UAE opens first haunted house
(9 Sep 2016) LEAD IN
Prepare for the fright of your life because the UAE has opened its first haunted house attraction.
And in the two months that it's been open it's already proved extremely popular.
STORY-LINE
Bloodied walls, the sound of screaming children, shrieking corpses, and ghoulish figures. It looks like a set of a horror film but it's actually one of Dubai's latest attractions.
Hysteria is the first haunted house of such calibre in the Middle East, and it stands out on the glamorous Dubai Mall, home to luxury brands such as Chanel and Christian Dior.
The set was built by Extreme Fear Design & Production, which operates Hundred Acres Manor, a haunted attraction in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company uses live actors and special affects like fog, flashing lights and claustrophobic corners to increase the fear factor.
Although it's only been open for just over two months, managing director Rami Al Khouri says it's already received an encouraging reception:
People here are more interested in trying something new, that's first of all, and trying new adventures and adrenalin-filled activities like, you know they've have had skydiving, they've had motor-sports and stuff like that. So it was just a matter of time when a haunted attraction was supposed to pop up and it just happened to come at the right time.
Currently, Hysteria is the only operational haunted house in the UAE, but Al Khouri says more attractions of its type are now in the pipeline.
Visitors pay 100 dirhams (27 dollars) to experience the haunted house. And although the space may not be as large or frightening as some haunted houses in the west, visitors seemed very pleased with the experience.
It was really scary, like the people jumping at you, like you thought they were going to come hurt you, but it was really fun at the end, said visitor Rhea Qeblawi.
Meanwhile, Aissa Mohammed said the experience was more fun than scary,
(When you're) inside, you know they're going to scare you. He (live actor) started following us and my friend got scared and we started laughing with the actors, the entire thing became really funny, he said.
Props from Hollywood movie sets have been brought to the UAE to be used in the haunted house. The main doors to Hysteria and some of the furniture and light fixtures are actually from the 2015 film The Last Witch Hunter.
You can license this story through AP Archive:
Find out more about AP Archive: