The Gracey Manor Project

The following excepts came from a small, leather bound journal that was found on November 1st, 2015 under a park bench in the small township of Liberty Square.  They are finally being released here on this Blogspot page and shed very little light on the inactivity and whereabouts of the blogger known as Zangz.


"October 30th, 2015. 11:35 PM.
I'm out of my mind excited for the adventure ahead.  I've spent tonight packing all relevant materials that I think I need and trying to fit them into my travel bags.  It was a bit tricky, but I think I got all squared away.

Though, I'll try and get some sleep tonight to survive the 4 AM wake up call to get to the airport tomorrow, I'm pretty sure my mind will be racing with thoughts of the personal investigation of the infamous Gracey Manor that I'll be taking myself on in just a couple of days!  Located on the East Coast in the small quaint town of Liberty Square, the mansion is ranked up there with the likes of Myrtles Plantation, The Whaley House and The Winchester Mystery House as one of the most reportedly haunted houses in the world.

To say that I'm not a little nervous about the lack of experience that I have when it comes to paranormal research would be a lie.  I cannot afford all the bells and whistles that all of the reality show investigators use, but I'll be one up on them as I've purchased a book called The Necronomicon that may just help me summon up some spiritual activity.

It's late and Im tired and I have to get up in a few hours to catch my flight.  I'll journal more tomorrow.

Zangz."

"October 31st, 2015.  8:15 AM.
We are over the rain clouds now and heading east on a Southwest flight that is experiencing a little turbulence, but nothing unsettling.  In a few hours I will be touching down and then heading to the town of Disney Springs, located a few miles southwest of Liberty Square, where I will meet up with an internet friend who's helped me out with a lot of the research on this project.  His name is Jack Lindsey and his grandfather opened a bar made out of an old airplane hanger.  Good drinks and good food will be had there.

Luckily I did end up having a pretty sound sleep last night.  As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was out like a light.  I did have a very odd dream, though.  I dreamt that I awoke from my slumber to witness a transparent woman, in a bride's dress, floating above me, holding an axe.  I couldn't move or speak as I was completely frozen in my bed.  I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I was alone in the dark room.  Sleep paralysis can be pretty crazy from what I hear.  That was the first time I've ever experienced it.  Odd, huh?

I think I'll try to make heads or tales of some of these odd symbols in this Necronomicon book while the flight lasts.  More later.

Zangz."

"October 31st, 2015.  11:30 PM.
What a fun and enlightening evening.  I'm resting at my hotel now.  After the flight I headed to Disney Springs to meet with Jack.  Disney Springs was at one time a quaint little neighborhood that has wonderfully expanded into a commercial mecca without loosing the small town charm.  I met up with Jack at his Hanger Bar and we had a great time.  Jack has taken the bar his grandfather opened many moons ago and expanded on it with a kitchen with excellent food and local microbrews.  It is filled with a lot of his grandfather's mementos and tokens from his piloting travels dating back as far as the 1040's.

After a good, hearty meal and some brewskis, Jack regaled me with a lot of the crazy history of Gracey Manor.

Built in the late 18th century the huge Dutch Gothic Revival house was going to be the home of a Jebodiah Crawley, a man as mysterious as the house itself.  Little is known about him but, there were rumors that he acquired his great wealth through nefarious means.  There were even rumors that he was into black magic.  The house would not be finished in his lifetime as the township hanged him for crimes that are not very clear or documented in historical notes.

The half built mansion stood vacant and unoccupied for a few years until another man of great wealth, Yale Gracey, purchased the land and restarted the construction on the great manse.

Yale was the son of a of a shipping magnet, Captain Gustav Gracey.  Gustav started his shipping empire when he was in his early 40's and seemed to come out of nowhere, quickly monopolizing the entire Rivers of America and what is now known as Lake Buena Vista trade lines.  Although he made his home in the deep south in the township of New Orleans Square on an old plantation home, much of his empire was on the east coast.  He rarely made trips out east and let his son, Yale, oversee the operation.  Gustav saw the opportunity of the half built house in Liberty Square and purchased it as an engagement present for Yale and his fiancé, Elizabeth.

Gustav's competitors and enemies, which there were many, created what was believed to be a rumor that Gustav was actually the great, feared pirate, Captain Blood in his younger years.  The scheme was to discredit him and eventually lead to an argument between him and a drunken patron at a pub in New Orleans Square that ended with Gustav on the fatal end of a bullet.

Yale inherited his father's business and fortune.  Unlike Gustav, Yale was very much liked by the people who he did business with as well as the community of Liberty Square.  He reinvested in the township during the completion of what would be called Gracey Manor.  He put a good deal of money into local businesses such as the Liberty Street Tavern and the Momento Mori Funeral Parlor. In fact, Yale struck up a deal with the funeral parlor by opening up several acres of his property for the burial of outcasts, the unwanted and people of diabolic background.  It turned out to be a sort of  upgraded Potters Field for the bodies that no-one else would burry.

The mansion was completed in the heart of the Victorian times.  Along with the massive graveyard, it became the focal point of Liberty Square.  It was finished just in time for Yale to marry his fiancé, Elizabeth.

