With Halloween on the horizon, expect to see some zombies in Powell.

Powell High School theatre students will put their creativity and acting skills to work as they transform into zombies at a haunted house this week and again during performances of “The Night of the Living Dead” next weekend.

Students started participating in the haunted house organized by Christi and Jeff Greaham several years ago. When Jeff Greaham became the assistant director for the high school theatre program, students became even more involved with the haunted house each Halloween.

“I was amazed by the immersive theatre experience,” said Bob Hunt, theatre director. “Now the haunted house is one of the major activities that PHS Theatre Club students participate in.”

This year, the date for the club’s fall performance fell on Nov. 1 — the day after Halloween.

“We didn’t want students to lose the opportunity to participate in both activities, so we tried to figure out a way to do both,” Hunt said. “We found ‘The Night of the Living Dead,’ a one-act adoption of Romero’s classic film and settled on a zombie theme for the haunted house.”

The haunted house will take place on the evenings of Oct. 25, 26 and 31. The play will take place on Nov. 1 and 2.

“Students are excited to act in the dramatic horror genre,” Hunt said.

Due to the zombie violence in the show, the show is suggested for ages 13 and up, he said.

For the haunted house, there will be a lights-on tour from 6-7 p.m. on Halloween night for smaller kids to walk through and for people who just want to see all the kids’ hard work.

“Even with the lights on it can be scary and dark in some places,” Christi Greaham said.

Christi and Jeff Greaham started the haunted house when their daughter hit middle school, so she and her friends would have something to do, Christi Greaham said. Over the years it has benefited Park County 4-H, Powell-Shoshone FFA and now the drama club, she said.

“Every year we do a different theme, but since the drama kids have joined us, the haunted house has a life of its own!” Christi Greaham said. “The time these kids put into their events is unreal.”

Students help in a variety of ways, from building the set to doing the makeup design.

“… But when it comes to acting and playing whatever part they have in the haunted house, they [are] 100 percent the part they are playing,” she said.

— By Tessa Baker

Cast List