On Sunday, October 28th, CSArts students were challenged to create four immersive, bone-chilling, cross-conservatory haunted house experiences. Participants were separated into four separate groups and each given one of the Dance Studios to use as their set.
They toiled tirelessly over the course of two days to generate an entire production completely from scratch– writing a script, building a set, designing costumes, and memorizing lines. I had the fortunate opportunity to attend this event, and I’m sure even the staunchest critics can attest: every participants’ efforts paid off in the most spectacularly scary way.
The first room I entered was called “Burning Hour.” The audience arranged similar to a play; only we were all on the stage, rather than watching from the comfort of our seats. A well-dressed man muttering into his pocket watch walked us in, muttering, dragging his feet up the ramp. Inside, the scene began with a panicked warning made by a weeping woman, begging us to leave while we could. Then the scene shifted to pure horror. The Devil appeared standing above the woman’s husband, “tying” him to a clock painted on the floor. The woman pleaded for mercy, but she did it in vain. The Devil killed him and laughed madly! The audience was then ushered out.
I was really impressed with the actors in this room, more than anything. The actors had limited props and time to memorize their roles, yet managed to portray desperation, pain, and anguish in a way that was deeply horrifying and resonated with the audience.
The second room we walked through was titled “Initiation Institution.” A group of white-masked cultists were searching for a new member amongst the audience. We were guided inside by a partially masked cultist and introduced to a room filled with white cloth-clad tables and chairs. They chose members in the audience to “compete,” in the ritual, a game of (rather aggressive) musical chairs. Then, the winner was given a mask. At the end of the ritual, the audience member replaced the tour guide’s seat.
I was really amused by the way in which the cultists included the audience in this room, and the light touches of humor in the story. However, my favorite part of this room wasn’t the participation, it was the piano. Throughout the narrative, one of the cultists played a huge grand piano, and I just found that fact so charming. It was really the coolest detail, one that really added another dimension of horror to the already creepy plot.
The third room was called “Home Is Where the Heart Is.” We were welcomed into a large dining room by a loving family who was serving “something special” for dinner. Throughout the meal, it became more and more apparent to the audience that they were eating a human heart.
Admittedly, this room was my favorite. This room weaponized music and sound in a deeply unsettling way. They would play this laugh track every time a character made a joke, which sort of added to the horror of it all. At the end, they played “We’ll Meet Again,” which left the audience morbidly fascinated. It was truly a spectacular performance.
The fourth room, “Out of Tune,” was another story that used music to frighten. The plot centered around a classroom filled with badly behaved students and their strict new teacher with an unrealistic set of rules. As the plot progresses the teacher revealed himself to be obsessed with uniformity, even demanding students to wear the same hair style at one point. However, as the students began to rebel, the teacher possessed them and forced them to dance, like puppets to a puppet master.
I really loved the addition of dancing in this story. It added an entirely new dimension to the narrative and really completed it. I loved the look of it as well, this room had the most concrete set design, with a real whiteboard, desks, and even books all over the walls. I thought this was a nice touch.
Overall, I thought that this year’s eerie take on the haunted house was well worth the praise. I’m anxious to see what terrifying torments our school has in store next year.
Senior-Itis