Haunted houses have never been more popular than they are right now. These attractions become more and more commercialized each year. Even the homemade ones get exposure, if they’re really good, and bring in more and more people until they can stand right up there with the events in major cities. Documentaries like The American Scream showcase the amount of hard work and preparation that go into a stunningly impressive haunted house and subsequently bring in even more exposure to haunted houses in general.
In the major cities, commercialization has only grown for haunted houses, with the leading icon being Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights in both Hollywood and Orlando. This event draws people from all over the world, bringing together original houses while at the same time licensing out the rights to create attractions based on beloved films and franchises. Insidious, Child’s Play, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Thing, The Purge, An American Werewolf in London and so many more have all received the Halloween Horror Nights treatment at some point over the years.
But of course, there are some that remain untapped and others that would just be dream houses that we will probably never see. With that in mind, here are some films that seem perfectly fit for their own haunted house.
Poltergeist
I was surprised, given the remake earlier this year, that there was no Poltergeist house this year. Other than simply being a haunted house movie, Poltergeist would be a great fit for a lot of reasons. There are the classic paranormal jump scares, but also more fantastical based scares like the child-eating tree and, of course, that nightmare-inducing clown.
It may seem weird to pick this one out of the entire series, but the climax of Child’s Play 3 actually takes place in a carnival haunted house. It would be so fun to go through an intentionally cheesy haunted-house-within-a-haunted-house, with Chucky leaping out at you when you least expect it.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Similarly, much of the action in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is based around an abandoned amusement park. These could make for really fun sets to build and explore. The second Chainsaw is also the most fun, offbeat and campy which would all be great characteristics to transfer into a haunted attraction.
Fright Night
Fright Night already features a house that looks pretty much like a classic haunted house. Add into that all the vampire shenanigans and great makeup effects that could be recreated for the event and this could definitely be a winner of a Halloween attraction. This is one that would be right at the top of my list for movie-themed houses I’d love to see in the future.
Waxwork
We’ll never see a house based on Waxwork, I’m pretty confident in that. But it would be amazing if we did. The whole concept is there. It could be set up to look like a standard wax museum with all of the classic monsters and they could either come to life and leap out at the guests, or it could be more like the film, with guests going through little zones that represent the world of each character. Either way, a fan can dream.
Suspiria
There’s already a Suspiria bar in Japan that looks excellent, but when it comes to a haunted house based on a horror movie, Suspiria is the first one that comes to mind. The lighting, the set design, the music, the scares…it’s such a perfect set-up. I can’t imagine this one ever happening at a major event, but when it comes to fan dreams, this is probably my number one.
