# What the fuck? Fundies fucking up Halloween (again) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 1, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788 "2003-11-01T04:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/1 "2003-11-01T04:15:54Z")
Just when I thought I’d heard it all… I find yet another thing about fundamentalist Christians that is not only stupid, it’s _actively hateful_. Apparently, a common practice in some fundamentalist Christian communities is to sponsor “Hell Houses,” with the specific intention of scaring its patrons into accepting Christ. They are described on [religioustolerance.org](http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_he.htm): > [@](#): > > \*\*A Hell House consists of a group of horrific scenes within a type of haunted house. The customer walks through a sequence of tableaus designed to create terror and revulsion. The last scene is different; it is typically a portrayal of heaven. The visitors are then asked to accept salvation by repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior. > > Hell Houses are a relatively new evangelistic technique used by many hundreds of conservative Christian churches in North America. One intent is to proselytize the unsaved public. Another is to promote certain conservative Christian beliefs: > > - that abortions kill human babies; > - that sexual orientation is a matter of choice and can be changed; > - that everyone who is not saved will go to hell when they die (perhaps sooner, if Jesus returns); > - that underground Satanic cults engage in widespread sacrifice of humans.\*\* As if the total ignorance and sickness behnd this wasn’t enough… > [@](#): > > **Some hell houses are disguised to resemble conventional secular haunted houses. The customer only realizes that they have a religious theme after they have bought their ticket and gone part of the way through the scenes.** Nice. Deceive people into going into these propaganda machines. How very Christian. :rolleyes: Read through some of the fun stuff portrayed in a Hell House, such as portrayals of a shooting at Columbine High School, a bloody late-term abortion, and homosexuals being tortured in Hell. The link above has more detailed descriptions. They are universally bigoted and ignorant. And apart from the slimy, underhanded tactics this represents, it’s yet another example of the fundies abusing a holiday to their own twisted ends. Instead of celebrating the fun aspects of Halloween, they feel the need to warp it into something negative. No, not just negative… _hateful_. It is a hateful, hateful thing they are doing. It makes me think of the old saying… the definition of “fundamentalism” is “the deep and horrible fear that somewhere, someone is having fun.” They just won’t be happy until they turn a celebration they don’t like into something miserable. No matter what occurs in life, fundies will find a way to take it too seriously. I’m well aware that most Christians wouldn’t ever do this. Most of the Christians I know would be as disgusted by it as I am tonight. I just felt the need to say, as I prepare to take my kids out for the last round of trick-ot-treating of the night, that I hope anyone who has participated making a “Hell House” to frighten and manipulate people to their way of thinking someday realizes the sort of unadulterated hate they have helped foster. Frankly, I hope they burn in whatever Hell they portrayed. ---
**Author:** ![Herge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Herge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herge)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/2 "2003-11-01T04:24:51Z")
I thought fundamentalism meant obeying the letter and teaching of the bible rigidly, without deviation. This concept of a hell house seems to be more radical than fundamentalist. The shock value is intended to scare people into repenting. No disrespect meant to Christians, because this seems to have been thought up by a minority of hard-liners. As you say, I doubt many moderate Christians would consider this a good way to save the sinners. ---
**Author:** ![Herge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Herge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herge)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/3 "2003-11-01T04:29:33Z")
By the way, I was speaking as a non-Christian. That may not have been clear from my last post. Having said that, I respect all religions and cultures, but I do think your OP makes some valid points. ---
**Author:** ![jesleigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@jesleigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesleigh)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/4 "2003-11-01T04:31:41Z")
I’ve never been to one like you’ve described, but I have been to plays that were meant to have the same affect. Some of them are very emotional, and people do get scared into “repenting”. So, in that sense, they do work. But, those that were weeping and begging forgiveness are also the ones that a couple of weeks later are back to doing the things they were before. So, in the long run, I’m so they may have a lasting impression on some, but overall they don’t work from my exprience. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/5 "2003-11-01T04:39:30Z")
