The Haunted Theater

In 1997, the Haunted Theater ran its last event. That culminated an incredibly successful 18 year run.

The Haunted Theater was originally conceived as a fundraiser for The Dramateurs, Inc., a community theater group that performed at The Barn Playhouse in Jeffersonville, PA. (About 25 minutes from Philadelphia, PA.) It was the brainchild of Arlene Sargent, an active member of the Dramateurs

It takes a lot of money to keep a theater going. The building was old and always in need of repairs. There was no heat or air conditioning, so there were no performances between October and April, and the theater need to upgrade their lighting and sound capabilities.

In September of 1980, they decided that their current fundraisers of flea markets, car washes and bake sales were simply not bringing in enough money, so they decided on a theater-type fundraiser. Since it was approaching Halloween, they came up with the idea of doing a haunted house. They named it the Haunted Theater because they wanted it to be seen as more theatrical than your average haunted house. The location was perfect, because the last show of the season would be over by then, and because the Barn Playhouse is actually a huge 200+ year old, 4 story structure that looked the part.

That first Haunted Theater was assembled inside the barn in a matter of days from whatever they could scrounge together. They performed only three nights, for a total of 400 customers. They were delighted because it was they most successful fundraiser to date.

The following year, 1981, they almost didn't do the Haunted Theater again, but enough members persisted in requesting it that Arlene accepted the unofficial title of "Producer". That year, over 800 people came to the Haunted Theater. It dawned on the Dramateurs that they really had something here, and a tradition was born.

In 1982, the attendance grew yet again and word of mouth began to spread. But the following year, 1983, was the year of the Great Adventure Theme Park's fatal fire. It gave the Dramateurs a lot to think about because the Haunted Theater also had a similar "dark maze". And what about other areas in the production that were almost dark? Without time to redesign and plan for increased safety, they regretfully canceled the Haunted Theater for 1983.

However, they had received so many calls and letters from disappointed customers that they resolved to put in the extra effort and redesign the Haunted Theater from scratch, and in 1984, they open to record attendance and extended the number of nights they were open.

In 1985, Joe Aloia joined the Haunted Theater with new energy and ideas. In 1986, Joe joined Arlene Sargent as a co-producer, and Scuttles made his first appearance on the scene. The 1986 Haunted Theater was the biggest to date, with more physical size and better special effects. Two floors of the barn were used, resulting in people descending into the dank confines of the basement as part of their experience.

In 1987, they added 4 producers to help in the increasing responsibilities of a successful fundraiser. In 1989, they went to a total of 6 producers, and named Arlene to the position of Executive Producer. This was also the year the concept of the Room Director was conceived. By 1992, the final structure of 9 Producers, one executive Producer, 13 Room Directors and 13 Assistant Room Directors was solidified, and remained a stable structure until the final year of 1997.

All through the '90s, the Haunted Theater could count on entertaining more than 5000 visitors each Halloween season. Each year the special effects were better, the chills were chillier, and the crowds were scared out of their wits. Over time, the Haunted Theater evolved its own, homegrown celebrities, including "Elmo" a character for whom the crowds waiting outside would chant for. And "Witchy-Poo", the green-faced, cackling harpy that was known to swoop through the barn, and "Grim", and very tall, very silent Reaper who could chill troublemakers with a glance. There were more, many more, but we will discuss them later.

Largely due to the amazing success of the Haunted Theater fundraisers, the Barn Playhouse was able to make major repairs to the building. They purchased a lighting and sound system worthy of Broadway, and most importantly... they got heating and air conditioning.

Ironically, achieving the goal of getting a heating and cooling system led to the eventual demise of the Haunted Theater. While no one can deny that the Haunted Theater was a tremendous success, there were those in the Dramateurs who would much rather put on a play in the months of September and October, the period of time required to build and perform the Haunted Theater, and pressures were brought to bear.

Arlene, the driving force behind this amazing effort, was tired. She had shepherded the Haunted Theater for almost 18 years, devoting a good part of each year and her family's time to the effort. There were no volunteers who felt they could fill her shoes and champion the cause. So in 1998, the decision was made not to continue the fight. The 1997 HT was the last of an amazing chain of successes.

