Hotel of Horror was recently featured by Dailywise in an enthusiastic look inside the historic Lake House Hotel, and the Nightmares that now inhabit its walls.
The article celebrates many of the qualities that have made Hotel of Horror a Halloween destination for generations: the authenticity of its historic setting, the craftsmanship of its environments, the commitment of its scare actors, and the opportunity to experience both Hotel of Horror and Altered Nightmares during one unforgettable visit.
For an attraction that has spent more than three decades transforming the history and architecture of the former Lake House Hotel into immersive Horror, that recognition carries special meaning. Seeing Hotel of Horror featured by Dailywise offers a valuable outside perspective on the history, artistry, and atmosphere behind the attraction.
"It's more than just a haunted house; it's a pilgrimage for anyone who loves the art of the scare." -Dailywise
When Outside Eyes Enter the Hotel
Those of us who spend season after season inside the Lake House Hotel can occasionally become accustomed to its peculiarities.
We know its staircases, corridors, basement rooms, former guest spaces, unexpected turns, and unmistakable sounds. We know which doors never seem to close quietly, and which portions of the building still reveal evidence of lives lived long before the first haunted attraction opened.
A visitor sees it differently.
Dailywise approached Hotel of Horror as an outsider encountering the building with fresh eyes. The article recognized immediately that this is not a temporary haunted house assembled inside an empty warehouse. The hotel’s age, architecture, isolation, and complicated history are present before the first actor enters the scene or the first effect is activated.
The building establishes the atmosphere. The attractions take it from there.
The Deeper Story Behind the "Abandoned Resort"
Dailywise’s headline describes the property as a genuinely abandoned Pennsylvania resort. The wording captures the first impression created by the imposing old hotel, but the complete story is considerably more layered.
The history connected to the property reaches back more than two centuries, beginning with an early stagecoach stop. The Saylorsburg Hotel was built by Charles Saylor in 1847 and expanded through several periods of construction as transportation, tourism, and life in the Pocono Mountains changed around it.
The property would eventually become known as the Lake House Hotel. Over the generations, it experienced prosperity, hardship, reinvention, changing ownership, new uses, and periods of decline. It lived several lives before modern horror entered its halls.
The first haunted attraction opened here in October 1992. What began with the old hotel has since developed into two extensive haunted experiences operating inside one historic complex.
Explore the complete story – including the original stagecoach era, the hote’ls Victorian expansion, its later uses, and its transformation into Hotel of Horror –in our history of the Lake House Hotel.
The Building is More Than a Backdrop
Many haunted attractions begin with a theme and then construct an environment around it.
Hotel of Horror began with the environment.
The flagship Hotel of Horror attraction travels through five floors of the building, from basement spaces to the upper reaches of the former hotel. Its architecture helps determine the rhythm of the experience. Existing corridors, staircases, old rooms, and unusual transitions become part of a a world shaped by decaying hospitality, corrupted, elegance, and carefully constructed fear.
Its companion attraction, Altered Nightmares, moves into a more disorienting direction. Designed as a psychological funhouse of the occult, it introduces bolder colors, blacklight environments, distorted imagery, and an entirely different style of unease.
The two attractions do not simply repeat the same type of scare. Each has its own visual language, personality, and emotional effect, while both remain imprisoned inside the same historic location.
Guests experience, both attractions with one combination ticket, turning the visit into a full journey through two very different nightmares.
Explore both haunted attractions and discover what waits inside the Lake House Hotel.
The People Who Awaken the Building
Dailywise also recognized the commitment of the actors and the detail built into the attraction’s environments.
That praise matters because an old building alone does not create a haunted attraction.
Every season requires the work of artists, builders, performers, technicians, costumers, make-up artists, organizers, and crew members. Rooms must be reconsidered, characters developed, performances rehearsed, effects maintained, and thousands of details coordinated before the hotel can awaken for another Halloween season.
Our scare actors are not simply positioned to jump from hiding places. They create characters, study the reactions of each arriving group, and adjust their performances in the moment. A whispered remark, prolonged silence, strange movement, or unsettling stare can often remain with a guest longer than a sudden shock.
The same care extends to the environments surrounding them. Every room must support the illusion while still functioning inside a real historic building with its own dimensions, limitations, and personality.
The hotel supplies, the bones. The creative team gives it a pulse.
What the Dailywise Feature Saw Clearly
The Dailywise feature celebrates the historic setting, two attraction experience, the performers, the detailed environments, and the anticipation that begins before guests ever reach the hotel’s interior.
Together, those elements explain why Hotel of Horror is difficult to describe as simply another seasonal haunted house.
The journey begins on the road into rural Saylorsburg, the Lake House Hotel emerges from the Pocono Mountains landscape, crowds gather outside its walls, and the building itself offers the first warning.
Then the hotel door opens.
What follows combines history, theatrical performance, architecture, technical production, and the unpredictable reactions of the people moving through it. No two groups experience the building in precisely the same way.
Dailywise entered as an observer and left with an appreciation for the art, labor, and history behind the experience. We are grateful to see those qualities recognized beyond our own walls.
Prepare to Enter for Yourself
The Dailywise article offers an outsider's account of Hotel of Horror. The next story belongs to those willing to enter for themselves.
Before traveling to Saylorsburg, review the official Hotel of Horror season calendar for current operating nights. Visit our ticket information page for combination-ticket options and seasonal pricing, and consult our frequently asked questions for age recommendations, clothing guidance, attraction policies, and other information that can help you prepare.
Guests traveling from outside the immediate area can also find directions to Hotel of Horror and resources for planning a larger visit to the Pocono Mountains.
Dailywise called Hotel of Horror "a pilgrimage for those who love the art of scare."
The hotel is waiting to discover whether you agree.