...haunted, haunting, and a local haunt...

It’s been years since we have attended any of the local haunts, even though we are friends with Haunters! The last time we went to an actual haunt for Halloween was 2011. Since then, we have been going to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, and Kings Dominion in Doswell for their haunted attractions; and, since I worked at Kings Dominion in my youth and one of my good friends is the Human Resources Director there, we have also enjoyed watching Kings Dominion surpass their big-budget competition. The last time we went to a local haunt, we went to Ashland Berry Farm. I remember us having fun but we also had to crawl through part of the haunted house and it was pitch black. That part wasn’t fun so fun and total darkness isn’t scary. It’s cheap.


Over the years, we have gotten tired of jump-scares in movies. I think that also applies to haunted attractions. I understand they have to move the masses through the attractions but banging something close to my ear does not terrorize me; storylines do!

With the master minds of Red Vein Haunt

Last night we attended The Red Vein Army’s haunted house, Red Vein Haunt. It was so much more than we expected. We figured it would be good but my fella, who typically just laughs when something scares him, was startled no fewer than three times. We jumped; we laughed; and, I nearly cried at the end of the evening because it was so good. And, it was also super funny to me that my fella did not recognize some of our friends who are actors in the haunt. I mean, they were in costume but he’s often the guy who points out movie actors asking if I recognize them. I always respond, “No! Shhhh, don’t ruin it!”

I worried that KNOWING some of the actors would make things less scary. I was completely wrong. Let me tell you, walking through a haunted attraction where people know who you are and know your name (and USE your name) makes it scarier! You cannot run away from them because they know you’re coming. It felt more like, “Hey, I just sat by him during the RVA Horror Movie Club when we watched IT. Now something has gone terribly wrong… and what’s wrong with his face.” And, “we just had breakfast with ----- a few weeks ago. His eyes don’t look quite right.” I wanted to stare at them longer but they freaked me out! I need to say it was a dream come true to hear my name rising from creepy voices in a cornfield.

Overall, the actors were amazing! No silly masks but actual make-up and spooky contacts. “Look into my eye!” Eeek! No, thank you!

The haunt is in the middle of nowhere aka off a rural, country road where all truly good haunts are supposed to be located. It’s deserted; you can hardly see where to park (except for the attendants in orange vests). You walk down to the tractor and take a hayride to the actual haunted attraction. As you approach, you’re going to see a large skull that appears to be floating in the air. In a way, this reminded me a bit of Halpole’s The Castle of Otranto. But, don’t worry. That is just the start of the queue, which is part of the attraction; and, the first actor, one of the scientific researchers from Unexplained Virginia attempts to reassure you that everything is okay. “See, locked. No one can come in or go out,” he reassures while muttering about the shadows, rabbits, and something being radioactive. He told me that I had good veins. I didn’t take that as a compliment. But, he was great! I mean, he was really believable. As we head in, we become “volunteers” to assist with the experiment. This is where I will stop by play-by-play.  

Emily Redvyn

What I absolutely loved- there was a story line. You don’t necessarily have to follow it; but, personally, I think it makes it better. You can read a bit about the legend on the Red Vein legend page. Even better, they have a book! Yep, you read that correctly. This haunted attraction comes with their own “diary” from 1688. The Diary of Thomas Redvyn by Nathan Barnes and Joseph Meddle or rather, by Thomas Redvyn, the poor husband of Emily. Again, this novella was much better than it needed to be. It complements the haunted attraction but it can be read separately just to get you into the mood of the season.

There were so many great visuals to point out but I want you to be surprised. I will say that there was an impressive coffin, a gorgeous cemetery gate, and paintings throughout the house. My fella and I continually talked about how amazing it was while we were walking through it.

It’s a long haunt. When you finish with the corn maze, you enter the house. Then you keep going. When you think it’s over, you keep going. Altogether, it took us about 40 minutes to go through the attraction without the hayride or the lines.

Holy moly, there were two effects we had not experienced before. You’ll think you’re falling (okay, maybe Disney’s Haunted Mansion has something a bit like this but they have an amazing budget… for a local haunt, this was insane!)

They do not overuse strobe lights. I have Meniere’s aka mad-vertigo issues and strobe lights force me to either close my eyes or look down to keep my balance. There were a few strobe lights that had scenes in them but overall, I didn’t feel like I missed out. The scenes were eerie and they were designed to be looked at. The tone was more psychological thriller from yesteryears. But, don’t look too long because there are actors everywhere.

Umm, when they asked you if the baby is beautiful, know that whatever you say won’t be the right answer. Just keep moving.

Umm, when you’re asked to sing along, whatever you decide is probably not going to be right.

Some people leave with red marks. My fella ended up with a red splotch on the back of his neck. We do not know how. It got on his white shirt; it completely washed out! Thanks, design team.

When you’ve come to the end, you’ll know! That was another thing I have never seen. I’m pretty sure it showed up in my dreams last night.

After the scares, I had a home-made Italian ice that was one of the best things that I have ever had. Trust me when I recommend you going for three scoops. I opted for one cherry scoop assuming it was ice with that syrup poured on it. I was so wrong so when my fella wanted lime, he got three scoops. He had his dinner there too (chicken tenders and fries). Together we shared an amazing funnel cake.

It was a great date night and we’re planning to go again before the end of the season.

...'Superstition', books, spiders, and Walpurgis Night...

