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Professional haunted houses and amateur Halloween displays draw big crowds every October. People love a good scare. But in recent years another kind of fright-house has aimed to terrify visitors on a deeper level. Each autumn, in churches across America, Christian hell houses capitalize on the Halloween frenzy by creating theatrical nightmares to illustrate the temptations and effects of sin -- in vivid, gory detail. Demons guide visitors through a series of rooms depicting graphic scenes of acts that the host church considers sinful, such as domestic abuse, drunk driving, homosexuality, or abortion. Scenes end with the violent death or certain damnation of a character, and the tour moves on. Eventually the demon leads the group to Hell, where the onlookers can revisit the characters from earlier scenes, now suffering eternal torment, and meet the devil himself. Though the tour ends with a glimpse of Heaven and the opportunity to pray with local church leaders, the horrific scenes of blood-soaked violence and judgment linger. Hell houses claim a high rate of conversion and reconfirmation. But their critics warn that visitors are manipulated and exploited, and describe hell house tactics as hateful and intolerant. No matter what type of house you visit, there's plenty to fear this Halloween.
Suggested Sites...
- Hell House Outreach Kit - Pastor Keenan Roberts' Hell House kits include the official script, plus guides to set and costume design, promotion, and media relations.
- Judgement House - "tour your final destination" at a franchise church.
- Scaremare - Liberty University's Christian fright-fest has been scaring Lynchburg, VA, for 34 years.
- Hell House - this 2001 documentary follows a hell house production in Cedar Hill, Texas.
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Directory categories:
Hell Houses, Haunted Houses, History of Halloween, Christianity, Sins |
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Archived under: Decorating, Devil, Halloween, Holidays, Religion |
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Comments
I feel that the hypocrites, who claim
to be trying to save our souls, are actually getting off on making people live in fear.It seems to be a venue to go all out in portraying disgusting scenes.Instilling fear in anyone to control their behavior is just another form of terrorism.
from Granny J.
Posted by: donnamjones@sbcglobal.net at October 24, 2006 7:19 AM
I think more people should go to the Christian Heck Houses. All it show is the truth if you choose not to follow God and do your own thing. And it should scare the heck out of you seriously does anyone really want to spend enternity in Hell burning. And the scene are actually real live things that happen today. If you don't think so just turn on the news. And it also shows what will happen if you decide to follow God.
Posted by lisaalexrich@yahoo.com on October 24,2006 at 10:41am
Posted by: lisaalexrich at October 24, 2006 7:41 AM
jesus preached a messege of tolerance, i'm absolutly sure that our lord would be seriously displeased with scaring the living daylights out of people as a way to gain them twards christianity. there is no way i would be apart of a church that condoned such a violent and horrific event as a part of thier doctrine...i think i'll stick with my baha'i faith thank you very much.
luv to all!
Posted by: italianwithapiscestwist at October 24, 2006 9:01 AM
just tiypical lord loving antics...geeeez
Posted by: dewbeez at October 25, 2006 2:35 PM
Oh my gosh! It's true, the church is trying to manipulate visitors by giving an over-the-top depiction of poor choices... I mean, really! According to the original post, those darn Christians think tht something like domestic abuse, driving drunk and endangering people, etc., might be a sin! Come on!! On the other hand, they might be more effective if they used some widely used secular methods to make their arguments. Take the LittleWhiteLie kind of advertisements that can be shown at any time on public airways. These are a kinder, gentler form of trying to manipulate people to their way of thinking. They have the right idea. They show people pretending to be dead on sidewalks, dead babydolls, the crimes of big business depicted in ways that define death but they don't do it inside a building and invite you to come and see their dramatic presentation. They do this on the public streets and then film it so everyone can see it whether they want to or not. Yeah, those Christians... they are SUCH manipulators.... The truth is, if the Christian churches did a gentler presentation to try and make their point, you'd hate that too. No, the real truth is that it is quit okay to have contempt for Christians and tolerance for any other kind of religion. Talk about hypocrisy.
Posted by: csbrandt1 at October 28, 2006 6:56 AM
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