Freak shows. Why do they intrigue people? What makes people pay hard-earned dollars to witness that which is out of the ordinary? Why can't people just look away from those who amount to nothing more than perversions of nature? Probably because people are sick.

The workers at the Rising House, a seasonal haunted house in Lancaster, know people are sick, which is one of the reasons they know people will pay $5 to be scared out of their minds. It also is why the Rising House has chosen a freak show for its theme this year.

As visitors enter the building, located on the corner of High and Wheeling streets, they are greeted by a ringmaster who has yellow eyes. This might be the coolest thing of the evening, so soak it up. He leads you into the first exhibit, the ape-woman. This creature is a woman - that is, until the ringmaster plays a combination of tribal drums and reads off an incantation. She then turns into ... an ape. The transformation is impressive, but overall shock value is nil.

The Rising House is big on mazes; it uses them to get visitors from one exhibit to the next. These are generally the most fun to be had at haunted houses, and the Rising House does have its share of things that pop out at you.

The maze of mirrors is quite perplexing. One constantly must feel his or her way through because there is no telling what is an opening and what is a mirror. This lends itself to many different possibilities and a high factor of expectations.

After this is the maze of darkness. Overall, it's a let down. The passages are quite narrow, which makes visitors think they might be going the wrong way. It is long as well - too long to be lacking a big payoff at the end. The possibilities could have been endless; however, they did little to deliver anything.

Other stops on the tour include the spider-woman, who is - you guessed it - half spider, half woman. The Fortune Teller is very amusing and one of the highlights of the house.

The last encounter is the curtain. "The most hideous thing of all" lies behind it, or so the ringmaster says. To ruin this surprise would be unfair, but what lies behind that curtain is so hideous people could soil themselves when it's revealed.

As far as haunted houses go, on a scale from one to 13, the Rising House gets a 5 1/2, and that's being generous. The effort was there, but there were a few actors who did not feel it necessary to give a full-tilt performance. How can you not enjoy your job when all you do is sit back and wait for an unsuspecting Joe to come around and then try to shock the pants off him?

The costumes were decent.

The props left a little to be desired, but with limited resources, the Rising House folks do a pretty good job. It's worth the 45-minute drive if the only other option is going to the Greenery.