Gottlieb's Haunted House, a classic pinball machine that broke design barriers and hails from the glorious years of the early 80's where original themes ruled the day. The art is stunning, the music is charming, the field design is unprecedented, and this theme of a spooky old home with ghostly inhabitants will always have a place in our imaginations as kids and adults. It is timeless.

I call this game The Beautiful Beast because just like it's artistic subject, the old victorian house, this eye catching marvel stands out amongst the crowd, but beneath that facade is a wide, heavy machine with it's own set of quirks to deal with, lots of moving parts, can be a handful to maintain, and features unique twists/turns in it's design and gameplay.

Like those behemoth homes with an excessive amount of entries, doors, windows, hallways, stairs, levels, etc., the game consists of (3) playfields, (8) flippers, (4) flipper buttons, (4) pop bumpers, (9) drop targets, (11) spot targets, (2) kickback targets, (3) kickout holes, (2) VUK's, (2) drop holes to the basement, (2) hidden passages to the basement, (1) ramp, and (3) different songs that change by location. Very fitting portrayal of it's real life counterpart.

The designers at Gottlieb nailed the concept. The lightning bolts are striking as they flash behind that spooky 3D backglass depicting a wondrous old house full of headless bodies, floating skulls and spirits in a vibrant green and yellow stenciled cabinet. Add to that colorful PF art, the attic, the see-through window looking down into the basement where the ball is shot back at the player in reverse, and the eerie music of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor with two other spooky tracks that hit hard as you wander through the home. The single ball play feels like you're the only living soul making your way through the halls of this eerie abode.

All are welcome here, so make yourself at home. If you own the game, looking to buy, or just love the title, we encourage your input.

Let's keep this thread going to promote the mission of saving and playing this awesome one of a kind machine. Long live the HAUNTED HOUSE!

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Hell yeah, Konghusker! Project or plug & play?

Same here Stretch. Bought mine in June, very dirty and neglected machine which sat in someone's basement for 27+ years. I got it all shiny and looking nice, now getting through the mechanical bugs and then she's ready to rock. I'm new to fixing pins, so going into it I knew it wouldn't be a quick turnaround for me. Patience is my savior right now.

Here is my thread documenting my restoration process. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bringing-a-haunted-house-back-to-life

Here is my game (lock down bar and glass off)...

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Nice!

Yes, one day we will play. Gearing up right now to put in a good work session on the HH tonight. Hoping to run through all connectors again with a closer eye, and I just bought a new DMM. Going to check everything with that one more time too. The one I was using didn't have audio continuity alert and was very very basic. I think I got it for free a long time ago at Ace Hardware or something.

I'm going in!!!!!!!!!

Cleaned up nice! I love when they're found in neglected situations and then get raised from the dead. Makes it that much more special.

I'm in the market for an original backglass if anyone has an extra to sell. My original BG was bubbling a little, but not too bad. Then one night I had it off when I was fixing a 6 digit display a few weeks ago, and a freak accident with my dog and some blinds that came down had hit my glass putting a small ding in a noticeable area. 100% my fault to put the glass in a potentially compromised location, regardless if I only had it off for 2 minutes. Thats all it took for lightning to strike. LESSON LEARNED.

I then tried touching it up myself and that ended horribly. This is absolutely devastating to me because I was really loving that all parts from the game I rescued was able to be used and kept. Now, I have a near mint CPR repro I bought from someone, but it's just not the same. I want an original. It just makes it more special to me. I'm still mad at myself about it and I think I've gone through all phases of emotions when someone grieves a major loss... Never happening again.

I like that!

I started a separate thread about this, in hopes that it will reach enough people and maybe, just maybe, something comes from it.

But, I'm looking for a Gottlieb Haunted House that was purchased sometime in the late 90's (I believe) from a private seller's home in Catasauqua, PA (18032 zip). I know the last name/location of the owner that sold it and can verify that connection if any leads do come about. I'm pretty confident there aren't too many HH's sold in any one small town over the years, besides your major cities where several probably change hands over the course of a single year.

This game was in the collection (basement) of a childhood friend of mine in the early 90's, whose dad was into restoring hot rods, jukeboxes, pins, etc. I remember going over there to play it as a kid, and over the years kind of forgot about it as we grew up and moved on with our lives. One day last Spring I randomly thought of the game and became obsessed with learning everything about Haunted House. I asked my friend about it and he said his dad sold it years ago. Thats all I know. I eventually bought my own HH this past summer and the rest is history. Now, I'm hooked on pins, but thats a whole different story.

It would be amazing to have someone read this, and say "hey, I think i'm the one that bought that HH your talking about in [insert date]". Even if you (or they) aren't looking to sell, it would be awesome to know where that game went, and maybe one day when the time was right, I acquired it somehow for my collection.

Wouldn't that be an epic pin hunt if I actually found it? That would be "the one" that started it all.

Can someone do me a huge favor, and at your next earliest convenience, please take a good photo of your prop-bar assembly. When I brought my game home for the first time, it was dirty all over and I stripped a lot of parts off for a deep cleaning. One of the pieces I didn't get a picture before taking it apart was the prop-bar nuts, screws, assembly in general.

Since putting it back together, my bar has been really loose, and basically falls down if I don't hold it up myself. If I recall correctly, these should be tight and need to be pushed down when not in use.

Thank you!

Ok, good to know, makes me feel better about mine. I still need a picture of someone's prop-bar parts, because I'm not confident I put the exact nuts and washers on that were originally there. I have the screw that was there, but for some reason I mixed up the washers/nuts/etc. Would love to get this back to normal.

