Last year Eastern State Penitentiary Terror Behind the Walls did a special event, which we attended and reviewed here. They allowed guests to choose to be touched as an option. This would be indicated by a bloody mark on your face and a glow in the dark necklace. It was a very good system because if you decided you did not want to be touched anymore you could just take the necklace off and the actors would allow you to continue through in the regular way without being touched.

After the event, I told them that they should be doing this all year round. Well it looks like we were on the same page, because that is exactly what they are doing for 2013. My one complaint about the special event last year was that it seemed that the actors were not used to touching people (Duh, of course, this was the first time that they ever did this.) and often were either too tentative, confused, or, in one case when a guy grabbed me in a headlock and pulled me into the next room, far too rough. The majority of the people would just quickly touch your head, which I felt was not as effective as other places I’ve been where they had more time to perfect their technique and work it into the narrative.

This is great news – I am glad to see TBTW raising the bar yet again. I hope to attend this year again as it has become somewhat of a tradition.

“Terror Behind the Walls, located inside the massive castle-like walls of Eastern State Penitentiary, is consistently ranked among the top haunted attractions in the country. It features Hollywood-quality sets, custom-designed props, animatronics, and digital sound effects, all taking place within the walls of the prison. And for 2013, we’re changing the rules. Darker. Bloodier. Terror Like You’ve Never FELT.”

Terror Behind the Walls runs select evenings from September 20 through November 9. Tickets are on sale now.