Serious About Scary In Saylorsburg

 

The Hotel of Horror takes a professional attitude toward frightening the living daylights out of its customers....

Drawing on a sordid history of deaths and ghost tales, the infamous Lake House Hotel in Saylorsburg has prepared another season of spooks to petrify the ready-for-terror crowd this Halloween.
This year's Hotel of Horror and Altered Nightmares attractions, "Miner's Curse" and "20 13 Ghosts," respectively, open Sept. 20. However, the Lake House commences its 22nd season as a haunted house tonight — fittingly, Friday the 13th — by debuting the Lights Out Tour at the five-story landmark.

 

IF YOU GO

Lake House Hotel of Horror
WHEN: Lights Out Tour, 7 to 10 p.m. today, and Oct. 3, 10, 17 and 24; Hotel of Horror, Altered Nightmares and Exhibition Macabre operate Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting Sept. 20. Friday hours are 7 to 11 p.m. through Nov. 1. Saturday hours are 7 to 11 p.m. Sept. 21 and 28, 6 to 11 p.m. each Saturday in October, and 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 1. Sunday hours are 7 to 10 p.m. through Oct. 27, except 7 to 11 p.m. Oct. 13. The hotel also is open 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 14.
WHERE: Old Route 115 and Cherry Valley Road, Saylorsburg
COST: $25 Lights Out; $20 Hotel of Horror; $15 Altered Nightmares; $30 combo ticket for Hotel of Horror and Altered Nightmares; $5 Exhibition Macabre; $10 VIP pass for either Altered Nightmares or Hotel of Horror
Information: 570-992-3278, hotelofhorror.com

Unlike Hotel of Horror and Altered Nightmares, the Lights Out Tour has no actors: just nervous guests, a keepsake flashlight and darkness.
Marlo Ambrosio, owner of the hotel since 2010, said that while Lights Out does not feature actors, "we wouldn't leave guests without a certain amount of entertainment. Portions of the concept are inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart.' I have seen the variation at a few haunts, but we're basing it on American classic literature."
Also new this year are the themes for Hotel of Horror and Altered Nightmares.
 

Reinventing the scare

Patrick Konopelski, president of The Haunted Attraction Association in Winnetka, Ill., said haunts must reinvent themselves if they want customers to return for annual doses of horror.
"The customers demand a new experience every year," he said. "If you keep doing the same thing, it's like watching the same movie over and over."
According to Hauntworld Magazine, a St. Louis, Mo.-based industry trade publication, the U.S. haunted attraction industry generates between $500 and $800 million in annual ticket sales. That figure represents roughly 8 percent of the $8 billion that the National Retail Federation projected consumers to spend on Halloween in 2012.
To keep the scares fresh and entice customers to come to the hotel, Ambrosio changes the Hotel of Horror and Altered Nightmares themes each year. This year's inspiration, according to Ambrosio, comes from the white-clay mines in the Saylorsburg, Sciota and Kunkletown areas, dating back to the late 1800s.
Specifically inspiring "Miner's Curse" is the Lake House's history as corporate offices and shelter for mine workers. A number of deaths resulting from mine accidents were reported, with spirits still roaming.
Providing the inspiration for "20 13 Ghosts" is a brick manufacturing company that previously neighboured the hotel. Some of the materials that the brick company produced — a composition of quartz, carbonate materials and limestone — were used in the hotel's basement.
"It's rumoured through paranormal teams that this mixture of the brick is conducive to the paranormal activity," Ambrosio said. "Supposedly that will absorb the energy of spirits. We took that concept and did scripts based on it."
Adding additional inspiration to "20 13 Ghosts" is the film "13 Ghosts," which also featured a house that entrapped spirits.
"Also, it's the year 2013 and 13 is a great number for Halloween/superstition," said Ambrosio, who owns the Lake House with her husband, Dan.

