Tricks and Treats at the Sinister Cinema

On October 24th, the streets of downtown were alive with monsters, K-Pop Demon Hunters, Glinda and Elphaba, and many ladies. From 2-4, downtown trick or treating coincided and overlapped with Ladies Day Out, creating busy stores and traffic jams on the sidewalks. Buffalo theater students handed out candy and fliers to kids and families, and also many ladies, to promote the fall musical, Hadestown, and to serve the community. 

This past weekend also consisted of Sinister Hollows, which Zion Lutheran Church hosted for the 2nd annual year. This haunted trail in the field behind the church was littered with zombies, clowns, and other terrifying creatures in each and every corner. Jump scares, acrobatics, and bird seed thrown on guests from above are some notable attractions and scares, and they’re just as good as many professional haunted houses. 

The theme this year was ‘Sinister Cinema’, entailing film reels, theater signs, and themed sections of the trail around horror movies such as Annabelle and Friday the 13th. The actors consisted of various Buffalo High School theater students and Zion youth group participants.

Photos by Tuuli Youngquist

Sinister Hollows is a fun community event allowing student actors a reprieve from the stress of the approaching musical, while still allowing them to use their talents for service, and creates community outreach through screams and scares.

With it not being professional, there are some pitfalls: trial and error in scare tactics, a frantic makeup room, and a bumpy trail, but “even though we weren’t as prepared as we would be if it was professional, it went really well, especially because the theater kids are experienced with improv and thinking outside the box,” Kyler Jaunich ‘27, recalled.