Personally, I like incandescents for this game and don't think I'll ever go to LEDs on it. That spooky victorian mansion vibe goes much better with the warm glow of the original bulbs. It reminds me of candle light, very fitting. But, let's say I got tired of changing bulbs one day and if I were to ever go with LEDs, I might opt for these (http://silverballmuseum.com/online-store) scroll down to see them. They're the closest thing to that vintage warm glow that I can find. Kind of expensive though.

Yeah, I see that now haha. Definitely just briefly glanced through your post and see that I missed the obvious word, displays.

I need some help or advice regarding some final issues I'm trying to fix with my HH. I've spent a lot of time getting my HH project cleaned up and now just have this final hurdle to overcome to be officially finished and playing games.

FYI - I have a Pascal PI-80 installed in this game.

First, everything was working (lights, game boots up, sound, pops, flippers, kicking targets, VUK, bank resets, etc.) except for the main PF right side extra ball hole coil wouldn't fire to push the ball out of the hole. I replaced that coil and the transistor there, but haven't been able to see if that is fixed due to a current issue I will describe below.

Before I could see if that extra ball coil is now working, I was testing targets and pops by hitting them with a ball, and my kicking target #2 randomly fired rapidly if hit, then the pop bumper above it would randomly fire rapidly if target #2 was touched and on one of those rapid succession fires of the target #2 it locked on and I seen smoke come up from under there. Target #2's coil was unusually hot for a while after and eventually had to be replaced because the sleeve melted and wouldn't allow the plunger to lower. I've since replaced that coil.

Since then, none of the pops, kicking targets, upkickers, flippers, etc. will not work at all. But, Bank resets, free game knocker, coin door coil, etc. all seem to work.

I've checked all fuses (F1-F15) and nearly all coils test well for good resistance. No wires seem to be disconnected.

I did have a pin inside my A3-J4 connector that was loose and when pushed out of the connector, looked to be broken. Pictures of that below. I will replacing that pin tonight.

I ran the coil test on the pascal and here is what happened... Other coils not listed below do fire upon the test.

Coil 2: error 2

Coil 12: Nothing happens when I hit test, no error displayed and no physical coil activity

Coil 13 pnp: Nothing happens when I hit test, no error displayed and no physical coil activity

Coil 15 pnp: Nothing happens when I hit test, no error displayed and no physical coil activity

Coil 16 pnp: Nothing happens when I hit test, no error displayed and no physical coil activity

I did find this article with what seems to be a similar problem. Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be wrong here? http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.games.pinball/2009-01/msg15776.html

Also, I asked Pascal about the problem and he recommended I check the game over and tilt relays. The 24VDC coils power is fed thru them. But, I'm not really sure how to test those and currently researching how to review those parts.

Sorry, I'm a newbie, but totally in love with my HH despite this headache!!!!

Thank you to anyone who can help here.

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Also, in relation to my post above, despite the issue I'm having with power getting to those various coils, I am having a hard time re-pinning this connector A3-J4. I almost have to force the old pins out. The wire was able to be removed, but there seems to be some original piece of the original connector that won't budge from inside.

Can someone tell me how you remove the entire pin that is originally there? Does each slot have it's own pin, or are all the metal pins inside this connector interconnected somehow?

I also notice this new connector I bought from PBR (pictured below) is different than what is originally in the connector. The old setup has the insulated wire not stripped at all, and it's fed through the bottom of the pin that is split into two metal sides. Those sides grips the wire, rather than stripping it and sliding it up vertically toward the connector clip. Hope that makes sense.

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Sure do. Pictured below.

Great to hear I have the right pins to do the job. I'm having a hard time getting the original punch pin out of the housing. It's taking huge feats of strength to get it out, still not budging. I don't think it should be this hard, and because of that I'm probably doing it wrong.

Also, I know it's hard to say right now, because I may have something happening with my relays causing 24vdc to not get to the coils mentioned above, but with these pins in A3-J4 being loose or some pins setting back compared to others, could that cause the issues I'm having with no activity in pops, flippers, kickers, etc.? I notice on the Pascal board, my picture above, that this connector does in fact work with the Solenoids.

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Thanks guys! No rush at all, and I'm going to buy the right one the minute it's posted. As you see, I'm still building my tool kit to work on my pins.

I'm still a little unsure on how to pop out those old punch pins that are in the connector. I'm literally using all of my strength to push it down through the bottom of the plastic housing and it won't budge at all. These come out one at a time, right?

Also, fingers crossed my solenoid issues are due to faulty pins in my connectors and everything comes back to life after a good re-pinning. I read over and over again that a lot of issues start in the connectors.

Good to know. I'm gonna get another crack at them tonight. I was using a very thin allen wrench to get in there and push the tabs, but a small flat head might give me the leverage I need.

Thank you!

Thanks Pinsonly - Thats a nice looking crimper.

Damn those two look good together. I plan on getting my second pin soon, and really want something in the occult/paranormal theme (EATPM, TFTC, BSD) to accompany my HH, but every time I see a BH and HH together it makes me really want one of those next. There is actually a BH for sale sort of close to me, 100% working for around $1600.

Makes me pause every time.

I know... I'm really debating it and might just pull the trigger on a BH, breaking my plan of getting one of the (3) eerie themes I mentioned above. I was just yearning for something with nice ramps and call outs, they're so satisfying! I have room right now for only one more game, and the BH definitely fits the budget more than a $2600-$3000+ game.

Oh and my next pin will be plug and play. This HH project is enough to handle right now. Next project will come in the future for me when I have a nice garage to work on them. Moving forward, if it's going into the game-room it should be ready to rock. I'm itching to play my HH.

I sent an email to the guy to see if it's still around. We'll see... I'm gonna sleep on it and think about if I really want to abandon the search for a Tales From The Crypt. I am a fan of System 80 games, and do see your point of owning the system 80 "brothers" of HH and BH as a right of passage. Plus, I'm getting used to my HH system 80 components and keeping my next game in that realm may help me wrap my head around everything some more.

