Dungeon of Doom is located in the basement of the Arlington Museum of Art, supports the museum, and is a great way to get frightened on Halloween.
The website states that the origins of Dungeon of Doom date back to the founding of the city of Arlington, Texas, in 1877.
According to Arlington historians, the 1876 plat of the original townsite shows five east-west streets and seven north-south streets within an area of half a square mile. There were many natural springs, making the land suitable for agriculture. Its location, access to transportation, and opportunities within the local economy made Arlington an ideal place for growth and prosperity.
The 1880 U.S. Census lists eight general merchants, three drugstores, one lumber dealer, two physicians, one hotel owner, one saloon operator, and various other occupations, including farming. The total population was 275 people.
Continued growth led to Arlington becoming an officially incorporated city on April 21, 1884.
In connection with this growth, an old saloon plays a key role in the haunted house, as stated on the website. The old saloon was relocated, and a modern two-story JCPenney department store was built in its place. It later became the Arlington Museum of Art in 1987.
During the saloon's renovation in 1953, the current family and workers began experiencing many unexplained phenomena in the old saloon. Some spoke of laughter echoing through the building, others of screaming and pounding on the walls, while still others described mischief, as tools and furniture would disappear only to reappear later blocking doors, as if someone were trying to lock someone inside. Speculation and rumors circulated that several people had died after drinking water from the well during a period when it was found to be "contaminated," and further speculation suggested that this may have been the reason it was sealed and no longer used. Indeed, several death certificates from the area mention "accidental ingestion of natural toxins," which is essentially an elegant term for unintentional poisoning. Newspapers even published letters from people claiming that someone they knew had been poisoned by water from the well. These rumors and speculations suggest that those who died because of the bad water may never have left the building closest to the well...
At some point, four stone turrets were placed on the saloon's roof, each representing a sealed well with a cross on top. A face representing one of the "four" personalities can be seen on each cross. The saloon remained closed and weathered for roughly another 30 years until it was opened to the public as a haunted house in 1989. The old saloon is now called Dungeon of Doom, a name inspired by the building's original doors, which people always said looked as though they belonged in a dungeon or castle. The building's allegedly haunted past is merely incidental to the fact that it now serves as a haunted house—the two originally had nothing to do with each other. It was soon decided that a building with a questionable past might not be the best place for family entertainment, so the decision was made not to discuss these stories publicly. However, people have an insatiable appetite for such things and demand to hear stories about the old building. Unexpected things occasionally happen—the lights in the building still turn on and off, and props or scenery move during the night.
A haunted house inside a genuinely haunted building—who would have guessed? But it is definitely worth a visit.
