The Haunted Rose presents Beyond the Gates of Turnbull: 2022 Review
The Whittier Museum, Whittier, CA
Though we're in home haunt season now, we're momentarily skipping back to a pro haunt that has been one of our favorites over the years, back to when it was still a home haunt. The Haunted Rose, a veteran Whittier mainstay, is once again producing a haunted walkthrough attraction this year at the Whittier Museum, similar to what they did last year, and this past Friday evening, Westcoaster had the opportunity to preview the maze!
Welcome to the Haunted Rose, a fantastic combination of beauty and haunting and frights.
Building off 2021's Realm of the Supernatural, which embraced the museum's actual historical exhibits and displays as inspiration for the haunted house scenes, Beyond the Gates of Turnbull explores the supernatural urban legends and stories surrounding Whittier's Turnbull Canyon, reputed to be a notoriously haunted location and home to several real-life tragedies that resulted in horrible and gruesome death. The canyon is a pleasant enough hiking area by day, but there have always been unsettling stories and myths about supposed devil worship and supernatural activity and the souls of tragedies past still haunting the area.
The Haunted Rose's creator, Ryan Banfield, harnesses four of these stories for the bulk of the maze. After a couple of introductory scenes through the museum entrance and agricultural displays that might have returning guests thinking this year will be a repeat of last year but with superficial new overlays, the environment and sets of the maze noticeably deviate, entering an asylum that was reputed to have been located somewhere in the canyon floor decades past before mysteriously burning to the ground. Guests who escape their encounters with the deranged spirits of patients past move into the rustic environment of the canyon itself, where encounters with devilish beasts and tremoring warlocks reference Turnbull's supposed history of supernatural worship. An interlude brings guests upon the wreckage of Flight 416 West, which actually crashed into the hills of Turnbull Canyon on April 18, 1952. Finally, guests find William Haight's Electrodome, which he installed at Turnbull Canyon in the 1930s to artificially conjure rain clouds to provide precipitation to water the orange groves in Whittier nearby, in an electrifying finale that shuttles visitors into one last corridor leading to the exit to the exterior--and one final encounter with a sinister ghoul lurking about!
This year’s Haunted Rose delves into the legends around Turnbull Canyon, including a supposed asylum in the canyon floor that housed the deranged!
We've talked about the Haunted Rose's high caliber of theming, set design, lighting, and furnishings many times in our past reviews of their attractions. From the beginning, the built environment of the Haunted Rose's mazes has always excelled at a professional theme park haunt level on par with Knott's and Universal. Ryan Banfield's love of H.P. Lovecraft and his home haunt renditions of his short stories added an eerie and surreal twist that worked very well with the innovatively Gothic mood of the Haunted Rose's productions. The same applies this year, with actual history and local lore taking the place of fictional inspiration.
What's impressive is how this year's Haunted Rose manages to divorce itself from the settings of the Whittier Museum so well once it dives into the Turnbull Canyon legends. Whereas last year's scenes were very intentionally and clearly connected to each of the museum's exhibits, using the everyday characters and settings of each to craft dark, alternate histories that fed into the notion of a haunted Whittier, this year's set design, flats, and theming really transport guests out of the museum and to an entirely different institution and then an organic surrounding. Only the trolley (from which Ryan makes a cameo as either William Haight or inserting his Haunted Rose universe character of Dr. Macabro) brings guests back to the Whittier Museum. Elsewhere, it does seem like this could be the atmosphere of Whittier's infamous Turnbull Canyon!
There are also stories about devil worship and gatherings obsessed with dark forces.
Gorgeous aesthetics aside, though, this year's Haunted Rose experience really thrives because of the energy, commitment, and immersive and convincing ardor of its scareactors--particularly those in the lengthy asylum segment--who project riveting performances of paranoia and anxiety and menace and instability to bring a forceful vibe and erratic mood that fits very well with the idea of a disconcerting, abandoned sanitarium buried deep in the nature of the canyon. The scareactors in subsequent scenes strike with fantastic timing, showing no signs of preview night rust or uncertainty. Their blending behind disguised openings and blind corners reinforces the hysteria of feeling pursued in a dark and cold wilderness, adding to the drama and tension of the maze.
The result is a fresh and thrilling haunted attraction that provides a unique experience despite seemingly utilizing the same course as last year. By taking the Turnbull Canyon legends and amplifying them to heighten the occult and paranormal portions of these stories, the Haunted Rose has painted an engaging and enthralling story through its haunted house medium, resulting in a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable haunted maze that is one of the best spooky adventures of the season. I know I've said this a lot this year, but the independent haunts have really brought their A-games this year and rivaled or exceeded the traditional theme park haunt enterprises in 2022!
The occult blends the nature of Turnbull Canyon with the supernatural.
Aside from the haunt itself, The Haunted Rose will also be hosting several events through next weekend's actual operating run. On Friday, October 28th, the Los Angeles Misfits cover band will play two sets at 7pm and 8pm in the Whittier Museum parking lot. Saturday, October 29th brings the first-ever Nightshade Market, featuring nearly three dozen vendors of various dark delicacies and mementos for guests to peruse. The Haunted Rose's annual hearse show will also run on Saturday. And Sunday, October 30th will feature a family-friendly trick or treating before the nighttime maze scares.
The high quality of the actual haunted house at the Whittier Museum would be enough to entice haunt fans to come (and lovers of haunted houses really should visit if they haven't been to a Haunted Rose attraction before!). But all of these other events are extra bonuses on top of yet another terrific maze that Ryan Banfield and his team have produced. We've been saying this for years, but go see the Haunted Rose!
Creator Ryan Banfield urges everyone to visit The Haunted Rose’s Beyond the Gates of Turnbull next weekend!
The Haunted Rose is located in The Whittier Museum this year, at 6755 Newlin Ave, Whittier, CA 90601. It runs this upcoming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, October 28-30, from 6:00 - 11:00pm, and is closed on Halloween night. Admission is $10--paid at the door--and is an absolute bargain for the quality of professional haunt being presented. Guests are encouraged to park at the free parking garage at Comstock Ave or Bright Ave and walk over, or find street parking on Philadelphia St if possible. For anyone stopping stopping by, check out the haunted yard displays nearby on Lisco St off 1st Ave in Whittier or on Arbolita Dr in La Habra or at The Curse of the Raven also in La Habra. There's enough in the area to make an evening of spooks!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
