HorrorBuzz recently made a trip out to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to experience the world famous The 13th Gate, along with their other maze, Necropolis 13, and their two escape room games, The Collector and Death Row.  We will be posting a separate review for each of those experiences shortly.  This article focuses primarily on The 13th Gate, a backstage tour, and the interview conducted with owner, house manager, and artistic director of The 13th Gate, Dwayne Sanburn. Enjoy!

It was a balmy Friday afternoon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parking in an empty lot across the small, two-lane highway from the haunted attraction, we payed our $5 parking fee, and took one long look at what was in front of us.

Across the way stood a sprawling black building adorned with the words The 13th Gate, Louisiana’s Ultimate Haunted House. Many haunts use hyperbole to explain what they are, who they are, and why you should go to them. To say that this haunted attraction came with a certain build up is an understatement. The 13th Gate has been running for a total of 22 years in this same spot, each year evolving and changing, luring more and more haunt seekers on a pilgrimage to the vaunted haunting grounds. For us, we had made the trek out from California, seizing on the opportunity afforded us when The 13th Gate’s run was expanded to November 13th. Would this be worth the time, the money, and the hours of travel?

Wanting to maximize our time at this celebrated venue, we not only purchased VIP tickets through The 13th Gate, but we also VIP tickets to their other maze, Necropolis 13 (situated across the street) and the two escape room attractions they offered, The Collector and Death Row. A full night of fun was in store for us.

We reached out to the owner of The 13th Gate, Dwayne Sanburn, prior to our visit. He very graciously offered us a lights-on tour of the facility before the haunt opened, along with a tour of the make up department as they prepped the actors for the night.

The only downside; during the extension, they were amping up the scares with something called Flashlight Fright Nights…

After the Halloween season closes, the lights go out and a completely different, even more terrifying show comes to life as the haunted house goes completely pitch dark!

You and your group will be given a few dimly lit LED finger lights to explore the dark passages of The 13th Gate. During the Halloween season, the haunted house is known for it’s highly detailed sets and amazing lighting effects, but, during Flashlight Fright Nights, everything changes, and a completely different show emerges, one that you and your group can explore at your own peril pace.

During the event, there continues to be a full cast of Monsters roaming around…in the dark!

Not for the Faint of Heart!

While excited about amped up scares, we were sad that we would not see the lighting design of the normal show. But hey, it was The 13th Gate, and we were happy to be here.

Our night at The 13th Gate started with our 4:30 appointment to the first escape room, the maniacally fun and nasty The Collector. After we finished that, we were met outside by a smiling Sanburn. He warmly greeted us with a firm handshake and introduced us to another group of haunters that had come out to see his creation.

Clearly this was an auspicious night. Among the guests to check the place out were Director of Entertainment Tech & Production at Knott’s Berry Farm and partner of Think Better Design, LLC, Lara Hanneman, the Entertainment Tech at Knott’s Berry Farm, Frankie Rago, and the creative forces behind Utah’s celebrated Nightmare on 13th.

It was now after sundown. Sanburn led our group to a small door into the sprawling black structure. Around us, the arriving actors whisked by, darting into the building to and making their way to costuming and make-up.

“Right now we have the house lights on as things are getting set up, and the actors are getting in place,” Sanburn explained. “Later on tonight, it will be impossible to see anything with all of the lights off. Here you can at least get a good look at the sets inside the building. First though, we are going to take you into the make-up department.”

Walking into the building through a space that would turn out to the be the exit for the maze, we snaked through a backstage area and suddenly found ourselves in a giant room with over 100 actors in various states of costuming and makeup.  Most were standing around, chatting, waiting for their turn in the make up chair.

We made a right into a smaller room. Around the perimeter of the room were about 12 separate make-up booths.

“This is where we apply the make up for all of the actors in The 13th Gate and Necropolis 13,” Sanburn explained.  As we passed each booth, all of the actors were very happy to throw a smile at each of us as we walked by. We asked how many actors total were on hand for each night.

“Well,” Sanburn thought, “It’s about 160 total, 100 for 13th Gate and 60 for Necropolis 13 across the street.  We have to get them all ready and in place in 2 hours time.”

Exiting the make-up and costuming departments, we walked back outside into the night air. We walked about 100 feet to the right, alongside the front of the building and re-entered through the official entrance for the haunted house. First up was a highly detailed queue area set in a boiler room.  Shades of Tower of Terror, that’s for sure.  We rounded a corner and saw a photogenic pile of skulls under another marquee.

