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Hell Houses
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.


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.

Typical scenes are:

A realistic reenactment of the murder of Cassie Bernall, a teenager victim at the Columbine High School in 1999-APR. She was allegedly asked whether she believed in God, answered yes, and was murdered on the spot. The incident never happened. But the story has taken on a life of its own, and is frequently referred to in conservative Christian magazines and radio programs.

A person being sacrificed during a Satanic ritual.

Women undergoing very bloody late-term abortions, complete with screaming, lots of blood, and particularly insensitive, uncaring health providers. This scene has been partly abandoned in recent years in favor of a portrayal of guilt and depression arising from Post Abortion Syndrome.

Gays and lesbians being tortured in hell for all eternity because of their behavior while they were alive on earth.

The dangers of "dabbling" in the occult and becoming demon possessed.

Personal tragedies arising from pre-marital sex.

Disastrous tragedies and loss of life resulting from drunk driving.

A man has an argument with his wife and is later seduced by his secretary.

Witches pressuring a depressed teen to murder his fellow students.

A 9/11 ground zero scene.

Criticisms of Hell House
The Colorado Council of Churches, criticized the scare tactics used in the Arvada Hell House. They were also critical of the literal demonization of homosexuals and abortion providers.

Rev. J.T. Tucker, director of youth ministries at Northway Christian
Church in Dallas, TX suggests that any shock value wears off quickly in a society saturated with violent images. He commented: "I detest those things...Trying to scare people into a decision is very wrong...If you consider all the money, along with ministry hours...if they would refocus those areas on missions in urban Dallas, I think they would have a lot bigger return..."

The Human Rights Campaign is a group which promotes equal rights for gays and lesbians. They note that homosexuals are frequently demonized in Hell Houses. The reality of sexual orientation is also distorted. A Florida house features a "demon" who dances around the coffin of an AIDS victim, overjoyed that the dead man is now suffering in hell. He declares "I tricked him into believing he was born gay! Have you ever heard something so silly?" HRC spokesperson Wayne Besen calls such displays "pornography for the soul...It's poising the minds of people...It's especially hurting gay and lesbian youth who are already under pressure."

The Rev. Ballard's "Hell House" in Warren County OH was criticized by Doreen Cudnik, executive director of Stonewall Cincinnati. She said that the display "is out of touch with AIDS in the year 2000. To say gay equals AIDS equals burning in hell has the dangerous potential to lead to hate crimes against the gay community."

The Merced, CA Sun-Star newspaper criticized the New Beginning Christian Centerfor what the paper called an "unnecessarily brutal and insensitive" event. The church's pastor, Mike Duckworth, said: "We're going to scare the hell out of people and, at the end, show them there's a way out--Jesus Christ. We're bringing controversial issues to the forefront and then giving an antidote." 13

A Christian radio station in Fairfield, OH terminated ads which promoted Kings Point Church of God's Hell House because the ads invited listeners to "come see the funeral of a homosexual AIDS patient." The Cincinnati Enquirer said that the ads were "blatant gay bashing." 13

Author's note: Hell Houses appear to spread misinformation and disinformation about a variety of topics: The nature of abortion (90% of all abortions are performed in the first trimester; the percentage of third-trimester abortions -- as portrayed in the play -- is less than 1%).

The motivation and demeanor of abortion providers.

The appearance, beliefs and activities of Witches.

Satanic ritual abuse.

The nature of a person's sexual orientation.



We feel that their credibility will suffer in the eyes of the public. Their Hell Houses will do more harm than good to the cause of their sponsors.

Revelation Walk:
A third approach is the Revelation Walk portrayed by the Eden Westside Baptist Church in Pell City, AL. 9 It consists of 12 scenes involving over 180 members of the congregation in its construction and operation. It describes "an outdoor drama that will show what the end times will be like for those who are left behind when Jesus 'raptures' the church." The rapture is a conservative Christian belief that Jesus will appear in the sky and call all saved Christians onto himself. Those who have died will have their bodies reconstructed, and will leave the grave, rising towards Christ in the sky. Saved Christians who are alive at the time of the second coming of Jesus will rise bodily into the sky to join Jesus as well. One Revelation Walk scene shows a traffic accident resulting from vehicles going out of control as their drivers exit through the roofs of the car or truck. The rapture event itself is be shown, as well as scenes of Hell and Heaven.



Tribulation Trail:
The Metro Heights Baptist Church near Stockbridge, GA started its "Tribulation Trail" in 1992. They expected 30,000 paid visitors during the Halloween season of 2001. Visitors get to see a demonstration of what conservative Protestants call "The Tribulation" a time when a wrathful God sends massive afflictions to humans. Various scenes deal with:

The exile of John, whom they believe wrote both the Gospel of John and book of Revelation.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, representing conquest, war, famine and plague.

Movies of the attack on the World Trade Center.

A classroom debate on the separation of church and state. It ends with a black-clad girl (presumably representing a Goth, Satanist or Neopagan) pulling out a gun and shooting a classmate. She shouts that she is "sick of hearing Jesus this and prayer that." 12

Curtis Road Church of God, in Champaign, IL: Their Hell House consists of: a young man dies of AIDS; a "botched" abortion; "bodies lie splattered with blood after a school shooting"; "a high school student blows his brains out after he's cut from the football team"; and "a drunken driver lives to watch his family die." 10

yah i think they have gone way too far in trying to get converts

Really interesting, although manipulation isn't the way one should try to convert others.

thats just disturbing

accually sound funny,
I wonder what would happen if you went into those and loudly stated facts. Like for the school shooting scene,
"But no Athiests wiccans or Staanists ever did this!"

Draco69... you are one ****ed up dude

??? I just copied this from a website. You actually thought I was a supporter of these hell-houses. Hooked on Phonics works, my friend.

Renio you are seriously in need of a brain. (Follow the yellow brick road!)

Supposed "Hell Houses" are nothing but illicit propoganda started by the Catholic Church to scare young-people into....well, not living a real life. To become one of the zealots who believes so utterly in the Church that they would do anything to preserve it, including kill.....

It's not the Catholic Church. It's the Baptist and Evangelical churches. Catholics frown on the hell houses.

So say they......

im a catholic, and i frown on it

I'm sure Jesus is proud of his "loyal" subjects using outright terror to coerce people to join Christianity. This is sickening.

I don't like the fact that they use horrific images on children in order to convert them to "Christianity". Jesus would be sickened by such aversive actions.

Interesting I never heard of this before but it is still pretty cool.JM

In what ****ing way is that cool Jackie?