Wylie Theater Gets SPOOKY

This October 31 and November 1, the Wylie Theater Department hosted its first ever haunted house at the PAC. The event was open from 7 to 11pm each day with earlier times being more family friendly and the later ones having more blood and jump scares. The event was set up over the course of two days and involved theater students as well as tech theater students. Fog machines, strobe lights, fake spider webs, a mysterious moving wall, as well as eerie music and videos all contributed to the creepy feeling. This was an event to remember and was fun for both those who worked it and visited. Everyone interviewed really enjoyed participating and said they would happily work the event again if it is offered. 

The haunted house was created and presented by students who had a great time scaring their guests. Josh Hervey worked as a ticket booth worker and a zombie, Case Kirby an “infected zombie”, and Logan Jones manned the moving wall in the “spin room”.  The spin room appeared to be shrinking and created a skewed perspective for guests, as a result of moving walls.

Guests started out in the auditorium which was full of zombies; then they made their way through a hallway littered with bloody, plastic body parts. Next, they traveled through spooky trees and spider webs. Then guests had their senses confused in the shrinking room filled with fog.  Josh described how guests then entered the black box and found themselves in a room based on the movie, The Ring. Guests were then chased outside and into the back entrance of the 200 hall, where they encountered nurses and doctors in a “insane asylum”. Then they were chased out the exit of the haunted house.

When asked about his favorite part of the experience, Case said it had to be “the reactions of all the parents who were so busy making sure THEIR kids didn’t get scared, that they ended up getting scared themselves”. 

Logan’s favorite part was setting up and operating the haunted house and getting to work with friends. He said “a lot of funny things happened while we worked”.

Case reiterated some of Logan’s thoughts; he explained that he would certainly work the haunted house again next year. He had an incredible experience, working with his best friends in theater and also getting to scare his friends who came through as guests.

Thank you to Josh Hervey, Case Kirby, and Logan Jones for allowing me to interview them, as well as Anna Claire Boone for sharing her pictures from the event.