October 25, 2024 - If you’re getting in the Halloween spirit and ready for some thrills and chills – take a spooky ride through Theater West Virginia’s Cursed Coal Mine.
Exhibition Coal Mine is happy to offer their trains and underground to ‘Enter at Your Own Peril.’
“But (TWV) does all the costumes, all the creatures, all the spooks; we don’t let people walk, they’re in the cars with other people,” said Beckley’s Director of Parks & Rec Leslie Gray Baker. “So very dark and the noise is magnified when you have people screaming and the fog and people jumping out of the dark at you.”
This North Carolina resident is drawn to the coal mine.
“Thrill for me to be able to come in here and see how the coal miners lived and worked,” said Douglas Urban. “I find it very fascinating.”
Saturday night (10-26-24) Theater West Virginia is holding its academy (training ground for young people). They’re having their recital at the youth museum.
“Coincides with the last night of the Cursed Coal Mine,” Gray Baker said. “So we’re encouraging people to go through the coal mine and then sit down and watch the new crop of performers that’ll be out at Cliffside Amphitheater.”
According to the director of parks & rec, people mostly don’t come for the history of the coal mine, but for the spook and the scare, inherently to be in the dark confined. This event benefits Theater West Virginia.
“We’re just glad we can do that for them because it’s a good fall fundraiser once their season has ended,” said Gray Baker.
In the past few years Halloween has taken on such mass appeal, she says — making it almost as big as Christmas.
“People love these attractions; to have Trunk or Treat, they love to have parties and they love to come out and get a good scare,” the director of parks & rec said. “So ours is not anything like a slasher movie; it’s not that scary. But your heart’s gonna beat fast when you come out.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO
When: October 23-26, 6-9pm
Where: Exhibition Coal Mine, 513 Ewart Ave., Beckley
Tickets: Theater West Virginia on Front Porch
Cost: $10 cash/credit (children under four free)