Stephanie Summar
Features Reporter

The scariest thing on Highway 6 and 50 for the last two weeks wasn’t the construction—it was the Edge of Madness Haunted House, established by John and Wendy Deister several years ago and staffed by members of the Mesa State College Drama Society. They are reaching out of the shadows to engage the community in the creepiest way possible. The production, which also incorporated students from Fruita Monument and Central high schools, ran during the two weeks preceding Halloween for four to six hours a night.
Thirty-two Drama Society members were required to run the haunted house, which was actually less house than journey. The frightening 20—minute walk wound its way through an abandoned truck shop, through rooms with themes like clowning, exorcism, and dentistry. Guests paid $10 to be scared out of their wits, but Society members hope that visitors were also impressed with the performances.
“It’s one of our (Drama Society) big community projects, because other than selling cookies and punch at shows and doing the occasional fundraiser, we don’t do much outside of the school. We do it to show our talent out there in a fun way, and also show our knowledge of makeup and that stuff. We’ve been involved with building it the whole way,” said President Adam Houghton.
“All of us have pitched our ideas and it’s been a lot of fun,” Houghton said.
It was also a challenging experience. With “Alice in Wonderland” opening in the Robinson Theater the weekend before Thanksgiving and “House of Corrections” opening in the Black Box Theater this Thursday, members of the drama department are busy as usual. The recruitment of 32 people who often have only one free night per week was a nearly insurmountable obstacle for Houghton.
“Monday night we didn’t have enough people but we still ran, and Tuesday we had to stay closed because we didn’t have enough,” Houghton said.
As president, Houghton has attempted to get the society more involved within the Grand Junction community, and participation in the Edge of Madness haunted house was the perfect vehicle to achieve that goal. It supplements the Society’s annual production of “The Vagina Monologues,” which usually runs around Valentine’s Day and is open to members of the community and students outside the drama department.
Members of the department have been participating in the Deister’s haunted house, which was previously called Frightmare, for the last four or five years, according to Houghton. Each year, the Deisters approach local realtors to ask for donations of property to put the haunted house on.
“This year, we ended up getting the truck shop in a disastrous state. It was dirty. The people who owned it previously abandoned it while it was really, really dirty, so we cleaned it up and we’re going to give it back to them in a better state than we got it,” Houghton said.
Usually, the Deisters obtain the location free of charge, but occasionally there’s a coverage fee. Due to a fluke last year, the program ended with $2,300 in debt. This year, they hope to make more of a profit margin, but even haunted houses struggle in today’s economy.
“The recession has been hard on everybody. It’s been hard on performing arts, as well as small haunted houses here in town. We’re not the only ones who have been hit by it. You only see a haunted house once a year, though, so people usually come up and say, ‘Hey, $10, that’s not bad’. It’s like going to see a movie,” Houghton said.
Civic engagement is rarely executed in such a thrilling manner, but this is the perfect way for Drama Society to give back and publicize the department at the same time.
“It’s a blast. They’re long hours, and sometimes it’s cold, but if you enjoy getting out there and scaring people, why not? It’s a thrill all the way,” Houghton said.