Hell House

Many Americans celebrate Halloween by visiting haunted houses, and Houston resident Linda Ybarra is no different. She purchased tickets for herself and her fourteen year-old son to attend a haunted house in Pasadena, Texas called “Hell House.” It was located in a strip mall, and like most haunted houses, the flyer warns patrons that it may be too frightening for children and that no one under the age of thirteen is permitted without an adult.

Linda and her son entered expecting the usual fare of chainsaw wielding mental patients, growling zombies, and lurking vampires, but they were confronted by something totally unexpected. They witnessed a graphic re-enactment of an abortion. Nurses and doctors stood around a pregnant young “patient” removing blood and fetal tissue from her stomach before tossing it on the floor. Another station depicts a rebellious teenage son, who commits suicide.

Linda quickly realized that abortions and teenage suicide was not the kind of “fright” she or her son needed, so she asked to leave without completing the rest of the haunted house. Employees, citing safety concerns, told her that no one was allowed to leave in the middle of the tour. After a few more scenes of domestic abuse and general human misery, the pair was led into a room where they were encouraged so save their souls by accepting Jesus. After leaving, Linda was angry enough to take her complaint public, accusing the “haunted house” of misrepresenting itself.

It turns out that the haunted house was operated by Potters House Christian Fellowship Church and, according to Pastor Lamont Melrose, the production saves dozens of young souls each night. He acknowledges that many people enter the haunted house expecting to be confronted by ghouls and ghosts, but insists that nothing is more frightening than real life situations. He also reminds critics that the sign has a disclaimer so he does not feel that Linda made her decision uninformed.

This is an interesting situation. I can certainly understand the mother’s consternation because most people do not buy tickets to haunted houses so that they can have unexpected conversations with their impressionable children about hot-button political issues. I would rather tackle “Will you protect me from the scary ghosts?” from my twelve year-old daughter than “What are the moral and spiritual implications of legalizing late-term abortions in our country?” Also, the sign could have been slightly more informative than “intense” and “frightening.” Adjectives like that could be applied to everything from a colonoscopy to cooking third shift at a Waffle House in Alabama. Maybe something like, “If you are not mentally, emotionally, or spiritually prepared to discuss highly divisive moral/political issues with your offspring, you might want to consider a Michael Bay film instead.”    

To be fair though, the pastor has a point as well. If people simply want to be frightened, there is nothing scarier than real life. Personally, I do not think he took it far enough. Where was the ethnic cleansing booth? The prison rape exhibit? The Jonas Brothers movie? If someone wanted to present me with a frightening real-life scenario they could just say, “out-of-network hospital charges.” I cannot wait for next year’s stem-cell passion play. Maybe there will even be a euthanasia audience participation segment where the kids get to unplug grandpa’s respirator when he’s just too tired to keep fighting.     

The congregation did go to great lengths to hide the religious angle of the project by not having it at a church or having their name associated with it. I am sure this was to lure in outsiders who would not normally have agreed to submit themselves to (or bought tickets for) an alter call. I assume this deception was internally justified by the end result of bringing souls to Christ, but I wonder how deep conversions based on this technique really go. It is difficult for me to envision a believer beginning their testimony with the words, “And I knew Jesus loved me the moment someone tossed a plastic fetus at me in that strip mall in Texas.”