Horror booth story: to scare is to share

TO help raise funds for a Christmas party for street children, one only has to step into a booth and get frightened.

Mayor Jonas Cortes led the opening of the “Horror Booth sa Mandaue” yesterday morning.

Located at the City Sports and Cultural Complex, the Horror Booth will accept guests until Nov. 4. It is open from 1 p.m. until midnight.

The City, through its committee on the protection of children, is doing the project in partnership with the Kaabag Mandaue Inc., a non-government organization that helps the poor.

Kaabag Mandaue president Emerito Cabilao said proceeds from the Horror Booth will be used to organize a Christmas party for 1,000 street children.

Entrance fee for the booth is P20.

The City and Kaabag Mandaue have organized the Horror Booth since 2006.

In 2010, the booth earned P169,963. Their earnings doubled to P279.414 last year.

Forty percent of the proceeds will be given to the talents, whose job is to scare the guests.

Cabilao assured that this year’s Horror Booth is more frightening.

“Every year, lain-lain among pakulo (Every year, we employ different tricks),” Cabilao said.

The horror booth has three chambers. In each chamber, men dressed as ghouls and zombies await visitors. In one chamber, a real casket is displayed.

Some 60 members of Manpride, an organization of gays, serve as talents.

Nelson Lozada, 18, has served as a talent for four years.

“Ganahan ko makahatag og kalipay sa mga tawo (I want to give joy to the people),” said Lozada, who had a fake knife stuck in his head yesterday.

Some of the talents said they, too, get spooked in the horror booth.

Clark Socorin, 16, said they saw a mysterious old woman yesterday. The woman wanted to enter the booth, saying she needed the casket for a friend.