“The world is full

of magic things,

patiently waiting

for our senses

to grow sharper.”

~ W.B. Yeats

Today, the RVA Horror Book Club met at a local winery to discuss Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” for their five year club anniversary. The RED VEIN ARMY will host their SPRING-O-WEEN, a Halfway to Halloween celebration next week, a week later than Walpurgisnacht due to one of their members getting married yesterday. I love having another reason to dress up.  

Stephen Wagner writes,

There's a penetrating chill in the wind. The bright moon rises behind the shivering, nearly naked trees. A profound sense of foreboding permeates the darkness. This is the night, after all, when witches ride their broomsticks through the sky, and the natural world is forced to confront the powers of the supernatural. No, it isn't October 31 and this is not Halloween. It's April 30 and it's Walpurgis Night.

In Virginia, yesterday and today hit 90. With humidity like a blanket, and our AC deciding that today was the day to quit, I’m hoping for that chill in the wind. We just opened our windows. Probably ill-advised on such a night but right now we are forced to confront the natural world.

My limited knowledge of Walpurgis Night comes from Bram Stoker, explicitly from his short story, “Dracula’s Guest,” which is often believed to be the original and removed first chapter of Dracula. There are several supernatural occurrences in the short story but no witches…a vampire but no witches.

What do I know about witches? They bring forth magic. What else brings forth magic? Nature. Ahh, I can connect to that.

Here are the new blooms in the garden today. The Bearded Iris “Superstition” doubled its blooms in just one day; and, the peony I have been watching and watching and watching. She stretched out her petals and reached towards the sun. She is gorgeous.

There is a bird’s nest in a bush. And, today I found the most perfect web.

Magic indeed.

...a book to read with the lights on and its engaging author...

“Words have no power

to impress the mind

without the exquisite horror

of their reality.”

~ Edgar Allan Poe *

Thanks to the RVA Horror Book Club and horror author Thomas Olde Heuvelt for posting on the book group’s page, last night I headed to Fountain Bookstore  to see Olde Heuvelt, whose novel HEX was published on April 26, 2016. The event was part of the author’s US book tour. And while he’s in his early 30s, Olde Heuvelt’s debut novel came out when he was just sixteen.

I’m actually going to start referring to him as Thomas in this post since he went around and greeted everyone who attended his reading/book signing last night. For starters, Fountain is a small indie bookstore in Richmond so with fewer than two dozen folks in the room, he had time; yet, his gesture was so genuine that I was a little taken aback and wanted to point it out here.

He IS a story teller. I was captivated just by listening to him discuss his ideas about the book and his early inspirations. He began by talking a bit about his upbringing in the Netherlands. He’s from the same hometown as the famous painter Hieronymus Bosch, which I’ll come back to in a moment. 

Thomas’s uncle, whom I believe he said is named Manis but I didn’t write this down because frankly I was a bit mesmerized with this guy; anyway, his uncle was the type who read a 7-year-old Thomas stories such as Dracula and Frankenstein. I recall Thomas stating that the stories came alive when his uncle would share them. This uncle also shared urban legends with a young Thomas while the two took walks in the woods. Basically, he was one of those amazing uncles with a ton of creativity whom influenced a young boy. Keep that in mind the next time you’re around little children. They still believe in magic; make sure that everything that you do keeps that going, or at the very least, doesn’t destroy it.  

Thomas also shared that being from the same town, he grew up around images of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. He recounted a story about taking a small raft with a friend when they were younger and going through the tunnel canal known as Hell Gate which has life-size figurines modeled after the painter’s monsters from his work The Garden of Earthly Delights and how in the darkest hours of the night, moments like these are when horror really gets under one’s skin. 

Thomas then read from part of HEX, which completely sold me on the story. 

Blogger-imposed political statement: I have to admit that I feel a bit sad for the author and uncomfortable about being American considering that HEX was originally published in Dutch. Thomas spent time in the US reworking parts of his novel to alter the setting, names, and a bit of the story line in order for it to "work" with an American audience. While I found the explanation and the steps one must take to translate a story into another language fascinating from an academic perspective, I'm a bit appalled and much more embarrassed that THAT is what one must do to reach an American audience. Don't get me wrong, I love my country but sometimes I'm not so sure about the people, especially in this election year. Meeting people from other countries and traveling to other countries broaden our understanding of the world and ourselves.  

Thomas tackled the question from an audience member about the translation process with great tact and even noted that knowing a location helps one feel more disturbed when reading a story about the place. Okay, fine, I agree with that but if a place becomes real in my head I'm not sure I have to see it with my eyes. 

My last point about the process... while he's fluent in English, he did work with a translator to make sure that his English voice would be able to terrorize us all.

There are so many posting on social media about how this novel is forcing folks to sleep with the lights on since it’s apparently that scary. Even Stephen King tweeted about HEX and called it "totally, brilliantly original".

Thomas's story, "The Day the World Turned Upside Down” won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2015.

With all the comments and accolades, and meeting the author, I’m looking forward to reading HEX. I'll be honest; I'm getting a little freaked out before even opening the book especially since it came with this Eye Sewing Kit card with an actual needle and thread. Ummm, okay. 

I need to finish the novel that I’m reading and then it’s up next. 

* I specifically selected a Poe quote since Thomas visited the Edgar Allan Poe museum during his short visit in Richmond.