 

Macabre on display

Aside from the three haunt attractions, the hotel also houses The Exhibition Macabre display. This private collection includes medical, prison, funeral and asylum artefacts used to prepare and honour the dead and memorialise life.
While attractions like the exhibition and Lights Out offer chills and thrills for guests, it's actor-driven attractions that remain the core of the Lake House Hotel. The actors, who never touch guests, perform as Snort Gore, Rabba-tar and Clowny Crazy Clown, among other characters.
Some of the hotel cast spooked viewers in the 2012 film "6 Degrees of Hell," which starred Corey Feldman and was shot at the hotel.
Ambrosio said the hotel has no shortage of characters, though she prefers not to disclose the number of characters or the actors' identities.
Not publicizing characters' real identities is essential to maintaining the fantasy element of haunts, Konopelski said, as "you want to immerse the customers as much as possible. Walt Disney doesn't show you the guy under the mouse costume."
Konopelski, who also serves as president of Shocktoberfest in Reading, added that customers want even more live actors at haunted houses.

 

Finding the cast

During actor auditions, Ambrosio looks for strong voice projection; improvisation skills; ability to be physically creepy or scary; ability to create exaggerated walks or looming statures; and ability to produce effects with mannerisms that are a far stretch from normal beings.
When auditioning actors, "we like to see performers arrive in original character creations, as we are not a Hollywood copycat haunt," Ambrosio said.
While the audition process may excite wannabe haunters, "normally we have retention of actors, almost 80 percent, so it's difficult to get a role in the production," Ambrosio said. "The actors and performers we have are dedicated to their craft, and they don't normally part ways with the production."
Many in the cast construct their own costumes, Ambrosio said. Furthermore, characters undergo "an advancement, almost like a 2.0 every year. Actors have gotten better at their makeup, and make it much more intense and frightening every year."
Frazetta's Fantasy Costumes in East Stroudsburg provides the hotel with the majority of its products, including makeup, prosthetics, props and animatronics.
Bill Frazetta, owner of Frazetta's, has worked with Ambrosio and the two previous haunt owners.
"What I like about Marlo and Dan is that they have a passion for it," Frazetta said. "The first two owners did it really for the money end of it, and would come in, pick my brain, and then they would go somewhere else and get their items."
Frazetta also appreciates that, unlike some haunted houses, "they don't do the classics, like Michael Myers and Leatherface, but rather their own thing," he said. "They put a twist to it, which makes it a little creepier."
Aside from Frazetta's, the hotel receives industry expertise from conventions and classes, as well as membership in The Haunted Attraction Association. The association provides benefits such as education, specifications and demographics studies.

 

Scaring all ages

The Lake House's demographic starts at around age 13, Ambrosio said, but she's seen all ages, adding that one season, the Red Hat Society — an organization of women who meet for tea wearing red hats and purple dresses — showed up.
Though Ambrosio doesn't reveal attendance figures for the Lake House Hotel, Hauntworld pegs annual attendance for a typical haunted attraction at around 8,000 paid guests, dependent on the size of the market and attraction. Ambrosio said attendance varies year to year, especially when unforeseen events affect entertainment plans.
"The last two years, we had Hurricane Sandy on our last flagship weekend and a snowstorm the prior year," she said.
Ideally, "everyone wants to celebrate Halloween as close to the holiday as possible," Ambrosio said. "Knowing that, we try to promote ways to bring guests in earlier in the season and enjoy the show without the burden of a long line."
No matter the length of the line or how close to Halloween, some guests simply can't handle the idea of the impending terror that awaits them at the Lake House Hotel.
"We've had people get spooked waiting in line," Ambrosio said. "They look down the first hallway of darkness and go, 'That's it, forget it.'" For the most part, people attending a haunted house know what it's about. They're there for that excitement, thrill and shot of adrenaline. But we do get a few scaredy-cats."

