With the sudden announcement that one of lat years biggest and baddest haunts would return for 2016, we were crazy with excitement. The 17th Door announced yesterday that they would be returning for the 2016 haunt season. The declaration came with the promises of 12 brand new rooms, more monsters, more interactivity, and of course more scares. The questions piled up faster than the piles of roaches in the doctor scene and we just HAD to know what all of this meant.
We reached out to The 17th Door for answers and they were of course very secretive. However, they were polite enough to tease a few wonderful bits of info. The gimmick as everyone knows, is that there are a total of 17 doors/scenes that visitors entered while experiencing the haunt. The teas info said there would be 12+ new rooms. As it turns out, the experience will be losing 8-10 rooms entirely. In their place will be very different, very frightening new dangers. The rooms that make the cut and remain will be significantly improved upon. This led us to beg the question, “Is the claustrophobia room coming back?” Their answer, “yes, and better than before.”
Numbers are a tricky thing. While the 17th Door gimmick was that you went through 17 doors, there were actually 18 rooms, counting the classroom. Things will get even more humbly this year as there will be a total of 19-21 rooms (they are, after all, still designing the thing). We are assured that the experience will be longer than it was last year while retaining the concept of traveling through the numbered rooms with the final climax being room #17.
Another new element this year is the addition of a mini escape room into the proceedings. Along with that there will be rooms that require tasks to be completed which will allow for more creative ways for the actors and effects to physically interact with the guests. After all, this has always been a very touching experience, right?
As for the storyline, it will continue where last year’s left off with her attempted suicide and asylum residency. The haunt will retain the same main character. The setting will still mostly take place at school. We can’t wait to see what other horrifying scenarios can be salvaged from a college campus. The storyline will broaden according to 17th door creators. “We will be diving deeper into Paula’s character by visiting her childhood and exposing where her problems first originated. Her childhood will be a major part of the story line this year.” explains, Heather Luther, co-owner of The 17th Door. She went further to explain that the story will be more fleshed out as well, giving our heroine, Paula, a richer story to tell.
Keep up on the tweets by following The 17th Door on Twitter and Instagram.
Grrrrr you could just follow us on Twitter and Instagram and we will share what we know when we know it.
