House Calls

Gene Kirby and his fellow fright fans hope they can make at least one person faint at tonight’s Bloodview Haunted House opening. “Our show tends to be pretty intense,” says Kirby, who’s part of the 156-member Legion of Terror acting troupe that populates the house. “We take pride that we get people to pee themselves and pass out.”

For the past 27 years, folks have prepped for Halloween by strolling through the two-mansion attraction, which features a series of catacombs, mazes, and bayou-like “swamp rooms.” There’s even an adjacent cemetery where ghouls and goblins lurk behind every tombstone. “Our show is not geared toward kids, and we don’t try to fool people into thinking otherwise,” says Kirby. “And we certainly don’t recommend it for those with heart conditions.” A computer consultant by day, Kirby -- who plays one of the group’s sinister physicians -- admits he unleashes a “wicked twin” whenever he slips into character. “I have to be serious at my job the rest of the year,” he says. “So every [house visitor] is that guy who cut me off in traffic or that slow, annoying lady in front of me at the grocery store. It’s very therapeutic.”
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.-midnight; Thursdays, Sundays, 8-10 a.m. Starts: Sept. 21. Continues through Oct. 28, 2007