Nothing would be cooler than to find that one machine you remember most as a child. The one game that peaked your interest in pinball back then, and in my case, also re-kindled my obsession of the hobby today. I'm not talking about finding the same title as the nostalgic memory. I'm talking about finding the actual machine you played with as a kid! How cool would it be to personally own the machine that struck that chord...

I KNOW THIS IS A LONG SHOT, but I figured it was worth the 5 minutes it would take me to write up a quick post asking the question, just in case one day some information came along. Weirder, more random things have happened in this world, so why not.

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.

Thats all.

If you've read through my wordy post above and made it to this line, thanks! And, I guess that opens this up for a legitimate question... Do any of you own a machine in this manner? The actual game that was not yours at the point in time in which it deeply resonated with you, but was eventually presented the opportunity to buy it for your home line-up and now that one is really the start of it all?

Of course, it's not crucial, I'm very happy just owning the title in general. But I do know having that back story or lineage of history with that particular machine would be so freakin cool. It would be an epic pinball hunt.

I'm sure there are some people out there whose local pinball arcade that's been operating for many many years closes up and sells off their old line-up, or if my friend's dad still had the game tucked away somewhere in storage, I would have been able to buy it.

Thanks guys. I think some of you are right, a better thread title would be better. At the time, I thought it was a funny play on words, but it doesn't necessarily help my mission. I like the one idea of "Help me find my childhood Haunted House".

I just changed the title to better fit. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks! Just did it. Glad to know that edit option exists.

Hey E.Squirrel - I hope all is well. I'm reaching out to my old friend to see if his dad remembers anything that could visual identify this game.

Thanks!

That's what I'm talking about Tony!!! Very cool.