I just want to check to see if the BH has little cosmetic damage and is mostly original. I'm a sucker for original parts.

Hey guys, going back to the subject of the right crimpers to use for re-pinning the edge connectors. I've listed a few of the options below that I've come across or recommended to me. I'd like to get these either off Amazon (for speedy delivery) or Pinball Resource which is my normal shop for all things pinball.

Please let me know your thoughts if you can and I'll place the order tonight...

There is this tool off Amazon that looked good: http://www.amazon.com/HT-225D-Cycle-Ratchet-Crimping-interchangeable/dp/B007JLN93S/ref=sr_1_1

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And if I do go through PBR for the crimper, I might as well grab a couple of other tools while I'm at it.

I'm looking to grab a light bulb changer pictured here. Has anyone used this tool and does it help?
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Also, since I'm having trouble with the punch pins inside the connectors, maybe I should grab something for those too. Has anyone used any of these pin tools below? I don't mind calling Steve and just asking him either.
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Check this out... Is this something that would interest you?

Well... After sleeping on it last night, I went ahead and put my deposit down for that Black Hole this afternoon! I wanted to continue the spooky paranormal pin theme as my next purchase, but there is arguably no better pin to accompany a Haunted House than it's older brother, the BH. These two are almost meant to be together.

I am feeling good that the BH is priced fair, and coming from a reputable/long running coin-op shop/retailer who is getting it bulletproofed and 100% working for me. The game has very little wear on cabinet or PF's, and all cosmetic parts are originals. I'll be picking it up in a week.

From what I understand, the ice is broken and now the obsession to buy more really ramps up once you get the 2nd game.

Spirit is next! The Pinball Trifecta will be COMPLETE!!!! In my dreams... One day, I will have enough dollar bills to afford that beauty. Spirit is by far my Holy Grail pin.

Agreed.

As soon as the game is in my home and plugged in, the avatar number will be changed. My fiance feels game number 3 or 4 is only a matter of time. I'm starting to save up for #3 now for when I hit the Allentown show this year...

I can't wait to put this theory to practice. Itching to play a game while my HH is still being resurrected from the dead. Soon they will both be ALIVE.

I had a feeling it was being watched. I normally don't buy things that are this expensive and also come with a list of potential problems without seeing or playing with it first... But knowing what the Coin Op Doc stands for and his experience, I went with my gut and trusted it would be a stellar game being filtered through trusted hands...

Yeah... I'm late to the party.

Question: My upper level post targets seem to have a hard time registering hits when contacted by the ball. During play, the ball will regularly hit the bank of targets, but will just bounce off and not register points or sound. When I test touch them with my fingers, it seems to works fine, points and sound are perfect. But during play the ball doesn't seem to do it right. It could be hitting the plastic piece above them, or the rubbers in between, but I feel the need to adjust them to be more frequently registered.

Anyone else here had to make this adjustment?

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Thanks Steve. I'll try to use the card for cleaning and adjusting. Do you just use the card to swipe away any dirt back there on the switch, and then try to pull the switch parts closer together with one of those "L" tools?

Before I go and buy new ones, I'd like to try everything I can to get these actual targets to work better, since nearly 95% of my game is original parts. Trying my best to keep everything in tact like that.

Perfect, thank you Steve!

Also, I posted this question in my other thread but it didn't get noticed.

When my trap door gets activated and opens, whether it be via the left side out-lane, or the gate, it makes a semi-noticeable humming noise like something is energized. Is this normal?

Ok I'll take it apart for inspection and report back if I come across any issues.

I may do it in 2 weeks or so, since we'll have company over next weekend for my birthday and I want the BH and HH rocking. I'd hate to be in the middle of this project and rush to get it all wrapped up before hand.

Thanks again Steve.

When first shopping out my HH, I have cleaned the metal rails for the most part, but haven't taken apart the assembly of it all. I too have these fast shots miss the switch every once in a great while. I'd be interested in knowing what others have done to guarantee a hit.

I am over 100 games into my HH with the Pascal PI-80 board and I literally have had zero issues with the board or not starting a game. Each and every time I power up or start a game, everything comes to live like it was 1982.

And, just yesterday, I dropped this beauty of a high score. Going to be hard to beat and I was so going for the 999,999 score to permanently be on display. It was a great game and I was able to secure 1 - 5 targets, slayed in the basement and did damage in the upstairs grabbing specials several times. After that, I got an extra ball on ball 2 around 700k and that set me up for success.

HH is so much fun and I'm getting good at knowing the shots and recognize the ball's behavior in this game.

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I am pretty sure the pascal boards allow you to add a skill shot. I do know that you can add flashing effects when hitting targets and you can make specials and extra ball spots flash when active. In addition to this there is a huge list of audits to keep track of stats for your machine, lights/coils/switches/display tests galore, PB monitoring for locked on coils and a whole bunch of customizable ways you can run your HH.

I personally have my Pascal settings as close to the original boards behavior as possible. I'm an originalist at heart and only have the pascal because my original board had a little battery corrosion and I wanted the utmost reliability for years to come.

One day I will get my original boards fixed and put back in the game. But even then, I may still use the Pascal PI-80 because of how good it is.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: http://www.flippp.fr/pi80.php?lg=en

Hey Shacklersrevenge,

PM sent on that plastic piece. It's literally the last piece I need for my restore. Every other plastic piece of mine is in good original condition, minus a few dings and scratches that aren't noticeable. But my organ piece is broken in half and I just have the broken pieces on top of the reproduction plastic protector for that area holding it in place.

I'd be one appreciative fella if I were able to grab that from you.

