Transformed by Terror: Before & After Winter Hauntings

EPIC Update — 5 Min Read

Transformed by Terror: Before & After Winter Hauntings

Written by Autumn Ware

Photos by L. Terrell Gould, III

EPIC Update — 5 Min Read

Transformed by Terror: Before & After Winter Hauntings

Written by Autumn Ware

Photos by L. Terrell Gould, III

They say a good story leaves you changed. That may be a metaphor in some cases, but at Winter Hauntings, we have spectral evidence.

Carteret County photographer L. Terrell Gould’s lens deftly documented attendees in their natural state—smiling, relaxed, blissfully unaware of what was to come. And then, after an evening of spectral storytelling? Let’s just say, the results speak for themselves. Winter Hauntings didn’t just entertain—it transformed the community.

Emily Carter by L Terrell Gould III

Kennedy Brooks and Jessi Waugh by L Terrell Gould III

Melissa Kelley by L Terrell Gould III

Mylissa Latham Maynard by L Terrell Gould III

Skeleton Crew by L Terrell Gould III

Beaufort Bookworm Pop-Up Bookshop Owner Tara Sandmann by L Terrell Gould III

Perhaps it was the power of the stories themselves, the eerie glow of stage lights, the ominous orations of the performers, or the sheer thrill of gathering in the dark to share in something unknown. Or… perhaps there was something in the brew.

Alura Acosta of The Neigh Bar stirred her bubbling botanical potions with practiced precision, a modern-day alchemist conjuring elixirs to set the night’s mood. And whether it was her skillful mixology or the stories themselves, something in the air shifted.

Alura Acosta of The Neigh Bar by L Terrell Gould III

Alura Acosta of The Neigh Bar Close Up by L Terrell Gould III

By the end of the evening, no one was quite the same. Laughter turned to wide-eyed gasps. Easy smiles became expressions of child-like delight. Even the theater itself—battered by time and storm—was infused with new life, as Winter Hauntings raised over $2,400 toward its resurrection.

Whether caught mid-scream or fully embracing their new ghoulish existence, these before-and-after portraits captured by Terrell prove that we, as a community, are scarier than anything life may throw at us and that Winter Hauntings is a transformative experience.