The rest of the story is sketchy at best. and has many variations and turns.  One story goes that on the wedding night there was a horrible accident where Elizabeth accidentally suffocated when she locked herself in a crate in the attic playing hide and seek with Yale.  He immediately tail spined into a state of depressive madness and hung himself in the foyer.  Another story tells that Elizabeth was a black widow, con artist who had axe murdered a few other wealthy husbands with decapitation prior to meeting Yale.  Sadly, Yale became one of her victims.  Yet another story tells of the couple getting involved with a spiritualist, Madame Leota, who sucked Yale's fortune dry as Elizabeth's interest in the occult grew with Leota's influence.  There was some sort of poisoning that took place, ending Elizabeth and Yale's lives.  Leota was then decapitated by the ghost of Elizabeth.  In any case, all of these people did, historically exist and are buried on the property.

After the death of Yale Gracey the house had few occupants that stayed very long.  The funeral parlor that was next door bought the property, trying to expand their business with a far bigger building.  This lasted a few years, but closed down when they went under investigation of inappropriate business practices with the deceased.  It was also a mental institution for a very short period.  It seemed that the patients went even madder after time spent there.

The house has been vacant since the early 1900's.  It is owned by the township of Liberty Square and is protected as a historical landmark.  Although it is publicized that trespassing is greatly frowned upon, many interested tourists sneak their way onto the property doing their own ghost hunts.  Many come up with nothing, some have actually encountered paranormal activity and some have disappeared completely.  So there's all sorts of craziness coming out of the history of the house.

Tomorrow night I'll be doing my own investigation of Gracey Manor.  I can't friggin' wait!

That's why I'm hitting the bed and heading to snoresville.  More to come tomorrow for sure!

Zangz."

"November 1st, 2015. 9 PM.

I took and Uber to Liberty Square.  The driver didn't want to hang around after dropping me off in front of the grand house.  In fact he took off without charging me anything.

The first thing I noticed is how Gracey Mansion overlooks this township.  It's built on a hill and shadows over this small burg.  For being such an old and abandoned house, it seems pretty sturdy and well kept.  It's red bricked facade is neat and tidy, but is overshadowed by its size and imposing architecture.

There is no-one else here.  The smell is musty and wet, and the foliage creates odd shadows against the house's facade.  I feel that it is looking down on me, peering down and judging me.  It sizing me up and judging me the weaker.  Its plotting against me.

I'm creeping myself out and need to stay on the task at hand.  Jack gave me a skeleton key that opens a second grand entrance to the foyer located to the western side of the house.  I'll have to traverse through some of the graves and crypts to reach it.  Here goes nothing.

Zangz."

"November 1st, 2015.  9:15 PM
The walk up to the foyer entrance was interesting to say the least.  Many of the graves where ornate and reflected something about the past life of its occupant.  There was one in particular that got my attention.  It was sculpted into the shape of a grand organ.  As I passed by it, I swear I could hear organ music playing from within the crust itself.  My mind is playing games with me now.

Right before I reached the door, I noticed the grave of the spiritualist, Madame Leota, who, perhaps, is a big part of the history of the house.  Her faces painstakingly carved into the stone itself.  It so realistic that I think that I saw it blink at me.  The shadows are playing tricks at this time of night.  I shake it off and I'm building up courage to try the lock on the foyer door.

Zangz"

November 1st, 2015.  9:30 PM.
I'm in!  The lock worked and I'm in the foyer.  I'm excited, but at the same time troubled as I've run into my first big glitch.  The foyer door closed behind me due to the wind and I can't seem to get it back open.  I've been here in the dark for a few minutes with only my cell phone light helping me.  My service is out and I still intend to investigate the house.  The moonlight thought the few windows help me out.  I can make out the curtains and woodwork are still intact.  There is a framed picture of who I can only guess is Yale Gracey. He's portrayed as a handsome, yet sad and greatly aging gentleman in the portrait.  I'm going to wait a bit and see if I can get the doors open.

Zangz."

"November 1st, 2015.  10 PM.
Well, first of all, I can't get the door back open.  Second, nothing has happened.  Nothing Odd, nothing spooky and nothing paranormal.  Still no connections with my cell, the connection is still out.  The light works fine without using up too much battery power.  Perhaps the battery is being saved due to the odd cold that has suddenly entered the foyer.  Batteries work better in the cold correct?

I think I'll have to move things along.  If I can't get out this way, I'll just have to move forward and see where I can get to.  Since the night is somewhat of a flub, I think I'll see if I can't stir a little cation up by reading some of the Necronimicon out load.  I can't see much going that wrong since the night already seems to be a bit of a bust.

Zangz."

"November 1st, 2015.  10:10 PM
Things have started to get interesting!!  After reading a particular passage in the book, "Klaatu, barrada, nicto" a secret door opened up and led me into a hallway where paintings started to transform, busts of human heads glared at me, no matter which way I went and an old harpsichord started to play by itself.  Looks like things are coming alive here in the house.  I think I've had enough for the night though.  I think I'll look for a way out.

Zangz."

"November 1st, 2015.  10:40 PM.
Who the frell designed this house?  I've been franticly trying to find a way out as all this craziness is happening around me.  I ran down a hallway where every closed door had banging coming from it.  Even the wallpaper seems to be watching me.  I can hear some party music coming from the second story.  Maybe someone up there can help.