Dave

Hey guys - Turns out I was just a little late on that Secret Passage plastic and it sold before I reached shacklersrevenge. That guy is a great seller by the way. Anyways... I dreamed of finding that piece one day. If anyone ever has one for sale, in any condition, I'm a buyer. Even with scratches on it, it'll be better than the one I currently have (picture below).

Also, I'm still looking for an original backglass in good condition. I currently have a nice CPR HH glass in, great condition, but I'm a sucker for original stuff and would love to throw an original backglass back in.

My glass that came with the game was in fantastic condition, but a freak accident with our dog made a window blind fall down on it while I had it off for service and sitting on the couch. It put a nice ding in a very noticeable spot and I made it worse trying to touch it up. That day still breaks my heart. Lesson learned there is never ever put the glass in a place with even the slightest chance of something hitting it.

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Yeah, I'm kinda sick to my stomach I missed it. It's literally the cherry to put on top of my completed project. But those are the breaks of the hobby I guess...

I would love one for now even if it was a scanned repro. But i'm not even sure how or where to go and have one made and make it look good.

1.) I knew the game was gonna be fun going into buying one, but I am REALLY loving the gameplay, sounds and shots. It all just ties in so good together.

2.) I don't miss multi-ball either with this game, and I'm a believer in leaving it the way it was intended to be. Just a single soul (ball) roaming the bowels of an old haunted house racking up points. The speech sounds too robotic and the MB just isn't needed for this game to feel good. It's classic.

Also, with the speech, sitting HH next to a Black Hole I just wouldn't get the space theme out of my head if I heard both use the same sounds. I don't wanna go to space when I'm playing HH.

The only thing I wish HH designers did differently with this game, is add the metal swirl tunnel leading down into the basement like they have on BH. I feel this would save nearly all of the lower PFs from getting torn apart by that big drop down there. Other than that, perfection for an early 80's pin.

Come over one night this week. Play some HH and BH and have a beer.

Your glass - looks amazing thus far. Very impressed at the work you're doing and the dedication to doing it yourself. Sorry I dropped out. Once I put my new CPR glass in I totally stopped worrying about it not being an original and just started enjoying the game and focusing on tweaking parts now that they're in full action.

If you change your mind on the drive It's always here for you to use. I live in the schwenksville, pa area despite my profile saying Allentown.

Nice man! Get it in and start playing. What better way to kick off the weekend, or ride out the next snow storm then putting time in on your HH. Hope someone can lead you in the right direction for new glass.

So, with all the rumor talk of Stern creating a Ghostbusters pin in 2016, I definitely became interested in the idea. I really want to build a collection of paranormal/occult themed games, because I feel that theme is one of the best in the pinball world if you look at all the titles that have the 'monster' vibe.

I was searching google for any leaked images or information, and came across this youtube video of a simulated Ghostbusters table that Farsight Studios came up with for the Pinball Arcade back in 2014.

And guess which table is the main foundation for this game, the Haunted House.

Just thought I'd share for those who haven't seen this before. I think it's a nod of respect to the real Haunted House, because it's such an iconic game for this ghostly theme. Long the live the Haunted House!

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So I had some friends over the other night to drink and play some rounds of HH, and one of them asked me why the order of the double bonus scoring lights above the 3 holes you encounter in the top left of the main PF are ordered wrong. I really didn't have an answer for him as to why they are like that, and it got me scratching my head why the designers would do this.

If you look at the picture below. The lights/labels above each hole do not match that hole's destination. Anyone else ever question this?

One would think it would be more intuitive to have the lights read from left to right: cellar / main floor / upstairs

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Not to complain, because this is absolutely my favorite game of all time. This is just a 'what if' daydream and spark conversation. But it would have been amazing additions if Gottlieb did three extra things when producing this game...

1.) Added a lamp to come on or flash underneath the Secret Passage plastic area, say when there is double scoring in the basement. That area is too dark for how cool of a plastic and centerpiece it is.

2.) Added a ball guide leading down into the basement, like Black Hole does, and that would save 90% of our basement PFs

3.) Decal'd or painted the metal ramp leading to the attic to make it look like a real stair case

Other than that, this is 80's pinball perfection to me!

I like this idea too. When the arrow is lit the plastic gets illuminated as well... And maybe flashes when double scoring or special is lit in the basement.

But beware, seller says the glass has no defects to the paint, but I clearly see a small hole in the screen print art just to the right of house and spirit woman in the doorway. I literally had this exact size hole in the same location, and due to the bright area it's in, it bothered the hell out of me. But I am picky when it comes to that.

That's all. If you have a glass that's flaking completely this is definitely a better option.

Let's not disregard the "I heart Roger!" written in pink marker on the house too. I'm sure that can be easily wiped off, but I mean, really seller? You can't give it a wipe down before posting?

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I'm 90% certain this thing sold already. Seen it posted on several different classified spaces out there and heard it was sold. I could be wrong and definitely worth a shot sending a message if someone out there is dying to live in a Haunted House.

ebay.com link: HAUNTED HOUSE Gottlieb Pinball Cushioned Flipper Armour Mod 4 sets

What do you guys think of these? I'm not one to do much modding and like my games looking original, I just think it's an interesting touch to add. Anyone out there have these on and like them?

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Can someone please help confirm something for me...

Does your HH backglass have (3) pieces of the plastic trim (left, right, top)? My game is pretty much all original and intact, but I only have two pieces that sit on the left/right side of my backglass. If there is supposed to be three, then one of them must have been lost somewhere along my game's lifetime.

FYI - I'm not including the actual metal lift trim that the backglass sits in when counting the number of trim to have.

Thanks!

Sorry for the delay in response here. Thank you everyone for shedding light on the trim. I'm going to hunt down a third if I can.

