An abandoned funeral home in Rogersville, Mo., has caused quite an uproar in the community after it was announced that it would be used for a haunted house. (Google Earth images)
A creepy site for a haunted house has become the center of controversy in a Missouri town.
An abandoned funeral home in Rogersville, Mo., will be transformed into a haunted house for a high school fundraiser. But some of the town’s residents are crying foul – saying it’s an inappropriate and insensitive place to hold the Halloween-themed event.
The Preston-Marsh Funeral Home has been abandoned for some time and was slated to be demolished. But the owner of the building granted permission to students from Logan-Rogersville High School to use it for a haunted house fundraiser, WYMT reported.
The Logan-Rogersville High School said proceeds from the “Rogersville Horror Story” event would go to an event for the school’s seniors on graduation night. The organizers said they were going to utilize the leftover equipment left inside the funeral home as a way to enhance the spooky experience.
"I understand why people are upset. But, it is just a building," Christie Davis, a resident, told WYMT. "But, the [deceased] people are no longer there. Everybody in Rogersville has had friends or family go through this funeral home. I know I have."
"Some of us have friends that have lost their children on graduation nights in years past, and this is just a great way to prevent that from happening to somebody else," Davis said.
Residents took to Facebook to express their anger at the funeral home being used as a haunted house. WYMT reported some users said it was “distasteful” and “insensitive” to use “a place for grief and mourning to make a mockery of death.”
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“…As for the owners of the building, I'll never purchase anything from them ever again. They have disrespected family that said their final goodbyes in that building, where families grieved and now you're having a haunted house and in a building that we all spent time in may not been the best time but it was to say goodbye to loved ones,” another user wrote.
But others said it was an appropriate use of the building.
: “So much sadness occurred in this building. Now, for its last service to the community it gets to bring happiness and laughter, as well as some good scares to everyone...and for a good cause. What better way to end things?”
Despite the uproar, the event was slated to go on as planned, event organizers told WYMT.
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Some said they were glad the event was happening because it’s for a good cause.
“This is awesome thing to donate the money and help out, everyone needs to calm down, if you don't agree don't go to it, I don't see a problem, the people who had their funerals held there probably wouldn't mind it, either. I know my family wouldn't because we're helping our community and tearing it down,” a social media user wrote.
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