When we were driving home from the halloween party, Karl saw a sign that said Scare House. Figuring it could be fun, we decided to go with the boys. So, we drove down the road and followed the signs. It was a nice neighborhood with nice houses. We got there and stood in line. We were going to go with the next group. We anxiously waited and talked about how cool it will probably be. The people putting on the show were dressed up in scary costumes for the occasion and we were getting more and more excited as we waited. Finally, it was our turn. We went inside and the first thing was a dark hallway where a scary monster jumped out at us. After this, we were all led into the garage. It was all set up with black walls and black lights and several rows of folding chairs facing a big projector screen. We all sat down and there was a warning that some of the material may not be suitable for small children. My youngest is six and I decided to wait and see how it was. I mean, how scary could it be?
What came next instantly shocked me. First there were several words that flashed one at a time on the screen. They were words such as LUST, GREED, PERVERSION, etc. Next, the lights came on and a couple of teenagers came in doing a skit about a drug deal and one trying to push drugs on the other. In his hand was a bag of white powder (I am assuming this was flour???). While this was going on, I was becoming very uncomfortable and eyeballing the exit ready to grab the kids and walk out. Those teenagers left and in came a grown man and woman doing a skit about domestic violence and the husband and wife screaming at eachother in an extremely mean way. This was when I grabbed my children and walked out. Karl arrived outside a short time later and told me that after I walked out, the son of the two fighting came in and shot the dad and then shot himself. Of course, this was all just an act or a play, but the message was not what we would expect to see at a haunted house during Halloween. We had to explain to the children that this, although the stuff they were showing was pretty scary stuff, this was not what a real haunted house was like.
Now, I am guessing that these people are trying to spread their preaching word onto us and using halloween and a bit of deception to lead people into their game. I am outraged about this. I think it is completely wrong. It is one thing to invite people, of their own free will, to come hear a preaching message, but it is another thing to deceive people. They did not offer us any warning while we were standing in line. In fact one of the women putting on the show came up and made spooky sounds around us and seemed to like our costumes and saw my two young children standing there and did not say a single thing about what we were about to walk into.
This happened in Mesa off of Guadalupe and Dobson. If you see signs for a Scare House, beware…it is probably not what you are expecting at all.