Patrick travels one day into the future to talk to Australia’s Anne Rzechowicz and Renata Daniel about ghost tours, seances, table tipping, gadgets, and some of the hottest paranormal spots in Australia, including the Maitland Gaol and Q Station, Manly!
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Do the dead return? Spooks sit beside you? Wow, a Ghost Show! I’d love to go! It’s even from a theatre in my home town! The only problem is that I’m several decades too late… and a McDonalds sits where the theatre once was. I did, however, get to see a few movies there as a kid though. Annie and Goonies are the ones I remember the most.
The above poster, which Joe and I discovered in a very cool new antique store in Lexington, led me to reading and learning about a part of history I knew very little about. Should I be embarrassed about this? I’m now fascinated! I’ve not been able to find a similar version of this poster from another theatre, which may also be why this was marked at $145. I didn’t buy it, of course… oh but I wanted it really badly. If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was from the 1950s, but I’m not entirely sure. The piece of tape above “Thursday”, is covering what I assume is probably the word “MIDNIGHT”. The store, The Country Peddler, has so many similar posters and banners, including lots of oil painted canvas advertisements (not sure what else to call them) from as early as the 1800s , plus lots of large nostalgic items, like jukeboxes, for example. Check it out if you make it to Lexington.
The concept of the ghost show was apparently started by Elwin-Charles Peck in 1929. Really it was a stage magic show inspired by the popularity of spiritualism, and the tricks were the same ones used by the charlatans and fraudulent mediums of the time. People (mainly kids and teens) went for the séances, conjuring, flying ghosts that glowed in the dark, terrifying stunts, and audience participation. Often there were staged blackouts, where tricks would then be played on audience members, making them believe there was a “spook” near them.
In the 1930s and 40s these traveling “midnight ghost shows” were very popular in small towns around the country. Peck inspired a generation of copycats, all known as “ghost masters”, that took the ghost show to an all new level in the 40s and the 50s. The most successful of these would be Jack Baker, whose stage name was Dr. Silkini. It is said that humor is what Baker added to the already popular ghost show formula to make it so wildly successful. The concept struggled to keep the attention of an audience through the 60s and 70s, mainly due to the popularity of television. Jack Baker died in 1980.
I’m really bummed that I missed this craze. I bet it was really fun. Were any of my readers fortunate enough to have witnessed any of these shows from the time period? I’d love to hear from you!
The main sources I used for this blog post come from two wonderful articles: Matt Novak’s The Rise and Fall of the Midnight Ghost Shows and Jim Knipfel’s Dr. Silkini’s Asylum of Horrors. I urge you to check these sites out if you want to learn more.
Shop Home for the Holidays (Big Séance)
Spirit Trumpets (Big Séance)
Old School Locker (Big Séance)
The really awesome sunset that we captured after dinner tonight.
I feel like I need to give my readers a little update on what’s going on in my crazy paranormal world at the moment…
I’m excited and honored to have been asked to participate in some joint EVP experiments in the next several days. This invitation comes from an experienced researcher whom I have a lot of respect for. I hope to keep you informed whenever it’s possible.
Marilyn and I have conducted and documented two séances in the last few weeks. I’m in the middle of analysis on the first one right now. I hope to have some video highlights or a report of that very cool experience posted soon.
I’m a little behind in posting final MOSS investigation reports with evidence online. I hope to do that soon. The reports have been completed, but there is a lot to do to make them appropriate for online viewing. These include reports from the joint investigation of the Fort Chaffee Prison and a recent private residence investigation. The analysis of my part of the Carthage Opera House investigation is ongoing.
Soon I’ll watch The Innocents and let you know how it was. Check out the list of movies I’ve been watching this fall.
Yes… the real job has prevented me from locking myself in the house and being a practicing paranormal researcher/investigator/blogger recluse for as much as I’d like… but one can dream though, right? 🙂
