WE SURVIVED THE EXPERIENCE – THE REPS Halloween Spooktakular

The REPS Halloween Spooktakular  provided thrills and chills and good old fashioned Halloween fun.  Promotions for the show revealed an interesting premise where precisely at midnight on Halloween, spirits from the world beyond converge on an old haunted mansion and commandeer the radio airwaves to present their own ghost to ghost broadcast.  At the stroke of “midnight” the ominous clock tolled away and the terrifying spirits appeared on cue with ghostly wails and unearthly screams which served appropriately to enter in the  mysterious  Horror Host portrayed by Dean T. Moody.   Reminiscent of  the classic radio series, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, the sound of a creaking door and loud ominous footsteps preceded his entrance.  The mysterious Horror Host then took the audience on a journey into the world of  audio drama as he introduced each of the three Halloween stories with whimsical tongue in cheek introductions and sinister laughter.  This main part of the program presented in the form of a live radio show was certainly captivating and held the attention and interest of the audience.  Equally entertaining was the short pre-show  of Halloween songs which preceded and served as a great warm-up to get the audience into the appropriate seasonal spirit.  The first song in the pre-show was The House is Haunted by Billy Rose and Basil Adlam, which was  performed by Jenn Ollivier and accompanied by Roger Kim on Keyboards. An audio of the performance can be heard below with a video accompaniment of flying ghosts and dancing skeletons.

The second song presented  was an abbreviated version of Music of The Night from The Phantom of the Opera performed by Bryan Haigood (in ghoulish makeup) with a video of the night sky projected behind him.  “The idea” said Bryan “was to perform the song in ghoulish character with a sort of  sinister creepy voice.  It actually  started off that way but I found myself singing the song less ghoulishly because nerves suddenly kicked in and I lost a lot of voice control.  A few bad notes resulted   . . . my legs even began shaking.”   Bryan may very well be his own worst critic.   He actually did a commendable job and the audience enjoyed the performance.  Most would probably have no idea that he came to the show with no prior singing experience and has never before sung in public.   The video which was being projected simultaneously was a nice touch and as the Phantom of the Opera song  came to a finish, a wonderful animated video filled the screen with flying witches, dancing skeletons, glowing pumpkins and the words REPS WISHES YOU, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  The audience was prepped  for a great show ! Just then the ominous clock began tolling down to midnight and at this moment the haunted house which was being projected on screen came alive with the sound of ghostly wails, screams in the night and creepy laughter.   The terrifying  spirits had thus arrived and the screen was now filled with floating, illuminated ghosts which was the perfect introduction to one last song, (or a small part of one ) – This is Halloween , written by Danny Elfman and performed by Bryan Haigood and Jenn Ollivier.  As the song concluded, the ghosts began to fade out and the screen went dark.  However, just then the sound of a creaking door filled the room followed by  loud footsteps which seemed to get closer and closer.  The footsteps were revealed to belong to the mysterious Horror Host who had made his grand entrance and began to delight the audience with an introduction to the first thrilling story titled Roadside Attraction.

Roadside Attraction, is short story written by REPS author Roger Kim. Without giving away the mystery so as not to destroy the story for listeners who have not heard it yet, Roadside Attraction is best described as a campy parody of a 1950’s B movie, the kind most often seen at drive-in theaters during the era.  The story takes place in Nevada where billboards beckon travelers to stop by and visit a mysterious roadside attraction promising a mystery box containing something creepy and deadly.    What exactly is in the Mystery Box ? One dollar and an admission ticket will answer your question.  However, consider yourself warned. This is one mystery that you may not want to solve in person.    The inspiration for the story is an actual roadside attraction in Arizona known as The Thing which is hyped by signs along interstate 10 between El Paso, Texas and Tucson, Arizona. A large number of billboards entice travelers along this sparse stretch of desert highway to stop, just to find out what the mysterious Thing might be.

Our second tale is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe titled The Cask of Amontillado adapted for radio.   The Cask of Amontillado is a story of revenge set in an Italian city at carnival time.    The Narrator, Montresor,  opens the story by stating that he and his family have been greatly and irreparably insulted by his acquaintance, Fortunato, and that he seeks revenge.  He wants to exact this revenge, however, in a measured way, without placing himself at risk.  He decides to use Fortunato’s fondness for wine against him.  Montresor  lures his mark into the catacombs beneath his home to meet his fate which served as the stories thrilling conclusion that you will not want to miss.

It was now time for the final chilling tale but before our mysterious Horror Host could introduce the story he was interrupted by a forceful knock on the entrance door to the mansion.  But who could it be at this late hour?   Our host answered the door.   “Yes, how can I help you gentlemen?” he stated as he noticed three gentleman standing in the entry dressed in unusual garb.   The first man answered by posing a question “Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?”  The second man also posed a question  “Have you or any of your family ever seen a spook, specter or ghost?”   These were odd questions, and somewhat concerning since the mansion presently was serving as host for the annual meetup of spirits from the world beyond.  Thinking quickly, our host countered “Why do you ask?”  It was a straight forward question but he received no answer.  Instead the first man continued speaking words which were quickly revealed to be  a painfully obvious sales pitch.  “If the answer is yes” the man pitched  “then don’t wait another minute, pick up your phone and call the professionals. Our courteous and efficient staff is on call twenty four hours a day to serve all your supernatural elimination needs!”   Our host realized that these gentlemen were experts tasked with the job of getting rid of . . . ghosts!   “Who did you gentlemen say you were again” our host asked for which he received a quick and assured reply.

“Ghostbusters!”

Hmm, this WAS a problem and required quick thinking.  Our host realized that it was certainly  time for us to take a quick intermission as he devised a plan to rid the mansion of these ghost hunting professionals.  Thankfully, it was an easy task and we were able to recommence with the ghostly party quite quickly.  To bring us back out of the intermission, Roger Kim played Gnossienne No 1 composed by Erik Satie.  The haunting tune was perfect to set the mood for the final tale of horror, Whispers from Hell.

Whispers from Hell , written by John Ballentine, was originally produced and recorded in 2015 for Campfire Radio Theater.  Campfire Radio Theater is a modern audio drama horror anthology series with new episodes released regularly.  Kevin Hartnell has composed original music for much of the series including a terrifying score for the original recording of Whispers in Hell.  We were able utilize much of the the haunting score for the live REPS Halloween Spooktakular version.    If you like intense, modern audio horror, we encourage you to listen to Campfire Radio Theater .   Hear the Fear!

Whispers in Hell is set in a large wonderful home in suburbia which sits alone on a quiet street with no neighbors.  Well, no living neighbors that is.  For next door is a cemetery, where reside hundreds of the long dead and buried.   When seemingly harmless pranks turn eerily dark, a young woman is faced with frightening occurrences that may reveal a dreadful secret emanating from the cemetery next door and not anything of this world. Are the creepy and supernatural  activities mere annoyances or a prelude to things far deadlier?  The young female resident, who alone experiences the paranormal activity, may find out  . . .  but will it be too late?

“Great show, keeps you on your toes, reminds me a bit of those 40’s horror shows.”  – Delbert Hendrickson, Red Rock Community College.

Listen to the REPS Halloween Spooktakular , 70 minutes of spooky,  thrilling and even campy,  good old fashioned Halloween fun.
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