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Beacon archives

Dallastown cheerleaders dressed as dolls for haunted Hallways.

Blood-curdling screams, corpse-like ushers guiding tourists through the deadly dark halls, fairytales gone sour, and a demented dollhouse: these were just a few attractions that were once showcased at Dallastown’s frighteningly unique Haunted High School.

For three years, DHS was transformed into a haunted house for the public.

“Mr. Myers and I went to a summer workshop where the speaker said that her school did it as a fundraiser for their organization,”  English teacher Mrs. Amy Anderson said.,

Anderson is also the director of the spring musical and the former coordinator for Haunted Hallways.

Anderson, Myers, and a few other DHS teachers took the idea and ran with it.

They then announced an to clubs and other organizations around the school inviting them to haunt a hallway and the ghoulish attraction was well on its way.

Haunted Hallways was an event held October 2014-2016. The school would be covered hall to hall in ghoulish Halloween decor fitting for the years theme, and people from all over the community would come and participate in the spine-chilling walk-through of the high school.

Before this spooktacular event was officially off the ground, clubs would meet a month before the event during a wildcat period and decide on a theme. Students would then stay after school for three hours the day of the hair-raising event decorating an area of the school, claimed by their club.

“100% loved that we were able to use the entire auditorium and return it into a maze– I also liked doing the makeup of course!” a DPAC member Michelle Asaro said.

When the frightful event was first introduced, about 350 people participated. Its last run-through housed about 700 people who came for the thrill of it.

The proceeds from this startling event went back into the various clubs and organizations that participated, with a usual wage at $300.

So why did this dreadfully cool event suddenly vanish?  

According to Anderson, “It was lots of work to get groups organized, homecoming was too close, and the kids were busy. There was a lot happening in the month of October. [Also], a group used a fog machine, which triggered the alarm and everyone had to evacuate. Working on both the middle school and the high school musicals made it busy. Also, Mr. Myers was also busy around that time of year.”

Sadly, Haunted Hallways ended on its second year of being introduced, but who’s to say that this event has run its corpse? When asked if Anderson could possibly see this frightful event coming back in the future her response was simply,

“Someone would have to grab hold of it. It would be cool to see this event return.”