> [@](#): > > - that underground Satanic cults engage in widespread sacrifice of humans. _Right eyebrow rises 3 centimeters_ ---
**Author:** ![Svt4Him](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@Svt4Him](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svt4Him)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/6 "2003-11-01T05:25:24Z")
Darn fundies. Granted it was the atheists that were in my block who were shooting firecrackers at the kids. Man atheists are stupid. (please not the sarcasm, although the story is true.)😉 ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/7 "2003-11-01T05:33:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jesleigh \* > **I’ve never been to one like you’ve described, but I have been to plays that were meant to have the same affect. Some of them are very emotional, and people do get scared into "repenting."** I’ve also seen those, and they don’t come close to what the Hell Houses sound like. I’ve never seen that sort of active hatred and bigotry in a morality play. Granted, I haven’t seen all of them… ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/8 "2003-11-01T05:35:12Z")
> [@](#): > > that underground Satanic cults engage in widespread sacrifice of humans. They should know that it isn’t _Satanic_ cults doing the human sacrificing. 😃 😃 😃 That, and the “abortion killing human babies” doesn’t seem like and extreme position. ---
**Author:** ![BytopianDream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BytopianDream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BytopianDream)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/9 "2003-11-01T05:38:30Z")
Ohhh, ohhh… I’ve been to one. It was so dang funny. I designated drived for five friends as they got well-nigh plastered and we all went. It was freaking hilarious. The two women I went with were completely giggly the entire time through the pits of sin. The two gay guys I went with started full-on frenching during the gay’s in hell scene… oh it was great. The people freaked. Definately a must do for the hilarity of it all. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/10 "2003-11-01T06:34:38Z")
You guys are just hearing about Hell Houses now? We LOVED going to them when I was in high school. Some of the most fun I had on Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/11 "2003-11-01T08:49:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BytopianDream \* > \*\*The two gay guys I went with started full-on frenching during the gay’s in hell scene… oh it was great. The people freaked. > Definately a must do for the hilarity of it all. \*\* Well, it could have been worse. They could have started full-on greeking in front of everyone. Or did you mean kissing? Redboss ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/12 "2003-11-01T08:54:55Z")
Here in Tulsa we have a church, GUTS, that has a hell-house-type attraction this time every year called The Nightmare. I went a few years ago with a couple of friends. It was pretty much what was described in the OP. From the University of Tulsa’s school paper, The Collegian\*: > [@](#): > > …The Nightmare is easily the most elaborate haunted house you will see in Tulsa. While claims that it would “scare the literal hell out of [me]” held false, I couldn’t help but admire the craftsmanship and dedication that went into such a large undertaking. The Nightmare starts by introducing you to a child molester, who, because of “alleged faulty DNA testing and civil rights violations” is being released from jail after only 17-months of a lifetime sentence. “Chester” shows up in the second room, hanging from a swing. All of the young, murdered girls pop creepily out of nowhere and give you a long, hard, sad look. The molester says he wants to show us his favorite dreams. The rest of the rooms involve all the things he wishes would happen in the world, including a horrible car wreck, junkies getting busted for smoking pot in the school’s bathroom, a Columbine-imitation in which cheerleaders writhe in agony on the floor after being blown apart, and a homosexual man who commits suicide after domestically disturbing his pretty wife. > > The much-discussed bloody Jesus hanging from a cross makes his appearance near the end of the Nightmare, a reminder to all Christian Americans that there are churches out there like GUTS that want you to come worship every Sunday. The Nightmare was seriously lots of fun. The best part came at the end, when some GUTS Church members took me aside and allowed Jesus to enter into my heart. Man, I was so full after that. Too bad I had a Jesus hangover in the morning. Despite the wacko fundamentalism of GUTS, their production is top-notch and the most closely-located professional haunted attraction in the Tulsa area. If you don’t mind forking over seven dollars to a church that believes in tough love and nü-metal, go see Guts’s grand spectacle. Tulsa’s other attractions don’t even com-scare! As offensive as I thought the “haunted house” part of it was, the worst part was the onslaught of volunteers afterwards wanting to witness to us. They really didn’t want to let us leave without us having been saved. I told my friend he should have worn his “Oklahom_o_” shirt, but that probably would have made things worse. 😃 \*You can read the whole article [here](http://www.utulsa.edu/collegian/article.asp?article=1901). And you can visit the GUTS website [here](http://www.gutschurch.com/). Click on the NMXI Nightmare icon to read about The Nightmare and see some pretty disturbing pictures of it. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/13 "2003-11-01T09:18:54Z")