Zangz."

"November 1st 2015.  11 PM.
This just keeps getting more and more maddening!  Im on the second floor and I still can't find a way out.  And every time I try and find where the music is coming from, I come to a dead end.

That's not all.  I think I saw an apparition of a woman's head in a crystal ball.  It was sitting on a table in what looked like a seance room.  I only glimpsed it for a second, but It looked kind of familiar to me.  I can't place it right now because I can hear the music again and I'm going to head that way.

Zangz"

"November 1st, 2015.  11:47 PM.
My writings will never be able to fully articulate what my mortal eyes have just bore witness too.  I can tell you this, the dead do indeed walk among the living world.  They dance, they sing, they celebrate birthdays and they drunkenly swing on candelabras.  This place is crazy.  I'm going to head up a second set of stairs and try and hide and take refuge until the sun rises.

Zangz."

"November 2nd, 2015  12:30 AM.
I'm up in the attic and hiding behind some old victorian travel cases trying not to let her notice me.  She suddenly appears, floats about holding and axe, as though she's hunting for something or someone, then she disappears for a short time.  She's dressed in a wedding gown.  She hasn't noticed me yet.  There a window I think I might be able to squeeze out of and climb down some trees to the graveyard below.  I've gotta get out of here before I loose me mind.

Zangz."

"November 2nd, 2015.  12:45 AM.
The fall either sprained or book my foot.  I was never a great climber.  Im moving as quickly as I can with the limited mobility throughout the stones.  The yard is gated and I can't climb it.  There's more of them down here on the grounds.  The undead.  The spirits.  They flay about me.  Sing around me.  Laugh and tease me.  They want me to join them.  Every path I go there's a emaciated, translucent being blacking my way out.  They're everywhere.  I'm not getting out.  I'm to tired.  My foot hurts too much.  I'm to become one of them.

Zangz."

"Not sure what the date or time is....
Lost my sanity roll..........I'm number 1,000.

Zangz.

The Witch's Ride

Even though I've always been a fan of ghost stories and tales of paranormal activities, in most of my forty plus years on this earth I've never had any personal experience that has ever occurred that has ever really been a  real creep out.... until recently.

Sure, I've been plenty spooked by haunted attractions and some horror movies, but not anywhere as much as the experience I had a week ago in the dark, wee hours of the morning while laying in bed.

I was in a state of sleep with my head under the covers when I was awoken by the feeling that a person was getting into bed beside me.  I could feel the covers being pulled and weight being put on the left side of my bed.  Instead of being able to get up and see what was going on I found myself unable to move or speak.

I seemed to have just enough strength to peek out form below the covers, but all I could barley see was the pitch black darkness of my room.  My head found its way back below the covers.  That's when I could hear it's breathing to the left of me.  It sounded as though it was right up in my left ear, but I could feel no breath.

The breathing seemed loud and forced and got louder as I could feel some sort of pressure coming from the left of me.

Once the breathing got louder I could feel my body being pushed to the right side of the bed.  Slower and slower I reached the side of the bed where there is a wall.  Would I be crushed against the wall beside my bed?

At this point there was a palpable loud vibration coming from where the breathing was originally coming from.

Then it all stopped at once.

I found myself able to move and come up from the covers to see a dimly lit room, nowhere near as dark as it was during the "haunting".

I sat up in bed, slightly shaken, but ultra terrified as suppose I was supposed to be.  I guess I was able to rationalize that the experience was a full, blown, no holds barred witches ride, medically known as 

Hypnagogia.  I actually found it slightly entertaining in a very odd way.  I considered it a mind projected virtual reality haunting.  Now if only I could find a way to bottle it and sell it as a the next level of haunted attraction.  Brouhaha....

I'm hoping to visit a haunt or two next weekend, so look out for a review next time around.

Until then, stay vertical.

Zangz.

Something Different in the Darkness: Original Theming In the Haunt Industry.

During my days of rampant visits to haunted attractions of the Halloween seasons past, I visited many a haunt that kept their theming very simple.  A haunted trail or haunted house would be just that.  Walking amongst a dark wooded area or musty walls where all sorts of different creatures, mutants, axe murderers and witches would jump out at you.  No backstory.  No background.  No theme.  Just a good old fashioned free for all.  And I'm fine with just that.  I can see where haunters like to keep their options open and don't want to be bogged down with a set theme.

But, I will say this.  I have to admire haunters who decide to put a theme to their haunts in a bid to think outside of the box.  If you're a big enough entity to afford the licensing of some big name horror movies and characters, you've got a leg up on the competition.  Great for you.  But, there are plenty of haunters out there that bring their own stories and characters into their haunts and that is where I'm particularly impressed.

Lets take a YouTube look at some haunted attractions that put together their own stories of the macabre into haunts.

TheDentSchoolhouse On YouTube (subscribe and give them a Like.)

The Dent School House in Cincinnati Ohio is an actual old school house that has been transformed into one of the midwest's best known haunted attractions.  It's based on a backstory where a psychotic maintenance man went on a murder spree quite awhile back.  Now his ghost and those of many of the students haunt the walls of the old school.

