By Wyatt Dunfee
On October 22, a team of frightening characters banded together to create the scariest experience Appalachia has ever seen. These were the students of Federal Hocking who volunteered to bring the Haunted Halls to life.
The head teacher behind the operation was Mr. Amlin and the head student was none other than Grace Jeffers. She could be seen recruiting middle school and high school students alike. She also held two meetings for volunteers to make sure everyone was on the same page. Originally recruiting close to 90 students, up until the day of the Haunted Halls that number dwindled down into the 50’s.
Students could sign up to be part of a séance, an Insane Asylum, Bloody Marys, prisoners, butchers, zombies, clowns or even to build and take down the halls. As it turned out, clowns were the most popular choice by students. Zombies and butchers only had two volunteers each.
At 2:50, as soon as the school day had ended, the students who signed up for the first time slot came together to set up the experience. In the high school, first came a hall of spiders and skeletons, then the prison where chains were hung from the ceiling and a cage was put on display for the contained prisoner to beg for mercy in. All the while back in the middle school some bones, weapons, and strobe lights were being spread through the area. After most prep was finished, pizza was brought in for the volunteers who stayed after school. And soon, guests would begin to enter the Haunted Halls and get what they deserved (because they paid for it).
Experiences of the Haunted Halls
As a guide who walked through the halls from the time it opened to the time it ended, I noticed that people experience the same situation in different ways. Typically families with their children would have fun and their kids would need an extra push to make it through the dark. Sometimes there would be a group of two people and they would joke around the whole time but still fall for simple jumpscares. Groups of students would be a mixture. There would be the kids who weren’t afraid of the experience, mocking it at times. But then there would be kids in the same group who were very susceptible to being scared at loud noises.
And again, as a guide, I could tell when volunteers left, came in, or created a new jumpscare on the spot. One volunteer from the main séance at the beginning decided to instead act as a guest who left their group to use the bathroom. After coming from around a corner and “explaining his situation” he would become very friendly with the real group. But only after a few steps further he would be grabbed and pulled away from the group, screaming for help.
See You Next Year!
After the Haunted Halls closed on Friday night, the tear down crew came in at 8 a.m. on Saturday to clean up the mess of props and rearrange the tables. After 4 hours of prep and 3 hours of performance, an experience of true horror was brought to every guest who entered.
And with the halls clean, the Haunted Halls say goodbye. For now…
