AKA Temple Of Terror
Opened: 1954
Closed: 1966
Location: Central Midway
Manufactured By:
The Spook House was part of a long tradition of scary dark rides at Lagoon that began when the Ghost Train opened south of the Roller Coaster in 1947. That ride burned to the ground in the large fire of late 1953.
As part of the massive reconstruction of the west half of the Midway in 1954, the Spook House was added as a replacement for the Ghost Train. A few years later, the Fun House was built on the north side of the Spook House.
Each of the photos on this page show slight differences on the facade of the ride. The 1954 photo above shows what is probably a skull and the wall around it painted to look like a hole in the wall. The undated photo below shows the name of the ride in large letters across the front.
A photo from May 1957 shows the name changed to Temple Of Terror with new murals inside the queue area, including the strange depiction of fantastic creatures that was retained after transforming into Terroride. Above the ride is a skeleton on one side and a bald man on the other that seem to be hanging out of false windows. These could also be in the photo above, obscured by the trees.
To the left of the main mural there’s additional wall art that looks like the ride may have been based on ancient Mediterranean-adjacent temple ruins (see closeup below). It’s possible that this is when the mummy and pharaoh’s coffin gags were introduced in the ride.
Even with the new name on the ride itself, it was still referred to as the Spook House in advertisements and newspaper articles of the day. A small sign at the right in the closeup above still says “Spook House entrance”.
Details and photos of the ride (especially of the interior) have been very hard to come by. Please contact me if you have any photos or information to share about the Spook House or Temple Of Terror. You can also comment below if you have any memories you’d like to share.
In 1967, the building received a large, castle-like facade and became Terroride. It’s interesting that the skeleton looking out a window motif continued through three iterations of this dark ride.
MORE LAGOON HISTORY
REFERENCES
Lagoon newspaper ads, 1954.
Lagoon Opens This Weekend. Deseret News, 23 March 1967.
Lagoon press kit, 2004.
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