REUTERS/JESSICA RINALDI (BOY, ABORTION SCENE); COURTESY OF PASTOR KEENAN ROBERTS (CAR ACCIDENT)
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HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
The method is effective, according to Roberts. By the time guests
reach the final, “heaven” scene (a
room draped in silvery cloth) Roberts says around 1 in 4 of the more
than 75,000 who have traipsed
through his church’s production
over the last 16 years have either
decided to join the Christian faith
or renewed their commitment to it.
Since 1996, Roberts, pastor of
the New Destiny Christian Center
in Colorado, has sold more than
one thousand Hell House kits to
youth pastors. It’s unclear who
put on the first-ever Hell House,
but Jerry Falwell is generally credited with popularizing the idea in
the 70s, and a documentary made
in 2000 brought them further
recognition. Roberts’s own Hell
House serves as the template for
the hundreds of others around
the country that are built to the
specifications outlined in his kits,
which include a DVD of his production, a 300-page instruction
manual and a spooky soundtrack.
Roberts’ house typically consists
of seven rooms. In each, a different “sin” is played out to its horrid
conclusion. Roberts plays a demon.
Dressed in a black robe, with a
bumpy grey mask and large black
horns, he guides guests from room
Top to bottom: A boy is depicted as being trapped in hell; Trinity
Church members Christina Hunt and Jonathan Collins act out an
abortion scene as images of a fetus flash on a screen; a Hell House
displays the consequences of driving under the influence.