On another note, I have something else I'd love clarification on...

There is a clear post used on the very top of the main PF, see pic below. This post is located just above the exclamation point in Welcome! and attaches to the gate.

Do you guys have a standard 1" post there, or the taller 1-3/16" post? Pictures of both are below.

I ask because when I stripped my PF for a deep cleaning a while back, I swore the taller post went there to raise the gate. But after installing it, I noticed the plastic that sits above it rested on the top of the post, scratching the plastic and sort of looked unnatural the way I t sat on an angle. But when I put the shorter 1" post there, the gate sits lower and the ball could hit the top edge of the gate when being plunged. I'd hate to keep hitting the ball and creating dings that could eventually hurt my PF's.

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That's a great score. I always tell folks that come over to play HH, do damage in the basement, get an extra ball, and anything can happen.

Damn. I just checked PBR and they're out of stock right now. I bought one from them a few months ago, and hope they come back in. Always worries me to start seeing these unique parts dry up.

I just wanted to revisit this to see if anyone can take a peek at their PF and see if they have the 1" or 1-3/16" post attached to the gate above WELCOME!

I tried playing a few HH rounds tonight and noticed when my ball was plunged at full strength, now that I threw the smaller 1" there to test, it would smack the corner of the gate and didn't do that before.

THANK YOU for confirming this for me. The bending of the plastic is what threw me off, as it seems so unnatural for it to do that, despite it being very clear they cut back that inch to account for the bending. Maybe it was an after thought and the lesser of two evils was to have the plastic bend, rather than the gate sit too low and smack the ball upon launching.

Also, great idea on adding a little foam piece on top of the screw to not scratch the plastic. I'm adding that to mine tonight!

Hey Marmar! Welcome to the pinball community, as well as the HH Club. You'll really enjoy the hobby and will get sucked in real quick. The community is full of extremely helpful and nice folks.

You should probably just get ready for game #2 right now, cause it's gonna happen. The collecting of games and getting hyped up on the hunt is so contagious. I literally decided I was ready to get into pins almost a year ago, bought my HH in June 2015 and had zero plans of owning another. I just wanted to get to know HH as it is a childhood nostalgia title and told my lady that's all it was. Now I own a Black Hole that sits next to the HH and game #3 is coming any week now as I'm actively looking (TFTC or Devil's Dare). So... good luck!

HH was also my first pin too, a complete project I had to bring back to life and cut my teeth on (started a thread documenting the recovery project here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bringing-a-haunted-house-back-to-life) The experience of getting my hands dirty with an old game with as many flippers, PF's and other notorious problems was quite the reward once it was all said and done. It's also the favorite of the household no matter who's here. Granted I only own two games, HH always has someone on it when I throw a party.

Also, finding official parts for this game, I would definitely check out www.pbresource.com/hauntedhouse.html. And there are tons of amazing resources on the web for system 80 game repair. Hit me up if you ever have any questions or post them here. Someone will chime in with sound advice.

In regards to your question: I believe what you might have saw was a mod, but definitely send some shots of your game, or the game with the lights, if you'd like us to clarify.

Best of luck!

I currently own the Pascal PI-80 for my HH and it is 100% without a doubt the best investment I made for my game. My original boards had a few issues and a small amount of battery damage, but to get on with playing my game at the time, I decided to put the boards away to get fixed down the road and plug a Pascal in for now. I'm an originalist at heart so one day I might want them back in, but for now, the Pascal is kicking ass and there's a chance it may never come out.

According to my PI-80 analytics, I literally have over 1,050 games started or played and I am not joking when I say I have zero issues. I cannot report a time where the game acted funny or didn't boot, or had display issues or anything like that. The game powers up, starts games and reacts with a superb crisp quickness time after time after time. Only issues I've had were physical ones like a drop target breaking in half cause mine are all old, or having to adjust some switches. But the old system 80 board/ground problems just do not exist with the PI-80.

Not to mention the tests, diagnostics, customization of gameplay and more. I personally have my settings matching the original gameplay as much as possible, but having the options there is nice.

Hit me up if you have any questions or want to see it in action.

Good timing. I was just about to post something here to start the discussion for LED options. I really want my game to be as original as possible, and if it were up to me I'd use incandescent because I like the warm glow. I think it fits this title real well, as if it's that spooky candle lighting.

But I ultimately want to preserve my game and the old bulbs hurt it over time and extended use.

So... What are the best LED's to have that vintage look, and be as close to old 47 bulbs as possible.

Hey Pindoc1 - Are you referring to my search for the actual HH that was in my friend's basement growing up? If so, I haven't found it yet. But I am still interested in finding it and searching when I come across a PA based HH owner. I started a thread about it hoping it would gain some attention, but no leads have come in. It would be amazing to ever find that one.

I would LOVE to find that game. I have a message out to my buddy to ask his dad if he remembers anything about it, but I haven't heard back yet, so this reminds me to check back in. Thanks for resurrecting this hunt for me by asking about it. It started to slip my mind I was still needing that info on the game.

Sounds like a STUNNER. Congratulations and welcome to the club! Would love to see gameplay vids of your machine all rebuilt and punching that ball around like nobody's business.

I'm searching for a NOS backglass myself and can't wait for that to land in my arms. Just patiently waiting for the day.

On your HH and BH, do you have regular incandescent bulbs or LEDs? I'm in the process of making the decision if I want to switch from old bulbs to LEDs and for HH I really want something that looks as close to incandescent as possible, but for BH I might be willing to go with something different, like more blues and sharp whites.

