Eastern State Penitentiary to Open Eerie Machine Shop for Terror Behind The Walls 2014

“Terror Behind The Walls” at Eastern State Penitentiary.

You have likely already explored—or at least heard of—Eastern State Penitentiary’s Terror Behind The Walls (TBTW), America’s largest (and in our biased opinion best) haunted attraction. Each season, the theatrical production offers fright seekers the chance to explore the massive prison, once home to notable kidnappers, gangsters, and murderers.

Last year TBTW included an opt-in feature, where visitors could elect to take a more interactive tour. This involved being removed from your group, grabbed by the inhabitants of the cellblocks, sent alone into dark hidden passageways, or even thrown into the show.

Sounds terrifying, huh? But Eastern State Creative Director Amy Hollaman says people couldn’t get enough of it. “We found it was really popular,” she says. “Sixty-seven percent of visitors decided to opt-in.”

With that in mind, they’ve come up with a whole new interactive attraction for 2014: The Machine Shop.

According to Hollman, The Machine Shop is a former prison factory that’s never been opened for public tours. “It’s tucked down beneath the cellblocks in an area by Death Row,” she says.

Inside guests will find saws, drills, blades, and chains, and, because the attraction is designed for interactive activity, there will be grinders and welders pulling people away from their groups into dark corridors and murky corners.

“It will feel really different every night,” Hollman says. “If someone comes on Saturday, and returns on Sunday they could get a completely different experience, because there are so many different paths and ways you can be pulled into.”

Wear a diaper.

Terror Behind The Walls will run on selected evenings from September 19th through November 8th. For more information, click here.