Party Time!

Chicago Halloween Fun

As the season approaches, I've been noticing ads for all kinds of Halloweeny goodness in Chitown. Here are a few:

Dream Reapers is "a haunted house using a new genre of haunt. One of old technology, dark, misdirecting and actor based scares carefully merged with that of new technology. High tech. animatronics, high detail and touching 4 of your 5 senses. It's been around for 10 years and, having been there three times, I can tell you I really enjoy it.

http://www.dreamreapers.com/index.php

This is an Edgar Allen Poe themed haunt put on by The Neo-Futurarium. However, it's not just on stage. There are 6 different vignettes that are through out the entire theater.
http://www.neofuturists.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=%20201

Chronicles of the Cursed is located on Grand just west of the Chicago River and promises that "victims will experience the rage of Hades, a killing factory, the dead coming alive, toys turning into demons, parking meters demanding blood, and other truly disturbing experiences."
http://www.cursedchicago.com/

If you are looking for something a little less scary for the kids, try Navy Pier. I've been there a few times in the past and there is good fun to be had there.
http://www.navypier.com/halloween/index.html

Another good spot for the kids is Daley Plaza, or Franken Plaza as they call it during the season. Midnight Circus is so cool to watch. And, bonus, FREE!!
http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/things_see_do/event_landing/events/mose/franken_plaza__daley.html

The Chicago History Museum does a really fun Haunted Pub Crawl. We did it last year and I actually had a little wierd experience at one of the stops. Looks like they only have one date left with availability, October 13th.
http://www.chicagohistory.org/planavisit/upcomingevents/tours/history-pub-crawls#booze

The Chicago Haunting Tours go year round. So, if you don't have time to do everything in October, save this for November. I've done this one as well and really enjoyed it. Of course, the one I went on was a pub crawl, making it all the more fun.
http://www.chicagohauntings.com/

I've also taken Richard Crowe's Ghost Tour. I will say he seems to be the most knowledgeable. However, be warned, he's not the most engaging. In fact, I found him more interesting when we were on the phone than on the tour. But, like I said, he does know every haunted story about Chicago.
http://www.ghosttours.com/

As I find more fun things to do, I'll post them. Or, if you know of something, let me know.

More Cemetery Pictures

The crew from Ft. Wayne were in a few weeks ago for the Harry Potter exhibit. I met up with them and we went to two of our more famous cemeteries here in Chicago. And, for buffalo wings at my favorite place in Evanston. No pictures of that but, DAMN, they are good!

Enjoy these. . .
Since this isn't how you spell my name, it's not really all that creepy.

You gotta wonder who put the heart-shaped purse on this lady.

Is this why there haven't been any Vacation movies in a while?

East Coast Invasion?

I've decided to try and lure all my friends from the East Coast here in May with promises of haunted pub crawls and ghost tours. Maybe I could talk the Omahomies into it to. If you are any of those folks, and wanna hang in Chicago in the Spring, contact me and we'll ge the ball rolling.

Costume Idea #2

The Peter Griffin VS Human Size Chicken costume.

So, this would be a costume for two. You start out clean then keep going at eachother all night long. Bring lots of blood and bruising make-up so that by the end of the night, both of you are a ripped up, bruised and bloody mess.

Oh, hey, booze can help with that too.

Costume Ideas

Until I can fill this baby with some real content, I thought I'd come up with costume ideas for the masses. Here is today's and it's for a group of women.

The Real Housewives Killingsworth Trailer Park

Just think of the tacky and/or gorey possibilities.

Oh, hey, booze can help too.

Until I can steal other photos

So the event began Friday night with Mark's wicked evil jello shots in Nashua . . .
And, next thing I remember, I'm in Salem.

Haunters begin to pour in

OK, pour could be a bit of an exaggeration. But, our numbers have swelled from 2 (Mark and myself) to ten. By night's end, we will most probably be up to 20.

I'm heading down to the hospitality suite any minute now (after chilling in my room for a few and having a beer) to hang with the cool kids. I'm sure I'll have tons of fun stories (read as drunken behavior) to post later tonight.

Ya'll come back now, hear?

Nashua Bound on the Morrow

Water the horses and prepare the carriages! Tomorrow is when we all ascend on Nashua, and it can't happen fast enough.