Inside The Magic  On YouTube (subscribe and give them a Like.)

Not all of the Haunted Attraction houses that appear at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights can be themed around their usual franchised staples (Walking Dead, Halloween, The Purge).  They do still step out of their comfort level to bring attraction fans houses from outside of the box.  One such haunt was based off of an old Hispanic legend of La Llorona - The Weeping Woman.  The ghost of a beautiful woman who drowned her two children.

Them Park Adventure On YouTube (subscribe and give them a Like.)

Knotts Berry Farms Theme park's Halloween showcase, known as Knotts Scary Farm doesn't have any access to already existing franchises or licensing that its competition has.  So all of their haunts have to have original theming and storylines.  This one featured is a pretty original idea.  We've become accustomed to the ghost searcher reality shows that have become commonplace within our pop culture.  This haunt brings you on one such paranormal investigation where everything goes horribly wrong.  This show has some pretty over the top (of your head) special effects.  Can you brave Paranormal Inc.?


That will be it for today.  Until the next time, keep your eyes in the back of your heads during the season of dark magic.  You never know what is keeping their eyes on you!

Stay vertical.

Zangz.

Return to the Dark Fantastical

The wait is over!  The autumnal spirits have arisen my imagination and creativity out of its slumber, like the living dead crawling their way out of ancient graves.  Too soon to pontificate upon the coming Halloween season? Never!

Not only has the Halloween season sparked my enthusiasm for the genres of the fantastical, there are a few exciting things on the horizon.  One big one is of course the upcoming Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  It's been a decade since we last saw a new Stars Wars film on the big screen.  The prequels weren't exactly what we were all hoping for.  But, with JJ Abrams at the helm with backing from Kathleen Kennedy and the Disney folks, I think we're in for a real treat.  If the last few seconds of this trailer don't produce a tear in your eyes, then I hate to be the one to inform you of the fact that you were born without a soul.

Just prior to that big screen religious experience there will be a certain British agent who will be hot on the trail of a classic old nemesis in the upcoming James Bond movie SPECTRE.  Daniel Craig reprises the role of Bond and Christof Waltz may be portraying the main villain.  Could he possibly playing the infamous Ernst Stavro Blofeld?  We won't know until November 8th.

There's yet another event coming up that I'm particularly excited about.  My family is taking my niece on an adventure to the House of Mouse down South.  As an uncle it will be a blast to see the magic from the perspective of a four year old.  But, as you'd guess, one of the things I'm most excited about is doing some paranormal investigation at Gracey Manor.  If you recall from my Halloween musings from last year, I sent my friends Iris and Roberto there.  Oddly, they haven't been seen or heard from since.  Bruhahahaha! (Cue thunder and lightening).

So, we all have too look forward to this blog in its annual active period once again.  Up next, more Halloween inspired musings.

Stay tuned and stay vertical!

Zangz.

Traveling the Dark Spooky Paths.

Today is the first day of Autumn.  The leaves are just starting to change color.  The pumpkin beers are on the shelves again.  And the chill is in the air.  You know what I'm talking about, don't you?  I'm not just talking about the slight snap in the temperature.

Autumn is the season that ushers in our link with the nether-realms.  It is were the dark things lurk and wait for this season to break out and linger amongst us mere mortals.  For the next month and a half there is truly magic in the air that can be felt through the smokey spices that fill our nostrils on a nice evening's jaunt.

Every year I get excited and poetic over the Halloween season.  Heck, it's really the only time I post on this blog consecutively.  It's the season that sparks my imagination the most and takes us to spooky dark places.

On the note of Spooky Dark Places, I'm going to play a little game.  I'm going to pretend I own a TARDIS and can travel anywhere in the world and could visit some of the more creepy locations of the world.  I'll keep the settings at modern day in case I would accidentally pop in some puritanical time frame where I'd be burned at the stake for being a witch,  I'll do this as a modern day tourist.

Here I go!  First stop.......

1. The Bloody Tower of London - This imposing castle-like structure is currently the home of England's crown jewels as well as some government offices that still operate there.  It is also one of the main tourist attractions of the UK.  One thing the tour guides (or Beefeater's as they are affectionately called) love to speak about are the numerous amount of ghosts that lurk about the place.  For hundreds of years prior to it being full of tourists, it was full of prisoners as the tower was the main prison of England.  And many a soul fell to the blade there.  It is said the place is haunted by the ghosts of Anne Boleyn, Roman soldiers, two young princes and many more.  Definitely a ghoulish place to visit.

Historic Royal Places

2. Winchester Mystery House - Wealthy Victorian whack-job and widow of the Winchester gun founder, Sarah Winchester, took the advice of a medium who instructed her to build a house that never ends its construction to house all of the spirits of people killed by the Winchester rifle.  Suffice it to say, the place is one big, odd mess of a building.  Hallways and staircases leading nowhere, secret rooms and paranormal activity are the main architectural flavor of the place.

YCTV Destination Videos

3. Island of Dolls (Isla de las Munecas) - What's more disturbing than one of those little, lifeless, plastic baby dolls staring at you from across a room with its cold, dead eyes?  How about hundreds of them staring at you?  Now forget about the room and place yourself on a small island in a canal system just south of mexico.  Now pretend it's not daytime, it's night.  There's also a tragic story behind the place that involves a dead girl.  There you go.

