Halloween Convergence Goes West

Pam Liebson

The old west houses a wild and bloody past. The Third Annual Halloween Global Convergence added it’s own memories to the restless spirits of miners, gunslingers and settlers.

When you picture California you probably think of sunshine, Hollywood, and beaches. You might imagine the majestic mountains of Yosemite and the breathtaking drive on Pacific Coast Highway. Or perhaps it brings to mind desert spas and palm trees. However, when I boarded a plane in New York City to San Jose, California, it was not to see movie stars or lie on the beach or even to check out nature’s wonders. I traveled across the country specifically to spend two days gathering information on haunting, to network with people who shared my creative obsession and to “celebrate” Halloween in June at the Third Annual Global Halloween Convergence.

The event kicked off with a poolside evening reception on Thursday May 31st. Old friends reunited and new friendships were created. Halloween fanatics from across the country lounged by the pool, snacked on treats and caught up on what others had done the previous October. Halloween puzzles were taken very seriously and a scavenger hunt was concocted where teams of strangers were encouraged to get to know each other while working on the task of finding the objects. This was a good warm-up for a weekend of sharing and fellowship.

On Friday Morning the Convergence started in earnest. Chuck Williams of HalloweenProducts.com started us off with exclusive footage provided by the legendary Bob Burns that showed Mr. Burns’ incredible home Haunt in Burbank, California. The original Home Haunter, Bob brought in professional special effects artists that he knew to build the attraction every October from 1967 until 1982. The end of the tape was a pilot for a sci-fi television spoof series, entitled “Major Mars” which Bob starred in. Next up was Oliver Holler of The Haunt Factory who showed us that a little imagination and a lot of junk can go a long way. This hands-on workshop had everyone pitching in to replicate a mummy from the movie of the same name using a milk jug, clay, cardboard and wire. Roger Barr discussed the history of Jack O’Lanterns and he and the audience carved faces into assorted vegetables. John Burton from the Haunt design team of D.O.A. graciously gave two presentations, which were both standing room only. John, who is responsible for the creative work seen in the Elvira House at SpookyWorld and Distortion’s Brutal Planet, did his first seminar on the Basic Principles in the Art of 3-D Haunting. On Saturday he fed us cauliflower brains and bloody dip from bowls made from body parts during Gory Party Displays. Our own Leonard Pickel, editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine and the other half of D.O.A. shared his secrets on Inexpensive Effective Scares, and Sarah Briggs of The Haunted Castle and Kathy Marcrum of Dragon’s Head Inn shared their experiences in Scaring Up Money for Charities.  

Teams signed up for the Halloween Banner Contest, grabbed their background fabric, pipe cleaners, glitter, feathers, and glue and went to work. Although only about 24 hours were given before judging, the images were unique and artistic. Allan and Sarah Erush, of Grisly Gothic Gables in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and teammates Oliver and Terry Holler of The Haunt Factory in Asheville, North Carolina, won with their banner mapping out the path that the Global Halloween Convergence has traveled since year one in Salem, Massachusetts.

Going anywhere with a group of Haunters is an experience in itself, but going through a reportedly “real” haunted house is even more so. Throw in a house designed by spirits with staircases that lead to the ceiling and doors that open to nowhere. Then go through the house in the dark, with only flashlights to illuminate your path, and you have one wacky night of fun and frights. This was the situation on Friday night, when two busloads of attendees headed for the unbelievable tour of the Winchester Mystery House. The Flashlight Tour at the Winchester is normally available to the public only on Friday the 13th or Halloween, but participants were fortunate enough to be given this exclusive tour. Owned by Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune, this lavish Victorian home was under 24-hour construction for 38 continuous years to appease the spirits of those killed by the weapons, whom Sarah believed had killed her husband and daughter, and would kill her if the construction stopped. Walking through the house, we marveled at the colorful Tiffany stained glass windows whose beauty was evident even by the glow of flashlights. Spider web motifs were spotted throughout the house and the number 13 turned up again and again in the huge maze-like mansion. Our group persuaded the guide to tell us every ghost story he had ever heard about the house and I was informed that I might catch some ghostly activity on my video camera.