Many things made the Haunted Theater great. The main factor was the efforts of an amazing woman, Arlene Sargent, and her crew of dedicated family & friends. Arlene managed to do the impossible... she got creative actor types to cooperate and and work for a common cause. But more on Arlene later. Here are some of the best features of The Haunted Theater:

The Haunted Theater was one of the most cost-effective entertainment events available. For more than half of its existence, they only charged $3.00 "per body". In the mid 90's, an agonizing decision was made to increase the price... to $4.00.

At that rate, people could, and often did, go through several times in one night. And they came back with friends the next night. The price was considered "family friendly", and we made more on volume and repeat visits than the pricier competition.

The Haunted Theater had free parking, while most of the competition charged extra for that. In fact, the HT employed flashlight-wielding staff members in the parking lot to assist and guide you to a spot with minimal fuss and trouble.

If you are a successful Haunted House event, you are going to have a line out front. At many haunted house events, this is something to be endured, and can often be a major discouragement. However, the Haunted Theater made sure to entertain the people in the line all evening. Various characters would come out singly or in groups, and terrorize and entertain the crowds. Many people felt they had gotten their money's worth simply by being in line.

Yup, those waiting in line could send a companion over to the snack bar where all kinds of goodies were waiting to be consumed. Everything from chill-fighting hot chocolate and coffee to the mandatory bloody eyeball jawbreakers and gummy worms were available. Yum! And of course, there were cookies and soda-pop and Reeses Peanutbutter Cups and all manner of other expected munchies. The pricing was decent also, although we did make a surprising amount of money off the refreshment stand, we did not rip off the customers like the movie theaters do.

Once you actually paid and stepped through the doors, you found yourself in a waiting area, with a short line snaking up to a creaky door guarded by a ghoul who acted as Gatekeeper. Creepy music was playing, the lights were low, and often, there would be thrills and chills right here before entering the the first room. Many of the Roamers, including Scuttles, would lurk about this area, sizing up the crowds, entertaining and scaring patrons, and assisting the Gatekeeper in making sure the groups were sent through in manageable chunks.

If there were small children, the staff would offer them a "Magic" Spider or Skull Ring that had the power to frighten off the monsters and ghouls if they got too scary. Each child was told to hold out their ring and holler "Monster Monster Go Away!". This was an effective way to keep the experience tolerable for very young kids, and lessened the number of frightened youngsters we had to escort out via an emergency exit.

The Roamers also took the opportunity to identify potential troublemakers, and signaled the Gatekeeper to break up potentially troublesome groups into smaller, more manageable pairs and trios. Roamers would often follow these groups through the Haunted Theater, both enhancing the scare effect and keeping an eye on them.

The seating area, set construction room, the band pit, and even the stage were all separated into a number of different "rooms". Each room had it's own theme, produced by a room director and the actors they cast. The production values were very high, primarily because of Arlene's guidance, and owing a lot to the pool of experienced stage actors, makeup artists and technical people from the theater community. The prop and costume rooms were goldmines for materials, and the lighting and sound equipment gave it a very professional feel.

The planning for the rooms of the Haunted Theater would start shortly after the New Year. Each month, there would be planning meetings and submissions of ideas. By March, there would be a pretty good idea of what the next HT would look like.

Each of the rooms was the specific project and responsibility of a Room Director. Back in the spring, room ideas and themes were considered and selected, and Room Directors were assigned. (Usually, the Room Director was the person who submitted the room idea in the first place.) The Producers oversaw the planning, design and casting of each Room Directors' project. Once the themes were decided on, the order of their placement was selected to create the best flow and safety factor.

As the date grew closer, the Producers (often also Room Directors themselves) would work with the room directors to resolve problems, sharpen their script, and help with the special effects. Casting for the actors would usually occur in August or September, and took the form of three evenings of Improvisation (much like "Who's Line Is It Anyway?"). This "Improvisation as Audition" worked well in finding people who could think fast on their feet and work with very little material.

Each room was essentially a very short skit, some more story-like than others, but each designed to get their message across to the patrons in a matter of 30 seconds or less. The Room Directors had all summer to design the set, write the copy and gather any special effects equipment they would need. When September came, all the open space of the Barn seating area and stage, and the storage areas in the basement would be converted into separate rooms and hallways using plywood, plastic and stage pieces from past plays.

