The Haunted House (Alton Towers)
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| The Haunted House | |
|---|---|
| Alton Towers Resort | |
| Area | Gloomy Wood |
| Status | Rethemed |
| Opening date | 30 March 1992 |
| Closing date | 2002 |
| Replaced by | Duel – The Haunted House Strikes Back! |
| Ride statistics | |
| Attraction type | Dark ride, haunted attraction |
| Manufacturer | Mack Rides |
| Designer | Sparks Group |
| Theme | Haunted |
| Capacity | 1,920 riders per hour |
| Vehicle type | Car |
| Vehicles | 35 |
| Riders per vehicle | 6 |
| Rows | 2 |
| Riders per row | 3 |
| Duration | 6 minutes 15 seconds |
The Haunted House was a dark ride at the Alton Towers theme park near the village of Alton in Staffordshire, England, opened in 1992. There was a minimum height restriction of 0.9 metres with guests under 1.1 metres accompanied by an adult.
In 2003 it received a retheme as Duel – The Haunted House Strikes Back! with the addition of a laser shooting game and a zombie overlay, before being redesigned in 2023 as The Curse at Alton Manor.[1][2]
The Haunted House was designed and built for Alton Towers by the Sparks Group, with the development led by John Wardley. It was the largest haunted attraction in Europe at the time of opening. The bespoke ride transit system was built by MACK Rides and designed to allow a high throughput whilst leaving the cars to travel the ride separately, and at varying speeds in different areas. It opened on 30 March 1992.[3]
By 2002, many of the original scenes had been altered and the park decided to revamp the attraction as an interactive dark ride, with the addition of laser guns. Towards the end of the 2002 season, a poster was placed outside advertising the new name and opening date, announcing: "Whatever you do, don't miss! Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back!".[4] The final scene was replaced entirely and zombies were added throughout the ride, along with other changes to the ride's theme and scenes.[5]