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Haunted Poe
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
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6 reviews for Haunted Poe
Excellent, creative twist on the haunted house. Yes, room for improvement but this is the first run. Staff/company should consider sticking fans in and around the venue rooms next year as the balmy and only slightly unseasonable Halloween night made the experience muggy and hot, and I can only imagine how uncomfortable the actors must have been.
Each venue is a short scene and reading from a Poe poem and/or short story and one or two venues seemed to drag on a bit, but the organization was pretty good, the actors are all truly professional and pulled off their parts excellently, the special effects, particularly in the graveyard scene with the signing female corpses was most eerie. Special effects were simply awesome.
**I take exception to the one review listing one star simply because the Yelper couldn't move her wheelchair about.... The company made clear that this haunted production is in an old warehouse, please READ AND LEARN before you attend these things. I can't always walk down the street holding my boyfriend's hand... Life sucks and isn't fair, but don't blame the blameless. Be your own change, cry baby.
What a cool, cool idea - there's probably nothing more Halloweeny then Poe and a giant we-could-die-here warehouse in South Philly (right around the corner from Fright Factory).
People expecting a haunted house, beware. This is a theatrical performance, not a things-jump-out-and-scare-you event. There are actors, monologues, singers, dancers. You are walking through a 13 room/scene play ode to Poe with actors monologue-ing/singing/dancing to relate Poe's scariest stories to the audience.
Young children, people who think that this is Fright Factory, people that don't like flashy lights/smoke machines/hot wait in line, please skip this - there are other Halloween attractions that are much more your speed. This is for theater people - its a little campy, but its incredibly different and fun, and perfect for Halloween.
Poe, Halloween, and Philly--three things I absolutely love. When I heard that the trio of favorites would be joining forces for haunted-house-theatrical-performance, I had to check it out.
Thanks to Philly Fun Guide, I was able to snag some discounted tix ($7.50; regularly $15-$25). The location of the performance is in a large warehouse with various hallways and rooms bedecked in spooky delights such as wonky mirrors, skulls, bones, books, and dark drapes. I was hoping for some spooks and startles but the show borders on the campy. The first stop was a brief life of Poe as told through puppets, so there are lots of chuckles throughout the experience. As you weave into various rooms, a different famous Poe work is featured. The actors will interact with you only somewhat. You won't find any scary hijinks here...it's mainly just a fun way to explore a very abridged version of Poe in theatre form.
As someone who loves Halloween, I'm glad I went. Not sure I'll return next year because it was kinda campy. However, that's also the fun of Halloween. The show is definitely not worth anywhere near $25, so seek out those coupons!
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Poe and Halloween go together like peanut butter and jelly. Why someone hasn't done this sooner is beyond me. As a kid that had waaaaay to vivid of an imagination, I've been reading these stories for over 20 years! I'm happy to see that Brat Productions took on this very fun idea and put it into a HUGE warehouse space in South Philly.
As a visitor you'll experience various send ups and creep outs curtesy of the great writer and his life story. As at least one other reviewer mentioned, this is Halloween theater, it is not to be considered a traditional haunted house. As theater, I think that the event is a great success. The actors for the most part do an excellent job, and the staging is completely top notch. If you know Poe's most popular stories, I think you'll be very happy seeing them come to life. If you are a stranger to Poe's work, I would think these performances may be even more disturbing.
There are a couple places where the acts fall a little short, but given the enormity of the project, and knowing that this is Haunted Poe's 1st year, I give them the complete benefit of the doubt. My one real concern is for the normal rable that expects a more traditional haunted house. As a 3 year vet of a local haunt, I know how intense and in your face the scares can be at the haunted houses in the area. This event is a very welcome change, but those coming expecting those intense non-stop shocks won't find them here. There aren't any angry zombies threatening to tear your face off. Instead, you have a slower paced examination of psychological horror, something that those with the attention span will find far more disturbing. For fans of Poe or theater, this is the haunted event you've been wishing for.
Yay!! Loved this.
Disclaimer: I am a big, big wimp. I dig the odd zombie movie, but in terms of scares and spooks I usually pass. I enjoyed this, enjoyed it a lot. So if you're hard core into scary stuff, you might be bored. I certainly wasn't.
We had will-call tickets, a bit expensive at $20 a pop. However, the walk through/show is a full 40 minutes long, and it's super fun. You wait a bit, as they only let in about 20 people at a time, but you have a few kind of creepy, mostly wacky actors to entertain you with their silly rule announcements and comments. When you go in there is a very silly puppet show (with blood) that depicts the short life of the poet. Then, each room is a short snapshot of a Poe story. Things suddenly appear in corners and leap out at you, so watch where you stand if you're a wimp like me.
The acting was very good. The fellow who performed "The Raven" was just top notch, and that's such a well known poem that I imagine it's hard to tackle. The graveyard girls in "Annabel Lee" were well made up and sang beautifully. As a bit of a theater person, I appreciate the work that went into something like this, and it was really wonderful. The show is creepy, but not scary per-say. No one screamed (too) loudly, just some very crawly skin. It would be good for older kids, especially if they've read some Poe. I imagine that if you didn't know a thing about Poe you'd be a bit confused. I myself have some stories to look up, some scenes that I couldn't identify.
We laughed, we clutched each other, we inched wide eyed down creepy corridors. It was a good time, and a great way to celebrate the poet's 160th death day!
Suggestions for next year:
The Cask of Amontillado
A real bathroom
How fitting that upon the heels of Edgar Allan Poe's (re)funeral in Baltimore, I organized a group of about 15 people who all went to Haunted Poe. I found out about the haunted production in late September, from a cool cat librarian, and I just knew I had to make some time to go. I tried to get the Funsavers half-off tickets, but alas no luck the week I bought them. You just go to the their website http://bratproductions... which will direct you to http://brownpaperticke... and you can get will-call tickets there. If you buy at least 12 tickets, the prices go from $25 to $20, which is nicer than nothing.
In any case, I enjoy curling up with some Poe on a wintery night, and scaring the bejeezus out of myself. For this haunted house extravaganza, you buy a timed ticket, and go through a series of rooms that are either outfitted for an actor to embody one of Poe's works or to reanimate a scene. In any case, from room to room, you really don't know what to expect. I scare easily, so I found the unknown to be quite hair-raising, and I found myself screaming (as quietly as I could) in some of the rooms. I think the actors could easily pick me out of the crowd as the "oh scare her, she's an easy target" because they certainly did scare me often. The whole tour lasts about 45 minutes, but they only let in 12-14 people at a time, so you may have to do some waiting before the tour starts. We had to break up our group since we had more than 12-14. But I understand why they can't accommodate larger groups than that...now...
All in all, it was a good kind of creepy, and since it's their first year, I hope it goes well and they bring it back next year! I liked that it was scary and literary, at the same time. And of course, having a Haunted Poe house seems so relevant since he lived here in Philadelphia so many years ago...But literary know-how is certainly not necessary; I think you may just appreciate some of the nuances a little better. And mayhaps Poe's spirit will come and join you. MUAHAHA.
Getting to the warehouse is a little hairy though. Google Maps directed us to turn right on Water Street, but you can't do that...not in a car anyway. And some people in my group definitely went to Fright Fest, thinking it was Haunted Poe. Perhaps some better signage would be helpful, for future reference.