Also, I clicked on the [link](http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_he.htm) in the OP. I thought this instruction from _The 1997 Hell House Outreach Manual_ was especially gruesome: > [@](#): > > Pieces of meat placed in a glass bowl to look like pieces of a baby… purchase a meat product that closely resembles pieces of a baby. I honestly can’t think of a single meat product that closely resembles an aborted fetus. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/14 "2003-11-01T12:11:57Z")
**"Come to our _Hell House_. It’s disgusting, repulsive and mentally disturbing!"** “Cool!” (Ten minutes later.) “Hey, this truely **is** disgusting, repulsive and mentally disturbing, but not in the way we were expecting! You cheated us!” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/15 "2003-11-01T13:29:34Z")
What I don’t get (well, I guess I get it but I like to think that the human mind has evolved futher than that) is how a group of good people, who honestly believe they have the right take on God and His plan and desires for humanity, can allow themselves as a group to believe that deceit (falsely advertising the nature of their haunted house in order to lure sinners who would have otherwise avoided it) is a Godly tool in seeking to convert and save the teeming millions. I find many in-your-face Christians to be tiresome, but I don’t mind having them around. But JUDGE-mental liars who make it a point to offend in the name of Christ…can they be so ignorant as to see that Jesus Himself would have words for them? Whatever happened to compassion? Rather than have chunks-o-baby in a haunted house (when their target audience is feeling particularly heathen and possibly a bit drunk) to scare foax away from abortion, why not have folks waiting outside clinics to comfort (and possibly win-over) post-operative aborters on what must surely have been a difficult decision, “here, come with us and we’ll show you a way of life that can help you overcome your past and maybe prevent a repeat.” I know I preach tolerance in my other posts but…FUCKING NON-CHRISTIAN POSING SERVANTS OF DARKNESS MAKE ME FUCKING ILL! _THEY_ should be rounded up and…erm…I gotta go. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/16 "2003-11-01T13:30:05Z")
For a fascinating look into the unsophisticated folks who put on these 21st century mystery plays, rent [Hell House](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301235/combined), a 2001 documentary that shows the preparation of one fundie horror show by a Dallas church. Hmm, I wonder if one were to produce a horror house aimed at terrifying fundies, what would be shown? Showing drug addicts and AIDS patients would just make your typical fundie chortle with self-satisfied _schadenfreude_. How about. . . a LIBRARY!!! Full of UNCENSORED BOOKS THAT CONTRADICT THE BIBLE!!! Mwahahahahahah!!! or. . . a natural history MUSEUM!!! Oh no, an accurate depiction of human evolution that totally omits Mesopotamian creation myths!!! and our final exhibit of terror sure to shake the sanity of even the firmest fundie. . . JEWS, MUSLIMS, AND GAY PEOPLE LIVING IN PEACEFUL COOPERATION WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS!!! OOOOOO, SCARY!!! ---
**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/17 "2003-11-01T13:32:29Z")
I’ve said it before, and here we go again. Gobear rules. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/18 "2003-11-01T13:44:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*JEWS, MUSLIMS, AND GAY PEOPLE LIVING IN PEACEFUL COOPERATION WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS!!! OOOOOO, SCARY!!! \*\* Peaceful? This Jew has had you topless in his house! Woo Woo! ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/19 "2003-11-01T13:52:04Z")
I’ve gone to only one haunted village (it was outside) and it was good,not too scary. People go to these for fun, not for conversion purposes. On the other hand, I am one of the few christians who takes her child out t or t ing. Other chrsitians give a “we’re more Godly than you” becasue they don’t. As if God is standing there writing it down"Oops, trick or treated, its Hell for you!" Its sad. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788/20 "2003-11-01T14:45:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > \*\*On the other hand, I am one of the few christians who takes her child out t or t ing. > Other chrsitians give a “we’re more Godly than you” becasue they don’t. > As if God is standing there writing it down"Oops, trick or treated, its Hell for you!" > Its sad. \*\* Apparently my christians are more fun than your christians. 😉 I went to Catholic school, and we had little pumpkin and witch decorations all over the place for the last half of October. And I can’t think of any kids in my class who didn’t go out trick-or-treating. Oh, and a couple of times we had a ‘haunted house’ in the library, but it was mostly bowls of wet noodles and grapes with signs that said “Brains and Eyes”, and kids hidden under tables to grab your leg and scream. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-fundies-fucking-up-halloween-again/210788.md?page=2)