Baton Rouge's The 13th Gate

You can't get out of school and you can't call off from work, but Halloween is a holiday of pure choice that millions upon millions of Americans can't wait to take part in. Some people are even obsessed with the haunting chaos of the holiday and have gone to great lengths to do the holiday service by creating the ultimate haunted house attractions.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana is home to some of the best special effects artists from the movie industry, so each year they take advantage of the opportunity to give residents an incredible scare. The result of their efforts is known as The 13th Gate.

The 13th Gate has created one of the most realistically themes haunted houses in the country, maintaining a spot in the top ten “Best Haunted Houses in America” by hauntworld.com for 13 consecutive years. The 13th Gate is also the only haunted attraction in Louisiana to make the list.

The extreme detail that The 13th Gate showcases includes phenomenal movie-quality set design, animations, special FX with over-the-top makeup artists, and over 200 professional actors.

Hauntworld.com describes the experience as “real” and unlike any other haunted house.

Most haunted houses are extremely well planned out and are successful in giving you a scare; however, you do get the sense that it is not real in some way or another. Visitors to The 13th Gate say the opposite.

The 13th Gate is described as being so unusual that it will make you question whether or not it's real.

“Walls, buildings and facades seemed built to look the way they should look, not bound by 4x8 panels. The install seemed permanent, with cobble stones on the floor, real leaves, water, etc. Props were not piled on top of each other; they were only where they ‘should' be,” according to Ben Armstrong from hauntworld.com.

Armstrong goes on to describe that what makes the world of difference when it comes to haunted houses is the aspect of “real” vs. “detail” and how detail is good but can be too much; while real is what is going to scare your pants off. He describes the experience as, “breathtaking and extremely impressive”.

The haunted attraction features a 30 minute walk through 13 themed areas (the 13 gates), and a separate area, Necropolis 13. Necropolis 13 is a 40,000 square foot outside area that replicates New Orleans Cemetery and is complete with over 400 zombie crypts, underground tombs, and a voodoo fire show that draws the dead literally from the ground around you, sure to scare the you-know-what out of you.

To reach the 13th Gate, guests must travel down a long corridor when all of a sudden the walls and ceiling start to crack and a large dragon emerges and chases them while breathing fire and smoke, hot on their heels as they run towards the exit.

Newer areas include an abandoned Haunted Lair of a serial killer clown called “The House” and major new scares and effects added to the infamous Hellvators, London, Haunted Forest, and Swamp scenes.

If you are moving to Baton Rouge and will be new to the area this Halloween, join the annual 50,000 guests and check out The 13th Gate.