo Del Toro (Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) and Michael…
A Pale Night in Pittsburgh
“Tech guy” Kip Polley laughs when asked what his official title is at ScareHouse. “That’s funny. I don’t officially work at ScareHouse. I actually live in St. Louis. I don’t know what you’d call me.” Talk about the ultimate mystery from the man behind the Stalked By A Killer escape room. Polley, who owns the…
“I Trust Nothing”
Believe it or not, Makeup Manager and Scenic Artist Mollie Himes is a complete scaredy cat when it comes to haunted houses. “I trust nothing,” says Himes with a laugh. “I cannot walk through ScareHouse without a person in front of me and a person behind me. I need the person in front of me…
“Hang up the babies, bloody up the nun, and move the body”
ScareHouse scenic coordinator and show manager Heather Heitzenrater doesn’t have your typical work to-do list. “‘Hang up the babies, bloody up the nun, and move the body,’” Heitzenrater says with a laugh. “It’s ridiculous.” And yet, she wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, maybe it was even written in the stars. Heitzenrater’s older…
Living Every Horror Fan’s Dream
ScareHouse Design and Operations Manager Nicole Conniff is living every horror fanâs dream. Not only does she get to have Halloween and scares on the brain every month of the year, but she has made a career out of it. âItâs a small team of us, maybe three or four that are involved year-round,â says…