Open Casting Call Saturday for St. John Haunted House

ST. JOHN | Calling all would-be ghouls, vampires, ghosts and other scary creatures.
An open casting call for “scare actors” to perform at annual haunted house begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at St. John Town Hall, 10955 W. 93rd Ave.
“We have all our veterans (of previous haunted house performances). Now we are looking to those other volunteers who would like to participate,” said Michael Forbes, St. John Town Council president and house manager of the haunted house located at 8640 Lake Hills Drive in the Lake Hills subdivision.
Those who want to help at the annual haunted house during October must be at least 15 years of age and anyone younger than 18 needs parental consent, Forbes said.
For those younger than 18, it is recommended parents attend the Saturday meeting to sign the permission forms. Each volunteer should also bring a photo ID, he said.
Background checks are done on anyone older than 21, he said.
With the closing of several haunted house events in Illinois, the St. John Haunted House is one of the premier venues in the Chicago area for those who like to be part of a scary experience, he said.
“We will take as many people as want to volunteer. Usually we have 100 to 150 kids volunteering and about 70 at the house during every performance,” Forbes said.
“We were rated the number eight scariest haunted house in Northwest Indiana and North East Illinois by Haunted Houses Chicago.”
Those who sign up as actors then have two weekends to become familiar with the house and the room each will be assigned.
A dress rehearsal is slated at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at the haunted house.
For information about the casting call, contact Forbes through the St. John Town Council office at (219) 365-6465.
 

The lights are left on and the scary items are covered or removed. The charge is $5 per child with no charge for a maximum of two accompanying adults per paid child.

Group rates are also available. For more information, log on to http://boo.stjohnin.com/.

COME TO A HAUNTING

St. John’s Haunted House at the Lake Hills subdivision is open from 7 to 10 p.m.Oct. 4 and 5.
Other hauntings are from 7 to 10 p.m. the following weekend, Oct. 14 and 15; from 7 to 11 p.m. on Oct.  18  and Oct. 25; from 7 to midnight on Oct. 19 and Oct. 26 and from 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 25, Oct. 27 and  Oct. 31.
Tickets are $15 at the door. Group packages are available for groups of 30 or more people.
Special children’s Haunted House tours will be from noon to 3 p.m. Oct. 26 and 27.

50 Berkeley Square, Most Haunted House in England

     50 Berkeley Square is a reportedly haunted townhouse on Berkeley Square in Mayfair, in Central London. In the 1900s it became known as "The Most Haunted House in London"; mostly due to Peter Underwood's description of the house in Haunted London.
Legend of 50 Berkeley Square:
Legend varies, but mostly states that the attic room of the house is haunted by a spirit of a young woman who committed suicide there. She purportedly threw herself from the top floor windows after being abused by her uncle; and is said to be capable of frightening people to death. The spirit is said to take the form of a brown mist; though sometimes it is reported as a white figure. One, rarer, version of the tale is that a young man was locked in the attic room, fed only through a hole in the door, until he eventually went mad and died.
In the Victorian era at least two deaths were said to have occurred after people spent the night in the room. However, the first ghostly happenings were reported by George Canning, who claimed to have heard strange noises and have experienced psychic phenomena whilst living there.
After George Canning's residency in 1885, the house was bought by a Mr. Myers, who had recently been jilted by his fiancée. It was said that he would lock himself in the attic room and slowly went mad over the rest of his life, During his stay at the house, it fell into gross disrepair and it is during this time that its reputation began to build.
As a bet, in 1872, Lord Lyttleton stayed a night in the building's attic, He brought his shotgun with him, and during the night fired at an apparition which had appeared. In the morning, he attempted to find what he had shot at, but could only find shotgun cartridges. The next year the local council brought a summons to the house's owners for failure to pay taxes, but due to the house's reputation as haunted they were let off.
In 1879, Mayfair reported that a maid who had stayed in the attic room had been found mad. It was later reported that she died in an asylum the day after. On the day she was found, a nobleman purportedly took up the challenge to spend a night in the room, and his was the first death recorded in the house. The coroner pronounced him dead of fright.
It is said that after one nobleman had spent the night in the attic room, he was so paralysed with fear that he couldn't speak.
In 1887, sailors from HMS Penelope stayed a night in the house. By morning one was found dead, having tripped as he ran from the house. The other reported having seen the ghost of Mr. Myers, coming at them aggressively.
No phenomena have been reported since the house was bought by the Magg's Brothers in the mid-1930s and though many contemporary media outlets reported happenings at the house, more recent investigators claim nothing untoward has ever taken place there.They remark that Lord Lytton's story The Haunted and the Haunters -- bears a remarkable resemblance to the supposed haunting at 50 Berkeley Square.
History of 50 Berkeley Square and it's Occupants:
The four-storey brick town house was constructed in the late eighteenth century. From 1770 to 1827 it was the home of British Prime Minister George Canning, commemorated by a plaque on the house today. The house was then bought by the Viscount Bearsted, who rented the property to one Mr Myers. It was later bought by BP.
Since 1937 the building has been occupied by Maggs Bros, a firm of antiquarian book dealers. In 1998 the building was thought to be the oldest unaltered building in London.

