With Halloween right around the corner, students are in desperate need to be scared.
One of the most well known haunted houses in the Western New York area is the House of Horrors, better known as the Haunted Catacombs.
The outward appearance alone is enough to put a little shake in your step. Located on the corner of French and Union roads in Cheektowaga, the House of Horrors sits as one of two businesses in the otherwise completely abandoned Garden Village Plaza.
Each haunted house has separate ideas incorporated into them, but they also have many similarities. They each have people and monsters jumping out and mazes that will frustrate patrons to no end.
"I go to the Catacombs every year because you're always guaranteed a good time," said Ashley Shanahan, a UB alumna. "They always come up with new and interesting ways to scare you, while keeping some of the standard haunted house ideas."
Guests can visit three separate haunted houses for $20, and there are coupons for $3 off available at Burger King, Blockbuster and Delta Sonic.
Walking into the house on the far left, the actual Haunted Catacombs, ticket holders start by going through an abandoned house, walking up a narrow stair case into a dark hall way.
This particular house also features a maze constructed out of mirrors, strobe lights, and dark hallways, most of which are misleading. After many wrong turns, one can't help but get irritated by the fact that the walls seem like they're constantly moving.
"I felt like I was about to have a seizure," said Matthew Brunner, 22, of Cheektowaga. "Your eyes start playing tricks on you. While you know things aren't actually moving, it really gets to you when you keep winding up in this center point and can't find your way out."
The farm scene towards the end is complete with a port-o-potty set up covered in fake human waste that shoots mist at visitors as they walk by. While anyone will know it's not real, it's gross enough to make visitors wonder.
Long lines don't necessarily mean quality, and that's the case with the middle haunted house called Psycho Therapy Extreme.
"I stood in line so long I was expecting something great," said Kevin Sweeny, 28, of Buffalo and a UB alumnus. "It was the worst one, and it took less than half the time to go through than all the others."
After walking through, Psycho Therapy almost seems like an afterthought. The old store lighting above is visible, which is a constant reminder that it's all fake.
One part that's humorous and slightly scary is an excrement-filled bathroom scene with a man wearing a diaper screaming at guests as they walk by.
"It was really gross and kind of disturbing," Shanahan said. "You can't help but laugh and feel a bit freaked out at the same time."
At the end, patrons walk across a bridge through a spinning tube, covered with glow-in-the-dark stars. Halfway across the bridge it'll take a large amount of reassurance by students to remind themselves the bridge is not actually moving.
The last haunted house, the House of Horrors, is very well designed but also frustrating at times.
There are two scary moments that are sure to make spines tingle. The first is a section of vines soaked in water that dangle down from above, making it impossible to avoid touching them and getting wet.
"I thought the vines were really interesting," Brunner said. "They weren't so scary, but just really creative."
There are choices of different passageways to go through, all of which are just pitch-black hallways that lead back to the starting point, unless one figures out the secret.
Buffalo is an area full of sub par haunted houses, but the House of Horrors offers enough atypical scares that it's definitely worth a visit. For more information, visit www.houseofhorrorsbuffalo.com.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