Paranormal Videos / Latest Ghost Videos

4. Highgate Cemetery - This old, London, cemetery is crawling with overgrown foliage and decaying tombstones.  There are many stories of ghosts lurking about and even a tale of a vampire who calls the hallowed ground home.  On a more nerdy than spooky note: Author Douglas Adams is buried here too.

Dorsetghost

5. The Church of Bones - Zoinks and Zoinks again!  An entire church in Bohemia that has a main decor of human bones that have been vigil for hundreds of years.  It doesn't get much creepier than that!  In more geekier news, this location was used as the main villain's lair in the movie adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons.

Journeyman Pictures

There are many other places that we could journey to as well that are notoriously macabre.  Gettysburg National Park, The catacombs of Paris as well as many of the isolated and long forgotten prisons and insane asylums that dot the world could all qualify as well.  But, I only have so much time to dream and have to start getting my autumn and Halloween plans laid out.  So I'm parking the TARDIS back in the garage and will enjoy a smokey, spice laden pumpkin ale and lick my wounds of the current Packer loss.

Until next time, stay vertical and don't wake the dead....yet.

Zangz.

More Haunts Have Been Visited.... more pants have been moistened.

We're smack dab in the middle of Halloween season.  It always goes by too fracking fast for me.  I'd like to savor this season, but, that is quite difficult with work being so busy.  I find myself both mentally and physically exhausted when I get home from work.  The weekends seem to be my only time for solace.  Well, if you consider seeking out the living dead and infiltrator their domains a form of solace.

That's just what I did as I dragged my buddies Bones and Roberto to a couple more haunted attractions this weekend.

After trying to get out of work as early as I could on Friday I stormed down the freeway and picked up Bones.  Then the two of us headed west, toward Roberto's headquarters, during Friday afternoon rush hour.  This gave us a good hour's worth of heavy traffic travel time.  So I decided to pass the time by playing Bones one of my all time favorite, true ghost stories that I heard off of one of the Nerdist Podcast.

If you want to give yourself the chills go to HERE.  It's the second part of the show.  The first part features the famed astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson.  Feel free to listen to his portion of the show, but, if you want to get straight to the creepiness, forward to about 53 minutes in.  It is there where film director, Liam Lynch, spins a true tale of pure ghostly goodness involving his time living in a very old apartment building in England.  Be sure that you are alone and the lights are down low and you have at least one Jack-O-Lantern lit in the room.

Back to the haunts!  After some laborious traffic, Bones and I found ourselves at Roberto's where the three of us gathered and readied our ghoul fighting gear (warm jackets and sweaters and enough cash for two haunts and some dinner afterward.).  The three of us jumped into the Roberto mobile and headed over to the next county where we first visited......


Terror @ 212 - Formally called "Haunted High presents Terror @ 212" this reboot of the old Oconomowoc Haunted High attraction (that has since been torn down) was a very pleasant surprise.  I did a review of the old Haunted High last year.  Having lost the old high school building to development projects, the organizers secured a business building right in the downtown area of Oconomowoc.  The outside of it doesn't look that big, but the amount of freights they put inside is quite impressive.  In fact, it feels far more intimate than when they ran it in the old high school building.  The high school had a lot of large open spaces, but the new haunt is a lot of narrow hallways that wind around wonderful scenes, effects and tableau's.  The scare-actors, though young, put on a darn good show.  One of the best things is that it's pretty much a whole new show and experience which tore itself away from the repetitiveness that the Haunted High was starting to get into.  Definitely worth checking out if you're in southeastern Wisconsin.

Fin and Feather Haunted Woods - After 212, we darted down a very long and very dark road.  At one point we thought we took a wrong turn and were lost in the dark countryside.  But, we pressed on down the road were we barley noticed the sign to the entrance of the Fin and Feather outdoor club.  For the last several years these folks have been putting on a great haunted trail attraction that tends to be a bit of a sleeper hit and word of mouth haunt.  This year was one of it's best and most interactive as I found out the hard way.  It starts with a very dark trail dimly lit by strands of lights on each side and creepy eyes peering at you from the wooded darkness.  This leads you up to a huge castle that you go through while trying to avoid the creatures within.  After you escape the castle you're back in the dark woods winding you way through the darkness and trying hard not to wet yourself as chainsaw wielding mad men sneak up on you.  I don't want to give too much away, but I will tell you of my personal journey into dark madness.

