Spring Break
Are haunted houses worth it?
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Opinion
Point
Mark Hensch
Fear is a divisive force. For some, quickening pulses, bulging eyes and cold sweats are the trademarks of a nightmare. For others, feeling fear is the ultimate thrill, a rocket ride of adrenaline past dangerous threats and dark recesses of the mind.
I fall into the latter camp. As a dedicated heavy metal fanatic and an avid horror enthusiast, I actively seek scares wherever they may lurk. In doing this, I have come across every demon and monster conceivable. I have sloshed through gallon after gallon of blood and gore. I have peered time and time again at the many faces of fear, never stopping with a glance at just one.
I anticipate few holidays as feverishly as I do Halloween. It is the pinnacle of the grotesque, the maelstrom of the macabre. And in no realm is this more apparent than one of Halloween's most steadfast traditions-the haunted house.
I believe the haunted house is an attraction not just for scaremongers but more timid folk as well. Though for some the mere rush of adrenaline is enough, a haunted house offers more than cheap, tawdry thrills.
Outside of generating fear for patrons, a haunted house inspires creativity in all those making it. Setting up scares, crafting costumes and building props all require the spark of creation. A group of people putting effort into a singular project, meanwhile, will emerge as better friends. A haunted house is not just a fun attraction but a team project as well.
Such a project also stimulates the imagination of people experiencing it. In traversing through a haunted house, people suspend their disbelief entirely. They immerse themselves in a world wholly removed from their daily lives. At worst, it is the release of escapism. At best, it is event opening up new panoramas in the mind's eye.
Finally, the haunted house is tightens the fabric of community. Families, friends and schoolmates attend such events, allowing the various segments of a given society the chance to grow closer together.
In the case of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, the haunted house offers even more. Beyond strengthening community bonds, the annual event raises money for a charity. Outside of the frights, groups like Delta Sigma Phi utilize Halloween and its associated pastimes for social good.
As dusk falls Oct. 31 and specters roam Hillsdale streets, I hope a few brave souls will test their courage in at least one haunted house. With options available in not only Hillsdale but Jackson and Homer as well, there are plenty of bumps in the night worth trying out. In this writer's opinion, the result is more treat than trick.
Counterpoint
Kat Timpf
I am cautious about spending money. Given that, paying 15 bucks or more to surround immerse myself in gruesome misery does not make the cut.
Generally, I consider myself an adrenaline junkie. I love horror movies-minus the bloody parts, during which I shut my eyes-and big rollercoasters, and consider both of those things great fun and worth every dime I spend on them. But haunted houses are different.
Before anyone gets angry, I'd like to clarify and say I am not condemning the Delta Sigma Phi haunted house, which I consider an exception. That event is for charity, and I will probably go.
Over fall break, I went to a haunted house for the first time since I cried in one in high school. I wasn't nearly as scared as I was when I was 16, but I still hated every minute of it.
For three grueling floors, I had to be around the most unpleasant people. Seriously-I thought it was annoying being around screaming children until I had to spend 20 minutes around screaming adults.
As I was walking through the barn, all I could think of was of all the better ways I could have spent my dollar other than paying full-grown adults to play some twisted version of dress-up and harass me without legal repercussions. If anything, I felt like these morbid adults should be paying me to let them live out whatever warped fantasy that made them want to work at a haunted house in the first place.
Okay, I'm not sure everyone who works in a haunted house is crazy, but at least most of them have to be. Think about the long hours a haunted house employee would have to spend surrounded by wails, blood and fake corpses. What kind of person does that attract? Furthermore, these people enjoy making other people afraid-not boo-I-surprised-you-when-I-popped-out-of-this-corner afraid, but boo-I-surprised-you-with-this-chainsaw-and-now-I'm-whispering-in-your-ear-about-which-body-parts-I'm-going-to-cut-off-first afraid-which seems pretty damn sadistic to me.
Our culture is obsessed with morbidity, and I don't get it. There's so much horror in this world, I don't see the appeal of shelling out my cash to envelop myself with things that make me feel uncomfortable and afraid. I don't judge you if you do; I just don't understand. The haunted house I went to over fall break-other than the Delt Sigs' fundraiser-will be the last one I attend. I will no longer pay money to allow others to torture me.
Now, if someone invents a three-story barn filled with peace, flowers and acoustic guitar-totally count me in.
