Spooky season is here and our Chandler High students love bringing the spirit of the season to our school!
Every October, A.P.A.C. (Advanced Pantomime and Characterization) and I.T.S. (International Thespian Society) Club sponsor this special, spooky, and fun event on our own campus! Chandler High’s Haunted House is an exciting event mostly led by students.
Stephanie Likes, CHS Theater teacher and I.T.S. Drama Club advisor, assists students in planning the Haunted House through I.T.S. meetings held after school on Wednesdays. A.P.A.C. and I.T.S. Drama Club members work together to expand our school spirit through this annual event. Their effort and time are all used to make an amazing and entertaining day, ensuring the Chandler community can enjoy the spooky season.
Ms. Likes has been motivated by students to continue the Haunted House tradition since her first years teaching at Chandler. Her son, Casey Likes, CHS alumnus and now professional Broadway actor, was the inspiration to start Chandler High School’s Haunted House even before he was a student here! Ms. Likes explained that Casey was interested in setting up a haunted house as an eight-year-old child but wanted to incorporate high school actors into his experience: “When Casey was in junior high, he asked if my high school students could get involved … By the time he started high school, we moved [the haunted house] here!”
While the history behind Chandler’s annual Haunted House is heart-warming, sometimes the process of producing it each year can feel much more troublesome. Ms. Likes explained that the event requires a serious commitment of time and energy before and during the event: “On Saturday of the show, we are here for at least four hours in the morning just building it.” Despite the enormous amount of hard work, Ms. Likes knows how much this yearly tradition means to students: “Every year my students will rally together and ask me to do it, so I still do it because they want to do it.”
As usual, this year’s Haunted House is hosted by members of Chandler’s A.P.A.C. company. Lily Cash, a junior in her second year with A.P.A.C., was one of the students in charge of this event alongside Ms. Likes.
“Between 30 or 40 students are planning this event along with A.P.A.C. and Ms. Likes,” Lily Cash explained.
Lily said the process of planning the Haunted House begins a month before the event: “There were maybe five or more competing themes this year, like video games, horror movies, haunted family homes, and more.” With so many compelling ideas, it was difficult for A.P.A.C. to decide on one singular theme, so they decided to combine two together: horror movies and a horror family house. After deciding on a theme, they used the following weeks to plan costumes, props, music, and more.
A.P.A.C. hosted this year’s Haunted House on the CHS campus on Saturday, October 26 from 7:00 pm to 9:45 pm.
