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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1994)
. \ Give it a shot N > Laser light show — This show tonight and Saturday night at the Mueller Planetarium will feature the music of heavy-metal band Metallica. Nirvana will be featured next weekend, and Pink Floyd on Nov. 4 and 5. The first two shows will be at 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 p.m., and Pink Floyd times are 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. Tickets are $4 each. Taste of terror tantalizes the handicapped By Ann Stack__ Staff Reporter Want something this Halloween a bit more frightening than a rubber Rush Limbaugh mask? Try The Fright Zone. New to the haunted house scene this year, The Fright Zone, located in Omaha at 5335 S. 139th St., is fully accessible to disabled persons. “We at first thought we were the only one, but we've since received an anonymous phone call telling us there is a small one in the Old Burlington Station in Omaha. So we may not be the only one.” said Buck Weyerman, marketing director for Yard Art, Inc., which is putting on the house. The house also is the one of the largest in the state, Weyerman said. Formerly a health spa. The Fright Zone covers more than 20,000 square feet. The idea for handicap accessibility evolved from the American Disabilities Act, which has been effective in providing rights for the physically challenged. “We went by the ADA as far as what to do safety- and code-wise,” Weyerman said. Instead of using staircases to get into the one-level building. Weyerman said, the Zone uses ramps, providing access for wheel chairs. “Everyone should be able to come and have the Halloween experience,” he said. Don Losole. president and owner of Yard Art. said The Fright Zorte went above and beyond the ADA. Most of the paths in the haunted house are 4 to 6 inches wider than specified under the ADA. Losole said. And there is only one alternate path that wheelchair users must follow; others must crawl o^pr a snake pit. “Most people probably would rather not do it (crawl) anyway,” he said. “We are l(X) percent handicapped-acces sible.” he said. Other things that set The Fright Zone apart from other haunted houses are all the technical innovations it contains. The house uses animatronic effects similar to those used at Disneyland, Weyerman said. See FRIGHT on 7 . ion Wallw/DN Bill Thallsr, Usa Mantzaris and har son, Andrew, maka thalr way through Tha Fright Zona In Omaha. Tha Fright Zona ofTsrs many advantagss ta patrons, Including; llvs snakss and rats, a hards af ghsuls and freaks, and axtra-wlds walkways for dlsaMsd customars. Soul-seekers ride spirits tour By Pula Lavlgn* Senior Reporter Lincoln is a “dead" town, and local residents and visitors are flocking to see why. They’re interested in the ghosts, apparitions and polter geists that highlight a motorcoach tour of Lincoln's “hauntingly” popular spirits. The tour, sponsored by the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau, runs every Friday in Oc tober from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The motorcoach starts and stops at the state fairgrounds and visits more than 12 popular haunts, including the C.C. White Building on the Nebraska Wesleyan campus, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Temple Building and the state peniten tiary. Although the tour was started five years ago, this is the first year it will be offered to the public — and it’s already booked. Dan Quandt, bureau director, said 46 people were allowed on each tour. He has a waiting list of more than 100 people. “It's just fascinating. Most people wish they’d brought a notepad to write down the sto ries/’ he said. Quandt said the bureau wanted to ofTer something differ ent to visitors instead of the tra ditional Capitol, museum and university tour. “Now and then, people are just bored,” he said. “If we’re the 26th day on a 27-day tour, we wanted something to make Lincoln stand out.” Quandt said the tour had a special spook of its own to make it stand out. Dale Bacon, a mem ber of Lincoln’s Parapsychologi cal Studies Institute, serves as the tour’s host. Bacon saw his first ghost in 1973. Since then, his fascination ' with ghosts and related topics grew. He said he had seen an ad in a local newspaper for a ghost tour host and had contacted the bu reau. With his natural narrative abilities, Bacon tells a grand “It’s not like I’m standing up there reading a script. / firmly believe in what I’m doing. ” m DALE BACON parapsychologist ghost story. “It’s not like I’m standing up there reading a script.” he said. “1 firmly believe in what I’m do ing ” Tour patrons also get a scien tific explanation of ghosts and translations of ghost terminology. Bacon said compared to other cities its size. Lincoln had an av erage number of ghost incidents. Some areas have a higher con centration of ghost-related inci dents than others. See BUS TOUR on 7 UNL students star in, direct Theatrix plays By Jod Itraucti _ Senior Reporter Theatrix will be putting on three separate one-act plays by re nowned playwright Alan Ball this weekend The plays will be directed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Channing Roos Julie Haeemeier, Theatrix production director, said, “The plays arc about contemporary so ciety. They deal with everything from the issue of marriage to humanity’s place in the food chain. “They’re all satires, so you can’t take them too seriously,” she said. “But different parts of the audience will be able to con nect to different characters in each play.” The first of these plays, “Made for a Woman,” is written for com mercial society. It deals with people’s images and how society views different people, she said. This play stars UNL students Rhonda Gerrard and Dana Wall, who play a woman and her boy friend, whose main purpose in life is to look good. Wall described the play as “kind of a runoff on two victims of the American way of advertis ing” “The two characters are the ul timate consumers, and it deals See PLAYS on 7 Show: Three One-Act Comedies by Alan Ball At: Studio 301, Temple Building Times: 8:00 p.m. Friday, 2:00 and 8:00 p m. Saturday Tickets: $2, available at the door
