# Stern's 'Elvira House of Horrors' Playfield Discussion

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-09-15  
**Duration:** 11m 34s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAYAyJw-cao

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy analyzes a top-down playfield image of Stern's unreleased Elvira House of Horrors pinball machine, speculating on layout features including a 180-degree ramp, trunk opening mechanism, basement ball lock, and potential cross-playfield ball feed via a subway system. Hardy notes the playfield initially appears barren despite numerous shots, expresses uncertainty about pop bumper placement, and theorizes about an 'atomic ray gun' feature that might launch balls across the playfield into the trunk.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The 180-degree ramp is a plastic ramp, not a wire form — _Hardy examining playfield image: 'this is not a wire form though this is a plastic ramp which is a little disappointing'_
- [MEDIUM] Pop bumpers are likely located behind the family crypt area, possibly as two or three units — _Hardy states: 'The only place i could think they would be at is back here behind the family crypt... The traditional three could be two.'_
- [MEDIUM] A trunk mechanism opens via target hits and functions as a ball lock — _Hardy reads: 'targets open trunk' and theorizes: 'this trunk can be opened by hitting these targets, and that trunk will open, and the ball will roll down and basically be a ball lock mechanism'_
- [LOW] A basement area contains a subway feed system that can launch balls to a buck/vuck across the playfield — _Hardy speculation: 'I bet we have a subway here. You finally knock down that target, and then you're able to lock... it may launch it into the trunk.'_
- [HIGH] The playfield initially appears 'barren' despite having numerous shots available — _Hardy's first impression: 'at first glance honestly at first glance i thought that this looked kind of uh barren i got a little disappointed'_

### Notable Quotes

> "this is not a wire form though this is a plastic ramp which is a little disappointing"
> — **Cary Hardy**, early analysis
> _Hardy expresses disappointment in design choice—plastic vs wire ramps affect shot quality and feel_

> "at first glance honestly at first glance i thought that this looked kind of uh barren i got a little disappointed actually"
> — **Cary Hardy**, playfield assessment
> _Hardy's initial reaction to layout—concern about visual emptiness despite shot count_

> "how cool would that be if you watch a ball launch completely across from left to right or right to left, rather, into a trunk? I think that would be a pretty cool sight to see"
> — **Cary Hardy**, speculation section
> _Hardy theorizing about a potentially innovative cross-playfield shot mechanic_

> "I got a feeling that this game is probably going to get a lot of hate, and people are probably going to bash it, saying, oh, typical layout, whatever, basic shots or whatever, looks pretty boring."
> — **Cary Hardy**, conclusion
> _Hardy predicting community pushback on perceived basic layout before deeper mechanics understood_

> "I think there should be spent on every orbit in any game if it's an orbit needs to have a spinner"
> — **Cary Hardy**, spinner assessment
> _Hardy expressing design philosophy opinion about spinner placement on orbital ramps_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Pinball content creator analyzing unreleased Stern game via leaked/shared playfield images |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Elvira House of Horrors |
| Elvira House of Horrors | game | Unreleased Stern pinball game; playfield image being analyzed |
| Cassandra Peterson | person | Implied as Elvira character on whom game is themed |
| Munsters | game | Referenced as comparable game with magnet ball mechanics |
| Aerosmith | game | Referenced as comparable game with trunk opening mechanism and upper playfield shots |
| Houdini | game | Referenced as comparable game with ball launch to upper playfield area |

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Hardy anticipates negative community reaction to perceived 'basic' layout before deeper mechanical understanding (confidence: medium) — Hardy: 'I got a feeling that this game is probably going to get a lot of hate, and people are probably going to bash it'
- **[design_philosophy]** Playfield layout criticized as appearing 'barren' and overly simple despite multiple shots, raising concerns about visual appeal (confidence: medium) — Hardy: 'it just seems barren, even though you have a good amount of shots' and predicts 'this game is probably going to get a lot of hate'
- **[design_philosophy]** Hardy theorizing about innovative mechanical interactions (cross-playfield ball launch via subway to trunk) suggesting Stern pursuing novel shot sequences (confidence: low) — Hardy speculation: 'it may launch it into the trunk' and 'how cool would that be if you watch a ball launch completely across'
- **[leak_detection]** Top-down playfield image of unreleased Elvira House of Horrors circulating before official announcement, analyzed by Hardy within minutes of receiving it (confidence: high) — Hardy states: 'mere minutes after my first Elvira video goes up, I get a new image' and discusses receiving images incrementally
- **[product_strategy]** Limited Edition version visible in image with specific label details ('Press the start button to launch the ball, First crypt kicker, fire atomic ray gun, stop hand of fate wheel') (confidence: medium) — Hardy notes: 'let's see press the start button to launch the ball first crypt kicker fire atomic ray gun' suggesting LE has distinct cosmetic/label elements

