Stage Notes: Haunted House

When I was a teenager I always loved the haunted house ride at the amusement park. It had that instant scare effect which got the adrenaline pumping, and led to the mutual grabbing of your date in fright. Daniel Roberts has written a play about a family that operates one of these rides on the Jersey Shore. A pair of techno geeks from San Francisco show up to interview the family, and that’s where it gets interesting. Brian Ziv directs. I talked with the well-spoken, very congenial playwright.

Hi Daniel. I used to love these as a kid. Tell me, is the one in your play a ride or a walk-through?
It’s a combination of the two types. You begin in a car and go through a variety of rooms, then the car stops and you are met by a man in a bizarre costume. He is called “The Ghoul."

You got me already.
He waits in the dark and you have to traverse this very dark room. You know he is in the room, and he is going to pop out and scare you to holy hell.

Aiyeee! So, are we going to go on this ride?
The play centers around the ride, but it’s about the family who live next door to the haunted house. It’s a family-run enterprise. Cy Dunn is the father and he dresses up as The Ghoul, and he takes it very seriously. It’s like a craft to him, like acting or acrobatics. He considers it his calling, “ghouling” to him is an art form.

Scaring people should be recognized as an art form.
The Haunted House ride here is very hokey and old-fashioned. It’s past its prime, the kids make fun of it, even though 26 years ago when it was brand-new, it was quite the attraction on the Jersey shore.

OK, what about the people from San Francisco?
Two techno geek gadgeteers descend on the house to do a video pod cast. One is Moses and the other is his girlfriend, Lucy. Lucy went on the ride when she was younger and never forgot the experience. She was 13 and too afraid to go alone, so Peter, Cy’s son, went with her. Peter still works on the ride and Lucy has always had a crush on him.

Ah, the plot thickens.
The crux of the play is that Mr. Dunn’s wife, the matriarch, Sorcha Dunn, has been missing for 8 years, but Cy is optimistic that she will someday return.

Are there any other characters?
Peter’s half-sister, Wendy, who hates living next to the Haunted House. Remember, these kids, for 4 months every summer, listened to a 90 minute soundscape loop of tortured souls, hissing sounds and crying wolves.

And I’ll bet we’ll get to hear it too.
It’s shorter, about an hour and 20 minutes running time. But I can say this: everyone who attends, by the time it’s over, they will have experienced the haunted house.

The Irish Arts Center, 553 W. 51st St., (212) 868-4444. July 9-Aug. 8. Thurs., Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. $15.