By Becky Bell
Special to the Camden News
For the chance to go back in time for a Halloween scare, visit the haunted Inkarcerated in the Columbia County old jail house downtown this season.
Organized by Kathy's Dance Art Studio to fundraise for dance competitions, the jail exhibit is made possible by about fifty adult volunteers, some dancers from the studio, volunteers from Southern Arkansas University's Tri Sigma Sigma sorority and members of SAU's freshman seminar, said Emily Barker, who owns KDAS and is the studio director and a dance teacher there.
Inkarcerated kicked off on Tuesday night and attracted 100 guests that could not resist seeing what awaited them inside the 1930s jail. There are 5,200 square feet in the old jail house building, but because of safety reasons, only the first floor is being featured in the production.
"Last night was more fun than we even imagined," said Barker. "The tour got better and better as the night went on. I knew the workers and I had a blast when we saw each other get sad when the night was over. Just getting to become a character and laugh at different people's responses was fun."
When Barker shared a Facebook post about the event, 700 people liked it, and she has been getting interested messages from people in Shreveport, Dallas and even one family from Tennessee, she said.
Parent Hollie Langford said being a part of the Inkarcerated was something her family was doing together. She and her husband, Stephen Langford, were dressing up and her daughters, who are dancers at KDAS, both have roles to play. Olivia Langford, 15, will be Hannibal Lecter's victim and Londyn Langford, 9, will play the role of a screaming girl.
"She's a scream guru," Hollie Langford said. "When she screams, everybody knows it's her and she's been practicing at home. A lot."
Greg Cox plays one of the chainsaw actors at Inkarcerated and although others chainsaw operators are assigned a place to scare, Cox's only request is that he is free to roam the premises and scare when he gets the opportunity to.
"I enjoy Halloween. It's fun," said Cox, who is the uncle of Barker's daughter, Sade. "I remember growing up in Prescott and there was a house that was really decorated that had a lot of characters and different stuff in the yard."
Cox said he is glad to participate in productions such as Inkarcerated because it gives young people something to do and remember about the holiday.
"It's for the kids," he said. "I feel like a lot of people don't do stuff for Halloween and I don't know why."
The jail itself is spooky on its own, Barker said, and jail co-owner Gina Bohannan gave KDAS the freedom to spray paint the walls to add effects. Barker said Bohannan told her the walls would have to be redone anyway when the jail is eventually renovated and Bohannan said she loves Halloween too.
The building did not have lights, so that problem had to be overcome and this was done in partnership with the Entergy company and the brain power of, Ashley Daniel, a software engineer. Daniel has family ties to the project -- her niece Addie Hughes is a dancer, and because her grandfather, Claude Wilson Sr. was sheriff of Columbia County for 12 years and used to live in the jail along with his wife, Debbie Wilson, and Daniel's father, Larry Don Wilson. Debbie Wilson was the jail's cook.
Because Daniel's grandfather was sheriff, she has been to the basement where the caskets were kept for prisoners who died while incarcerated, and that area is creepy, she said. The whole building has an off-putting environment and because it has never had air conditioning, it used to have a smell.
Barker, who is a kindergarten teacher for Magnolia School District also, said she left her school bag inside the jail the other night and when she thought about going back to retrieve it, decided that it would have to be put off until daylight.
The Inkarcerated haunted jail exhibit will be open Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22-23, and Monday through Sunday, Oct. 25-31. Hours are 7 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 7 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 6 to 9 p.m. on Halloween Night. "Bail" for attendees is $10 per person.