I know... I have to get on that train. It does look like fun customizing your game with eerie colors and accents. I'll eventually experiment with other colors, but I think to start, I'm going to go with retro style LEDs, like these here: http://shop.cointaker.com/product.sc;jsessionid=179B7023E0C7D864654BC7180AACB60E.m1plqscsfapp02?productId=984&categoryId=150

Does anyone happen to know how many 44/47 bulbs are in the HH? Just curious as to how many LEDs I should order.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I want my HH to look classic, where the BH can get away with it due to it being space themed.

What type of LEDs are being used in your BH? In the link I shared above, under the retro style, they actually blues and crisp whites that still have a retro look.

Congrats and welcome to the club!

That looks amazing. Nice work! I dream of doing that to my HH, maybe one day, with the help of an expert.. haha. Congrats and welcome.

It could be hitting the tube on the way up. It's hard to see, but make sure it has a clean shot up to the top. And your coil is getting super hot from the repeated attempts. There is a highly recommended mod to do and make your up-kicker reliable and use a PBDB to fire it.
Within this link is a nice run down of the VUK mod to do. http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?p=1821809

Hey guys, I'm at PAPA for the first time, and I've seen pictures of this place before, but being here in person and seeing HH flying high amongst some of the greats in the rafters is AWESOME. I love that HH is represented like that among all of the other great titles to choose from all of pinball. Long live the Haunted House!

Also, the HH here at PAPA, kicked my ass, and I came in thinking I could give it a run for it's money. I guess I'm just so used to my machine at home, I suffered on this one. The main PF at PAPA is covered in full mylar and makes the ball super floaty. Strong flippers, but the mylar made the ball bounce airborne like crazy, and it was hard to control the way it would hit the simplest post and float all over the PF. Mine at home hugs the wood more and plays faster, and in essence, easier to control. It was quite the experience playing one in a whole different way. But nonetheless, I loved seeing it there.

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Hey Shacklers - I'm away from home for the night, but if someone doesn't respond to this by tomorrow late afternoon I'll get you a pic of mine.

Hopefully someone can chime in sooner if you're on a night shift shop session over there.

Sorry for the delay here. I didn't get home as soon as I thought I would today. Here are some shots I was able to take of my wiring back there. I'm unable to move my main PF too far forward because of my low ceiling height, but I was able to stick a hand down there and grab some.

I hope these help. Let me know if you need more from different angles.

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Reached a new milestone last night on my HH and breached the million point mark. Stepped up for just one game and before I knew it, I had 400k on ball 1 with an extra ball waiting. That's when I knew topping my last high score of 960k's was possible.

On my final ball (3), I had around 920k and knew that all I had to do was plunge it and maneuver the ball into the basement hole to do the damage I need.

I didn't know what to expect when breaching the 999,999 mark, but since I have a pascal board it's able to compute and display the million. So for all that ever wanted to know, when you break a mill with a PI-80 board, it simply flashes the 1-mill and then shows the additional points behind it. So my score is 1,192,700.

Just curious, what happens when you breach 999,999 on the original boards? Does it automatically set back to 0?

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marmar - It looks like that loose wire you have (purple/yellow/white) is different than mine. I have a blue/white wire coming off each lead of the switch for the trap door. But, based on your picture, the one wire goes from the switch to the middle lead of the coil, and that loose wire should get soldered to the right hand side of the coil leads as shown in the pictures soldered together with two other wires essentially making it 3 total on that far right coil lead.

You'll see in my photo below the two blue/white wires, one tying to the middle, and the other joining the two red/yellow/white wires on the right.

And on the picture showing the two blue/white wires soldered to the switch, the lead closest to the camera goes to the middle lead of the coil, and the farthest switch lead goes to the right hand side lead of the coil.

I hope my wording makes sense here and I'm hitting on the exact wires you're looking for...

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This is amazing. My hat is off to you for owning this game from day one. I've always wondered what they went for back when they first were released.

Not to be rude and with all due respect, if you ever feel the urge to sell those PF's, please feel free to reach out to me, no matter how much time has passed. I dream of owning NOS HH PF's whether I eventually install them or not.

My HH, is one that I plucked from the depths of neglect out of a stranger's old dark basement and brought it back to life cleaning it piece by piece. Being that it's my first pin ever, and one that is my childhood favorite title, as of right now I feel that I will never sell my machine. I would rather upgrade it with NOS parts or PF's to keep it looking as good as possible, but keeping the bones of the original game I rescued as much as possible is important to me. My collection will never not have an HH. It's a special game.

Again, fantastic post!

$2400! Wow. I'm shocked that's what new pins were going for in the 80s? I guess that makes sense since new pins these days go for $5k+.

You sir are very lucky. Great story.

I've only seen them on a Black Hole and it looked awesome. I think the same would be said if they were on an HH. One part of the BH setup I liked was that the new crisp lined numbers really fit the space theme, reminding me of what you would see on spacecraft control panels. Unless someone was specifically going for the original/retro look, I think in the end it would only be a positive upgrade for HH as well.

BEAUTIFUL game jmountjoy111! One day I will give my HH the royal treatment of a full teardown overhaul restoration.

I just got my HH a companion that matches the theme way better than Black Hole. Don't get me wrong, I loved the BH/HH combo, but there's nothing like having this theme stronger than ever with these two side by side! My Halloween parties are going to be KILLER.

But I will say, despite all the bells and whistles TFTC offers, I still have friends who come over and want to rock nothing but the classic feel and sounds of the HH.

Also, I never thought I'd do this, but I'm experimenting with LEDs now. I went warm retro LED everywhere I could for backbox/main PF GI and inserts to keep the original 80's flair of the game alive, but I went all green LED in the attic with one warm retro LED at the grandfather clock which throws a warm light on the drops and stand targets, and it also creates a shadow when ball is up there which looks cool. I'm flipping between warm retro or green for the Pop bumpers, can't decide yet.