The seminar sessions continued early on Saturday with Karl Fields of Pirates of Emerson discussing the trials and tribulations of making the jump from Home Haunting to a commercial Haunt, and Chris Handa of Castle Blood taught us how to implement the element of magic illusions into a Haunted Attraction. Tyler Henthorne and Karen Quesada of Skeleton Coast gave an in-depth workshop and demonstration showing airbrush secrets and everyone was able to participate by airbrushing stencils on themselves and each other. Daniel Lapin, Ph.D., psychologist and author of The Vampire, Dracula and Incest led such a fascinating lecture on the psychology of horror in our society that when his time was up he and the audience gathered chairs to continue the discussion in the hallway. For the final segment of the seminar series, the Convergence pulled out the star power. Award winning makeup artists Todd McIntosh from the popular series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and David DeLeon from the spin-off hit series Angel, regaled us with the hardships and joys of their profession during a make-up demonstration that transformed a few attendees into possessed, demonic, frightening creatures.

One of my favorite activities of the weekend was the Scary Charity Auction organized by John Burton, which included Halloween and Haunt merchandise, (like items from Distortions and Michael Burnett Studios Anatomical Chart Company, Gore Galore, Lubatti Designs Unlimited, Eerie Industries, Deceptions Unlimited and D.O.A.) and individuals alike (G.T. Burton, Todd McIntosh, Dusti Lewars, and Chris Handa) offered items to be auctioned off. Items ranged from Halloween crafts to a corpse from the Rob Zombie movie 1000 Corpses. Everyone was caught up in the excitement of bidding fever, myself included. Now hanging on my wall is a one-of-a-kind print by artist John Pearson of Frightworld Studios that features a witch under a tree in silhouette during a dream-like sunset.

The highpoint of the weekend and a tradition of the event was the annual Costume Party that was held on Saturday night. Mark Harvey of Pumpkinland Studios handled the DJ position, and Halloween songs filled the air while partygoers watched the door in anticipation of the next incredible costume. It was hard to tell who was who under all the makeup, wigs and masks, and sometimes the only way to tell was by process of elimination. A wolf in granny clothes escorted little Red Riding Hood and a furry fully-suited werewolf hounded her also. Two doctors wheeled in their mental patient, while a mysterious sultan and his slave girl tore up the dance floor. Witches seemed to fly around the dance floor on their brooms to the music, and in keeping with the San Jose ambience, a skeletal cowboy, his settler girlfriend, a ghostly “pro-specter” and his ghoulish saloon girl danced into the night.

Halloween Enterprises backs out!

Several months ago at the Chicago Convention, Halloween Enterprises, an outgrowth of Halloween Online LLC, announced the outright purchase of The Global Halloween Alliance, Happy Halloween Magazine, and support for The Global Halloween Convergence. Then in a surprising move and without warning only 7 days prior to the start of the Convergence, Rochelle Santopoalo was informed via late night facsimile that Halloween Enterprises was terminating the purchase agreement of, and any involvement with, The Global Halloween Alliance, its publications, programs, and activities. Too late to cancel the event, Rochelle was in a bind. Phone calls were made to some of the GHA core supporters who conceived a plan to save the Convergence. A deal was struck with the hotel, for a lesser amount. Sarah Briggs agreed to help sell event T-shirts and back issues of Happy Halloween Magazine. Debbie Santopoalo, Candace Walters, and Barbara Burton were enlisted to provide alternative meal service, and John Burton agreed to donate partial proceeds from the Scary Charity Auction to the Convergence. Distortions Unlimited provided a  $500 gift Certificate for to be raffled off for the cause. Attendees responded to the T-shirt sales and auction with unabashed enthusiasm and generosity, helped along by the freewheeling antics of auctioneer Chuck Williams. An existing spirit of camaraderie was fortified during the two-day event as offers to help with next year’s event poured in.

There was discussion that this year’s Global Halloween Convergence would be the last; however, both veterans and newcomers pulled together in a huge show of support for the event. People pitched in financially, emotionally and even physically to make sure that the event was successful. This devotion to the event convinced originator Rochelle Santopoalo to continue providing Halloween lovers a place to celebrate their favorite holiday in the “off season.” Those of us who attend the Convergence have become an extended family and every year that family expands and the bonds between them grow stronger. Is our connection to each other because of a shared interest, or is the shared interest simply the reason we have met? In the end I do not think it matters. I traveled clear across the continent, to the Golden State, the land of swaying palms and surfers to experience this year’s Convergence. Next year, the event will take place practically in my own back yard. A place where the air is sharp and crisp at Halloween, where the leaves start to turn gold and fiery in early September and where the most famous horseman in Halloween legend still rides at night. Come join us for the Fourth Global Halloween Convergence in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and join our wonderful Convergence family.

Pam Liebson has been a Halloween enthusiast all her life and operates a small Home Haunt every October called Midnyte Hollow(TM). She is currently involved in running the East Coast Haunt Club and can be contacted via email at midnyte@bestweb.net.