Crimson blood-splattered stains contoured to the shape of human hands trail up a rotting wooden staircase in an abandoned musty loft located on the windy strip of Buffalo’s theater district. Blinding white lights flash as guests are led to the find the horrors of Hell House Buffalo.
Upon entering, a young man dressed as a satanic preacher acts as a tour guide, wearing a worn suit jacket and jeans. He leads audience members through graphic scenes so they can witness the consequences of sins occurring daily in modern society.
Harp music begins to play and the cry of babies chimes in. A young cheerleader is introduced and announces that she is about to kill her own child. She shivers and sobs on the dreary examination table. Walls of dried blood surround her. The floor of the abortion clinic is littered with dead baby dolls that are also smeared with blood. She clutches her stomach and holds her pom-pom in between her legs as two doctors command, “Less talking, more bleeding!” They grab a heavy-duty carpet vacuum and begin to suck the fetus out, twisting its little arms and informing the cheerleader, “The truth is that mass of tissue has a brain and a heart!”
Upon entering Todd Warfield’s Hell House, it is immediately clear that this production is not typical of other off-Broadway productions being performed in the theatre district this month. For starters, Warfield’s play is performed as a guided tour that leads the audience to a new room for each scene. The production itself is not being hosted in a theatre, rather a second-floor loft just a stone’s throw away from the historic Shea’s Performing Arts Center. Yet perhaps the biggest difference between Hell House and the box office smashes hosted at Shea’s, such as this week’s A Year With Frog and Toad, is that productions there don’t usually include multiple scenes of abortion, suicide, and rape.
Although Warfield has many Hollywood-earned bragging rights, his roots actually lie here in Buffalo. Born in West Seneca, Warfield graduated from Buffalo State College and went on to attend UCLA. There, he became a production assistant, which led to his working on many projects involving special effects, such as the movie Coneheads. He also won an Emmy Award for set design on the television show where everyone knows your name: Cheers.
These past experiences have definitely influenced Warfield’s set creation for Hell House Buffalo. From the rock star depiction of Jesus near the podium where the preacher first stands, to the images and movie clips projected on the background walls during his scenes, his use of space gives each scene a chilling aura.
While Warfield employs images that disturb the mind, he doesn’t neglect the element of sound either. During a chastising of homosexual behavior, two men solemnly stand in wedding dresses smeared with blood. He plays Billy Idol’s ‘80s hit “White Wedding,” only for the set to be turned to reveal a spray-painted wall depicting the words “God hates fags.”
While Warfield spearheads the production in Buffalo, the idea of Hell House is far from his own. Christian groups across the United States have produced shows practically identical to this one for nearly three decades, predominately in the South and Midwest. Warfield is by no means trying to encourage the Christian beliefs represented in his play; he is performing it so people in Buffalo can see what exactly is going on in places sometimes no more than five hours west of our city. “I want to show people what this is and have them decide for themselves,” said Warfield.
Infamous televangelist Jerry Falwell initiated the Hell House phenomenon during the late 1970s. He was looking to create an entertaining way of presenting the torments of Hell and the aftermath of sinning by combining it with the popular seasonal attraction of traditional haunted houses. It was only a matter of time before Falwell’s abstract spectacle was graciously imitated, and by the mid 1990s, his attraction caught on and was replicated nationwide. Its website says Hell House now boasts a 25-30 percent conversion rate.
Pastor Keenan Roberts, a minister in New Mexico, created his own production of Hell House. Over the years, Pastor Roberts has built a reputation for taking charge of the controversial theatre. Today, Roberts runs the Hell House Ministry, where churches across the world can order his “How-To” kit, complete with videos of past performances, scripts, and hints for making more realistic fetuses. The kit is available online for $299.99. But don’t dig out the credit card yet: Warfield already revealed that the best way to emulate an aborted fetus is with chicken skin.
Since Roberts began selling kits to be used across the country, Hell House clones have sprung up everywhere. Warfield managed to get his hands on copies of past performances put on by churches, and through investigations, managed to land himself a copy of Roberts’ script. His version of Hell House, nearly identical to the dozens being performed across the country, opens in Buffalo this week.
“I think my production is fairly faithful to the original Hell House,” said Warfield.
Pastor Nathan, a minister who operates out of Victory Hill Ministries in Scottsville, Kentucky, will head the tenth run of Hell House at his church this season. A decade ago, the Pastor purchased one of Roberts’ kits, and during the last several years, has altered the play piece by piece to give it a unique flair. Rather than the traditional performance that Warfield will be putting on, Pastor Nathan’s production this year will follow the progression of a single family rather than one uncouth act after another. His church’s production draws in upwards of 3,000 people annually, half of whom Pastor Nathan claims are non-Christians. In 1997, the play cost the church $9,000, in Nathan’s estimation, and every year the production has grown exponentially. The play has over 60 actors, all volunteers from the church, their ages ranging from young teens to seniors.
Though Nathan admits his production was not met with 100 percent satisfaction during its first run, the publicity generated by press and picketers during his initial performances have brought his message to more people than expected. “It’s the message,” said Nathan. “The outreach to people whose lives are so messed up, and they have the opportunity to play and ask Jesus Christ into their own heart. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t do it.” The disorderly lives demonstrated in traditional performances of the play include a young woman date-raped at a rave, a Colombine-esque shooting spawned by Judas Priest records, and a grizzly AIDS death.
In a loft space in downtown Buffalo, a group of actors consisting of Buffalo State College students and veterans of the theatre don imitation blood and trench coats to put on a performance that would bring a smile even to Roberts’ face. Around a dozen actors take on several roles to bring Warfied’s version of Hell House to life. The host of the tour, part carnival barker and part circus emcee, leads the audience into a rave party, complete with glow sticks and dancing.
A naïve Christian girl in attendance is pressured by her peers to try a sip of liquor, and a moment later, she is passed out on a pool table. Supposedly ravaged by drugs, she is violently raped by multiple guests of the party. Once she regains consciousness, she is dared by her tour guide, Satan in disguise, to take her own life. She does. Nearly ten minutes into the start of Hell House, the audience is already forced to watch a gang rape and gory suicide.
These graphic scenes are sure to provoke a variety of responses from the relatively liberal Buffalo theatre crowd, as well as those who protest Warfield’s production. Already, religious leaders and residents alike are reacting in ways greatly different than those generated by the press and public across the South.
Alexander Tullis is a Minister of the University at Buffalo’s Commons Christian Fellowship. He has never heard of Hell House before and upon viewing the Hell House Buffalo trailer, he smiled and laughed, saying, “I hope that people don’t think that this represents Christianity.” He does not consider the play to have any real significance to Christianity because, as he said. “That’s not what Christ did, I don’t want to scare anyone into salvation.” Another member of the Fellowship, sophomore Biomedical Sciences major Shanita McLain, was also unaware of the production and its history. “This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. This is another reason people are scared and run away from the church,” she said.
Todd Warfield’s Hell House Buffalo is sure to draw a myriad of people into Main Street’s Alleyway Theatre from now until October 31. Some may be seeking spiritual guidance, others a cheap Halloween thrill; either way the production will be certain to elicit sentiment from across the emotional spectrum. Shanita McLain just hopes that the church didn’t go overboard in trying to convert people to Christianity.
“You have to use compassion and love to attract people,” said McLain.
Andrew Blake is senior undecided major and Photo Editor of Generation.
Dana Rosenwasser is a junior English major and a Features writer for Generation.
