In choosing how to commemorate the first night of their 20th anniversary year, Jefferson-based haunted attraction House of Shock opted not for the conventional ghouls, zombies and chainsaw-wielding serial killers (which they already possess in spades) but for something a bit closer to home.
“We got the Stooges Brass Band playing and we’re gonna do a little second line coming down,” says Ross Karpelman, co-founder and owner of one of the most lauded haunted houses in the country. After being approached by the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club about staging an auction to benefit their annual Thanksgiving basket program, House of Shock decided to allocate this Friday’s opening night (October 5) to the cause – thus adding an additional layer of New Orleans cache to their already unique and groundbreaking approach to horror-based entertainment. “We’re gonna introduce the Witch Doctor for 2013, who’ll be joined with past Witch Doctors and the present Witch Doctor from this past year,” says Karpelman, “and we’re all gonna second line and dance and have a good time.”
The incorporation of music as well as New Orleans culture into House of Shock – one of the most nationally recognized horror-based events in the nation – is a natural synthesis with roots that stretch all the way back to the attraction’s earliest days. Founded in 1992 by Karpelman, Jay Gracinette, and Philip Anselmo (of the band Pantera), the event defies the preconceived notions of what a haunted house should be through its incorporation of music as well as live performances, stunts and pyrotechnics.
As young adults, the three co-founders shared common ground with their mutual interest in both heavy metal music as well as horror and haunted houses, interests which were eventually merged into the festival-style seasonal attraction.
“House of Shock came along, really, in just a conversation about Halloween.” Karpelman explains. “As kids, we had all held our own haunted houses in our own backyards. We were like, Halloween just doesn’t mean the same thing anymore in your early twenties: you’re too cool to dress up and go trick or treating, and too old for that anyway, and you just wind up at some crappy bar drinking shots or at some stupid party. We wanted to have our own party…. We opened up in Jay’s backyard 20 years ago and have been going strong ever since, getting bigger and bigger and crazier and crazier.”
Over the past two decades, House of Shock has garnered widespread attention as one of the country’s premier horror experiences, drawing visitors from around the world to New Orleans for one of the most detail- and performance-oriented haunted houses in the United States. “Although our surroundings have changed, our location has changed several times,” Karpelman says, “it’s the performance and the in-your-face attitude that we have, and inflicting that real fear that maybe you won’t make it out alive that’s remained constant throughout.” Despite the intensity of the haunted house, HOS has distinguished itself from similar events based on the scope and accessibility of the attraction.
Billed as a “Halloween festival,” House of Shock also includes food, merchandise vendors and performances centered around live bands that are available to attendees who choose not to enter the actual House.
As Karpelman reiterates, “Once we went pro, it was like, ‘We gotta have music.’ It’s not a party without music, and we’re very much a party-type atmosphere. It’s not just a haunted house, I mean it’s the whole festival atmosphere and music is a big part of that. We have a lot of entertainment outside, besides music. We have a stage show that incorporates stunts and live actors and the most pyrotechnics you’ll ever see, anywhere.”
Founded on a love of extreme horror as well as music, House of Shock is a complete amalgam of New Orleans as well as the broader, national interest in sensation-based entertainment. It was also organized around a common affinity for the heavy metal genre — the House of Shock crew is as firmly grounded in music as they are in haunted house-style attractions. Co-owner Steve Joseph is an active member of the rock community, organizing and staging pyrotechnics for bands such as the Rolling Stones, AC/DC and KISS. Karpelman himself is both a musician as well as a former tour and production manager, and has worked as a tour driver for bands such as the Killers, the All-American Rejects and Nickelback.
“From this thing that started in Jay’s backyard some 20 years ago, we’ve gotten to do some pretty extraordinary things that took us way beyond just some haunted house in Metairie,” Karpelman says. “It seems like it’s never-ending. I know there has to be an end at some point, I just don’t know when that really is.”
The House of Shock Horror Show runs Fri.-Sat. nights through Oct. 27, Sun. Oct. 28 and Tues.-Wed., Oct. 30-31 at 319 Butterworth Street in Jefferson. Tickets go on sale at 7 p.m. with doors at 8. Visit the event’s website for details and to purchase tickets, $25 and up, and click here for a sneak peek.