The theatrical background of the HT was essential in making sure we had a quality presentation, something much more theatrical than a guy in a hockey mask with a chainsaw for example. Each room was in itself a mini-play, often with a beginning and end, and even a script. But the underlying nature of the HT was improvisation. The actors would watch for what worked for each group and then really work to maximize the chills and thrills.

When working well, each room managed to entertain, thrill and move the patrons along in a steady but unhurried stream, ushering them into the next scene in their trip through the Haunted Theater.

One consistent tradition of the HT was the final Maze. This was usually the pet project of Arlene's son, Lance, who oversaw and physically built most of the maze each season. It was a personal challenge with him to make it better and more creative each year.

After the patrons visited the last of the rooms in the basement, they had one more obstacle to freedom... they had to get through "The Maze". The maze was never the same. It was usually populated by a variety of ghouls, both visible and behind the scenes making things happen. Special effects including moving walls, squishy floors, dropping ceilings and various sound and lighting effects disoriented and terrified the patrons, who usually left the Maze running. After leaving the Maze, they would find themselves outside, behind the Barn, where occasionally a Roamer would pursue them all the way to their cars.

Right from the first planning meetings early in the year, safety would be an issue. It was taken into consideration when designing the layout, when assigning the room positions, when deciding who would be roamers, gatekeepers and security. One of the Golden Rules of the Haunted Theater was the NO TOUCHING rule. Our actors did not touch the patrons, and in turn, we enforced the no touching rule by tossing anyone who grabbed our actors. Once the word got out, we had surprisingly few problems. And the patrons had a better time and kept coming back for more.

Emergency exits were created and emergency procedures were practiced, including fire drills. Flashlights were hidden in strategic locations in case the power went out, and many of the Roamers wore radio headsets under their costumes to keep in touch with each other and the uniformed security. The Roamers also evaluated patrons in line and would bar admission to anyone visibly intoxicated or causing trouble. Once inside, potential troublemakers were watched, followed and often separated or even escorted outside.

It is a testimony to the effort and seriousness of this safety-first attitude that the Haunted Theater in all its 18 year history, never had a major safety problem.

The people made the Haunted Theater great. Besides Arlene and her family, there was a wide range of volunteers. There were regular actors who practically live at the Barn doing shows throughout the year, and then were were people who would only show up for the HT. We had young kids who behaved well enough to be solid contributors, and we had retired adults who found this to be a great place to be with people who needed their skills.

Teenagers found it to be a place to be with friends and make new ones, and it was common for there to be HT love affairs. Romance would bloom and grow, or bloom and die, and life's little soap operas would all be carried out in front of this backdrop of building the area's best Haunted House.

Creative skills were nurtured, leadership potential was recognized and fostered. Many, many people found their own special kind of fulfillment.

The Haunted Theater may be gone, but its positive impact on the lives of those who were involved will be carried for a lifetime.

The Haunted Theater has been retired for several years now, but the core of people who made it a part of their lives still get together, especially at Halloween. There has been talk of several future possible projects. We have discussed putting on HT2 or a different kind of Halloween event, but in the meantime we are available to you for consulting.

If you would like some professional expertise on the planning, construction and operation of your Haunted House event, feel free to contact us at Consult@ScaryPlace.com. The costs are reasonable and you pay travel expenses if you want any of us on site.

I have been enhancing my storytelling skills, researching real haunted houses, and developing this website. I am open to ideas if you have an interesting proposal or require a Speaker for an organization meeting. Contact me at Scuttles@ScaryPlace.com

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The Legacy of Arlene Sargent

(Arlene as "Tilly", who handled the "till" at the entrance to the Haunted Theater.)

Arlene Sargent, the soul of the Haunted Theater and Mentor to all who were fortunate enough to encounter her, passed away on July 31, 2001. She is survived by her husband Paul, and children Lance, Lisa and Candice. There is no point in dwelling on the manner of her death. Suffice to say she fought a long, heroic two-month battle with an infection, and passed away in the presence of her family.

My wife and I attended her viewing and funeral, and a long string of people stood up and shared their thoughts on Arlene and her life. There were people there from all over the US, Canada, England and several other countries. Throughout her life, she made a difference in a lot of people's lives. She spent most of her life involved in community theater, would be pleased to see that once again she had "packed the house".

