been all around this world just to come back to you

Let's return to Hell House, the infamous Belasco Mansion. I've covered this before, but I want to see if anything's changed.

Their bio, just so we're clear:

"Terrifying, darkly erotic interactive attraction: the infamous ghost filled Belasco mansion, the baroque Mount Everest of haunted houses. Be warned! Explicit sex, BDSM, horror & torture images. Ghosts, death, debauchery.
/*Windlight Sky: "Midnight"*/"

Right. Onward!



I will leave the doors closed on the family crypt, the resident spirit...likes the feel of air on her, ah...skin.



The infamous chapel, the heart of the house.



This is nice. I don't know if it's new or if I just didn't notice in previous trips. First painted by Arnold Böcklin, Swiss symbolist painter. This is one of his most famous pieces, "Die Toteninsel", or "Isle of the Dead".



There's a lot I can't show in the Belasco Mansion. Belasco was a pervert who invented his own Satanic religion to infest the world with sexual madness, and there's a lot of that in this house. Nearly every ghost you'll see here is naked, and most of them are...actively so.



And the build itself is interesting. You'd think it was straightforward, room and room and door and room, but...it's not. Things are hidden around corners. Things are hiding under beds. Take a seat, you may find it's already occupied.



And some of the beds have interesting notes.



Make no mistake, this house has been on the grid for a while. There's a lot of things showing their age at this point, a lot of full-bright textures, a lot of alpha-ed animations that have that white outline around their dimensions. But put all that aside--the concept here isis taken directly from The Legend of Hell House. It's one of the most faithful tributes to a single movie in Second Life. And it's very adult.

So be warned if you go, what you're getting into. Sex, and nudity, and violence, and whispers. Whispers on every floor, to join them, to join in, to never, ever leave...because Hell House invites all comers, and wants them to stay. Forever.

I know you hear me, I can taste it in your tears

Have we done Blood Island yet? Their bio seems up our alley:

"Inspired by gothic horror, classic Hollywood monster movies, and a desire to explore the hidden erotic side of those stuffy Victorians - the sim features Dracula, Frankenstein, a haunted house, asylum, a city, and more. Lavish, sexy, and very photogenic."

That does sound familiar. Let's go see.



Ah, we have, yes. But only the first two stops. I meant to come back and check the others.



I think I've covered the asylum, and Dracula's Castle the last time, so...onward!



Oh, hey, I found a thing through the woods.



Castle on the hill! Complete with Tesla coils and indoor lightning!



Oh, uh...sorry, let me just...take the stairs behind you...good...uh...guard dog?



Oh dear. I am not in a good place.



Okay, Frankenstein's Castle is trapped, got it. I snuck out to the top of the tower and threw an etheric loop onto a port pad and ended up in the graveyard. There is so much to see here, even two visits aren't enough. Feel free to journey, highly recommended.

I remember you, you were full of broken bones

Let's try out a ride today. Let's try out Domi's Ride.

The bio's pretty buzzword-y:

"Now Open "The Ride v4.0 - The Haunt"
Cominig Soon...the Xmas Edition
Haunt, Haunted House, Halloween, Costumes, Scary, Fright, Boo, Zombies, Witches, Clowns, Cemetery, Asylum
Christmas, Santa, Reindeer, Winter, Elves"

I am disturbed by the Christmas references. But let's go look.



Seems simple enough. Touch the board, rez a car, get in; touch the car again to go, touch it to stop. Okay.



This was neat. Spinning pumpkin entrance tunnel.



The first stop was a little shopping area; I drove through, so this isn't the best picture, but it's a collection of little pumpkin booths, a Midnight Mania board, and a couple of lucky chairs.



The first area was big--the tracks leading down in midair to a wide plain of haunts. Note the car ahead. It will be mentioned later.



I paused at this point for several minutes, waiting for the car ahead to advance. Along the track there are places to pause with car rezzer boards. You can leave the car and explore at any time, and then return to the tracks and rez a new card to ride in.



And here is when Constant Reviewer gave up on the car ahead and just left. There's more, I know, and you don't have to ride the car to see it, you can just walk scene to scene, but...I didn't want to wait behind Poky and his girlfriend to sit in their car and do...nothing for ten minutes at a time. They weren't leaving the car, they weren't advancing, so...I just left. My patience is not high these days.

