Haunted Hallways, an annual haunted house through the halls of our very own Hoover High School, began about 10 years ago when a group of theatre students at Hoover decided they wanted to do a haunted house as a fundraiser. Nancy Malone, the Hoover theatre director, had no idea what it would one day become.
Hoover High School Theatre Department.
Haunted Hallways
A Hoover High School student poses for a photo during Haunted Hallways 2023. The students pick their own costumes and do their own makeup for the roles.
“From a sponsor standpoint, it is a great fundraiser,” Malone said. “It helps us do the plays that we do and the competitions that we go to throughout the whole year, so it's important for that reason. But, I love it because the kids just go for it, you know, I mean, like they completely invest.”
Every year, the thespian officers plan the theme, their costumes and the decorations. They hold auditions for the scare actors, and from there, they rehearse in scare camp.
Malone said it can be a difficult thing to rehearse, though, because it’s hard to predict how a live audience may react, especially because it’s different from other kinds of theatre since the audience is involved. The actors are also trained to be mindful of their audience, especially when a group of young kids walks through.
“When there's a young group going through, we send a message through our walkie-talkie system that basically says back off and don't over scare, unless the parents say otherwise,” Malone said. “Because we are sensitive to age groups coming through, I think that it's a good event for all different families and ages.”
Some past themes of Haunted Hallways have been Butcher, where the participating students are dressed as crazed pigs, and Asylum, where the high school is decorated as a mental institution and the participating students are its inhabitants. Malone said the parents of her students help out a lot with providing supplies and decorating the school to match the respective theme.
A large portion of students involved with Hoover Theatre participate; in fact, Malone said they ideally need about 100 students involved because the event spans almost the entire bottom floor of the high school, including the courtyard. Behind the scenes of the occasion, Malone just wants it to be safe.
“My students absolutely do not touch anybody who is coming through,” Malone said. “And also we have, of course, the fire department to make sure that we're in fire code. We don't use things that are easily able to fall or hit anybody or anything like that.”
This year, Haunted Hallways will be held on Friday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 25. Tickets are $10 and will be available to the public on myschoolfees.com, or you can pay at the door. Don’t miss out on a night of spooky fun for all ages.