Hell Houses (AKA: Hallelujah Houses, Heaven or Hell, Christian Haunted House, etc.)

[abaris]

Never heard of these before, since I'm from Europe. Our branch of crazy usually doesn't go the extra mile.

That said, I had my own experiences when I was 6 or 7. It was at school and I have a little explaining to do, for you to get what I'm saying. Here in Austria, when you're baptised into a certain faith group, you automatically get mandatory religious "education". It isn't as mandatory as it may sound, since your parents can at any time pull the plug and you're out. Also, once you're 14, you can pull the plug yourself. That's what I did at that age.

But I was in. Not that I blame my parents for it, since they were mild catholics and didn't know what was going on. I certainly didn't talk about it. We had our own version of the hell house, so to speak. I remember vividly that elderly woman teaching the religious stuff saying, that if you misbehave, if you sin, god will take what's dearest in your life. Can you imagine what that means for 7 year old kids? I virtually was in tears, fearing for the lives of my parents and it's still haunting me to this day. It was implanted in me at a very early age and it's oe of the superstitions I sometimes can't get rid of, even if I take my joy in blaspheming.

In short, we learned about all the ugly things, religion had to offer. Hell, punishment, that heathens, jews and muslims are excluded. It was only to instill fear and for me, when I grew a little, it was the first stepping stone to leave religion behind for good.