From Spectator to Storyteller: My First Time at a Haunted House

A young woman smiles and gives thumbs up wearing a ghost sweater, sits in the middle of a bench outside of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity house surrounded by the brothers who are wearing Halloween masks and other costumes.
The author, Rhiannon Slotnick, Detroit senior, sits on a bench with the costumed brothers of Delta Sigma Phi. This was her first and most likely last haunted house (Photo illustration courtesy of Katie Dudenhoefer).

Many of my friends have told me that I give off the vibes of a girl who loves horror and gore, so when I tell them I hate anything having to do with haunting and horror, they’re surprised. What surprised them even more was that I had never been to a haunted house, until Friday.

I’m the kind of person that’s scared of everything: horror movies, centipedes, commitment, etc. The most “horror” I’ve consumed is every single “Scooby-Doo” movie and episode, the “Supernatural” series and horror movie “The Boy,” which made me scared of my walls for a week.

Once, in middle school, I tried to go into a haunted house made for small children and got two feet in before turning around and booking it out of the attraction. 

Since it’s my senior year of college, I decided I was going to go to Delta Sigma Phi’s annual haunted house with my friend, Harborcreek senior Katie Dudenhoefer, because why would I suffer through that alone?

When I say I was shaking, you better believe it. 

We walked up to the fraternity house and all I could hear was spooky music and tapping on the window. One of the brothers, my co-worker, Las Vegas sophomore Seiji McSwain, made eye contact with me through the front window and immediately started tapping harder. 

We stood outside for a few minutes, waiting for the first group to finish their walk through, and I was getting more nervous by the second. Katie laughed and told me that it was going to be fine. 

The Haunting Begins

Finally, the time came for us to head inside, and I gripped Katie’s arm for dear life. 

The pathway was lined with couches and white sheets. I almost tripped a few times because I refused to be separated from Katie’s left side for more than five seconds. 

I was expecting there to be guys hiding behind the sheets, but that didn’t stop me from getting startled by them when they popped out. 

The house was decorated to the nines. Cobwebs, scary signs, fake blood and wide open spaces. Most of the brothers were wearing masks or were dressed in costumes according to the different horror-themed rooms they were assigned to. 

After making our way through the front room, we walked through the dining area to the kitchen where “the chef” was making what I can only assume was a fiery salad because the stove burners were on. Our guide knocked on the door and told the brother he had “a couple of plates,” before leading us inside. 

We walked through the kitchen and the chef asked us what appetizer we wanted and we both replied “mozzarella sticks,” to which the chef said “oh, so a salad?” He also wanted to serve us eyeballs instead of croutons.

I could hear a banging behind us. Every loud noise made me flinch. As I’m listening to the recording I made to document the experience, I’m still getting a little freaked out. I had such a rush of adrenaline walking through that I’m just now realizing that my laughter was because of nerves, not because I found anything funny.

After leaving the kitchen, we went downstairs and entered an area of the house that had bathrooms and another small room we were told to go into.

While walking inside, I was caught off guard by one of the brothers hiding around the corner. He scared me so badly I screamed, which was the first and only time I did that, so for that I’m proud of myself.

Our guide put us in a dark room where we couldn’t see anything, so I had no idea what was going on in there. 

We were in there for about six seconds before a brother yelled “get out” and screamed at us when we were leaving. I was kind of hoping there wouldn’t have been anyone in there, because I had heard from my friends who had gone the day before that there wasn’t a person waiting for them.

I think we walked through one of the entrances that leads to the party area, but my memory is so hazy that I can’t remember it fully. The whole thing felt like a fever dream. 

Next, we entered the butcher’s area. The room had a table to the side and sheets lined all around. The butcher was wearing a mask that reminded me of The Thing from Marvel’s “Fantastic Four.” 

His first words to us were, “did the chef send fresh meat?” I could literally feel my heart pounding. 

Then his victim, who happened to be my friend, Dearborn senior Logan Sosnowski, caught my attention. He flew out yelling “help me!” from the white sheets and was yanked back by some force. 

After that terrifying moment, the butcher got right in our faces and her immediate response to this was “you need some skin care.” 

She kept telling me that it was hard to be scared because she knew who most of the guys were, but that mentality did not help me at all. 

She tried to give me calming advances like, “just laugh it off” or “think of them as people you know.” All the thoughts in my head left as soon as I stepped foot through the front door, so that was a fat no.

The butcher kept laughing hysterically, which felt more like a clown behavior rather than a butcher, but psychos will be psychos I guess. 

After being screamed at to “get out” yet again, we went back into the pre-party area, where there was a brother dressed as a baby and a couple of others looming over our shoulders. I had to keep my head on Katie’s shoulder and not look. 

My Final Thoughts

I would give this haunted house a 5/10 in terms of scariness, which is good enough for me. I’m happy I finally ripped off the bandaid and just went for it. Although I won’t be back next year, I think it might be funny to have more people hiding in unexpected areas in the house. Just to make it a little more frightening.

I just hope Katie doesn’t drag me to Pennsylvania for Ghost Lake – 13 Levels of Fear next because I think I would literally die. 

Seiji McSwain, referenced in the article, is a member of Delta Sigma Phi and a writer for the Pleiad.

About Rhiannon Slotnick 37 Articles
Rhiannon Slotnick is a senior from Detroit, Michigan. She is double majoring in English Literature Creative Writing and Sociology. She enjoys putting words on to paper for both work and for personal pleasure. If she's not writing, you can find her reading a book or stargazing around campus. You can contact her at rms15@albion.edu.

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