Gershon Dungeon: 2019 Review
Gershon Dungeon, Tustin, CA
Happy very late #ShriekySunday! We’re continue our slow season catch-up of Halloween Season (don’t worry, we’ve got a stop by the Disneyland Resort later this week), and we’re looking at yet another Halloween night stop this evening. This one is actually one of the longstanding classic home haunts of the Southern California area: the Gershon Dungeon. Situated in Tustin, this haunt is one of the longest running (since 1991!) and most sprawling in Orange County. As such, it takes on more of an old school haunt vibe, with a grittiness and more apparent DIY feel that is nevertheless impressive for its scope and storytelling.
The legend behind the Gershon Dungeon is chilling and creative. Back in the 1600s, an insidious woman named Guinevere Holt inhabited an orange grove plantation in what is now Tustin, California. Guinevere had many servants on her property, working them to excruciating toll, and torturing them to death once they lost their use. Such bloodshed and cruelty manifested a great presence of evil in the area over the centuries, but it was not until the early 1990s when it was unleashed. The property owner was having a pool dug when the worker accidentally exposed Guinevere’s grave. Whatever happened killed him in terror, and since then, the wailing souls have roamed the grounds and the subterranean chambers that make up the Gershon Dungeon!
Guests willing to brave the experience line up through an elaborate queue detailing the haunt’s backstory, navigating what looks like a medieval chamber until they come up on the main entrance. High above, a fearsome dragon roars intimidatingly. It’s an imposing sight and a sign of what’s to come!
The elevator operator at the Gershon Dungeon is never lacking of sharp lines and cutting zingers.
Moving indoors, guest come face to face with a gruesome elevator operator with exposed brains and a biting wit. The lack of cranial protection doesn’t seem to have dulled his sharp mind, as he rags on guests as they wait in a playfully condescending manner. This seems to amuse most people, but the character is a joy to watch—an immediate highlight of the experience.
Before long, though, guests are shoved (not literally) into the elevator, which takes guests deep into the bowels of the dungeon. There’s a bit of herky jerky movement, and some monstrous growls and cacophony, but eventually, guests are released into the unforgiving wild of the dungeon grounds!
The medieval theme pervades through a large portion of the Gershon Dungeon.
What follows is a lengthy and sometimes disorienting trek through tombs, tunnels, and even a swamp. All the while, an endless host of fiendish ghouls and demons and murderous ogres burst out of hiding spots from all different angles, just dying to claim new victims. In this manner, the Gershon Dungeon feels very much like an old school, classic Knott’s Scary Farm style maze—a testament to its longevity and era of origin. But the maze has also kept up with the times through various effects and theming elements.
The Gershon Dungeon also isn’t afraid to make its guests uncomfortable, forcing them to crawl under tight spaces and subjecting them to disconcerting strobe effects. Scare spots built right into the theming also provide some great moments, and the jump scare laden walkthrough benefits from the screams of guests both further up and earlier before the pathway. As the maze progresses, the medieval theme transitions into a more chronologically neutral setting, bridging the reach of Guinevere from her origins to the modern day. But the intensity never lets up. Bedlam reigns throughout this fear fest, and by the time guests are able to evade a chainsaw-welding maniac and scramble back onto the street, they feel like they have escaped more than anything else.
Can guests escape the clutches of the undead spirits that plague the Gershon Dungeon?
Last year was another successful year for the Gershon Dungeon, but it was also a bittersweet one. Early last October, in the middle of the haunt build build, one of the longtime builders and workers of the maze, Bob Erbst, lost his wife, Kristin, to a three year battle with cancer. The 2019 seasons was dedicated to her memory, and the maze collected donations for the very first time in its history to support the Erbst family with their medical and funeral expenses. It’s always a little ironically morbid when real life loss invades the domains of the haunt community, since haunts are built upon a controlled fantasy of the macabre, but it was touching to see the outpouring to support one of their own.
Not everything is wrapped up in the past, however. Some of the spirits have adapted modern day tools to their savage disposal!
The Gershon Dungeon is located at 13861 Gershon Pl., Tustin, CA 92705 and ran the last Saturday and Sunday of October, plus Halloween night. The maze is exceptionally popular on October 31st and has been a hit with the local neighborhood for decades. A lights-on non-scary tour is also available in the late afternoon/early evening hour before the haunt opens. The Gershon Dungeon is sure to be back this year, and it’s definitely worth a visit. Such a longstanding and classic haunt commands the respect of home haunts everywhere, and it’s a treat for any haunt enthusiast to experience such a venerable home haunt institution!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
