Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021 | 2 a.m.
The Gates of Hell are located in Las Vegas just off the 215 Beltway and next to a pop-up pumpkin patch in a parking lot near Ikea.
Satanist nun Sister Mary, a stark red cross on her forehead, recruits bewildered passersby to meet their deaths and the devil himself — in an immersive haunted house hosted by Freakling Bros Horror Shows and open through Halloween.
Actor Abigail Fitzgerald, who plays Sister Mary, has been with Freakling Bros since 2013. In its 29th year, the horror show company has three haunts available: Coven of 13, Gates of Hell and Castle Vampyre. Unlimited passes start at $50.
Sister Mary is a performance Fitzgerald has embodied since 2016, when she switched from Castle Vampyre, a family friendly haunted vampire’s castle, to Gates of Hell. The third haunt at the company’s Trilogy of Terror is Coven of 13, a dark crawl through a witch’s domain.
Set up like a long, curving hallway with a few spooky stops along the way, the haunts place actors intermittently throughout to carry the narrative and direct the group. Gates of Hell is Freakling Bros — and Nevada’s — only R-rated horror house.
At the front of Gates of Hell, Fitzgerald adheres to a script that she said may change per group. She lays out the rules and, importantly, provides a safe word, the only thing that can stop the gruesome show, where the actors can roughhouse and scream absurdities at attendees.
“She’s standing out there for all of eternity to try to convert those to Satanism and to follow Lucifer and, you know, damn their souls to Hell,” Fitzgerald said.
Another character, the sensual Succubus, played by Joanna Chestnut, is the final performance the group sees before facing the Devil, who slithers close to participants before chasing them out of the haunt. Chestnut, draped in a pink dress, said not many people reach her portion of the hall because they shout the safe word and opt out.
“I’m really sweet and seductive to get them to come over to me, and then I yell at them, put them in their place, and then I send them to go meet the Devil,” Chestnut said.
Like stage actors, hot tea, apple cider vinegar and rest are pre-show essentials, Chestnut and Fitzgerald said. One other key step is the actor’s makeup, which can vary every year but stays consistent per character through the season.
Makeup artist Anna Prager said she designs the characters’ looks with the managers of each haunted house, drawing from the characters’ real-life counterparts as well as leaning into their fantasy elements. Doing all the actors’ makeup takes approximately two hours, she said, a process she has enjoyed for its creativity.
“Creating all these monsters, crazy characters, and seeing the makeup that I designed really come to life with the actors adding the dialogue to it, it’s really, really fun,” Prager said.
Partners Autumn and Jared Harper, visiting from Ogden, Utah, waited in line for Castle Vampyre Oct. 21. Jared, a former Las Vegas resident, said he enjoys Castle Vampyre for the childhood nostalgia it provides.
“This brings back a lot of memories of growing up,” he said. “It was the thing to do for a date or … [with] members of the family. It’s always been a blast.”
This was Autumn’s second visit to the Trilogy of Terror, and she recalled the intensity and thrill of Gates of Hell.
“It was way different than just walking through a haunted house, much more interactive,” she said. “You’re around people who love it, and the environment’s just fun.”
The attraction opens at 7 p.m. nightly at 6555 S. Riley Street.
Food and drinks are also available near the haunted houses through food truck Alpha Dawg Gourmet and mobile bar Trixie's.
