By Isaac DeVille, Guest Columnist.
For those fascinated by haunted houses, Bay City might just have the perfect solution for the Halloween ghost and thrill seekers. Every Friday throughout October, at 7 p.m., a fiendish haunted house will be held, for those brave enough to participate at the Scottish Rite Masonic temple.
The secrecy of the Masonic rites enshrouds the building at 614 Center Ave. with mystery and horror. But amidst all this doom is fun and excitement for area thrill-seekers and volunteers.
The Bay Arts Council began hosting this event after purchasing the building from Joppa Lodge Masons in 2007.
Oddly absent from the event were the Masons themselves. The Masons have existed since the Middle Ages in Europe and throughout the United States. Although secretive and ritualistic, the lodge is actually altruistic in nature, and noted for community activities. Their background of secrets and rituals just adds to the environment, which is great for a haunted house on Halloween.
As visitors lined up on a recent Friday evening for their visit, volunteer Kyle Birchle informed the crowd that the building had been built in 1892. Ten years later, Birchle recounts, the building burnt down.It was rebuilt in 1905.
As the people in line waited, a clown, Emily Kent, with a ghastly grin and hospital gloves, crept up from behind. The crowd was being scared even though the haunted house had not yet begun.
Actually, the real work began ten months ago.
“They start organizing this in January, and it builds in September,” said Jared Benjamin, an organizer.
Mama Legba, who is dressed like a New Orleans’ voodoo witch doctor, shuts the door to the Haunted House. She is the indisputable guardian, and no one goes in—or out—of the Haunted House without her permission. When asked what her accent is, she responded, “French Patios.”
Finally Mama Legba opened up the door to the innermost parts of this building, the sense of secrecy long forgotten now found again.
The theme this year is “The Sandman” who enters your dreams and terrorizes your sleep. As a group walks in, the room is black. Suddenly the dim lights are turned on and one can see a throne in the vague light. Cloaked like some wraith with a scepter in hand, the sandman introduces himself.
“You must know you are now in my domain,” he rasps. “Your dreams belong to me! I’ll still let you through, to see what happens out of sheer curiosity. Don’t get lost!”
One walks through darkened corridor to see various specters. The lights go off, and the spirits are gone. When the lights go back on, there appears a small guide wearing black and a skeletal mask. She hands the group a rope.
“The rope is very important,” Mama Legba had said earlier. “It helps you to know where you are and keeps you safe from all the ghouls.”
In the dark, the rope is all you have. Devils and ghosts can jump from behind, the middle, and the front, so it is important to stay with one team.
As the group walks into a room, they can see that it is the place of a very troubled girl who shrieks, “There’s monsters under my bed!”
If one walks close enough, one finds that there are, indeed, viciously clawed monsters under her bed.
As they go around the corner, there’s a girl politely asking to you to play with her. “Why won’t you stop and play?” she says sweetly.
After time goes on and none of the group plays with her, she lashes out this time, snarls, again “Why won’t you play with me?”
Around the corner of that room is a clown that keeps popping out of a coffin, moaning “Help me! I can’t get out of here!”
Finally the group enters a well-lit room where a character dressed as a skeleton in a top hat slides down the stairs.
“I see no one got lost,” he says. “That’s good.”
He takes away the rope, saying, “You won’t be needing this anymore. Now it’s time for you to leave. I’m sorry, it’s sort of a dead end.”
The group walks out of the building with grins on their faces. They got what they came for: A good scare!
Tickets cost $10 and the show lasts 20 minutes.
