Article: `Hell Houses' receive spirited - and controversial - reviews: Creators defend them as way to lead teens to salvation.(Nation)

Many U.S. teenagers have been to a "haunted house" for Halloween, but few have ever been to hell - the evangelical Christian variety, that is.

In one of the bolder ways of dealing with the holiday that has origins in ancient festivals of the dead and is also embraced by satanists, 300 to 400 churches across the country are presenting their versions of the sinful life in "Hell Houses," replete with graphic dramatizations of abortion, incest, drunken driving, date rape, homosexuality, even White House infidelity.

Creators say they want to shock calloused youth into salvation.

Most Hell House performances last through October and tickets range ...

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