Halloween season is conversion season for some Evangelical Christian churches, and seasonal shows that aim to very literally scare the hell out of unbelievers are being cobbled together in time to save the damned. The highlights at Hell House, New York’s spoof of the morality play that is being constructed in its various incarnations around the U.S., include the death of an AIDS-afflicted gay man, a lesbian committing suicide, and the gory outcome of a failed abortion. For $299 you can even buy your own kit and construct your own Hell House, courtesy of Colorado’s Reverend Keenan Roberts, the pastor of Destiny Church of the Assemblies of God.  If Roberts is to be believed, 13,000 have converted as a result of their visits to Hell Houses, but surely there are better reasons for conversion than being bullied by fear, gore, and bigotry.    

Mimi Hanaoka