In the hell of a Dallas suburb
Dallas. “That is where people usually throw up”. Bettany says, while sipping her soft drink. “But this year it is going to be less bloody”, she adds with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Bettany is a senior at Trinity High School, a private school next to Trinity Assembly of God in Cedar Hill, an affluent Dallas suburb . Tonight, she is the one in charge of the abortion scene of the Hell House (photo Jarin Blaschke). Every year in the weeks leading to Halloween, Trinity, a large church, hosts a Hell House. For $10 a ticket, the goal is to scare teenagers into loving Jesus Christ. During their 45-minute trip to hell, kids have to watch scenes of suicide, bloody abortion, abuse, homosexuality, alcohol, drugs and murder. “In the Hell House, we show the reality of a life of sin”, says Carlos Ortiz. The 30-year old preacher has been running the show for the last three years. “Two things are unavoidable in life, he adds. Taxes and death. Everybody has to deal with that. The choices you are making now, will determine where you are going to end up when you die. That is what we want the kids to see”. Carlos Ortiz likes using the word “choice”. He speaks about his alcohol problem when he was a student. He speaks about his conversion to Christ when he was 18 and about his decision to lead a life free of sin. Guided by his own “resurrection”, the preacher has big plans for his Hell House. He has developed a trademark and invested in an ad campaign on Dallas buses. On a good night, Trinity can sell up to 1200 tickets. Inside the Hell House, the first visitors of the night watch a teenage doctor take out bloody chunks of meat from between the legs of a screaming girl. The abortion scene Bettany is overseeing from a dark corner of the room seems to be taking its toll on the impressionable kids. One girl has to be escorted out of the House. “I want my baby! Give me my baby back!”, yells the teenager who is lying on the fake hospital bed. On the TV monitors, kids are exposed to a video with images of foetuses and of a real abortion scene. Some girls are crying. Carlos Ortiz denies he is trying to scare kids into loving God. “We do not want people to fear God, he says. We want them to love Him. But in love, there is always a bit of fear”. “Are you ready to save souls tonight?” Earlier in the night, John Kincaid, a dyed-blond man, was giving a prep talk to the young actors of the Hell House and challenging them to be up to their divine mission. “Yes!”, they all replied. In the Hell House, Kincaid plays the role of a father who abuses his daughter - the young actress playing his counterpart is his real daughter. He then kills her boyfriend who tried to intervene. In the Hell House, actors use real weapons. “It looks more real, Carlos Ortiz says. It more expensive too as we need to have police officers every night to make sure we handle the weapons the right way. But it is worth it.” After 45 minutes of a gruesome show, the kids get to a white room where they meet Larry, an African-American preacher. Larry invite them to choose between two doors. One marked “Exit” leads out of the Hell House, while the other one leads them to a prayer room. Larry gives the kids a “choice”: “It’s your decision, he says. You could be hit by a car and die tonight. The devil wants you to go through the Exit door”. All the kids choose the “prayer door”. Dustin Brown, a 12-year old boy, is among them. After praying with the Trinity staff, he walks back to the parking. He is on his own in the dark and chilly October night. He says he really “enjoyed” the Hell House. “I am afraid to die, he explains. If you die and if God is not ready for you, you are trapped in a coffin and in your body”. Dustin came from Oklahoma with a group of teenagers from his church. Russell, a youth counselor who is looking after Dustin and his friends, is fired up. “You can’t leave hell once you end up there, he tells the kids around him. Do you understand that? Jesus is the only way to salvation!” Russell wants to open a Hell House in Hardmore, his town in Oklahoma. “An ambulance was already donated to us, he says. With that, we will be able to make a good suicide scene.” Jean-Cosme Delaloye / Dallas CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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