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The saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

And, to be quite honest, Horror Hall doesn’t make an impressive one. But if you patiently wait it out, you’ll be glad you did.

For more than 20 years, Plymouth Township Fire & Rescue Company has been scaring Northeastern Pennsylvania from its four walls in West Nanticoke. You walk through the front entrance of the firehouse and wait in line in a small auditorium. Decorations here are sparse. In one corner, a pig is roasting on a pyre. In another, a corpse rests in a basket, covered in snakes. As per usual on an opening night, you wait. Then you wait a little more.

Finally, you’re ushered into a larger auditorium. One wall is decorated like a graveyard. On stage directly in front is an organ and to the right is a movie screen playing “Thriller.” There’s tons of empty seats in the room, but your hosts insist you cram into one tightly packed row. Normally, this would make sense, but there were no other tours in the building. You shrug it off, settle in and enjoy the show.

The movie went off without a hitch, but it’s what happened after the movie that made you glad you were in a building where EMTs were on standby. A bright, loud explosion came from the stage and, immediately after, a zombie appeared. He began to tell us about the rules, then just stopped talking. He stood there, confused, then started again, then abruptly stopped. The audience thought he was in character, but after a few moments of listening to him mumble to himself, realized he wasn’t. He simply forgot his lines and developed a case of stage fright that looked so serious that we worried he was having a panic attack.

Undettered, we were ushed into the entrance of Horror Hall, a quarter-mile walk that lasts 20 minutes but feels like it goes on forever — in a good way.

If you’re scared of at least one villain from a horror movie, hold onto a friend for the monster hallway. Each villain is lit up in wall displays, like you’d find in a museum. You’re made to walk uncomfortably close to them and they’re on either side of you.

The movie theater portion of the walk was exceptionally well done. Resembling an actual movie theater on a smaller scale, the room is foggy and a dimly lit. Fake bodies fill some of the seats and you know that some of them are real. The fun is, you don’t know which ones until it’s too late.

Another hallway seems harmless enough. The top of it is lined on either side by winged skeletons, which are cool to look at. You don’t pay them too much attention until it’s too late, and one of them moves above you and starts banging on the wall. If you’re like “Anchorman’s” Brick Tamland and get freaked by loud noises, run.

The movable walls on another part of the walk are also cool. As you walk through, the walls begin to slant left and right, and the gross body parts hanging on them touch you until you’re through. Other stand-outs are the room with the red laser dots, the ghost on the zipline and the bus that lunges at you.

Our only gripe was a big one: We were paired with a half-dozen strangers, which made our group fairly large for a small attraction like this. Those in the front of the line got all the scares, and those of us in the back found ourselves on more than one occasion asking others what we just missed. Neither the actors nor the props reset themselves quickly enough to scare the entire group.

That said, for being indoors with limited space, Horror Hall is definitely impressive.

Rating: 3 Coffins out of 5

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_9.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_8.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_6.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_5.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_4.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_3.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_2.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_HorrorHall_1.jpg.optimal.jpgHorror Hall, shown here in this 2014 file photo, is a circuit that clocks in at a quarter-mile. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Horror Hall

Address: 11 E. Poplar St., West Nanticoke

Details: horrorhall.com or 570-735-7899

Attractions: Haunted House

Review date: October 2, 2015 (opening day)

Reviewers: Sandy Tomcho, George Spohr, Jeric Foulds