Then, I went all blue LED in the basement which looks AWESOME. The ball down there almost glows and feels like you've entered a spooky subterranean space. Very happy with how that turned out.

I said from the gate with my HH, I'm staying as original as possible with old bulbs and parts to keep it true to '82 yadi-yadi-yada. Now, I've tasted the health benefits of using LED for the machine and all the fun in picking out the color schemes. I may never go back...

Long live the Haunted House!

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Dude, GB next to HH would look awesome as well. That's a new dream pin of mine added to the wish list.

I'm going to experiment with RGB color changers in the 3 pops on top, as well as the two illuminated posts at the top of the main PF to see how that looks. I'm thinking sometime next week I'll be throwing them in.

The blue in the basement looks even better in person and I notice my spiderweb is causing a crazy glare in the pic, and I am very happy with how it turned out. Actually, I still have the original 28v 313 bulbs with green condom rubbers on them that shine down on the basement PF. Everything else in the basement is a blue tower or dome LED. The green glow from those give a little contrast to the blue.

My buddy owns an LED company and so I'm just waiting on them to get the 28v LEDs in. I know I can grab them elsewhere, but I want to support his company and just going to wait. I'm not too concerned though. Those 28v bulbs don't really stay on long, nor do they flash during attract mode or touch any plastics to get too hot.

I forgot to respond to this sooner... I would hit up Gatecrasher here on Pinside. He fabricates backglass lift channels and the trim to go on all sides of the backglass.

Here's a little tip that may spare some headaches for any new HH owners or someone who is replacing parts on their game for the first time. Where you see that bubble wrap sticking out is what I call "the hole."

When I was refurbishing my HH, I can't tell you how many screws, washers, bulbs, etc. I had slip out of my hands and roll down under the wooden plank you see there. Such a pain to get them out since you can't shine a light down there and can't reach a human hand back there to retrieve it. I had to concoct some sort of adhesive at the end of a stick and try to grab whatever rolled back there by feeling it out and luck.

One day I had enough and stuck bubble wrap in there so now everything is blocked at the entrance.

You'll thank me later.

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I'm testing camera angles with my iPhone attached to a camera tripod to film some pinball action for fun. Racked up this 1 million point game on the first take and thought I'd share with the club. Managed to get the #1-5, and wanted to do it on one extra ball. Damn specials weren't wanting to drop and I started to aimlessly twiddle around the main PF a little too much in the end before dying. This game is a lot of fun.

Pictured below, I pretty much finalized my LED lighting package for the HH. Warm White LEDs throughout the backglass, main PF GI and inserts. The attic has a mix of warm white and green SMD for accent, and using blue 5SMD towers and 2SMD blue LEDs in the basement, along with green 28 volt LEDs from Cointaker to shine down on the basement and that looks great.

The only thing I'm still not 100% sold on is using 4SMD green LED for the pops. There's something about the original-like glow of using warm white in the pops that I miss and make the game feel right. I'll let the green pop experiment continue for a little longer.

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Hey guys, I have a question... When legitimately going for the public high score on a game like HH, what is the proper etiquette regarding extra balls?

Should you avoid getting more than one to have more legitimacy in the feat or if the game's rules gives chances for more than one extra ball throughout the entirety of the game, you take what you can get and its fair game to do the high in however many balls you can accomplish to secure. Thoughts?

I have a Pascal board all in one, and so I can alter the settings, but currently I have it set to you can win no more than one extra ball per ball, but you can light up the hole and shoot for another extra the very next ball. I believe that's the standard setting, right?

The HH project I rescued had the same issue, broken secret passage and a little battery leakage. They're difficult to find, but I ended up spotting one on eBay months later. I do plan on refreshing all of my plastics with a new set sometime soon, and if I do, I'll give you a heads up first. If money isn't an issue, and HH is a keeper, I would suggest grabbing a fresh set from PBR. New plastics can really set the game off.

I went with the Pascal (flipp) PI-80 all in one board and I absolutely LOVE IT. The game is now rock solid reliable, never had a single issue starting up or playing and the extra menu options and settings are awesome. It was the best decision to make in my opinion.

The advantage with the PI-80 is that you can guarantee all the boards used to run the game are now updated in one shot, and you clear up any of the grounding issues the game originally had. The NI-Wumpf will still need to have those addressed if I'm not mistaken, and the components on the PI-80 are all socketed for easy exchange should you ever need to. Which I doubt you will. Pascal is reachable for help via email if something's not right and it's overall the best quality.

I recently bought a lower PF from a fellow pinsider and it just arrived. It's in good condition overall, despite a few dimples from the ball drops and a very minor amount of wear.

Luckily, this was Mylar'd a long time ago just after the wear was starting to show, and preserved everything for the most part. I'll eventually get to swapping it out for mine, which has the actual circular wear to the wood marks.

I'm just not sure how I want to go about it. Should I personally peel the Mylar, touch up the paint and then clear coat? Should I send it off to an expert?

If it was main PF, I wouldn't mind spending extra and having some top notch guy like Kruzman work his magic, but it's such a hidden part of the game and a majority of it can't be seen.

I'm torn on what to do...

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Welcome Colson! That's a nice looking HH you have there. I can't wait to beat up on it and put something unreachable in the score displays...

I'm a 3-ball assassin thank you. See you soon. Glad to finally have you join the club!

Hey Chitown,

I can definitely open mine up later today and take some shots for you. I think if you use the open no-dome SMD's, you should avoid the hot spots.

I'll also nudge ColsonD, who is now an HH owner, an LED fanatic and partner in Lights Out Pinball. He might have some good insight looking at his machine and seeing what would work best.

Stand by.

I've always wanted to grab one of these and finally found one on eBay for a fair(ish) price. Definitely cooler than your average pin flyer!

