The Haunted Rose & Millmur Manor present Carter's Crypt: 2019 Review

Millmur Manor, La Habra, CA

Happy #ShriekySunday again, folks! We’re into the relatively slower part of the theme park schedule, which means less regular updates, but we don’t want to leave readers out in the dark entirely, so this makes for a good time to catch up on the remainder of our Halloween coverage from last season! Today’s trip takes us back to one of the home haunts we visited on Halloween night—specifically, a collabo production featuring a haunt that we absolutely fell in love with a couple of years prior but which went dark in 2018.

We’re talking about the Haunted Rose, the brainchild of Ryan Banfield. When we visited their Whittier residential haunted house, Maritime Horror, we were blown away by the combination of elaborate theming, chilling atmosphere, and integration of audio and special effects to create a deliciously haunting and sophisticated attraction on par with what the professionals do! Ryan utilized his talents as a themed entertainment designer and professional haunter to put together a scary seafaring series, heavily influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, that would be a strong offering in any theme park. The fact that it was a side production made it even more impressive.

Due to personal schedule conflicts, the Haunted Rose didn’t put on any haunted production the following year, and it seemed that 2019 would be a dark year as well. That is… until a series of mysterious posts from their social media account started hinting at a Halloween-only “mini haunt” named Carter’s Crypt spurred speculation on what The Haunted Rose had in store.

Sold on the quality that Maritime Horror had presented, I knew that Carter’s Crypt had to be on my Halloween night stop. But I came into the evening expecting literally a mini-haunt—something the size of a Midsummer Scream Hall of Shadows offering. Instead, what I found was a well developed, multi-scene maze that would quality as a full home haunt in most cases!

Entering Carter’s Crypt and descending into the marshland portal into the underworld.

The surprises actually came before I even arrived on site. For Carter’s Crypt, The Haunted Rose would actually be hosting at Millmur Manor, in La Habra, not at its 2017 Whittier residence. Home to friends who shared a haunting spirit, Millmur Manor essentially provided Ryan with a site to unleash an imaginative foray into a dark and dusty mausoleum—the sight of spectral disturbances, portal to the underworld, and setting to a missing occultist feared lost to the ghoulish and ghastly spirits within! It might seem odd to move a home haunt location, given that most home haunts rely on a neighborhood patronage, but a jaunt through the local neighborhood revealed a major reason for why Millmur Manor was chosen.

Halloween is big here. Really big. Massive crowds packing the sidewalks of multiple streets, trick-or-treating throughout the night, with multiple homes open to anyone who stops by, decorations up and down the street, and even a taco truck stationed on an intersection in anticipation of all the pedestrian traffic big. I thought that the neighborhood around Pirates Cave Haunt was lively the year before. This was a veritable Halloween street party, and the energy of the local residence delivered a wonderfully enchanting and invigorating Halloween spirit!

In the midst of such a setting, Carter’s Crypt almost seemed like an afterthought (indeed, it wasn’t even the only home haunt on the street—across the street and a few houses down, a neighbor had set up a much more amateur garage haunt in the vein of the old school, DIY, trash bag draped, store-brought prop infused, strobe light filled style. In fact, when I arrived at Carter’s Crypt, there didn’t even seem to be much of a line. There was a decent stream of guests who wandered in every 15-30 seconds, but no queue indicating a specific popularity or anticipation.

It’s an indication more to the focus on family-friendly trick-or-treating that the neighborhood seems to emphasize, where the collective company and spooky cheer was the amenity. But that was a loss to anyone who skipped this stop. With top notch production value and a lengthy out-and-back layout lurking behind what was an otherwise relatively ordinary-looking pop-up tent facade, Carter’s Crypt ended up being a gem amidst a lively and addictingly bustling Halloween environment.

The theming and detail are stunning, and there are fun Easter egg nods to Lovecraftian characters within.

In fitting Haunted Rose style, the storyline is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, “The Statement of Randolph Carter.” In the tale, Randolph Carter is a student of the occult, following his mentor, occultist Harley Warren, in search of portals between the surface world of human beings to the underworld of demons and fiends. They uncover one such passageway in Florida, near Big Cypress Swamp. Entering first, Warren takes a lantern and descends into the depths below, but the sojourn turns horrid when Carter hears his mentor shout out in terror and fear, urging him to flee. Guests pick up the story after all of this has transpired, and go on a hunt to find the missing Warren. But will this exploration turn them into the hunted?

Guests ducking through the pop-up tent pass through a strobe-filled portal that essentially transports them from modern day suburbia to a creepy and eerie cemetery bog. Bathed in greens, with Gothic statues and overgrown vegetation, the scene appears steeped in the ravages of time. Going forward seems to be the only option. To the side, Randolph Carter—Ryan himself in a cameo of sorts—calls out to guests, urging them help find his friend and mentor, Harley Warren.

Once brave visitors proceed, the scares begin almost immediately, with a great pop-out coming from a ghoul lurking from above! This unexpected jump scare sets the tone for the variety and creativity of the startles throughout the maze. Descending deeper through the chambers of the crypt, guests encounter a chilling catacomb, a coffin display, and traces of a forgotten family of prestige. Around corners, behind drop-down portraits, or even from hidden compartments lurk demonic ghouls, lying in wait to prey on unsuspecting victims.

In the deepest, farthest end of the crypt, guests find the occultist they have been searching for, tied up in dire straits—notably those that involved a missing lower half of his body. This moment provides a bit of dark comic relief, as Warren moans about his agony, begs for aid, and inquires whether his injuries look okay. A flesh wound they might be—and entrails and guts too—but there isn’t much time to chatter, because guests find themselves pursued by more of the monstrous creatures who had presumably inflicted their attack on the occultist. Fleeing back out, guests scramble back through a blinding, fog-filled tunnel, side-stepping more devilish creatures, crawling back to the surface, before finally escaping to the street and the safety of the outside world.

Hideous creatures abound inside Carter’s Crypt, waiting to steal you away forever.

If the frequency of screams was any indication, Carter’s Crypt was absolutely terrifying, because over and over in various scenes, guests would be overtaken by the monsters who burst out with masterfully precise timing—sometimes from in front, sometimes from behind! Fortunately, even for [braver] family groups, the the maze was never overly intense. There were hard scares, but akin to a Knott’s Scary Farm PG-13 level, as opposed to more intimate and adult goriness and blood. The quality of the theming and sets were also Knott’s caliber—an impressive feat given that Ryan designed and built much of this on his own, with some assistance from his friends. To consider that all of this was for a one night affair, with relatively minimal buzz in the greater haunting community (other than the Haunted Rose instagram), only further attests to the dedication that Ryan has for his haunting craft.

The Haunted Rose’s Carter’s Crypt was located at the Millmur Manor property on 1500 Arbolita Dr, La Habra, CA 90631 and was open on Halloween night only. Wishing you had seen it then? Have no fear. The Haunted Rose will be making an return at this year’s Midsummer Scream. Whether their mini-haunt will be a rehash of Carter’s Crypt or a preview of a 2020 haunt remains to be seen. Whatever it tracks out to be, haunt fans can rest assured that it will be a high caliber, devilishly fun experience!

In addition, across the street, I found a nice yard display that I was compelled the photograph a bit. This gives a sense of the Halloween spirit in the neighborhood. Now, just imagine displays and ambiance like this, all the way down the street, across several blocks. Who knew La Habra did Halloween so hard? But I loved it!