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COLIN PERRY
Assistant News Editor
Most college students have heard their fair share of fairy tales, but those expecting a gentle walk in the woods this Halloween are in for a shock. The Interactive Theater Society will put on the remainder of the annual haunted house attraction Terror in the Trees this weekend, this year bringing to life the theme “A Twisted Fairy Tale.”
Held at night in the woodlot along Ring Road, the event this year takes people through dark re-imaginings of the fairy tales from their childhoods, such as “The Three Little Pigs” or “Little Red Riding Hood.” Keeping more in line with the Grimm Brothers’ original versions, the characters are grotesque and often bloodied — designed to horrify.
Junior music industry and audio production dual major and Interactive Theater Society President Liz Roman said the theme appealed to her and other members of the group because of its familiarity.
“All throughout the night, we were hearing people point out different characters, and I thought that was neat,” she said.
Sophomore education major William Atkinson called the spin on classic fairy tales “a nice twist of things.” Atkinson is performing in his debut with the group as the character Rumpelstiltskin, a trickster who the brave souls who embark on “A Twisted Fairy Tale” meet early on.
“We’ve all grown up and we all know what [happens]: everybody lives happily ever after. My character shifts everything,” Atkinson added. “He makes it his own twisted universe.”
The differences are more than apparent, but a doctoral thesis in fairy tales is not required to appreciate the attraction. The actors involved utilize a number of handmade sets, strategically-placed lights and the camouflage of the forest in order to scare as much and as often as possible.
Of course, most of the work is done by the performers, almost all of whom improvise to fit each individual situation. Senior theater arts major Cassidy Fritsch, who is in her third year of participating in Terror in the Trees, sometimes finds herself surprised by how people react when she tries scaring them.
“Just last night, I jumped out and these girls started backing up into the corner without me even backing them up into it,” Fritsch said. “They went instinctively, without me. I was wondering, ‘What are you doing?’”
Due to the nature of the event, all participants in the walk must sign a waiver before they begin. That said, Terror in the Trees makes a point not to interact too strongly with its audience by touching them at any point throughout.
“It’s a safety reason,” Roman said, “and it’s also dark in the woods. We don’t want [anybody] freaking out.”
Despite the hands-off policy, Fritsch thinks the attraction is plenty scary from its production values alone.
“The sets are really amazing,” said Fritsch. “It actually is pretty terrifying when you’re walking through a scene by yourself.”
Shannon Smith was visiting the area last weekend and bravely embarked on the journey through the woods, but did not come out nearly as scared as she had anticipated. She did, however, appreciate the fairy tale theme.
“I thought it was kind of cool,” Smith said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m in [the TV show] ‘Once Upon a Time’ like I’ve always wanted to be.’”
While Fritsch found herself frightened, she also feels that there are more reasons to walk through than to experience the scare factor.
“We get different crowds. We get the terrified crowd that likes to run and scream […] and we get the crowds that just enjoy it and enjoy coming year after year … All of the actors and directors and everyone else just puts in so much work, and we’re able to pull it off beautifully.”
Terror in the Trees will be held Oct. 29–31, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Lakeshore Humane Society in Dunkirk.