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## Transcript

You know, I thought that I was done for a little while, but go figure that mere minutes after my first Elvira video goes up, I get a new image, and that is of the playfield from top down. Player viewpoint of this game, House of Horrors, and I've got mixed feelings on it. Let's try dissecting this game and what we believe it may have in store for us, shall we? Let's start from the top down. So, in my previous video, I made a lot of assumptions and kind of thoughts about what I thought the playfield did, and some of those were correct. and one of the things that I was correct about was the fact that this ramp did a 180 and this is not a wire form though this is a plastic ramp which is a little disappointing on that so then I thought that this area right here went down to the basement it looks like it does and then we're going to go into a little more detail about that yes we do have a ramp that feeds into the house and we a matter of fact do have a ramp on the right side of the playfield so i didn't think there was one there is one something i need to note by looking at this is that at least from this viewpoint there is no obvious set of pop bumpers which is a little strange the only place i could think they would be at is back here behind the family crypt Now, how many there are, I don't know. The traditional three could be two. I don't know. But I'm thinking that's where they are. But as of right now, this is all I've got to go on. But more than likely, after I post this, guess what? Another image might pop up. So we're going by how I get it, guys. Because I have a few thoughts of what I think this game has in store for us that I'm not sure some people have caught yet. and one of those is the fact that at first glance honestly at first glance i thought that this looked kind of uh barren i got a little disappointed actually it seems uh i don't know i can really put my finger on it but it just seems barren and it seemed like there was just a bunch of you know one two three four five six seven you got your target right here You got about a good seven I mean it a lot of shots it looks like So it's the thing. I don't know what it is, but it seems barren, even though you have a good amount of shots. But here's something to think about when I started basically dissecting this play field, is that you have this ramp that does a 180 and feeds back to the left flipper. But something to take note of is that, look, it says right here, targets open trunk. So it looks like you either have the option of the ball rolling over the trunk and feeding down to your left in lane, or this trunk can be opened by hitting these targets, and that trunk will open, and the ball will roll down and basically be a ball lock mechanism. now so that's something to think about like okay that's kind of cool something that opens up kind of like a little bit of like an aerosmith-esque point of view to it to where it you know like a trunk opens up and so if you're going by the whole point of view of a trunk opening up now this is going to be a little bit of a i don't how do i say this this is going to be a long shot and i mean that kind of literally too but i don't know how many of you guys have caught the fact that directly across from here looks like a vuck along with it angled and going straight across and i'm wondering if this is going to be able to be the trunk if this can open up and this feeds the trunk from across the playfield. How cool would that be? I think that would be damn sweet. And it's one of the things I started thinking about is how do you feed the buck? And more than likely, it's going to be through the basement. I bet we have a subway here. You finally knock down that target, and then you're able to lock. See, it says locked one and two. So you probably have a two ball locking mechanism inside the basement. And that may be a subway that feeds to this buck and it may launch it into the trunk. Now, whether or not it's immediate when you hit the basement, then it feeds a subway and then launches one and opens the trunk and goes in there. As you can see, the balls will eject out of here. Right here it looks like they will be able to be ejected and shoot across the play field. Trying to see the trajectory. And it looks like if it shoots out, it's probably gonna go right into the pops. From this viewpoint, that's what it looks like is gonna happen. So that something to think about As far as the artwork on the playfield looks good I like it It very Elvira Once again I mentioned that Looks like we got some interesting little modes here not much to say about a lot of that. You got one, two, how many images of Elvira do we have on here? Like one on the play field, one on a plastic, and then essentially one on the top of the house, and then one on the back glass. So, and of course the cabinet. Now, when it comes to the Deadhead family crypt, What do you think about a magnet being in this area? Yes, no, maybe, probably. It seems like that would be some place to basically hold a magnet ball, kind of like you've seen on many other games, whether it be the Munsters. Probably an option right there for that. It looks like your right and left orbits meet in the back, so I don't know. Yeah, chances are your left orbit can either go all the way around and go through your right side, or it can feed the pops that are more than likely back here. Doesn't look like there's anything going on underneath this ramp to feed this way. Then, of course, you've got your targets on all your posts. I like having targets on posts, especially for those of us that hit a lot of posts. Makes it seem like even though we're not hitting any shots, we're still kind of hitting shots. and going over that that's pretty much what my first thoughts are guys is that a part of me oh nice little shot of her right there so this is the limited edition one i just now caught this let's see press the start button to launch the ball first crypt kicker fire atomic ray gun stop hand of fate wheel hmm atomic ray gun i wonder this the these labels on here remind me of what you would see on uh basically like warning labels for like lasers i'm not saying lasers are coming out of here but if this is supposed to be maybe a ray gun and that's just the warning labels for it maybe it fires and goes and launches into the trunk. That's a hell of a shot guys. Now it's, it's one thing to be like, you know, Aerosmith or Houdini, where the ball kind of shoots upwards into the depths of the upper play field area. You've got rooms to make that shot. This and I probably completely wrong on this And if I if I am wrong then okay fair enough But how cool would that be if you watch a ball launch completely across from left to right or right to left, rather, into a trunk? I think that would be a pretty cool sight to see, and that will give the games a lot of props, I think, for a shot like that. A nifty way to launch a ball. yeah i'm trying to see if there's anything else that sticks out to me i'm not seeing much with this house this is obviously a shot to make for jackpot extra ball and a couple little modes but it doesn't look like this is where you lock your balls it looks like you lock your balls in the basement down here and that ramp looks like it feeds the right flipper nothing special there So yeah, I'm not seeing an obvious thing to feed this Vuck, except for the basement. So it's nice to see that there may be a little bit more to this play field than meets the eye when you first look at it, guys. I got a feeling that this game is probably going to get a lot of hate, and people are probably going to bash it, saying, oh, typical layout, whatever, basic shots or whatever, looks pretty boring. But I'm thinking game than meets the eye. So just check out the details. And I know there's probably a lot of details that I'm missing here, but it's definitely going to be an option here for this trunk to open and either the ball be fed in or roll over it and feed to your left flipper. other than that guys you got your spinner here i'm hoping it's an opto spinner so it flies a lot better i don't know if that's a spinner right there from this angle or not it's hard to tell it doesn't look like it's going to be a spinner right there it's a waste if it's not a spinner i think there should be spent on every orbit in any game if it's an orbit needs to have a spinner and yeah i think that's gonna wrap this one up because i may be missing something and if i am guys if there's more details and by all means let me know down in the comments below and if you haven't already do not forget to hit that subscribe button that way you can be notified whenever i upload something for your viewing pleasure until next time guys peace out Outro Music

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-06-06 | Item ID: c670abf0-231f-4aad-98ae-b3dcba56ad1c*