Philip Anselmo has offered a look inside his annual Halloween tradition, as the Housecore Records YouTube channel has uploaded the official video for the 2025 “Housecore Home Haunt.”
The new video, which was shot and edited by Metal Dave Media, features members of the Housecore family, including artists from Nest, Scour, and Spirit In The Room, as they “bravely venture” through the attraction.
According to Housecore Records, the 2025 haunt was a smaller-scale event. This was reportedly due to Anselmo‘s extensive touring schedule and, significantly, because the team is “breaking ground of what will become the official Housecore Home Haunt.” This marks the fifth year the Pantera frontman has created a haunted house for his friends and family, a tradition born from his lifelong, well-documented obsession with the horror genre.
Anselmo, who co-founded the Housecore Horror Film & Music Festival in 2013, has spoken at length in the past about the early influences that shaped his passion. He once traced it back to his childhood in a 2010 interview with ARTISTdirect.com.
“[When I was growing up] we had a black and white TV, and there was the ‘Saturday Matinee‘, which was a horror fest,” Anselmo said. “Honestly, the most impactful one was the ‘Sunday Morning Movie‘ — films like ‘Fiend Without A Face‘ and ‘How Awful About Allan‘. Believe it or not, those were on TV! S**t like that flipped me out. I would sneak up and beg my mother every night, ‘Can I stay up and watch ‘Night Gallery‘?’ [Laughs] I was sneaking out of bed, too, though.”
In a 2014 interview, he pinpointed the exact films that terrified him as a youth, citing “How Awful About Allan” starring Anthony Perkins. He also acknowledged the classics that defined the genre for him.
“And of course, there’s no denying the power of ‘The Exorcist‘,” Anselmo stated. “In grade school I saw ‘Don’t Go In The House‘ at the theater. I saw ‘The Changeling‘ at the theater — which scared the living, flying [crap] out of me!”
He explained that as he entered his “gore phase,” a different film took the top spot for terror: “The Evil Dead.”
“Man, I will just say it was a long walk home on these empty, desolate streets,” Anselmo recalled of seeing the movie. “Oh my God, I was pretty much awake all night. It outdid ‘The Exorcist‘, because at that age you go through this gore phase where the gorier the better. That one hit a nerve, man.”
His passion spans the entire genre, from Italian masters like Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci to ’90s necromantic films. When asked by Full Metal Jackie in 2013 to name his favorite, Anselmo admitted it was an impossible task.
“Oh my God. Now you’re really opening up this vast box…” he said. “…my favorite horror films of all time that’s like asking me what my favorite cigarette I smoke is — there’s so many of ’em. [Laughs]”
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