It seems that those crazy Christians from Potters House had something special in store for the kiddies this year…
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From the West Australian:
Trick or treat a church trick.
By DAWN GIBSON.
5 November 2003
(c) 2003, West Australian Newspapers Limited
Visitors to a Halloween haunted house were subjected to disturbing scenes of teen suicide and Bali bombing victims rather than the ghosts and ghouls they had expected.
About 800 people, including children aged under 10, are believed to have flocked to the haunted house in Beechboro last week after it was advertised.
But on entering the house, visitors realised the Halloween "trick" was on them. It is the headquarters of the Potters House Christian Centre and the experience was an elaborate attempt to get converts.
Visitors paid $2 each to be taken inside in groups of about 10 and shown graphic scenes acted out by church members, including a teenage boy lying in a bath with slashed wrists. This was followed by a man dressed up as the devil, who told the audience they were going to hell because they were sinners, and another who played the role of Jesus Christ.
A City Beach woman said the experience was scary but not in the way she had expected. Her partner was told that his mother, who recently died from cancer, was in hell because she was not a Potters Christian.
She said the walls were covered with black plastic, making it difficult to find the exit, and the group she was in were told they were not allowed to leave the room until at least one had joined the Church. A woman did and the rest were allowed to leave.
She had rung an information line in the advertisement but there was no mention of a religious group.
Another woman who contacted The West Australian was concerned that young children were allowed in, despite a warning on the advertisement that it was not suitable for children under 12.
She said the advertisements were misleading and she would complain to the Advertising Standards Bureau.
They did not mention that the event was run by a church group and gave the impression that it would be a Halloween-themed experience. A catchline said it would be an "audiovisual, multisensory, spine-chilling, fear-tingling, heart-thumping event."
Potters House Christian Centre assistant pastor Darryl Munckton said information line callers were told that it was a Christian group. Signs outside warned that scenes would be graphic and it was not recommended for people with heart complaints.
Mr Munckton said it was rubbish that people were detained against their will. His Church believed people had to have a relationship with God to go to heaven but this did not necessarily mean they had to be a Potters member.
An Advertising Standards Bureau spokeswoman said it dealt with offensive advertisements, not misleading ones. Any complaints would be sent to the Department of Consumer Protection. A department spokeswoman said she had not received any.
Mrs D says:
Well I'm scared … very scared. Alas there isn't a [color=yellow]smiley face[/color] to demonstrate just how much.
Mrs D.
Big Daddy says:
Nothing you don't see at either (a) the Royal Show ghost train, or (b) Spider Boys initiation….
No worries aboot the smiley face when you've always got…. LOLSCARYCHURCHCULT2003! :love:
Bigg Daddy W says:
Sorry, this is completely off the topic, but I just had to express/ share my indignation at what qualifies for "news" these days….
Take the following example, under the heading "Timberlake and Diaz to Marry!" - Granted, not really an earth shattering revelation, unless you are on Brittney's Hep-C list, but I was intrigued as to the actual source of this Worthy News item…
"Justin and Cameron were at a pal's birthday party in Bel-Air and a fortune teller was hired by the host to entertain guests. When he read Cameron's palm he told her that she would be married before the end of the year. She believes it's in the stars and that Justin is her true soul mate and that their future together is meant to be", the source said.
OHHH that's right!!! :roll: This must be the same "source" who comments extensively in Women's Weekly, The Sun and aintitcoolnews.com (Sorry, did I mention the "article" was derived from the Daily Mirror?).
Seriously, a fucking "source" tells of a alleged "Bell Air party" where a fucking "fortune teller" said she "may be married by years end" to fucking "someone"….
Man, I'd love to be Mr The Source or Mr Insider's Say, and be paid to put words in the mouths of celebrities without any damage to my non-existent credibility - just for the invite to the ARIA's or to go on one of those hypnotism shows, :huh:
Eat :puke: Holly Valance!!
[/rant off]
KL says:
Dude, you need to chill out and speak to Jesus. There's this place called Potters House, they'll look after you and make you feel better…
Mrs D says:
Sorry I should have been a bit more clear. I'm [b]not[/b] scared of the horrors of our world [Well I am but I keep that fear squashed deep down inside, so it can simmer and mutate into something truly terrible to one day be unleashed upon the world - as perhaps my very own TV singing career ...] I [b]am [/b] scared of the PC cultists. They do know that JC was a carpenter right?
fancy dave says:
Don't give them any ideas, Lou.
Just think of the "sawmill of horrors"!
KL says:
I like it Fancy. We could get a whole new angle at the Royal Show. How about:
The Poisoned Last Supper
The Cross of Nails and Blood
The Shroud of Pain
badger says:
you could rename the child minding room "Isaac's creche - we treat your children like they're our own". Could also run the petting zoo.
Bigg Daddy Wallbux says:
How do I segue this gently….
Ahhh fuck it, quality knows no boundaries, and THIS is quality!!
"I was pulled over for drunk driving by a female police officer.
She said to me, 'Sir, you have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be held against you'
So I said, 'Tits'"
:P :P LOLMIRANDATITS :D :D
KL says:
you truly are a fuckin idiot :hmm:
badger says:
bigg daddy, I know us university types have a tendency to be a bit, you know, 'right on' or 'pc', but you sir are a FNC disgrace! No smiley-face winks here!
Bigg Daddy Wallbux says:
Well as an upstanding member of this community, and in my role as Resident Legal Expert on this site, I feel it would be remiss of me if I weren't to validate my own opinions:
1) Badger, you are tormented by your own duality. On the one hand, you "PC" sensibilities are "upset" by my very non-PC joke, yet then in the same breath you refer to me as [long version] "a f**kin' c**t disgrace!" - which, if not only disingenuous towards our fellow female subscribers, makes little to no sense…
2)Lowbrow humour has its place - and that is on a Friday afternoon, with nary a care in the world, feelin-kinda-weekend jive going on. That, and under the [i]Unclassified Humour and Gagsmithery Act 2002[/i] section 14(2)(a)(iii) where it clearly states, and has been relied upon by two decades of High Court precedent:
"Should one disagree with said author's taste or brand or style of humour, said one is deemed to have had no taste or brand or style of humour of any substinence to begin with"
3) You guys are bloody lucky I don't reach thru your monitor, and ram you fnc heads into your own screen!
4) Admit it to yourselves, you bunch of lily-livered, panty-waist, homo-gays, PC-brainwashed luggage-handlers - you smirked the first time you read the gag, but then you've got this whole "Tortured Liberal Librarian/Student" shtick going on, and wanna have your bread buttered both ways! You maggots make me wanna puke :puke:
LOLPCROBSYAMANHOOD2003!
KL says:
Ahh lawyers, you can't trust 'em and you can't beat 'em.
Puke away, lawyer-boy. We'll see who's first against the wall when the revolution comes. :s
james quinton says:
driving to beechboro from city beach must be scary enough