Toward the end of the haunt we were ushered into a building that housed one of the darkest mazes we had to go through.  At first the three of us were venturing through it pretty well until we reached what appeared to be a dead end.  I was at the front of the group at that point and told the other two, that we needed to head back the way we came.  At that point we heard a ghastly, female voice from out of the darkness mock us.  We started to head back the way we came with Roberto in the front.  We reached another dead end.  This time two female voices started to chastise us.  They were very close by, but we couldn't see anything.  Between the three of us calling to each other back and forth, the seemingly disembodied voices caught on to our names and started calling out to us.  I felt my way along the walls and managed to pass by Bones and Roberto.  Roberto was right behind me.  I called out to him to grab on to me as I led the way.  I was expecting him to gab on to the back of my sweater.  Instead I felt a hand grab my own as I moved forward to find us a way out.  I called out to Roberto again and was surprised to hear his voice was far behind me.  Too far for his hand to still be in mine.  I should have realized, Roberto would have never emasculated himself by holding my hand.  I also should have realized that Roberto's hands were mysteriously Palmolive soft.  It was then one of the voices revealed itself to be right next to me and was the hand that was holding mine.  It was a scene right out of an episode of Scooby-Doo.  Then another voice was right in front of me.  Then a third voice appeared right next to me.  I heard Rob and Bone's voices well ahead of me now and it sounded like they had found their way out of the maze.  I was alone in the dark, trapped by three specters who held me there for a spell.  After tolerating a bit more of their chastising, they led me out of the maze to the end of the attraction. 

The three ghouls were actual three lovely scare-actresses whole were nice enough to pose for a picture with me after my escape from their clutches.  Excellent job, ladies!!!

Well, I think that will be it for this post.  I still have a few spooktastic treats up my sleeves for this season.

In the meantime, please, stay vertical!

Zangz.

It was a dark and stormy night........

And it truly was a dark and stormy night the evening me and my buddy, Bones, took to the road and headed north, out of town and toward the small burg called Hartford.  While I was at the wheel, Bones acted as my navigator, helping me read off of the maps app on my phone.

As we flew up the freeway the skies grew darker and at one point Bones remarked, "Look over that way!" He pointed just northwest of the freeway.  "The clouds are super dark over there."

Sure enough, amongst the murky gray clouds that had already spread across the entire sky that day, there was a big blotch of pure black sky just looming and waiting to burst into a nasty rain storm.

"Great. That's just where we are headed." I replied with a tinge of displeasure in my voice.

After dealing with a particular tricky round-a-bout (I frackin' hate those things) we found ourselves driving right into the thick of the black clouded mass, toward downtown Hartford, Wisconsin.

The torrential downpour started just as we were entering the small township.  Visibility was slim to nil and we still had to find the cross street to our first destination.  I didn't have the map app zoomed in enough, but I wasn't concerned since there usually was a big, blinking, light-up sign helping direct us to our destination so no one would miss it, but this year it wasn't where it usually was and we ended up turning on the street before the one we were supposed to use.

This was less than beneficial, since the forefathers of the small town decided to design the roads in a manner making it quite difficult to make a right hand turn to where we needed to go.  The rain was falling harder and harder, pelting against the car windows so that it was still hard to see even though I had the wipers on the "super-friggin'-fast" mode.

After a u-turn, we found a small alleyway that miraculously led us right up to our first place of interest we wanted to visit tonight.  I parked, but we found ourselves trapped in the car for the time being as gallons upon gallons of rainwater throttled down against the ground from the dark skies above.

Now what possible places in this town known as Hartford were we so anxious to visit that we would traverse a nasty weather system while driving, you may ask?

For myself, being a fine connoisseur of Haunted Attractions, the answer is simple.  The town of Hartford is easily one of the big hot spots when it comes to a couple of the finest Haunts that haunt enthusiasts can visit during the October season.

Both Terror on Rural Street, as well as The Hartford JC's Haunted House, were always among my favorite visits during Halloween.  It had been a couple years since I last visited them and this time I brought my old chum, Bones, along since he has shown an interest in visiting haunts with me in recent years.

Our patience paid off as the rain slowed and then completely stopped in a short amount of time, allowing us to get out and visit the first haunt of the evening......


Terror On Rural Street - Upon entering the realm of Terror on Rural Street we were greeted with a fenced off graveyard with a sign overhead reading, "No Safehaven".  Once we got our tickets and our numbers were called we made our way past the graveyard to a facade of a dilapidated building.  We went through the doors and inside to find... another facade of another dilapidated building.  Double creep-tastic!  Since we had gotten there earlier in the evening, we were the only ones in the line and we went in shortly after the patented safety spiel had been read to us.

The door to the main haunt opened by itself ushering us into the world of dark madness.  The theme of this year's show seemed to fall into the category of old sanitarium where mad doctors made unnecessary experiments on the already dangerously troubled inmates.  During our journey we passed a couple of old souls trapped behind bars, pleading for their freedom as well as long forgotten corpses of patients past who would suddenly become reanimated and shake in their chains.

There were a couple of stand out rooms for me.  There was one room where a mad doctor had a poor patient strapped to a slab where a giant scythe-like pendulum sliced too and fro, slicing him in two through his stomach.  Of course the victim is very much alive and pleading for help that will never come.  The best thing is you may leave a little more moist from when you entered the room.  And it won't be your bodily functions you have to worry about.  Bruahahaha.

Then there is the the hallway where a spooky young girl lurks.  Not only do you have to avoid her you also have to keep your senses in check as the hallway appears to alter and bend.  This is a really cool effect!  There's also the room of many doors that you will easily get lost in.

As in years past, Terror on Rural Street keeps its top notch quality while delivering the scares!  Bones was pretty impressed also.

