I Survived the ‘IT’ Experience and It Was a Fan’s Nightmare Come True

For fans of IT, the house at 29 Neibolt Street is the scariest haunted house in all of fiction. The dilapidated residence serves as the gateway into Pennywise‘s sewer lair, and the heroic Losers’ Club has to traverse the house and its many monsters before they can do battle with the ancient evil.

Warner Bros and New Line Cinema have done something pretty amazing in preparation for the new big screen version of IT: they have erected a haunted house attraction in Los Angeles on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. And it looks pretty amazing.

IT is my favorite novel of all time and seeing this was like a dream come true. Or a nightmare for some folks. The Neibolt Street house was imposing and awesome to look at. It looks like it was constructed from actual set pieces from the new film. That only made the entire experience feel more authentic.

The Experience

I was part of the very first group to walk through the house and we were all excited and nervous. A guide dressed up as Georgie Denbrough in his infamous raincoat led us into the house. After walking up a spiral staircase, we were led into a room with a bunch of clown dolls. This is a recreation of the scene we’ve seen in the latest trailer where Richie Tozier gets stuck in a room full of clown dolls and puppets. These were clearly some of the props from the real movie. And there was even one standee that was modeled after the Tim Curry version of Pennywise from the 1990 miniseries.

Without spoiling the whole thing, I will tell you that you will see a number of moments from the movie recreated for your spine-tingling pleasure. We got to see the creepy slideshow where Pennywise appears as well as the bathroom where Beverly Marsh is covered in an explosion of blood. Probably the most fun moment was when we were led into a room with three doors. Each one either said, “Not Scary At All,” “Scary,” and “Very Scary.” This is actually based on a moment from the new film. Of course, we picked the “Not Very Scary At All” door first. We got an animatronic puppet behind that one. So we moved on to the “Scary” door. And this happened.

Yes, that’s me shouting like a wuss behind the camera.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, the IT Experience is definitely worth your time. It’s a treasure trove for fans as you’ll see tons of real movie props scattered throughout the attraction, and it’s honestly awe-inspiring to stand outside of the house on Neibolt Street. Just seeing that street sign was enough to make my heart skip a beat. What a wonderful treat for fans of this epic and terrifying story.

The IT Experience is open from now until September 10 at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles. It runs from 1 PM to 11 PM every day. IT will open in theaters on September 8. You should definitely go see it.