The horror tour guide reveals the most horrifying destinations she’s visited, what she packs, and where she’s going next.
There is a particularly intense variety of shiver that notice its way down your spine when , at the get-go of ahorror pic , an overtext appears informing the audience that the story is based on real outcome , places , and people . on the spur of the moment , it feels real — and scarier , as if those unlucky victims on the filmdom could , in another life , be you .
But these warnings can also make the movie more beguiling , and thrilling . Instead of being almost instantly relegated to a crammed closet of your memory , movies based on real events have a leaning to subsist on in your mind , and more often than not , you find yourselfresearching the substantial - life locationsand histories behind the film as shortly as the last credits start turn tail .
For some people , that journey does n’t stop with a Google hunt . They plan a tripper , andvisit the shivery spots . One of them is Brittany Petronella , 30 , who is well known on TikTok for her digital tours of some of the the most iconic ( and mosthaunted ) corners of the ball , from bone - chilling graveyard to the actual theater on which the 2013 hit movieThe Conjuringwas ground .
Photo courtesy of Brittany Petronella
Running her TikTok account , which is known as @ghoulplease _ , is n’t Petronella ’s nine - to - five . It ’s her five - to - nine , if anything . During working hour , Petronella is a photo editor for the New York City Tourism and Conventions Bureau , while she dedicates the rest of her time to her content creation . " I would say nine to five , I ’m a photo editor in chief , " Petronella told Thrillist . " And then every other hour of my life , I ’m spooky . "
fan of horror and the paranormal are increasingly traveling to plunk deeper into their passions for all thing macabre , Petronella enjoin . It was n’t long after she launched her TikTok account in the end of 2020 that her TV began to pick up steam on the chopine . It ’s been a steadfast climb ever since . Now , Petronella boasts almost one million following and tens of 1000000 of likes on her Post . Some videos , let in one play viewers along on atour of the Haunted Castle , have reached more than seven million views .
To get a line more about horror travel and what it takes to plan a scarey slip of your own , we recently spoke with Petronella . you’re able to rest assured — no jump scares ahead !
Photo courtesy of Brittany Petronella
Thrillist : How did you first get into this pastime , and when did you start taking these types of trips?Brittany Petronella : I was let go from my full - time job in the tourism industry due to the pandemic , so I had a lot of free clock time on my hand . I really just needed an safety valve because I was feeling overwhelmed and kind of lost . So I booked my first tripto Salem , Massachusettsin September 2020 , and the moment I stepped foot on their cobble streets , something clicked and I knew that ’s how I wanted to inhabit my life history . When my trip was over , I did n’t really require that excitement to cease . I ended up make a 2d Instagram and TikTok account , and then around December , it kind of blew up .
And after Salem you started taking these kinds of head trip more and more . What is the good misstep related to this interest group you ’ve been on?It ’s unvoiced to pick one . I would say outside of Salem , one that sticks out is definitelyNew Orleans . I feel like that urban center definitely does n’t have a shortage of flighty thing . There ’s just something different about its necropolis . It also has a really cool apothecary’s shop museum that ’s haunted , as well as this one haunted restaurant calledMuriel ’s .
What made that slip to New Orleans so memorable?I’d never been there before , and it matte up like wherever you ’d go , there were haunted attractions . It just did n’t palpate like there was a deficit of thing .
Inside the Conjuring House|Photo courtesy of Brittany Petronella
What is a lieu that you shoot the breeze where you in reality feel a haunted presence?About two years ago , I took a trip to the real Conjuring House in Rhode Island .
Oh wow . The one that the repugnance movieThe Conjuringwas base on?Yeah . I was with my boyfriend and one of my good friends , Courtney , and I find like in general , before outride overnight at a haunted locating , I ’ll get screaming meemies , but then they kind of just go away once I get there .
But at the Conjuring House , they did n’t go out . And it ’s intemperate to excuse . I feel like we were n’t alone . We wanted to communicate with the spirits at the theatre and we were using a Ouija control board , but it was n’t really working out . We were trying to connect with spirits , and all of a sudden we heard this really loud bang from the other side of the room . It sounded like a child ran into the rampart .
Oh God . All three of us all look in that steering . We were just so startled . My friend Courtney , which I appreciate , was like , " it could have been the nothingness . " It totally could have been . The house is super sure-enough , so it could have been . It ’s drafty , but …
So how does it work ? Can you just rent it and be there for the night by yourself?I think there ’s different ownership now , but when I visited [ two years ago ] we pay for the nighttime and there was n’t anyone else there staying with us .
What are some upcoming misstep you ’re excited about ? What are your bucket list trips?Right now I ’m in the " where do I go next " manner . I go on a trip every September and October , and I ’m thinking maybe Georgia . I ’ve never been there , and I feel like I hear thatSavannahhas some obsessed history .
If you could pick anywhere in the man to visit for your shuddery travels , where would you go?I have a spooky bucket list . Definitely the Stanley Hotel in Colorado . It ’s the setting for Stephen King’sThe Shining .
What advice would you have for other traveler concerned in this type of locomotion but just getting started?The most important thing in all scene is to be reverential , especially at necropolis . They all have their own set of normal , so be aware of what you may and ca n’t do when chaffer . Some burial site do n’t give up you to leave any offering on the gravestones , but if they do , I always try out to give something if I ’m jaw a specific grave . And there ’s other citizenry that are at burial ground , and maybe they ’re mourn someone — so you require to be respectful in all aspects .
It ’s also good to have a good for you amount of skepticism . When you ’re at a haunted house , do n’t just immediately jump like , " oh , it ’s haunted . " affair might pass . I was at theLizzie Borden Houselast year , and the light in one of the room was flicker . It ’s so born to cogitate that it ’s something of the paranormal , but it ’s important to think about these thing before leap to conclusion . Maybe the lightheaded bulb was just croak , or possibly there was an electrical issue .
Is there any particular gear traveler would need?I would saya REM pod , a basic radio , a torch , anda recorderto record your surroundings .
What do you say to people who do n’t understand why you would travel for this ? What do n’t they get?I do n’t get laid — I would say that ’s OK if they do n’t infer .
