Final Bell Haunted Schoolhouse Turns Back the Clock in Hampstead
HAMPSTEAD, MD — In December of 2015, the Carroll County School Board voted to shutter the North Carroll High School property in favor of building a newer school with better infrastructure elsewhere in the region. The former campus officially shuttered at the end of the 2015-2016 school year. Ten years later, its doors reopened to once again welcome students to class; this time with a much looser interpretation of ‘student’ and a much darker interpretation of ‘class’. Enter the Final Bell Haunted Schoolhouse, the newest haunted attraction in the state of Maryland and the first to be themed to an educational institution.
““The lore that we’ve tried to create is a whole ‘trapped in time’, almost paranormal element. So, as you’re walking through the show, you’re seeing teachers and students from the 70’s to the 2010’s pop up. They’re stuck here. There’s a a higher, darker force that has kept them here.””
Matt Tillett, former stage manager for Laurel’s House of Horror and now full-time showrunner for Final Bell, saw something in the husk of North Carroll High’s former building that he thought was worth preserving. Along with his business partners and his general manager Rob Forloines, he began retrofitting the halls in August of this year - a mere seven weeks before the haunt’s target opening date in early October. And while Matt and his team don’t have access to every floor and room in the building under their current lease, what they were able to do with less than two months and the limited amount of space they were given is nothing short of extraordinary.
Entering through the North side of the building, you’ll first be met with Final Bell’s ticket stand where admission tickets can be purchased onsite. These include the $62 Combo Passes* which can only be purchased onsite this year, but will likely be made available online in 2026. If you’ve pre-purchased your general admission or fast pass tickets online, you’ll head directly to the table where your ticket code will be scanned and you’ll be given a colored wristband that’s indicative of which admission type you purchased. From this point on, you will be a ‘student’ at the Final Bell Haunted Schoolhouse; and an infamously bad student, at that. Just embrace it!
Your next stop will be the haunt’s midway and main queue area, where rows of lockers are organized around the lines that you’ll soon be joining. Before you do, be sure that you take the necessary time to check out some of the fun photo ops that have been staged on the perimeter. Principal Williams, the school’s twisted figurehead, will also be roaming this area shouting about the rules you’ll be expected to follow. If you’re particularly disruptive, he may even have to give you one of his custom detention slips...so try to keep it together! Thanks to the shell that the former high school left behind, Final Bell is one of precious few haunted attractions industry-wide that is able to offer multiple clean, well-maintained indoor bathrooms with functional plumbing, so be sure to take advantage of those utilities if needed.
After you’ve waited patiently and your group reaches the front of the line, you’ll be stalled for a pre-show briefing which clearly outlines the rules and regulations for your visit. Then, at long last, you’ll be admitted to the halls of Final Bell for what will likely amount to a 12-15 minute walkthrough experience. To relay everything that you might experience during this walkthrough would be spoiling some amazing surprises, but suffice it to say that your time at Final Bell will send even the best students home with stress dreams about being late class or the last one picked for the Panthers’ scrimmage. You’ll re-live everything from English class to Gym class to Prom, all through the lens of the students, teachers and faculty that have been degraded and corrupted by decades trapped in time. Although the haunt had less than two months to build and has only operated for one season, the depth of immersion and the detail of the set design will have you thoroughly convinced that the attraction goes as far back as its lore does. That’s to say nothing of the dedication, energy and commitment of its actors - Ms. Tchotchke has the whole of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” memorized, and the Janitor and Vice Principal have been known to climb a wall or two.
While there are definitely some things about the Final Bell Haunted Schoolhouse that stand to be improved over the years to come, you’d be hard pressed to find a first-year haunted attraction that put on a bigger, better and more immersive show. The passion that Final Bell’s management, actors, makeup artists and costumers have for this experience is clearly evident in every flickering light and dusty corner of the walkthrough…and we can’t wait to see what Final Bell becomes with an extra nine months of build to work with heading into 2026. You can check out our vlog below to get an inside look at everything that goes into putting on the show. Also - on an unrelated closing note - we highly recommend watching “The Faculty” (1998), “Disturbing Behavior” (1998) and “Carrie” (1976) before heading to Final Bell, if you really want to get into the right headspace for class.
*Combo Passes allow same-night fast pass entry to both the Final Bell Haunted Schoolhouse in Hampstead, MD and its sister haunt Hera’s Nightmare in Westminster, MD. As of 2025, combo passes must be purchased onsite. The Final Bell Haunted Schoolhouse is expected to return in 2026, in addition to hosting off-season events for Christmas, Valentine’s Day and more throughout 2025 and 2026. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://finalbellhaunt.com/.
