Black Gate

Last week I mentioned running into Mike “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and his crew at the HAA in St. Louis. Fitz is the proprietor of Evil Intentions, a haunted attraction housed in the former Elgin Metal Casket Company in the suburbs of Chicago and during what is now the off-season, Fitz has opened the place up for paranormal investigations.

When we visited Evil Intentions last fall we agreed it was one of the best experiences of the dozen or so haunts we attended, mainly because of Fitz’s “low tech” approach which allowed the utter creepiness of the building to play a central role in the attraction. So I was entirely psyched when Fitz invited us to do a ride along during an upcoming investigation.

Mysteriously, BG photog Chris Z had a pressing engagement elsewhere, and perhaps not so unexpectedly, I could not solicit any of my colleagues to join me on this little outing. So it was down to me to go hang out in the abandoned casket company from 9 p.m. on a Friday night, to 2 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Granted, the building does look even eerier in the middle of a March night while not decked out in all its Halloween lighting and finery. But the first thing I had to ask is why Fitz thought the place was haunted, just because it used to make coffins?

Apparently, it is a documented, historical fact that in 1890 a cemetery on the grounds became overcrowded and remains of early settlers were dug up and moved to the new Bluff City Cemetery less than a mile away.

Relocating bodies… Doesn’t it always start that way?

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You may truly be unaware of this little tid bit, and no one would blame you if you were, but the Chia Pet has been around for almost 40 years.

Marketed by Joe Pedott’s California-based company Joseph Enterprises Inc., Pedott first learned about Chia Pets when he attended a housewares show in Chicago in 1977. But it wasn’t until that mind-worm of a catchphrase (“Ch-ch-ch-chia!”) and the release of the ram Chia Pet in 1982 that they became little terrracotta icons.

Chia Pets have managed to survive in exactly the same way that Pet Rocks and Beenie Babies have not. Maybe part of the reason for their longevity is that Chia Pets have kept pace with pop culture, with Chias hitting the market depicting everything from Disney characters to Looney-Tunes, The Simpsons to SpongeBob and recently, Duck Dynasty and President Obama.

So I considered it complete validation of my assertion that zombies are the current “it” monster — successfully unseating angsty, flannel-wearing vampires — when a Chia Zombie arrived at my door, direct from none other than Joseph Enterprises themselves.

You won’t see Chia Zombies around until fall, since Chias are traditionally only on store shelves for the holiday buying season, but I did find them on Amazon.

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Back at the 2013 Haunted Attractions Show we met the very talented and creative folks at AtmosFearFX Digital Decorations. These are the people responsible for the digital loops of various horror scenes which can be projected on any surface with stupendously unnerving results.

At this year’s Goth Chick News Zombie Apocalypse Party, Black Gate photog Chris Z., who does double duty as the resident technology guru (necessary due to John O’s regular “blue screens of death”), used AtmosFearFX’s Zombie Invasion loop to create a Hollywood-worthy effect.

Covering a large window with rear projection cloth, he projected from the outside of the room. The result was life-sized zombies beating against the window leaving bloody hand prints before dragging themselves out of view.

The loop repeated with a timed frequency and with enough slight differences to be nothing short of perfect.

You know it’s a good effect when a guest asks where you hired the “people dressed as zombies hanging around out on the terrace and banging on the window.”

And just like a gift that keeps on giving, there’s no end of fun to be had once you make the nominal investment in a project (available on eBay) and the fabric which is available at most stores selling home theater equipment at around $10 a square foot.

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