That’s Where ‘It’ lives…
The line uttered by Bill Denbrough appropriately titles the ‘IT’ experience on Hollywood Blvd. In less than 10 days Warner Bros. turned an empty parking lot into a 5000-sq. ft. structure. The haunted house on 29 Neibolt street now towers over the Hollywood Blvd & Vine St intersection.
My excitement for the movie trounced my aversion to haunted house experiences. I signed up six of my friends and scheduled the drive to LA. I threw on some white sneakers, and a baseball tee, one of Bill’s outfits from the upcoming movie. I was ready to face ‘IT’.
The time for our appointment came and we were immediately led to the front of the house. A yellow raincoat clad boy with a red balloon waited; it was Georgie, our tour guide. We had about 5 minutes for pictures outside the house before Georgie let us in.
If you’re planning on visiting and don’t want to be spoiled, you should stop reading now.
Our Georgie opened the front door and led us into the dark creaky house. Nerves kicked in as the door slammed shut behind me. We went up a spiral staircase where Georgie gave us specific instructions about our journey through the house; “Don’t touch anything unless I tell you so.” The actor maintained character and addressed us in an eerie childlike voice throughout the experience.
The first room featured clowns that led to a small coffin. Pennywise’s laughter got louder and the room seemed to get smaller. The clown statues around the room appeared to be staring back at us. A creepy lullaby directed our attention to the small coffin and a feeling of dread took hold while we idly waited for something to happen. As we looked around frantically we noticed one of the clowns was missing. Screams (possibly my own) set the tone for our visit as former clown statues shrieked and ran around the room.
“Let’s get out of here,” a scared Georgie said as he led us to the next room. A map of the Derry sewer system lined the table where horror magazines and Justice League comics sat. Georgie’s boat, S.S. Georgie sat next to the slide projector on the work table. This is where I was truly able to appreciate the detail that went into the experience. Our actions appeared to trigger the props around the room. One of our members approached a TV set before it came to life with a sinister clip on a loop. The slide projector came to life with images from Denbrough family trips before Pennywise’s face is revealed under Bill’s mother’s hair, as seen in the trailers. The next door took us down a narrow staircase with hands sticking out from the walls.
The bottom room greeted us with three doors that members of our group opened one at a time. Fear, the thing ‘IT’ feeds on, was the driving force in this room, a room very similar to one used in the movie. The last door lead us to a roach-infested bathroom recreating Beverly’s iconic encounter with a blood spewing sink. The pace picked up shortly after and a series of scares led us into the sewers before the big finale.
“You’ll float too”, echoed through the sewers. An encounter with Pennywise tied the experience in a neat bow before our group of Losers made it out of the sewers. Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise costume in the film was the same one worn by Pennywise in the experience.
While it is marketed as a 20-minute experience, our group was roughly in and out in about 11 minutes or so, but for IT to be a free experience, it’s well worth it. The event is SOLD OUT, however there is a stand by / walk up line. The experience will run through September 10, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
You can sign up for the waitlist online.