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Summary:
While
this appeared to be a regular haunted house from the outside and
throughout all of their advertising, it actually turned out to
be a Christian outreach program, cleverly disguised as a regular
haunted house. This event was put together by the
Rockford Masters Commission, the same group that hosted
"Fear Fest", in Belvidere, in 2002.
Most of
the scenes showed you, through a dramatic theatrical-style presentation,
real-life "horrors", such as a drunk driving accident,
domestic violence, drug overdose, teen suicide, etc. Their
goal was to establish a cause and effect relationship between
certain behaviors (committing 'sins') and unthinkable
consequences, to make you think twice about how you lead your
own life. Toward the end of the house, there was a
representation of what they thought Hell was like. In the
final four scenes, your tour guide gave you a lecture about Jesus. Afterward, they encouraged you to join them
in their coffee house (where they served coffee for free) to
discuss religion further and gave you the opportunity to join
their church.
I have
no problem with the content of their show in and of itself;
however, I don't feel it is right for the Rockford Masters
Commission to misrepresent the content of their attraction and
exploit Halloween, to pursue their own hidden agenda. Their heart is
in the right place (helping others), but their advertising is misleading.
The House of Horrors website never mentioned anything about Christian themes, nor did
the appearance of the attraction give you any idea what you
were in for. At the entrance of the attraction, they did have a
couple of small 8.5x11" signs posted, stating that the event is not a
traditional haunted house and that is contains real-life
"horrors"; however, there was no mention of
"Christian Themes" on the sign. The point I am
trying to make is that any number of potential customers could make a long drive, then wait hours in line before
they even
found out this wasn't a regular haunted house.
Was it preachy?....
Yes, a little. Graphic and disturbing?... Yes. Thought
provoking?... Definitely! Is it a good show? It all
depends on your own personal beliefs. Just be aware that
there is a prominent religious theme throughout the
entire attraction. If you are sensitive about religious
issues or graphic images of real-life tragedies, this may not be the right attraction for you.
Click
here to find out more about this event. |
