MIDDLEPORT — A house of horrors — that’s what the little theater on the “T” in Middleport has been turned into for a night of fright.

The River City Players will stage its first “haunted” theater production Saturday night as a kick-off to the Halloween season following “Pumpkinport,” a daytime event of the Middleport Community Association.

“Borrowing themes from classic films and the live stage, the costumed troupe will conduct ‘backstage’ tours ushering unsuspecting victims (guests) through several rooms of malice and mayhem where they’ll encounter familiar characters with macabre twists,” said Mary Gilmore, one of the creators.

She described each tour as concluding with a trip through the pitch black, 100-foot “Maze of Malevolence,” with an emphasis on the theatrical as well as the terror of a frighteningly good time.

The Haunted Theater will be open for tours 6 to 11 p.m. Admission is $3 per person. “But be forewarned,” says Gilmore, “while the tour contains both comedy and horror, some of the action may be too intense for young children. She suggests parental guidance, noting that the River City Players (RCP) do not recommend the tour for children under the age of six.

The Haunted Theater represents the first activity utilizing the RCP’s new “Little Theater on the T.” Located adjacent to the RCP headquarters at 99 Mill Street, the theater will be renovated for small stage productions and will seat approximately 70 audience members.

For more information regarding the Haunted Theater or other upcoming RCP events, call (740) 992-6759.