By Hannah Citron / DelVal Student Media correspondent
In the small town of Lehighton, Pennsylvania lies a true landmark in horror history, yet it goes completely unnoticed by many outside the area. The Waldorf Estate of Fear has been terrifying locals for 19 years, but didn’t acquire its claim to fame until 2015 with the release of Hell House LLC, a found footage documentary style film about a real haunted house.
The film was filmed at The Waldorf, and anyone who knows the area would recognize it when watching it. Media student Hannah Citron met with Angie Moyer, owner of The Waldorf, to talk about the haunted attraction and how it has been affected since the release of Hell House.
The Waldorf actually began in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, about 15 minutes from where it stands now, in the attic and basement of what is now the Little Bombers Day Care Center. It started as something Moyer and her husband did for fun, since Angie is an avid horror movie fan. The Waldorf quickly grew as seven years later they acquired the building they occupy now, which is actually haunted by the way! When asked about her motivation to continue The Waldorf, Moyer said “It’s a fun thing, but it takes a lot of work.” This is especially true now post the success of Hell House LLC in conjunction to the real attraction.
When asked for her reaction when approached with filming Hell House there, Moyer said, “Oh my god it was like a dream come true!”
She said that the director came to see the house, absolutely loved it, and then filmed the movie there as well as using a local bar, Joey B’s in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, for any of the bar scenes they had to shoot. At The Waldorf itself during filming, Moyer was the set designer and associate producer, which she stated was so much fun and helped her meet a ton of amazing people.
She still has connections with that crew, in fact, as Stephen Cognetti, writer and director of Hell House, is going to be making an appearance at Waldorf for an event to sign autographs and meet fans on October 5. Moyer also shared that Santiago Cirilo from The Walking Dead stopped by to help create a new project, titled 24 Hours In Hell: A Journey Through Hell House
Even though Hell House never hit the big screen, Moyer said she still commonly experiences fans of the film flocking to The Waldorf for pictures or simply just to admire the creepy building.
“There are Facebook groups dedicated to Hell House where I’ll see people taking selfies with The Waldorf all the time. It’s honestly really cool,” he said. These pictures, while mostly harmless, sometimes actually overstep a boundary. One fan actually trespassed on the property to get a “good” picture.
“One day I just saw the picture of him past the fence and on the property,” she said. This instance, and unfortunately many more, show how sometimes fans just go too far. Moyer also spoke about how she loves to have conversations with tourists who travel to The Waldorf because of Hell House.
“It’s so cool when people come up to me, starstruck, and just want to talk about the house. It’s definitely something I never thought would happen.”
It has taken 10 years for the following to grow this big, and that surprisingly, it’s actually bigger overseas than it is here!
Moyer said Hell House has boosted the popularity of the haunted house attraction. “I love to leave Easter Eggs from the movie in certain spots. The clown is in there, the
writing on the walls from the movie is still there, and the clock in the dining room has that same effect. People love trying to find them,” she said.
Moyer also shared that they offer an “Escape Hell House” experience where guests break in the back door into the pitch black house and have to try to escape, just like in the movie. To top off the journey, they also get to take photos with the characters of the house.
For more information about The Waldorf: Estate of Fear
Visit their website at http://www.waldorfestateoffear.com
Check them out on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok
The haunt opens for the season starting September 28.