But I think there's sufficient to explore here for the enthusiast. Walk if you don't want to wait, apparently all the house can be explored along the way, and I just might go back to finish the ride--if there's no one else on the sim at the time!

seven bars, one church, heaven is no match for hell

This is another odd one. Adult sim, defiantly so. The bio is a touch...disturbing:

"Down an old alley, between obscure old buildings you'll find an exclusive members only gentleman's club, for those who appreciate discretion and illicit pleasures

CMnf, sex, rape, kidnapping, MaleDom, dancers, BDSM, prostitution"

For those who don't know, "CMNF" means Clothed Men/Naked Females". But they have a haunted house?

Touch concerned, but let's go see.



So, the port dropped me off a few steps from the Hush Hush Club, which far as I can ascertain, is just a nightclub. But another sign told me to follow the kids...The concept of kids on an adult sim will FOREVER creep me right off the planet, but I'm gritting my teeth and following.



This seems to be the place.



This doesn't make me happier about the whole "kids on Adult sims" thing. Even if they're static little monster kid statues.



Unusual decor.



Someone has a doll collection...



...and a...mannequin arm collection?

Overall, it's not terrible, just in a really iffy neighborhood for some. If you're comfortable fending off the Capture/Prey assault types, go wander, though I saw no one on the sim when I was there.

no matter if you watered them faithfully, some things weren’t meant to be

Today let's check out Seditious Ones Haunted House & Cemetery. The bio is really, really brief:

"Check out our haunted and graveyard through halloween!"

Wow. Didn't even get all the words in, it was so brief.



House on the hill, complete with "Pimpkin". Okay.



Seen this build before, it's from Never Totally Dead, which isn't a bad thing--it's a nice little house to haunt.



Some copyright infringment, which I'm trying to avoid to focus on the surreal oddity. This qualifies.



I won't lie, I want this bed. Death Row Designs, of course. The drifting autumn leaves you can see from one window come from Hayabusa, of course. These people know how to decorate for the season.



Floating candle stand. Intriguing.

Overall, it's a neat, fairly quiet little house, all things considered. A few rooms are bare, or just have one glowing cobweb, or one chair in them. Odd, but overall, I find that better than overcluttered EVERYTHING-IS-HAPPENING-AND-SCREAMING-RIGHT-NOW haunts.

Check it out if you find the time. Recommended.

we stand on the edge, dirty coats, ragged hands

This month...it's oddly flown by. All those weeks practically vibrating with anticipation, and then October arrived, and...it's just...fled.

Week left, I don't think I'm even doing Octoberville this year. That...kind of hurts, but...distantly.

At any rate, The Haunted says it's closing October 19th. Why is that? The bio doesn't mention anything in specific:

"Carnevil is back with a vengance and a new attraction Zombie City Apocolypse
zombie killing Zombies.ghosts,Halloween.Halloween Headquarters
roller coasters.bumpers.arcade,haunted house,rides,
amusement park,train,club,,carnival"

Strange.



Apparently the train doesn't work, which is sad. Next to it, though, is an amazing spectral train. That was amazing to see.



A-ha. They're having a party tomorrow afternoon. Apparently this is also their final year!



The asylum ride doesn't work either, nor does the "Demon Spin".



I'll avoid the zombie attack, thanks.



It's a big sim, mostly rigged around rides--that would be the "Carnevil" side, I suppose.



And we've come full circle, I guess. If you're interested in finding out if any of the rides still work, I figure folks will be around at least for the final shebang at 4 pm SLT, but likely before that, as well. Have fun?

though my way is rough and rocky and the night is bitter cold

Questions that will never be answered, #455,792: What makes these steampunk?

Never mind. How about SWANK's HAUNTED HOUSE AND RIDES? Their bio is pretty brief and to the point:

"Great huge corner parcel / adult sim / quiet neighbors - questions - contact illyria illyar or donnaj firehawk"

Okay, then.



Well, I don't usually say this about haunted houses, but...That's pretty.



Ooh, options!



This place really is pretty in spots.



The first room in the haunted house was clearly a reference to Hannibal Lecter, both from the scene and from the sounds.



