Go to (virtual) Hell!
• Christian Fundamentalism
Not everyone loves Halloween. Some Christian evangelicals disapprove of the pagan and occult aspects and organize their own haunted houses. They call them "hell houses" or "judgment houses" and are aimed at scaring young people away from, say, abortion or promiscuity.
"We want to take back Halloween from the wrong side of the supernatural and present the Christian side," says Steve Vandegriff, director of Scaremare, the student-run haunted house at evangelical Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
Local Halloween plans and trick-or-treat times
Poe's "thing" is PromiseLand's Virtual Hell, an elaborate spook house where visitors are led through a maze of scripted scenes that depict the consequences of "poor choices." Poe, the 38-year-old leader of the church's 300-member youth ministry, is the mastermind behind the annual event, now in its third year. "These incidents are getting more tragic in the lives of teens. We have documented cases of kids coming here and saying, 'I want to keep my baby,'" after seeing Virtual Hell's abortion scene, Poe says. "We know this is dramatic, but there are positive outcomes." ...
PromiseLand's version of the alt-Halloween event is not the only one of its kind in Texas. The "Hell House" of Trinity Assembly of God Church in Cedar Hill (just outside Dallas) attracts more than 10,000 visitors each year, and was the subject of a documentary film of the same name, by former Austinite George Ratliff (see "Better Git Hit in Your Soul," by Anne Lewis, May 3, 2002). The Abundant Life Christian Center in Arvada, Colo., even offers a Hell House franchise kit -- complete with plans for creating your own hellish reality. Since 1995 the center has sold more than 500 kits, at $200 each, to people in 46 states. ...
Looming over each visitor, Satan whispers hateful things in their ears. "You are disgusting," he says, looking down his long nose. "I will take you for eternity to the pit of hell."
Jordan Smith, The Austin Chronicle: PromiseLand's Virtual Hell leads from abomination to salvation, in living color
Comments
Posted by: Cindy | October 11, 2004 2:26 PM