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Hello friends.  I know that I have not been around much for a few months.  Things have not been going well for me on the haunt/Halloween front and I kind of took a break from all things haunt related.  Thanks you Queen_MorgueAna for chatting with me and reminding me how much I love this stuff....

 

Anyway, I am back to working on Mysteries Most Macabre and trying to promote a new theatrical seance and ghost hunt.  I have a lead on a movie theatre that may want me to produce an old time midnight spook show.  Creepy Critters? is getting off the ground. So, hopefully it will be a busy and creepy year.

I am closing down my law practice, but that is a story for another day.  Since my haunt related activities are not going to be enough income, at least in the short term, I am looking at promoting some other types of events as well.  Specifically, grappling tournaments and MMA events.

 

Well, that's it for now.  I will update my page very soon and try to be around more often.

 

I hope everyone had a great Halloween season!

 

Okay, I was going to keep this under wraps until things were finalized a bit more, but I have a new business partner and we are going to be building a haunted attraction this season!!!

The following is still a bit tentative, which is why I have been holding off, but we are making good progress and it looks like it is going to become a reality.

The Lords of Chaos, LLC is to produce and attraction tentatively named House of Chaos. We, the Duke of Darkness and the Earl of Evil will be bringing our skills to bear on what we hope will be a truly unique and entertaining haunt.

We are brainstorming themes right now. We have a barn full of props, and are eager to get started. I am in the process of designing a couple of custom magic illusions for use in part of the show.

Soon, we will be searching for a location in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon. If anyone has any ideas on that score, please let me know.

Anyway, a more formal announcement will be posted once we file the paperwork to form the company, but I couldn't wait any longer to let my friends know.

Dave

Friday night my humble abode was invaded by a host of seventh graders. 12 - 13 year olds ready to be search out those things that go bump in the night.

Dinner: The plan was to grill hamburgers and hot dogs to go along with the more spooky/gross type foods. I went out to fire up the grill and found out that it had somehow been turned on. Not a drop of propane left! I ended up having to cook 20 hamburgers and 10 hot dogs on my little griddle in the kitchen. A major pain and an inauspicious start.

The kids showed little interest in the spookier type foods. My Meathead, Brain Dip, and Kitty Litter cake went virtually untouched. I thought these would be very popular with this crowed, they have always disappeared quickly when I have taken them to other events. Maybe it was just the age of this group. I was very disappointed.

The Invocation: I laid out the backstory, performed a couple of rituals for our protection, did an experiment or two to see if we could contact the spirits, and did some divination to find out that our proceedings were cursed! This part was not too scary and done in full light. Just spooky enough so that I could see who was going to be vulnerable.

The Ghost Hunt: The kids drew their missions from a bag and paired up with the other person who drew the same mission. Two by two they were sent off into the dark behind the barn to visit the graves of those who had died here a century and a half ago. Some took pictures of the graves, others asked questions of the spirits using pendulums. Most started getting a little scared and one came back in tears.

The Seance: After discussing what everyone experienced at the grave sites and reviewing the pictures and messages we entered into the seance proper. We attempted to contact the spirit of Jenny Jones (no, not THAT Jenny Jones) to ask who had murdered her. All that we learned from her was that she was not the only spirit present. A vase fell of the Buffet table across the room, the candle went out, books flew about the room, taps and bangs could be heard from above the table and various other parts of the room, then everyone saw a ghost go floating through the room!

I called for the lights and someone noticed that the guest list which everyone had signed at the beginning now had a bloody hand print on it. When opened it contained a spectral warning and stated that it now knew all our names.

At this point 4 were in tears and one was begging me not to continue (this was the end of the script anyway, but gave me a great excuse to "cut it short"). All but one freely admitted to being freaked out. I sent them off to watch Van Helsing, as they were in no shape for anything scarier.

All in all I would say a grand success.

It has long been my goal to make my living from Dark Entertainment -- including haunted attractions. I have been involved in numerous charity and professional projects, but have not yet been able to make the leap to doing it as a career.

My 12 year old son, on-the-other-hand, has shown only mild interest. While he as always been eager to go check out the haunts, he never really considered it a big deal. All that has begun to change however. He decided that he wanted to host a Halloween party this year, and we are doing a haunted ghost hunt, seance, voodoo ceremonies, and more. He started helping me build props for the event and got very excited about how they were turning out.

Last night, I took him to see a haunt that I have done a lot of work with in the past, including serving as an attraction manager. This is a big haunt, and a pretty good one (voted 13th best in nation by AOL). After going through I asked the owner if we could stay and play for a bit. My son had gone to the haunt in costume, so I got a similar one from the costume room, had the make up person do some airbrushing on each of us, gave my son a brief haunt acting lesson, and we were off to entertain those waiting in line outside to get in.

2 minutes later he earned his first scream. Ten minutes later, he chased his first screaming teen across the parking lot. He stayed in character for the entire four hours and still wasn't ready to leave (even with no-one left to scare!) The whole way home I heard about all the scares he got and all the ideas he had for my future attraction. He even wanted to hear a bit about the business side of the the industry.

His excitement may wear off, but I doubt it. He has just joined the next generation of haunters.

Dave