KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While most people are putting on costumes to go trick-or-treating this week, one Kansas City, Kansas church is getting dressed up to scare the "hell" out of you.
This year marks 22 years since The Cure KC, formerly known as Praise Chapel, started its "Hell Night" production. It's a play that takes the audience through the lives of several people from all walks of life. The viewers then get to see where they end up: heaven or hell.
"It's not the Easter drama or the Christmas drama. It's something edgy," Pastor Kelly Lohrke said. "It's very relatable to what's happening in your life."
The show puts a spin on the everyday church play. With everything from guns to demons, it blends the experience of a haunted house with what the Bible says about hell, but the goal isn't only to scare the audience. Lohrke said he's seen it change people's lives.
"I have people who come to me and say I'm a youth pastor. I got saved at 'Hell Night,'" Lohrke said. "What we like the most is that people who don't normally come to church come to this and they find an experience with Jesus."
Lohrke wrote the play years ago to attract what he calls the "unchurched" and to speak to the pain people are experiencing today.
"The Bible says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow," Lohrke said. "Most churches talk about the yesterday, what Jesus did a long time ago. They talk about Jesus coming back someday, but we want to bring something about what God can do today with the pain, the violence and the hate."
Many churches bring their youth groups to the play, including Lifegate Church KC. Brittany Wilder served as a chaperone to about 30 teens who attended this year.
"I've seen it before, but every time I see it, it just has an anointing on it and it's powerful," Wilder said.
"I got that feeling of what hell is like. It opened my eyes to a lot of things," said Christian Cobbins, who attended the play for the first time.
Lohrke said about 80,000 people have seen the play over the years. Members of his church help with the production, from acting to child care. They even put on another drama for children while teens and adults enjoy "Hell Night."
The drama continues Monday-Wednesday with showings at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $8 for the drama and $1 for child care. You can find tickets at hellnight.org.
