ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C--3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: STERLING
SOURCE: Associated Press
BUT HALLOWEEN ``FRIGHT NIGHT'' was not appreciated by one woman who took the tour. She said people should be warned - of the religious views as well as the graphic violence.
A church's Halloween Fright Night display has come under criticism for using realistic horrors based on modern tragedies.
The Community Church created bloody and lifelike re-creations acted out by youth group members. Among the scenes is a young man lying on a blood-soaked pillowcase, an apparent suicide with a gun at his side.
In another, a police siren wails near a car that has crashed into a church bus, and beer bottles litter the scene. There also is a depiction of Jesus' crucifixion.
The 18-minute tour concludes with a two-minute session in which volunteers ask visitors if they are prepared for death and try to foster a discussion of God, organizers said.
``We want to show real life, modern-day tragedies,'' said Charlie Whitlow, a Community Church administrator who organized the event. ``We didn't want to have a Dracula, zombies or goblins, because they aren't real.''
He said the images were designed to get participants to think about where a life of drug and alcohol abuse and crime can lead. ``These are the problems we are facing today,'' he said.
But the realism angered Elaine Williamson, who toured Fright Night on Saturday.
``The public should know more about the realistic, violent scenes and the way everyone ends up in a prayer,'' said Williamson, a member of Mainstream Loudoun, a Leesburg-based group that monitors issues involving separation of church and state. ``It should have been made clear in their fliers that this is a church-sponsored event where religious views are imposed.''
Whitlow said 300 people each paid a $5 admission Saturday, the first night of operation, and only one protested at the religious discussion at the tour's end.
The fliers put out by the evangelical church did not specify that the horrors were realistic, nor did they identify the church. But they warned: ``Caution: Due to the explicit nature of this event, anyone 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.''
Fright Night organizers won't admit children younger than 6, Whitlow said. ``We know this is strong material for kids, and we think we've taken the right precautions.''
But he said no one should be surprised that religion is part of an event that begins in a church parking lot.
``After witnessing the real-life horrors that people endure, we want to be sure people understand that there is a God that loves and cares about them,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB