Haunted House Coming to Ripley

Get ready for the scare of a lifetime! The Go-Go Scare Show is a new haunted house coming to Ripley.

Charessa Wilkinson, owner of the haunt, says, “We chose Ripley because they support local businesses.” Wilkinson describes the haunted house as a “19-scene, 7,500 square-foot maze theatrical production.”

Going into the haunt, visitors will enter a sideshow-type party waiting area with music and actors. The room is filled with terrifying animatronics and black lights. There are no lines - just a huge area to mingle and dance. Groups of 4 to 5 people will be called into the actual rooms by the number they are given. Once they are in the first room, they will told a few warnings about the haunt. If you have health concerns, there are strobe lights throughout the haunt.

The mood of the rooms will go from light to dark with different twists. One room will have gummy bears, and another will have killer clowns from outer space. Rooms may have some tricks along the way.  For example, you may not know how to get out.

Wilkinson rented a building space in the same plaza that Cozumel is on. She and volunteers have built walls, painted, and decorated every room in the haunt.  She wouldn’t have been able to complete the haunt without the help from so many great people. Brandon Tomblin, junior, has helped put up tons of walls, ceilings, and has helped decorate.

He says, “We have something for everyone. Clowns, blood, murders, and the scariest of all - children. If you have a fear, you can bet we will exploit it.”

Trey Starcher, sophomore, is one of the actors at the haunt. He got involved when a friend told him about it and asked him to act. He has helped build the haunt since August. He says, “It’s going to be great.”

You may find actors hiding or standing in the middle of rooms.

The Go-Go Scare Show is a family-friendly event, although they suggest children under the age of 12 not to attend. Wilkinson says, “We want to share scares, not nightmares.”

The Go-Go Scare Show will run at 108 Academy Dr. Ripley, WV (by Save-A-Lot and Rent-A-Center) on September 28-29, October 5-6, 12-13, 19-20, 26-27, and November 2-3. The haunt will be open from 7pm-12am. Tickets cost $10 per person.

Vikings prepare for Homecoming

We got spicy deets for the homecoming game coming up this Friday! Ripley High School will be playing a home game against Brooke High School at 7:30 as usual. The football team is pumped about it.

“We will go through the game plan to see whatever the coach thinks fit,” senior Andrew Dolin said. “We’ll also look through old game films and watch some of the plays and pick which ones would work best,” he said.

Preparation is also a mental game.

“We’re gonna put our heads together and play tougher than the other team,” wide receiver Justin Wheeler said.

The team is preparing by doing a lot of conditioning and some offense and defense practice.  The Vikings are hoping for a better score this year compared to what we had last year’s homecoming game.

“Last year, we played against Huntington. We didn’t win,” fullback Jeremy Harper said.

We took a big loss last year as we played against Huntington which is another reason for the players to be mentally ready for this Friday’s game.

Nose guard Griffin Craddock adds, “[This year’s] score will definitely not be 49-7 - only if we’re winning.”

The coaches are also enthusiastic about the game.

Coach Ronnie Mullins is a graduate of Ripley High School.  He adds, “[I] really want to beat them because we lost to them when I was a senior during the playoffs.”

It seems like everyone is all set for the game! All the players are excited and ready to take the win home. We’ve won three out of four games so far so it’s looking like the Vikings are setting a stronger season this year. Come on out and cheer on our team from the bleachers as we prep for another victory!

Homecoming parade will be ‘Marvel’-ous

Homecoming this year has students super excited! Even the pep rally for the game has a theme. The theme of the pep rally is Hawaiian. Everyone is encouraged to wear grass skirts, leis, and Hawaiian shirts.

The homecoming theme for the parade and dance is incredible - Disney/Marvel! A lot of people voted for this theme just because we have never done something with superheroes.

The marvelous homecoming court includes: seniors Caydan Keeler, Olivia Miller, Jahlea Bumpus, Jonathan Zuniga, Kelsey Hill, and Easton Perry. The junior representatives is Emma Ray Hartley and Isaac Robertson. The sophomore royalty are Bailey Landfried and Matthew Moore. Last but not least, the freshman homecoming court is Toryn Scholl and Austin Litton.

Each class chose a different theme for their float. The seniors chose Spider-man.

“We will be putting lots of decorations on the float to look like a city,” said senior Jaylyn Sheppard.

The Juniors chose Pirates of the Caribbean.

“The people on the float are going to be wearing pirate costumes and bear onsies [to imitate the Bruins],” said junior Stormie Wilkinson.

The sophomores chose Toy Story and the freshman chose Winnie the Pooh.

“The Sophomores are wearing costumes. Gage Songer is dressing up like Barbie,” said sophomore Laney Harper.

The freshman are dressing like Hundred Acre Wood.

“We are wearing costumes. There are a lot of them actually, owl costumes, donkey, bear, tiger etc,“ said Freshman Chase Pepper.

Students will be dismissed at 12pm to go to the middle school to get ready and the parade will start at 1pm.

Minaj album ‘Queen’ stays true to previous work

Queen is the first album Nicki Minaj has released since 2014, and it’s definitely an album you should listen to. Minaj’s original release date for Queen was set back in June, but she waited until August to release it because of her “perfectionism.”

Lil Wayne said Queen is one of the best albums yet. It is similar to Minaj’s older albums but includes singers from different music genres. Like usual, Minaj talks about sex in most of her songs, but the beat behind this album is different. It seems slower to have a feel compared to her other albums although her rapping is still quick . She also features a variety of artists, such as Eminem, Labrinth, Lil Wayne, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Swae Lee, Future, Foxy Brown, 6ix9ine, and Murda Beatz.

Minaj is known for sexualizing herself and using profanity in songs and she does this on every track.  She is very confident in her own sexuality and is not afraid to show that.  

Minaj’s most played song on the album, and my personal favorite, is “Barbie Dreams.” “Barbie Dreams” is basically a diss track. She calls out Meek Mill (her ex-boyfriend), DJ Khaled, Drake, 50 Cent, Lil Uzi Vert, and many other artists. She even talked about Odell Beckham Jr. (New York Giants wide receiver) in her song for taking part in the KiKi Dance Challenge. Every artist she calls out is mostly because of a personal grudge or what the media has focused on in the past.

Overall, Queen was an amazing album. It is very catchy, although I would not recommend playing this album in front of your parents. If any album is worth your time and money, Queen is it.