Terror of Tallahassee

Terror of Tallahassee is an annual haunted attraction that opens every October in Tallahassee, Florida. With a performance area spanning more than 20,000 square feet [1], it is one of the largest haunts in Florida. Unlike the corporate haunts with which it competes, Terror of Tallahassee doesn’t admit patrons in a continuous line, but rather, in small groups. It also forgoes modern animatronics in favor of elaborate illusions, gruesome special effects, and a large cast of performers [1]. “Monsters, murderers, and madmen menace isolated customers as they try to traverse the long, twisting passages in the dark" [2]. Because of the intense scares, it is rated PG13 and parents are cautioned against sending their kids [3].

Three giant warehouses make up the main building. They were originally part of a F-R-M grain depot built in 1950, but it was closed for a number of years before the property sold in 1999. The new owners gutted the steel building and rebuilt the interior into a giant maze with secret passages for the staff to surprise patrons. It was opened as Nightmares Haunted House in September 2000. It lasted two seasons before closing in 2001. It reopened in 2002 as Bloodlines Haunted House, but again closed. It reopened under new management in 2003 as Terror of Tallahassee and has grown ever since [4].

Many of the special effects used at the Terror of Tallahassee originated in the traveling spook shows of yesteryear [5]. During the mid-20th century, magicians including Bill Neff, Jack Baker, Ray-mond Corbin, and Phillip Morris spellbound millions with black magic shows held in movie theaters at midnight. Their dark performances would feature decapitations, cremations, disintegrations, and similar macabre illusions [6]. Such magicians were called “Ghost Masters,” but the Spook Shows slowly disappeared in the 1970s as older theaters were closed and rebuilt without stages. Kurt Kuersteiner, the managing director at Terror of Tallahassee, traveled the country to meet the surviving Ghost Masters in 2005 while directing a documentary on their craft. As a result, many of the classic illusions they pioneered have been resurrected at the haunt [7].

Another influence on the attraction was Tallahassee’s legendary Sunland hospital [8]. Closed in the 1980s, it was originally built as the W.T. Edwards Tuberculosis Hospital, where many T.B. patients were quarantined until their death. It was closed and reopened in the 1968 as Sunland, a hospital housing children with mental disabilities. It became infamous for patient neglect and allegations of cruel and “sub-human” treatment. The dilapidated building was closed for good in 1983 and was widely believed to be haunted. The controversial hospital and its unfortunate inhabitants are recreated in a segment of the haunt. It features equipment salvaged from the hospital before it was demolished in 2006 and further boasts, “(that) the spirits came along for the ride at no extra charge!” [9].

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