A number of the Haunted Theater folks who attended the Viewing and Funeral were wearing subtle tokens of the HT (pumpkin pins, buttons, props, etc.). Before the viewing was over, a number of these items were discretely spirited into Arlene's casket as a sign of our respect and feelings for her. Almost all the HT crowd actually considered showing up in costume, which is something we all know Arlene would have loved, but we were all sensitive to the other guests, people who would not have understood it as a gesture of respect and love.

Later, as the funeral procession made its way through town to the graveyard, the line of cars was so long that the local news radio station started to issue traffic reports on the delays it caused. Those unfortunates who had to sit at greenlight after greenlight watching the stream of funeral cars slowly roll through redlights with impunity, must have imagined some head of state was being buried. And they would not have been far from the mark, for Arlene was a head of state for a large number of people.

To my everlasting regret, I did not stand in time to share my thoughts with all those present at the viewing. My words would not have been news to most, and I believe I may have even discomfited some of the "non-theater" people with some of my recollections. But the words still burn inside me and I put them down here for any who would wish to know how one person's life can touch so many. (The lesson here is to be bold and to speak up, for the alternative is to carry a burden of "what if" for the rest of your days.)

At the viewing, there was a wall of photos taken of Arlene throughout her life, and the depth and breadth of what she had done was a revelation, even to people who had known her a long time. Arlene was a sharpshooter, and had the medals to prove it. Arlene got involved in local politics and fought for her beliefs. Arlene was an Advocate for prisoners at a local prison. The list goes on and on, and still she had time for everyone. Giving was her legacy. All those she had contact with are her legacy.

But I can speak best to her influence on the Haunted Theater people and myself in particular. Through all my many years at the HT, I observed Arlene in action as a manager of people and events. I saw her "velvet glove" approach that resulted in things being done "her way" without people feeling manipulated or controlled. I saw how she gave people the chance to show how good they could do, even with no prior experience, and she inspired those people to try even harder because of that trust. And even though the event was only a month long each year, I managed to absorb some of her approach to people and I use it successfully even today in my job and personal life. Arlene didn't know it, but her legacy is she made me better a better person.

But I am not the only one who benefited from Arlene's influence. There was always a steady stream of teenagers and young people who all wanted to be involved with the HT. All Arlene asked was that they abide by the rules, show up when required and do what they were asked to do. As simple as that sounds, for many of these people this was something of a burden... and they soon found that the fun would end if they were not toeing the line. But the lure of working the theater, the friendships and the things they learned was worth it... it was worth following the rules, for the alternative was expulsion. Today, there are several parents who credit the positive influence of working in such an unconventional place with giving their kids the discipline to become successful. And many of those kids, now adults, also acknowledge positive influences.

But these participants learned something else from their involvement in the HT. Arlene had created an environment where people learned to think "outside of the box". They were exposed to a world where all things were possible, a creative maelstrom of activity that paid little attention to gender or age. Young girls were taught to use power tools, young men were taught how to do makeup. Acting techniques were taught and refined. Shy people opened up. Creative construction techniques that never lost sight of safety concerns were the result of everyone's ideas and influences. Anyone could contribute, and did. Arlene's legacy is carried by all those young people as well.

Arlene was a giving person. She volunteered her time and energies to many causes and projects. But she also was giving on a very personal level, virtually adopting a young man who came to consider her as a second mom. She was giving to her husband Paul, who was brave enough to marry into a household that included three self-described "dysfunctional" teenagers. (And under Paul and Arlene's influence, those three teens have all since grown into incredibly deep and capable people with families of their own.) She volunteered her home for countless parties. She served on countless socially active boards and committees. She was immediately accepting of my new young wife, welcoming her into the fold like an old friend.

There is much more that could be said, many more stories and examples to elaborate on Arlene's positive influence. But the point is that Arlene led a rich and full life. She was giving and accepting without being a pushover. Arlene's legacy is carried inside of all who fell into her influence, and she did it by living her life, not talking about it. She demonstrated that the richest life is one where you give your all.

Thank you Arlene. I offer you my heartfelt Standing Ovation for "A Life Well Lived".

Your Legacy lives on, multiplied in the hearts of many.

Rest in Peace.

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