The next was just as clearly inspired by The Ring, complete with ringing phone sound.



Oh, good, a trio of Alices with Walter Sullivan. But I like the burning dollhouse. Nice touch.

All in all, I could have done without the copyright infringement, but to their credit, nothing was in any of the rooms I saw that didn't feel like it belonged there. Thought was put into this. The Alices and the young Walter could be taken as shades, or even prototypically insane children, with the dollhouse burning beside them. The man standing, scalping the man sitting, was clearly Hannibal Lecter and his police victim. But they all had their place.

And the setting is really pretty. There's a haunted market on the grounds, there are rides I didn't investigate--I didn't have a lot of time tonight, but I'd like to go back and see the rest. I think it's worth a visit, there are good things to see here.

and hold my head to the silt, to the sand, to the bone-white dead of the Rio Grande

INTERMUNDIA is our next stop, though I'm not sure exactly what it is? Their bio says this:

"Welcome to Intermundia. Dark, gothic, experimental, psychedelic art, kitsch, horror, Halloween, gallery, club, & hangout space. Lost souls & outcasts welcome. LGBTQ++ friendly.
/*Sky: "Places Midian"*/"

So...I guess we'll find out, because as presented, it sounds less like a haunt and more like a goth or darkambient club.



So, nice little area to port into. Some crypts, the lovely arch with the purple lights, some pretty nice carved jack-o-lanterns to one side.



I loved this--a set of four rotating stone statues of hooded, lantern-wielding figures, in the center of which are floating red candles. This was just perfect.



So! In the house proper. Walked through a kitchen area with some neat touches, stopped dead at the bathroom. We'd been doing so well until then. Out of nowhere we're no longer in 'elegantly creepy' territory, but in full-on serial killer/massacre mode. Well, hell.



Upstairs, there's a little sitting room, and...I loved this, too. This entire thing. The red curtains, the sunburst surrounding the inverted pentagram, the skull on the spirit board...Just beautiful.



I tried to make these a little brighter, but nothing really worked, which is sad. Closet ghosts! Floating closet ghosts! Using striped sheets! OMG, so adorable.



Sadly, I skipped the kitchen shot, and while I could reopen Gimp and edit it into a frame, I'm just...not. It's been a technological day of terror--three relogs before I finally connected with the grid, then two crashes, then logging back in and parking in a sandbox, clearing all caches to reload from scratch, then had my entire computer fold up and need restarting, so...yeah. No more for today. Five pictures will either tell you enough to go there, or make you shrug and move on, and I'm fine with either.

I liked this haunt. I want to go back and click on all the things, see what it can do in full tourist mode. It's simple, it's charming, and the only moment of media infringement was the Dark Bride from INSIDIOUS peeking in the upstairs window. No idea why; nothing in the rest of the house is implying a link to that film. But still, overall, well done, charming little house.

I come apart at the seams inside the panic

Today takes us to Marked B!tch's Haunted House (yes, that's how she spells it), and here's the bio:

"Haunted House! Spooky scary, deadly Sexy clothes and accessories for Omega applier, Maitreya, belleza, Slink, Kemono. Plus Gacha, & MM board, events & hunts."

Huh. Ooookay. So it's a store, too?



Right, then. That's plain enough.



Their cemetery has seen better days.



We've seen the house build before, but it's not terrible. Sound effects, check, but properly paced, which is good.

Now, at this point, I crashed, but let me note: I've been having connection problems all morning. So it may be me, not that the house or grounds is somehow overscripted.

Just to point that out.



Floating cards over a very vintage spirit board. Round, even, which is pretty rare in any world.



The only bit of copyright infringement in the house, but on the plus side, either someone who brought the rip in rigged it enough to move, and installed it in the bathtub, or, Ms. Marked put it in the bathtub herself. Either way, while yes, it is a video game rip, it's at least used in an original way.



And another spirit board on the cobweb-covered bed, complete with resident ghost.

All in all, this isn't a terrible haunt. I will say it might not be me--when I got back from crashing, I returned and things started to slow down to the point that all the upstairs pictures were taken by camming through the floor. So there may be something on the parcel (maybey their store? I have no idea) that is causing lag.

Beyond that, though, it's not terrible. Worth a visit for the completionist.