Most are two flat pages, front and back. So of course Haunted House has a flyer as big as this back in the day.

Any pin loaded with 3 PF levels, 8 flippers, 2 VUK'S, 2 transport tubes and 2 hidden trap doors trying to stretch the operational limits of the early 80's, should be featured in a 4 page flyer with a 3D front page cutout.

Like the game itself, this one's a keeper.

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I hate it when all goes well most of the time, but when it's lights camera action and you have a party, things start acting up.

The first thing I would look at is the tube alignment and make sure the ball is not hitting the sides of the tube on its way up. Also look at the lower PF alignment and make sure it's sitting correctly. This could be adjusted one day, and then out of nowhere get un-aligned by people nudging the game or when you may have moved the bottom PF at some point.

A lot of people do the VUK mod to have it be fired by a pop bumper driver board. Here's a good post describing it.
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?p=1821809

I haven't done the mod yet to mine, one day I will for better reliability and it's easier on the machine to fire it that way. Mine works most of the time and well, but I do have the occasional snag when the tube gets out of alignment.

Hey Jeff, sorry to say I don't have my upper PF off at this moment, but let's hope someone on here does soon and you can get this solved. If no one comes through in some time, I'll make it a point one night to yank mine off and take some shots.

In the meantime, I do happen to have some pics of when I had the upper off to replace my bank of drop targets. Whenever I do something big to the game, I take pics and document it in this thread (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bringing-a-haunted-house-back-to-life) and figured it be worth a shot to send these your way.

Perhaps you can zoom in and see what you need to in one of these photos.

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Did you try Steve young at PBR yet for this? Perhaps he knows off the top of his head.

If not, I can see if my actual lock device has any numbers on it.

Agreed 10000% about the robotic voice not meshing here. Although I do applaud and appreciate anyone who puts time and energy into advancing this game for others. Just not my thing.

I have the PI-80 running in my HH, as well as (4) Pascal pop bumper boards and I have to say it was a great investment. My game has never missed a beat and fires up with a quickness, and I'm confident it will for a very long time. His products are top notch.

With that said, around the time I purchased my boards, I do remember him telling me via email I needed to pick a version (single or multi) and that a multiball capable board will not work on a stock HH. If I wanted to upgrade later, I would just send my daughterboard in for a free update. He did say a newer version of the PI-80 was being released later that year (2015) and both will be available at the same time with no need to get an update.

For me, I just don't want to hack up my game to accomplish it. I wish there was a different way, and it would've been awesome if Gottlieb integrated this from the start, but I sort of like the lonely soul of a ball roaming the old Haunted House.

I also wish they incorporated a metal tube to lower the ball into the lower PF like they did on Black Hole. That would have saved so many PF's... But that's a conversation for another day.

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Here are some videos showing examples of both the speech and multiball for those who never seen them.

SPEECH:

Multiball: although it's on a Haunted Hotel which has absolutely horrendous sounds, this gives you an idea what it would play like.

(skip to 1:10 for the start of MB)

I'll try to get a good pic of mine sometime this evening and post it here.

Thanks for grabbing this. I fell behind on it this weekend and was just about to pop the hood to take the shots.

And thanks again for all of your help and advice back when I was ressurecting my HH from the dead. The thing has always played great and it's gotten a lot of use.

Congratulations and welcome to the club! That's a nice looking HH you have there. Your PF's look to be in amazing shape.

I just wanted to say welcome and I'll let someone else chime in on connecting the ground mod to your rottendog MPU, as I'm not familiar with that board myself and where to connect the ground.

Nice man! I love to hear these words in the same sentence - Haunted. House. Restored.

I love mine, but one day I want to upgrade to a restored version or give mine the royal treatment and have it professionally done. It's a keeper title for me.

Congrats and enjoy it!

Now this paints the picture as Yonizzell said as well. I've had the same issue and simply had to switch to a different LED type or different manufacturer to find ones that fit. If the base of the bulb is too fat to fit in the hole, there's nothing you'll be able to do to make it go down far enough to grab. But if it's due to the plastic dome on top of the LED, I would opt for a no-dome type of LED if you could.

When we hang sometime I'll bring my little box of LEDs and try different types out for you. But you may have this problem solved by that time, but either way I'm happy to help.

I'm all for incandescent because I love the original warm glow, but I "saw the light" eventually and switched to all LED. It really is so much better and you can trust it's healthier for the game and you wont have to worry about dying bulbs. Unless you want those incandescents in, trial and error until you find the right LEDs to fit will be your best bet. No sense settling for the old bulbs if you really don't want them in.

Oh and Pennsylvania, represent! We've got a few of us on here.

Yup, exactly what I did. Found retro looking warm white LED's and their perfect. The way I approach a game is this... cool vs warm. What is my base color? Cool or warm? I don't like mixing the two.

My HH, because of the nostalgia I have with it and the opportunity to keep it as original as possible parts wise, I opted for that game to have a warm LED base and then I sprinkled in areas of color LED's to accent certain features (attic, basement), but all other main PF GI and inserts are all warm using the same company and style for cohesiveness. I also think the warm tone matches candle light you'd expect to use or see in an old rickety haunted house too.

My TFTC, I went with a cool base for that and again sprinkled in color in key places for accent. I may switch that back to warm since that's my favorite color scheme for pins, due to that's how they were off the factory line, but for right now it's working well and the cool fits the eerie spooky vibe of the game.

Here's a pic I have of that area from when I was first pulling parts off to shop mine out.

Let me know if you want me to go pull my plastic off for a new shot from a different angle.

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Very nice! The game looks phenomenal and every inch of it is nice and shiny. Your main PF looks flawless.

It's ready for marathon gaming sessions now. Great work man.