Thespian haunted asylum was a spooky success

Since last year, the Fargo North drama club has made a tradition of putting on a haunted house at the end of October.
This year’s theme was ‘asylum’. There were doctors and patients everywhere, giving everyone a good scare. All the “victims” (or the visitors) went on a tour throughout the asylum, which was located in the theatre department. They also go to see the residents of the asylum, which was full of spooks and scares.

Last year little over 100 people went through the haunted house. This year, the drama club planned to have about 200 people go through the asylum, but they were surprised to actually have over 300 people visit.  The drama club supervisor, Mr. Gillen, said he was blown away at how successful the event was. These haunted houses are seeming to turn into the top fundraiser for the drama department. It was run solely by the officers of the Thespian Society, meaning the proceeds could go directly to the department. The president of the Thespian Society, Megan Loegering, played a key role in the haunted house’s success, along with her dedicated Thespian Society members.

Priority of participating the haunted house was first given to official members of North’s Thespian Society, but after that, it was open to anyone who was in drama club. For the past two years, the haunted house has only been a one night thing. However, the Thespian Society officers have been talking about having it go on for two nights next year.

Unlike last year, this year’s haunted house was toned down to appeal to the little ones.  “This year we added a family friendly version that seemed to go over really well,” said Mr. Gillen. After the family friendly version was over, however, the real fun began.  Overall, it went really well according to Mr. Gillen. “We had several people that could not complete the haunted house due to being too scared and that made us feel real good. Next year, we are hoping to add more technology to the tour so don’t miss it!”

Overall, the haunted house was very successful and has the potential to be a major fundraiser for Fargo North’s theatre department. There are plans to continue this tradition, and it is likely there will continue to be a family friendly and non-family friendly version each year.