I'll post pics and updates about what's happening. I've had problems sleeping this week because I'm so excited. Hope I dont' sleep through the weekend.

See some of you this weekend. And, see the rest of you on the blog.

One week from right now. . .

I'll be hanging with my ECHC Haunties!! Yeah baby!! Now, if only I can get all my pre-Gathering chores completed before then. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

In case you need a little info as incentive to attend:


When......: Saturday, August 1st
Where.....: Fright Kingdom, 12 Simon Street, Nashua, NH
Time.......: 10:00 am
Admission: $20.00** Ages 14 and over only please! **

So far on the agenda....
Haunter’s Hangout - Please bring one of your homemade props, decorations or special effects and be a part of the spooky show-n-tell. * This agenda item will depend on the amount of participation.

Ghosthunting 101 – by Laura Guiliano - Laura has been haunting for over 10 years and is also a part of Para-Boston Investigators, www.para-boston.org. She will show off some of her ghost hunting equipment and teach us the basics of this growing phenomena. She will also share some of the findings of the Para-Boston team.

101 uses for PVC… OK, more like 10 - By Victor Bariteau (AKA Halloween Zombie) - Victor receives a lot of “How did you do that?” questions in regards to some of his props and surprisingly many of the answers have been “PVC”. As haunters we have all used, or experimented with, PVC at least once – right? If not, why? It's light, easy to work with and best of all, not expensive. Most of us know PVC can be bent and shaped with heat, but this presentation will take you to the next level. Victor has made rib cages, rusty pipes, wing frames, a fancy-shmancy cemetery fence; he has even made a “water cylinder” for a barrel pop-up. Along with PVC, Victor will also touch on how to work with fiberglass for water-proof corpsing.
Victor is Systems Administrator for State Street Corp. and has been Yard Haunting for 13 years in Fairhaven, MA.

Let there be light! - By Jim Wieloch - Jim will demonstrate how to automate lighting and sound effects using computerized Light Controllers. These systems are designed to control simple or elaborate lighting displays. The presentation focuses on the 'LightORama' hardware platform. He will review the available types of controllers from stand-alone controllers to synchronizing hundreds of controllers, motion detectors, animation servos and other devices using a personal computer or master controller. The information is intended for both home haunt and pro haunt applications and will provide examples.

Action packed build it yourself Hauntfomercial! - by Steve O and friends - In a tribute to the late Billy Mays, Steve O from the Garage of Evil has volunteered (begged) a few great haunters into helping him present a live how-to on building not one, not two, but three (THREE!) props in one seminar. These are "must have" props/tools for any haunter and easy to build for all skill levels. As the haunters build the items, Steve will explain every step and give the technophobic among us the knowledge and confidence to build them. When the presentation is done, the 3 projects will be completed and operational so you can see what they do and how they work.
You'll learn how to build:

* Laser vortex - Maybe the best bang for your buck. You can build this cool special effect for your home (or pro) haunt for around $30 bucks.

* Foam carving tool with variable power supply - This is not one of those cheap craft store special, but a real variable foam cutting power supply on par with those costing upwards of a $100 for around $25 bucks.

* Flicker circuit - The one, the only (the classic) fluorescent starter flicker circuit. For the soldering newbies, this is a great and very simple project to get you started on building your own haunt effects.

Doing all the actual work will be home haunters Jeff Durette, GoE Labs chief mad scientist Pete Flaherty, and the head honcho of Haunt Forum, Zombie-F. Basically we're going to leverage Steve O's strong suit - non stop talking. Steve, Pete, Jeff and Dave will be available later for brain picking, but we suggest you pick Steve's brain before the after Gathering festivities begin.

Tour Fright Kingdom - by Tim Dunne and Fright Kingdom staff
Not only has Tim Dunne (the owner of the Fright Kingdom) asked to host this year's Gathering. He has also offered to give us a full tour of Bloodmere Manor and a sneak peek of the front room of the Psycho Circus.

Dinner & Magic Show - It has always been our intention to keep the party going after the Gathering day. For those of you that have been with us a while know that finding a place for all of us to get together, to eat, drink (yes Steve, I said drink) and/or just hang out, is not an easy task. So this year we put together a dinner and a show… a Magic show to be exact.