http://dorsetghostinvestigators.tv/haunted-england/50-berkeley-square-haunted-house/

MURRIETA: City To Acquire Towering Old Mill Through Donation

The Old Mill, a nearly century-old grain elevator that stands 100 feet tall and symbolizes the area’s rural, agricultural past, is being donated to Murrieta, city officials say.

And the concrete tower may anchor a roughly 10-acre historic park being planned for downtown Murrieta.

“It is part of our history,” said Mayor Rick Gibbs, in a telephone interview Thursday, Sept. 12. “One of Murrieta’s challenges is that, as we grow, we have to maintain our quality of life. And that means recognizing and honouring those who came before us and made Murrieta a centre of farming and ranching in Southwest Riverside County.”

The Murrieta City Council is poised to approve an agreement to place the property in city hands Tuesday, Sept. 17,.

The acquisition comes as the city finalizes a master plan for Pioneer Park in the area bounded by Kalmia, New Clay, B streets and Second Avenue. The hope is to one day display a replica school and homes there.

Lea Kolek, parks and recreation manager, said the plan was headed for the council this fall.

That may be delayed, she said, to allow time to tweak the plan and wrap the mill into it.

The Old Mill is across the street from the park site, on the northwest corner of New Clay and A streets.

“It is an excellent example of the storage structures used in Riverside County when grain farming was done throughout the area,” Kolek wrote in a staff report. “The mill was constructed around 1918 so that local farmers could bulk-store their grain prior to sending it off to various milling companies in Los Angeles.”

Al Vollbrecht, one of the original city employees and an advocate for saving historical structures, said the elevator sat next to train tracks and a depot.

“And the tracks were eventually taken out,” Vollbrecht said.

But Kolek said the mill continued to operate into the early 1970s before being retired.

It was boarded up in 1991 in a bid to thwart vandals.

To preserve its history, the city began talking several years ago with late property owner Lu Tung about possibly giving it to the city, Kolek’s staff report states. Tung died before discussions concluded.

Wellington Loh Jr., Tung’s grandson, later agreed to the transfer. But Tung’s properties had to go through probate, the report stated. Title issues have since been resolved.

Besides its historical aspect, the Old Mill has a paranormal feature. According to various Internet reports, the building was ranked as the seventh most haunted place in America at one point. It is said to be haunted by a young girl who appears in the middle window of the tower.

Marvin Curran, an 84-year-old retired fire chief who grew up a block away from the Old Mill, laughed at the suggestion it is haunted.

“I don’t think so,” Curran said.

But Curran did recall that long ago a boy fell down a long tube and was badly hurt. “It took a while to get him out,” he said.

Curran said the building has eight tubes. “It was built like a honeycomb,” he said.

The structure was scaled by way of a rickety, spiral wooden staircase, he said. But that burned long ago.

As a child, Curran said, “I was over there all the time. I even worked there for a while.”

But just for a while, he said. “Me and a 100-pound sack didn’t get along very well.”

Hopefully, Vollbrecht said, the Old Mill acquisition will trigger a revival of historical preservation in Murrieta.

“The community has never had a good sense of itself historically,” he said. “A lot of our history has been lost in the last 20 years.”

 

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