Rusty, earthen looking poles and chain links created a switchback queue in the weathered environment.

We entered the elevators that normally begin the experience.  Fortunately for us, we got to see the full show in here.  The effect is a very convincing ride on a rickety elevator.  What occurred made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and allowed me, if just for a second, to believe. LOVED IT!

Sanburn led us from the elevator scene into the epic maze that follows, allowing us time to really soak in the details that put this haunt far above most. In this massive, 40,000 square foot behemoth, Sanburn has cobbled together  an endless series of highly detailed scenarios and nightmare situations.  His latest addition, the London set, begins in the jail cells of olde London, through a barbaric operating room, and out into a jaw dropping alleyway, complete with sparkling, fiber optic stars in the ceiling above.

Dwanye Sanburn stands amidst his gory creation.

Here in London we also visited the laboratory and chambers of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, we avoided the plague, and more!  We were a bit surprised that we saw no Jack the Ripper here.

Among the other scenes were a trip through the cabin of the Evil Dead remake, a nasty slaughterhouse floor complete with spurting blood, and a creepy doll house with life-size dolls and mannequins on the loose. Once outside in the outdoor portion of the maze, we encountered  a full swamp complete with animatronic alligators, water effects in the lagoon, killer pigs, over-sized beehives, man eating plants, werewolves, and a stunning canopy of Jack O’Lanterns.

Once back in the building, we explored mine shafts, caves, ice tunnels, encountered a woolly mammoth, found ourselves in a pit of live snakes (yes, they are real), stuck in nightmarish versions of fairytales, and finally, attempting to escape the home of a serial killer clown who murders children.

The Jack and the Beanstalk set piece was unbelievable.

Let’s visit the murderous clown and find out where he keeps all of the children he kills, shall we?

Kids make for good insulation.

Yeah.  Just soak that in.

After our brisk walking tour of the entire maze, we approached Sanburn to chat about the diabolical creation we had just toured. Self taught, Sanburn opened The 13th Gate 22 years ago and has been building on it since, adding a new scene or addition every year to keep the guests coming back for more.

“What is it about The 13th Gate that sets it apart from the rest?” we asked.

“Ceilings and floors,” Sanburn quipped.  At first, we thought he was kidding.  However, looking back, he was right.  Yes, the entire experience is festooned with detail. But this was the only maze that we had seen that  featured unique floors and ceilings in each scene, surrounding the guest in a world of unrelenting horror. The cave floors were rough, textured to resemble rock, the floors in the house scenes were carpet, planks of wood, and so on.  The floors and ceilings in the beginning scenes in the boiler room were all industrial concrete.  WOW.

It was now time to actually experience the maze filled with actors.  Being that it was Flashlight Fright Nights, we would not be able to enjoy as much of the sets as before, though the full cast of actors would be in place along with all other technical effects including sound, pneumatics, mechanical stunts and more.

We were escorted to the elevator doors again. This time, a lanky man in greasy mechanic attire, sporting a Cockney accent, informed us that the monsters had taken over and were not fond of light. Armed with nothing more than one small, LED pin light to lead the way, we boarded the elevator.  The same wonderful effect happened and we were off.

The haunted house was, of course, greatly enhanced with the arrival of the fiery cast. Aggressive and terrifying, each one of the actors were remarkable. The cast in the London section in particular had a gleefully mischievous time inducing screams from passerby while the impressive sets (even in the dark) and sound distracted guests enough to make it possible.  Other cast members, including one girl whose left forearm was missing, used their unique features to full effect in provoking fear, by appearing to have just hacked her arm off with an electric knife. Nothing but full commitment here from each and every cast member.

During the actual operation of the haunted house, the one scene that seemed to be lacking was the Serial Killer Clown segment.  Walking through before, I was already creeped out, assuming the area would be crawling with demented clowns during the show.  No live actors were seen portraying clowns in here, instead, younger-looking actors played missing children.  The missing children were a nice touch, but the finale would have greatly benefited from a few clown attacks.

The final night of 2015 operation for this glorious haunted house is this Friday night, the 13th of November.  If you are in Louisiana, lucky enough to be able to be near Baton Rouge, go see this haunt now.  The 13th Gate is a staggering masterpiece of the haunt craft and an essential experience for haunt fans.

You can purchase tickets to The 13th Gate by visiting their site here