The Hartford JC's Haunted House  - Down the road from our last haunt is Fireman's Park.  To get there we had to drive up a dark, winding, heavily wooded road.  Once out of the wooded area we were in a parking lot of a nice and seemingly safe little park.

All feelings of that safety left us as the spooky farm house, looming in the park caught our attention.  We bought our tickets and waited in a musty old barn until they called out ticked numbers.  We then waited a little more in a tent just outside of the old farmhouse.  After a few visitors left their seats to travel into the unknown, it was finally our turn.  Bones had me take the lead, as he usually does.  If the creatures within the creepy wooded trail leading up the the entrance of the house was any indication of the creatures waiting for us on the inside, we were in for a treat.

The main highlight of this haunt was the combination of dramatics and interactivity that visitors will experience.  Many of the ghouls that dwell within have a bit of a story-line and dialog that we were entertained by.  In one my buddy, Bones, had to go on a ghoulish game show where he had to pick the right door for us to go through.  In another room a female spook was not so happy that I was intruding within her eerie little wooded area and then did not want me to leave.  She found a interesting way to block me from moving on into the next area, but I will not go into detail.  Suffice it to say her undead friend that was trying to shamble its way out of the wall wasn't much amused with me either.

If you are a lover of pirates and pirate lore, you'll love a good portion of this haunt as the conclusion of the haunt is dedicated to them.

I'd be remiss to also mention that the attention to detail of the scenery and sets was so intricate that I found myself trying to take in as much of it as I could while the scare-actors were up in my face putting on the scare.  It was pretty challenging.

This haunt has come such a long, long way from its inception that it competes with a lot of the bigger, more popular haunts around the Southeastern Wisconsin area.

After Bones and I had an evening of challenging the forces of the unknown, we treated ourselves to some BBQ ribs and a couple of tasty IPA's as a reward.  As always, a good time was had by all!

I'm hoping I may have a couple more haunt reviews here next week as well.  We'll see what we can do.  I do know that I'll be going on a local ghost tour that I had gone on before, but was sullied by a rain storm.  So I want to give it another shot.  So next weekend is looking to be another spooktacular one.  Knock on old coffin wood.


Now for another walk through a virtual haunted attraction from YouTube.  Many theme parks have gotten in the habit of taking advantage of the Halloween and Haunt season by redesigning their parks with a haunted motif.  Knottsberry Farms is no exception as they invoke all sorts of dastardly creatures to infiltrate their park.  Take a peek here.....

Video is from Theme Park Adventure

I'd like to leave you with these comforting thoughts.  That cackle you heard outside your home late at night was surely some sort of rare bird.  The scratching sound from under your bed that awakens you from your slumber?  I'm sure that's just some sort of cricket.  That cold spot in you home?  I wouldn't be surprised if you had some ventilation problems.  

Or perhaps I'm completely ass-backward wrong on all accounts and you better get an exorcist or ghost hunting crew over to your abode ASAP 'cause you're screwed!!!!

Until next time, stay vertical.

Zangz.

The Arrival of the Magic of the Macabre.

It comes earlier and earlier every year.  

The orange and black displays pop up in stores, the spicy lagers hit the shelves of the wine and spirit shops, and Jack O Lanterns appear in windows and on doorsteps all over local townships.  I have no problem with this ghoulish holiday making an early appearance.  It doesn't seem to be as intrusive as the Chistmas holiday is when it is crammed up into our psyche holes beginning as early as September.

I have no problem with Halloween poking its head through the curtain as early as late August.  Halloween is the time of year when the realms of reality are closest to the netherworld.  It's when true magic whafts it way throughought the air, disguising itself with the scents of spices and leaves.  It is when creativity and imagination take a macabre turn filling our eyes with wonderfull oddities.

I try as hard as I can to envelope myself into the season every year.  But, as I grow older I find it harder and harder to achieve that goal.  Being single, middle aged and on a budget tends to put a few roadblocks in the merriment that I used to freely have several years back.

The economy isn't what it used to be.  The greed machine has made sure the cost of living has risen to a ridiculous rate while a good amount of us no longer get "cost of living raises", or in some cases, yearly raises.  So going to a whole slew of Haunted Attractions and Halloween activities has to be cut down considerably.

There was a time when getting a group of single folks to join me on an excursion to a local haunt was pretty easy.  Now most folks are married with kids and trying to wrangle sitters and organize time frames with busy lifestyles are usually some major motivational killers.

Fear not, loyal followers (of which there are probably three of you) I'm not quite throwing in the towel yet.  I still find ways to enjoy the season.  Last year I started a new tradition in visiting a very beautiful and historic cemetery located in my hometown.  I did a fun little post about it and just yesterday made the pilgrimage to wander amongst the wonderfully gothic stonework.  It may seem an odd enjoyment within a timeframe in my life when there are currently many reminders of human mortality that have taken place recently, but I find sollace and peace in the macabre sometimes.

Another yearly tradition I take part in is filling my video rental queue full of horror movies.  I've already viewed a few of them and feel that there are a couple that I would like to let you all know about and spread the good word on.  So here are a couple of reviews....

