Third Annual Haunted House Returns for New Frights
©The Talon News | GiGi Robertson
Berret Buvinghausen acting as an insane asylum patient in the third annual Chester’s House of Horrors (GiGi Robertson/The Talon News)
November 2, 2016
It’s October, and changes are taking place among Argyle High School’s theater wing. Where the hallways once bustled with chattering students; goblins and ghouls now roam. But for this time of year, this isn’t anything out of the ordinary. The theater department has returned with even more thrills for its third annual haunted house fundraiser.
While the program takes place at the high school, Chester’s House of Horrors has its roots in the middle school art program.
“I knew that Mrs. Hederich, the art teacher at the middle school, had done [a haunted house] before, and she still had her stock,” high school theater teacher Melissa Toomer said. “We went through and decided, you know what, let’s tag team this together.”
With the combined forces of the two programs and some creative assistance from a middle school science teacher, Chester’s House of Horrors was born.
Avery Winter acting as an possessed child in the third annual Chester’s House of Horrors (GiGi Robertson/The Talon News)
While the theme of the haunted house changes slightly every year, the overall story remains the same. The theater arts wing is said to be built over an asylum run by Dr. Chester, a crazed doctor who performs ghastly experiments on his patients.
“When people buy their tickets and are about to go in, I tell them the story of Dr. Chester and his asylum,” senior Reign Bach said. “It’s really fun to tell people this story because you can see them shaking.”
While acting plays a major role in the making of the haunted house, tech and setup play an instrumental role, as well.
“Tech is the backbone of theater,” junior Nicholas Hoit said. “Without a technical entity in shows and performances, [the show] couldn’t really happen because we wouldn’t have people providing lights, sound, anything that a good show needs.”
According to legend, every theater has a ghost, and the members of the theater department believe Argyle to be no different.
“The garage door in the scene shop has sometimes gone up and down by itself with no one in the room,” Toomer said. “Things disappear and are gone for weeks, and then they randomly appear in a place you’ve already checked eight times.”
