My haunt consulting job landed a BIG contract...(no bass content)

pamlicojack · August 06, 2009, 07:00:44 PM

For those that don't know, one of my side business is haunt consulting. I design haunted houses and train their actors. Last month, I landed the contract for the halloween haunted attraction on the USS North Carolina.

Well, this week I traveled down to Wilmington NC to start working on the battleship. I can see it's going to be one helluva big job.

We are developing a backstory that is pure fiction and therefore will hopefully not offend family members of those who served aboard the ship. The story is that during a horrific storm in 2009, the USS North Carolina disappeared from it's moorings. No one knows where or when it vanished, but 24 hours later it reappeared. Ever since then, very strange and terrifying things have been happening and visitors to the boat have been vanishing.

Since the cast of Ghost Hunters has been asked back this fall to re-visit the ship and conduct another investigation, we are inviting the public to come 'investigate' during the haunt season and see if they're brave enough to survive "The Ghost Ship."

The tagline they came up with is "Ghosts don't care how loud you scream."

We're planning to have most of the actors dressed in navy khakis and dungarees and will be 'assaulting' visitors with a variety of shipboard items and large amounts of strobes, klaxons, mechanical terrors, and other things that I won't mention so as to not give anything away.

One of the staff members claims to have seen a blue and purple mist near one of the officer's quarters just 2 weeks ago and the route will go along that corridor.

And yes, there will be a disclaimer at the beginning stating that the battleship was NOT built for comfort, it was built for war and therefore not accessible for everyone. The regular tours are not wheelchair-accessible and there are sharp edges, rivits, and steel everywhere. They will be doing their best to cover up anything that has the potential to injure but I know they won't be able to get it all.

Here are a few pics of some of the areas that will be transformed...

Visitors enter the ship through this hatch:

Entering the first room of the haunt:

Starboard berthing area:

Officer's staterooms:

More challenges await when I go back in a couple weeks. If anyone is in the area, go check it out.

Dave W · August 06, 2009, 09:54:10 PM

Congratulations on landing the contract. Looks like you'll have your work cut out for you.

chromium · August 06, 2009, 10:55:03 PM

That's cool! Sounds like a fun gig

I've always been into stuff like that.

My favorite birthday present was when my wife took me to a place in Bisbee, AZ called the Oliver House. Its an old turn of the century boarding house for copper miners, and the lore has it that its haunted by several spirits. We stayed a couple nights, and besides the caretaker we were the only ones in the place (he was by far the scariest part of the visit, btw, but he knocked off twenty bucks a night if I paid him in cash and he took us to see his friend's 'art car'

).

I got to run amok in the place one night, and went and hung out in all the supposedly 'active' rooms.

Our room was the one where the supposed love triangle murder/suicide took place. Only thing that happened, though, was waking up in the middle of the night to a light show of sorts - kind of a diffuse flickering light... couldn't figure out what it was, and it just stopped after a while.

Here's a ghost hunter site I found about the place in a quick google search:
http://www.sgha.net/az/bisbee/oliver.html

There's a place in Jerome, AZ I want to go to - some old asylum-turned-hotel... but its hard to do that stuff now that we have little kids. Don't want to traumatize 'em... not yet, anyway. I'll wait till they're teenagers - then I won't feel as bad

exiledarchangel · August 07, 2009, 12:40:19 AM

Man, your job RAWKS!

uwe · August 07, 2009, 04:41:05 AM

Great professional life! And make sure the lights flicker and drop out while people are making the rounds. ANYTHING can happen on such old ships and she's not really seaworthy anymore either plus the fact that her sister ship capsized under unforseen circumstances not too mention that catastrophy that happened in the shipyard when she was built, a bizarre accident ...

For some inspiration ...

Barklessdog · August 07, 2009, 05:40:31 AM

Very cool. I love the New Jersey class battle ships- they were amazing- still remember how they brought the New Jersey out of moth balls for Vietnam.

I know a co-worker who used to do his own haunted house every year. He would build animatronic displays.

jmcgliss · August 07, 2009, 07:30:32 AM

Very cool! Years ago I build a radio-controlled creature influenced by the movie 'Eraserhead' that freaked people out at a Halloween party. You would have liked it, John.

Denis · August 07, 2009, 08:11:28 AM

Quote from: Barklessdog on August 07, 2009, 05:40:31 AM
Very cool. I love the New Jersey class battle ships- they were amazing- still remember how they brought the New Jersey out of moth balls for Vietnam.
I know a co-worker who used to do his own haunted house every year. He would build animatronic displays.

The New Jerseys were much longer than the North Carolinas and it was mostly in the bow. I saw the USS Iowa once in Norfolk, I think, after that turret explosion killed all those sailors. Incredibly impressive ship!

Pilgrim · August 07, 2009, 09:20:11 AM

Oh man, ships like that are HUGE! That will indeed be a big job, but it could be a great one.

Barklessdog · August 07, 2009, 09:57:59 AM

Quote from: jmcgliss on August 07, 2009, 07:30:32 AM
Very cool! Years ago I build a radio-controlled creature influenced by the movie 'Eraserhead' that freaked people out at a Halloween party. You would have liked it, John.

Funny I own the movie (no surprise)

Did you make the baby?

jmcgliss · August 07, 2009, 11:08:05 AM

Quote from: Barklessdog on August 07, 2009, 09:57:59 AM
Funny I own the movie (no surprise)

Did you make the baby?

Yes, I own the movie but in-theatre was best. You guessed right about the baby. Our wives must be saints.

Then there was the Son of Flame multi-media mind-melt a friend and I produced for another party.

I can just imagine how much fun making a haunted ship walk will be, combined with the story line. Excellent. Then let the Somali pirates capture it.

Nocturnal · August 07, 2009, 11:41:35 AM

I wish I lived close by so I could check out your work firsthand. I would love to go thru that when you're finished!

Highlander · August 07, 2009, 02:18:36 PM

We just don't stand a ghost of a chance...

TBird1958 · August 10, 2009, 12:28:04 AM

What an awesome job to have! I'm very jealous!

And John the North Carolina was sister ship to the USS Washington BB56 that sadly was scrapped.

Darrol · August 10, 2009, 12:48:33 AM

Quote from: uwe on August 07, 2009, 04:41:05 AM
Great professional life! And make sure the lights flicker and drop out while people are making the rounds. ANYTHING can happen on such old ships and she's not really seaworthy anymore either plus the fact that her sister ship capsized under unforseen circumstances not too mention that catastrophy that happened in the shipyard when she was built, a bizarre accident ...

For some inspiration ...

You just reminded me of something I saw on my friend's facebook the other day. They went to the ghost thing at the Queen Mary out here in Long Beach. I guess for the part where they went into where the indoor swimming pool was, they timed the lights to go out and then simulated a hull breach.