Mark Hensch
Fear is a divisive force. For some, quickening pulses, bulging eyes and cold sweats are the trademarks of a nightmare. For others, feeling fear is the ultimate thrill, a rocket ride of adrenaline past dangerous threats and dark recesses of the mind.
I fall into the latter camp. As a dedicated heavy metal fanatic and an avid horror enthusiast, I actively seek scares wherever they may lurk. In doing this, I have come across every demon and monster conceivable. I have sloshed through gallon after gallon of blood and gore. I have peered time and time again at the many faces of fear, never stopping with a glance at just one.
I anticipate few holidays as feverishly as I do Halloween. It is the pinnacle of the grotesque, the maelstrom of the macabre. And in no realm is this more apparent than one of Halloween's most steadfast traditions-the haunted house.
I believe the haunted house is an attraction not just for scaremongers but more timid folk as well. Though for some the mere rush of adrenaline is enough, a haunted house offers more than cheap, tawdry thrills.
Outside of generating fear for patrons, a haunted house inspires creativity in all those making it. Setting up scares, crafting costumes and building props all require the spark of creation. A group of people putting effort into a singular project, meanwhile, will emerge as better friends. A haunted house is not just a fun attraction but a team project as well.
Such a project also stimulates the imagination of people experiencing it. In traversing through a haunted house, people suspend their disbelief entirely. They immerse themselves in a world wholly removed from their daily lives. At worst, it is the release of escapism. At best, it is event opening up new panoramas in the mind's eye.
Finally, the haunted house is tightens the fabric of community. Families, friends and schoolmates attend such events, allowing the various segments of a given society the chance to grow closer together.
In the case of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, the haunted house offers even more. Beyond strengthening community bonds, the annual event raises money for a charity. Outside of the frights, groups like Delta Sigma Phi utilize Halloween and its associated pastimes for social good.
As dusk falls Oct. 31 and specters roam Hillsdale streets, I hope a few brave souls will test their courage in at least one haunted house. With options available in not only Hillsdale but Jackson and Homer as well, there are plenty of bumps in the night worth trying out. In this writer's opinion, the result is more treat than trick.
Counterpoint
Kat Timpf
I am cautious about spending money. Given that, paying 15 bucks or more to surround immerse myself in gruesome misery does not make the cut.
Generally, I consider myself an adrenaline junkie. I love horror movies-minus the bloody parts, during which I shut my eyes-and big rollercoasters, and consider both of those things great fun and worth every dime I spend on them. But haunted houses are different.
Before anyone gets angry, I'd like to clarify and say I am not condemning the Delta Sigma Phi haunted house, which I consider an exception. That event is for charity, and I will probably go.
Over fall break, I went to a haunted house for the first time since I cried in one in high school. I wasn't nearly as scared as I was when I was 16, but I still hated every minute of it.
For three grueling floors, I had to be around the most unpleasant people. Seriously-I thought it was annoying being around screaming children until I had to spend 20 minutes around screaming adults.
As I was walking through the barn, all I could think of was of all the better ways I could have spent my dollar other than paying full-grown adults to play some twisted version of dress-up and harass me without legal repercussions. If anything, I felt like these morbid adults should be paying me to let them live out whatever warped fantasy that made them want to work at a haunted house in the first place.
Okay, I'm not sure everyone who works in a haunted house is crazy, but at least most of them have to be. Think about the long hours a haunted house employee would have to spend surrounded by wails, blood and fake corpses. What kind of person does that attract? Furthermore, these people enjoy making other people afraid-not boo-I-surprised-you-when-I-popped-out-of-this-corner afraid, but boo-I-surprised-you-with-this-chainsaw-and-now-I'm-whispering-in-your-ear-about-which-body-parts-I'm-going-to-cut-off-first afraid-which seems pretty damn sadistic to me.
Our culture is obsessed with morbidity, and I don't get it. There's so much horror in this world, I don't see the appeal of shelling out my cash to envelop myself with things that make me feel uncomfortable and afraid. I don't judge you if you do; I just don't understand. The haunted house I went to over fall break-other than the Delt Sigs' fundraiser-will be the last one I attend. I will no longer pay money to allow others to torture me.
Now, if someone invents a three-story barn filled with peace, flowers and acoustic guitar-totally count me in.
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