Cabin in the Woods - I can't say it enough, Joss Whedon is a geek god.  His writing has always been character driven and beyond clever.  His venture into the horror genre is no different in this "not as typical as you may think" scare-fest.  It certainly starts out as though it may be mundane.  A group of model looking young adults go on a weekend trip out to a cabin in the woods to party.  But, there is far more to this cabin than meets the eye.  Without giving too much away (there are some pretty awesome plots twists!) I'll say this about the film.  It has an awful lot that us horror fans love about horror movies.  It has physcho-killer zombies, creepy atmosphere, tons of guts and blood and something far more sinister behind all of the deadly shenanigans.  I didn't really know what to expect going into the film with what was seemingly another motif of a bunch of good looking kids getting needlessly slaughtered.  But, I should have known that with Saint Joss at the writing helm, all would be well.  He certainly puts all of the pieces together and by the end of the film I realized that he wove an epic tale of Lovecraftian horror.  Definitely check this one out!

American Mary - Don't go into this macabre tale expecting ghosts or psychotics with axes or even demons from hell lurking about.  This dark tale of woe is a completely different kind of horror that features the exploration into the depth of human corruption.  How far down the twisted rabbit hole does a bright, young, attractive med student go to seek revenge and power within the underworlds of crime and the subculture of body modification.  Disturbingly bloody, while at the same time, a very smart and refreshing story is being told.  Sexy, smart and fiendish is what the wonderful Soska twins dish up.  This movie was the natural step from their smaller independent foray into blood, guts and dark humor  that was Dead Hooker in a Trunk.  They're already full bore into directing a horror film for the folks at WWE.  I really can't wait to see what the dark little minds of the Twisted Twins can come up with after this.

That's it for the movie reviews.  If I see some other good stuff, I'll let you all know.


Well, our first little trip into the dark season isn't quite over as of yet.  Last year I started to post walkthroughs of some pretty spectacular haunted attractions from YouTube.  I have quite a dosey for you this time.  Being a headbanger, I was thrilled to hear that Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights have put together a haunt based on the band Black Sabbath! And now here's a little peek inside the minds of the first Heavy Metal band to ever exist.

Hope you enjoyed your trip down the path of The Devil's 3rd!

Hopefully it should prove to be a delightfully dark Halloween season around here in my blog.  I may have a couple of Haunt reviews for you next week.  So keep tuned.  

Until next time, stay vertical!

Zangz.

Halloween Comes, Cthulhu Rises and a Mouse Acquire the Galactic Empire.....

This shall be my final post of the Halloween season.  For tomorrow night ushers in the end of "the time of the dead", where the unliving, ghouls and shadows of the night crawl back to the netherworld for another year.  It's always hard to say goodbye to the best season of the entire year only to then have to hunker down and brace oneself for the craptastic holiday season.  But, I think I had a pretty good run this year.

I went to three Haunted Attractions, dank numerous Octoberfests and Pumpkin ales, went to a couple of Halloween parties and watched quite a few Halloween themed YouTube videos, some of which I shared with you all here on my blog.

I'd like to share one more big one with you.  Throughout the last decade or so I got myself aquatinted with the spooky world of the Cthulhu  Mythos that was created by the late author H.P. Lovecraft.  Lovecraft's works have greatly influenced the modern horror genre.  It would take up quite a few blog posts to explain exactly what I'm posting about.  So, as a special Halloween treat, I give you a documentary on the author and his writings.  Even if you're not aquatinted with Lovecraft's works, I think you'll find this show very interesting.  It's a bit on the long side.  So I suggest you turn off the lights, sit down with your last Octoberfest or pumpkin ale and your favorite snack and enjoy the world of Cthulhu.

That's probably the most educational thing I've posted here in the history of this blog.  I think I just gained a +20 to my Intelligence roll.  I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting as hell.


Ok.  I didn't plan to write about anything Star Wars related during the Halloween season, but how can I not mention the big ass Star Wars news elephant that is sitting in the middle of the room as of today.  If you've had your head up a Bantha's sphincter for the last several hour, it was announced that the Walt Disney Corporation will acquire all of Lucasfilms as well as all the rights to all things Star Wars.

HOLY FRACKIN' CRAP!!!!!

Talk about a mind blowing announcement!  Oh, but wait.  There's more.  Disney plans to actually make Star Wars, Episodes 7 through 9.  George Lucas has vehemently denied that these movies would ever get made.  But, since he's selling his Star Wars empire to Disney for FOUR BILLION dollars I guess The House of Mouse needs to make a few bucks back.  God I hope they don't frell these films up.

I have mixed feelings about this.  On one hand I'm always cautious of a uber-conglomerate taking control of anything I love.  Huge corporations usually have only one thing on the mind, and that's $$$$$$$.  And they usually are quite quick to compromise and distort anything beloved by millions for the ultimate, almighty dollar.  Disney is no exception.

But, on the good side, they did buy Marvel Entertainment and look how friggin' good Marvel's The Avengers turned out to be.  If they focused on the fans wants and needs for Star Wars, they could really bring some exciting stuff to the table.  We'll have to wait this all out and see what transpires.


And that is it for the Halloween Season for me.  The next thing to get excited about?

And to all of you......

Stay Vertical all you ghosties and ghoulies and long leggedy beasties!