Ashlyn Swain | staff writer

It’s almost time for Halloween and that means the rise in interest of paranormal experiences and spooky encounters. That means it’s once again time for  this year’s theatre haunted house.

“I think that we have already, with the last two years that we’ve started the whole haunted house thing, made a good name for ourselves,” senior Yessica Espinoza said. “People always get very scared because they don’t expect much to come from high school theatre or expect it to be as crazy as it is.”

The reputation that the theatre department has already, paired with the Area 51 meme, guarantees success, according to Espinoza.

“I think that it really is kind of funny, because we started off with the alien invasion theme around last year and then this year we all watched the whole Area 51 raid happen,” Espinoza said. “It’s kind of perfect how well that fit together, so thank you internet! A perfect coincidence.”

Based on the rise in popularity of the Area 51 meme, the haunted house anticipates a bigger crowd than usual.

“I’m excited for the haunted house because of the whole Area 51 debacle, so somehow it ended up matching a meme from this year. I feel like more people will come because of that,” senior Natalia Martin said.

With more people, come more families so the haunted house gives a less scary option for the younger kids.

“In terms of anything with purchasing tickets or bringing kids, you can purchase a green ticket or a red ticket. The little kids go through the green route which has a little bit of creepiness and a few jumpscares here and there but it won’t be anything too scary,” Espinoza said. “Nobody’s gonna come running after you or chase you. The little ones will definitely be okay and enjoy that. If you’re someone who likes to be scared though, the red route is for you.”

As theatre’s big ideas are on the rise, they need more help as well. The Tex Hill theatre program decides to chip in.

“Tex Hill middle schoolers are gonna be helping us out as well. Their theatre department asked if they could help us out so we’ll have some middle schoolers running around,’’ Espinoza said.

Along with the middle schoolers, many new people came in to audition too.

“There were a lot of new people auditioning this year. Usually the same people audition every year but there were around sixty people,” Martin said.

With all of their new resources, Espinoza is sure that business will be booming.

“I think that, with our reputation alone and without the Area 51 thing intervening, we’re going to bring a lot of people. Regardless the Area 51 thing was great for business,” Espinoza said.