Spooky Season haunts high school

The inside of Seeley-Swan High School's auditorium has been transformed into an eerie maze, and the school's drama class hopes to get locals screaming during a one-night haunted house special on Oct. 27.

The drama class, led by teacher Katy Pellett, spent the last several weeks designing a maze and building different exhibits that the unsuspecting guests can walk through. Each room has a different theme made by the students, featuring the scariest masks the group can find.

"I got a full class this year and I think at least half just signed up for Halloween," Pellett said.

This is the first time the drama class has used the auditorium to make the maze. Last year, the students created the frightening attraction by using the hallways of the school.

Pellett said the students had to build and tear down last year's set in one day, so this year the students paid more attention to detail. The set will still have to come down later that night to make way for a concert in the auditorium the next day.

Senior Skylar Burkhard said the haunted house and drama class have been a great way to have fun. The group did a tour of the Field of Screams near Missoula to prepare their own sets. Other parts of the year the class is working on monologues or larger-scale plays.

"Drama is a good way to express yourself. We do a lot of improv and little skits," Burkhard said.

The improvisations will appear in each room during the show. The Pathfinder toured each room of the haunted house, but will not disclose details in the name of surprises. Let's just say it will be an interactive experience.

With the lights low and the scary masks out, the class is recommending children must be at least 13 years old to go through the maze. There is also a $5 fee to enter the haunted house, but once you pay, Burkhard said you can do laps of the maze for the rest of the evening.

Additional donations will be accepted, and will help pay for the field trip and material costs.