MAGGIE GILROY
Reverb Editor
Now that temperatures have dropped and the leaves turned to crimson, it is time to resume the traditional fall activities. As everyone is busily crafting the best Halloween costumes, picking apples, carving pumpkins and holding scary movie nights, the Interactive Theatre Society is currently hard at work bringing one of Fredonia’s favorite fall traditions to life.
“Terror in the Trees” will return to the Ring Road Forest to haunt Fredonia Students on Oct. 24.
“Terror in the Trees” is a haunted walk through Ring Road Forest. As visitors enter the forest, around twenty members of the Interactive Theatre Society will be stationed throughout the forest, scarring and haunting each innocent passerby.
This year the event will be themed, “Terror of the Trees: The Unfortunate Case of Grimsley Manor.”
“We’ve actually tried to do things in the past and this is the first year where we have actually successfully done it,” said ITS President Tiffany Conners.
“The Unfortunate Case of Grimsley Manor” takes place in a house, previously owned by the Grimsley family, where many terrible things have happened. As audience members enter, the ghosts of the family members and their victims are now haunting the house.
It may sound reminiscent of the Haunted Mansion ride in Disney World, “…but a lot more sinister,” Conners assured. “It’s going to be different than every other year in Terror in the Trees.”
This year’s production will also feature a much bigger cast than past years, as well as 16 scenes, which are more scenes than in previous years.
“I wanted to have much less empty trail-space than before, and I wanted to accommodate the path that we’ve been given,” Conners said.
For audience members who may be easily scared, the option to leave the trail early is available. If audience members choose to leave the trail, members of Extreme Sports of Fredonia (Nerf Club) will be stationed at every scene to escort visitors out.
“Even if you’re too scared, it’s a lot of fun,” Conners said. “It’s something to do that’s not going downtown and spending an arm and a leg in a bar.”
Being interactive, as opposed to scripted, the theater group is unique from other theater societies on campus.
“You have to be willing and able to interact with your audience,” said Conners of the group’s members.
Actors in “Terror in the Trees” observe the behaviors of their audience members in order to determine what will scare a particular attendant. Some even listen for
names, personally addressing audience members in order to make the experience even more frightening.
“The audience does shape your experience,” Conners said. “You and I, if we went through, I would not have the same experience as you, because you’re scared of different things or you see things different than I do.”
The Interactive Theatre Society is currently working on expanding and is anticipating events in the Spring.
“This is going to be nothing like you’ve ever seen,” Conners said. “It’s going to be really something to see.”
Presale tickets for “Terror in the Trees: The Unfortunate Case of Grimsley Manor” are $4 for students and $5 for the general public; admission is $5 at the forest entrance. Admission begins at 8 p.m. and the line will be cut off at midnight. It will take place from Oct 24-26 and Oct. 31-Nov. 2 and is located at the forest by Ring Road, next to the clock tower.
“There really is nothing like this, it’s something that you have to experience,” said Conners. “It’s like the Rocky Horror Show, this is one of those things, check it off your list: you’ve done Terror in the Trees.”