Nightmare at Kinyon School

Oct 02, 2014

POPLAR BLUFF – There is just something about autumn that invites a good scare. Maybe it’s the way the cooling wind whips through the baring trees, whispering in conspiratorial tones. Maybe it’s because you always hear that crunch of leaves, as if you are being followed.

Subrina Berger loves that feeling. “It’s exhilarating to feel a little scared,” she explains.

“Ever since I moved back to Poplar Bluff in 2004, I’ve wanted to do a haunted house. And I mean REALLY do a haunted house!” she exclaimed.

She shared her scary dream, or nightmare, with Poplar Bluff’s Kiwanis Club and found support for the idea. “I’ve done other haunted themes, like with the Halloween Safe Zone and the Black River Coliseum when we did the Haunted House and Haunted Box Maze. But I really wanted to take it further,” said Berger.

“I actually proposed this idea to Kiwanis a year ago,” she said, because she wanted to take her time and do it really well.

“Then we got together with Asa Wyatt, who has the old Kinyon School. He loved the idea, and agreed to be our engineer for it,” said Berger.

So for about the past month, she and a crew of volunteers has been working hard to turn the old school house into a Haunted Masterpiece.

The main floor of the old building at 910 Vine Street has now been properly “haunted.”

If it has been one of your dreams to star in haunted theatrics, Berger says she still has room for more actors in this production.

“We’ve got nine rooms to operate, and we will have 13 shifts running through the end of October,” explained Berger.

The event begins October 4 and runs through Nov 1. Performance dates are October 4, 10, 11, 17-19,  24-16, and then Nov. 1

Berger says the haunted school will be appropriate for all ages.

“We have a no scare time frame for those under age 10 when the monsters will not be in the school on Saturdays, 4-6 p.m. And that will just be $5,” said Berger. The hours for the Haunted School are 6-11:30 p.m. Sundays will be 6-10 p.m.

Tickets are available at www.nightmareatkinyonschool.eventbrite.com Tickets will also be available at the door.

For a sneak peek of what is in store for visitors to the haunted school, Dark Hamlet Productions created a video. Berger is shown as a zombie with her 18-month old son. How did he react to his mom as a zombie?

“It didn’t bother him at all,” she says. “He watched me getting ready for it, so he understood it was just me with makeup and costume.”

Berger hopes people will come back for multiple visits.

“We will be changing it up every week, adding some new things, like animatronics. So you’ll never know exactly what to expect,” she said.

Kinyon School will not be the only haunted site in Poplar Bluff.

As a matter of fact, for one weekend Kinyon School is joining two other groups for a “Super Scare.”

“The weekend of the 24th and 25th, we will be joining with The Shriners, and Downtown Poplar Bluff, which are also doing haunted tours. On that weekend, people can get one $24 ticket to cover all of the haunted venues.

Proceeds of the Nightmare at Kinyon School will go to improvements made at Bacon Park, which is owned by the Kiwanis Club of Poplar Bluff.

Oct 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31
Nov 1

Friday Hours will be 6pm to 11:30pm
Sat hours will be 4pm – 6pm Kid Friendly (no monsters)
Sat Hours will be 6pm – 11:30pm
Sun hours will be 6pm – 10pm

Tickets will be:
$10 per person for adults (non-discounted)
$8 per person for adults (discounted)
$5 per child 10 and under (non-discounted)