HAUNT UPDATES: La Llorona at Universal & More

Another exciting update about Universal's Halloween Horror Nights: The legend of La Llorona will be coming to life at HHN this year! From the official press release:

According to the legend, a beautiful Mexican woman fell in love and married the most handsome man in the village. She bore two beautiful children, but her husband soon fell in love with another woman. Blinded by jealousy, the woman ran with her children to a river, where her faithless husband was courting his new love. Enraged, she threw her children into the river, where the current carried them away. When she realized what she had done, she threw herself into the river as well.

But the woman did not leave this Earth. Late at night, in the deep woods, or by a small creek, children can hear her weeping, searching in vain for her lost children. “La Llorona,(“the crying woman”) they call her, for she frequently wails “My children, where are my children?” Her frail, drenched body is a chilling sight; any child wandering alone is sure to be snatched as her newest victim.

At the 2010 Halloween Horror Nights event, La Llorona will stalk guests as they make their way through the Universal back lot as part of the all-new “Terror Tram” experience and she’ll also terrorize her own “Scare Zone,” hiding within the shadows of a gauntlet haunted by the ghosts of her dead victims.

The L.A. Haunted Hayride website has also gone live for 2010, with plenty of updates, including ticket information, creepy backstory and the exciting news that the accompanying Haunted Haymaze will be more along the lines of a Knott's/Universal fright maze this year, as opposed to last year when it was just...bales of hay. (Psst: I wrote the review for CreepyLA that the LAHH links to in their press section!)

And, finally, I love yard haunts (a.k.a. private haunts and/or house haunts), and the Valley has some great ones. So why have I never heard of Burbank's Rotten Apple 907 before!? This year's theme is "Nightmare Museum" - sounds promising, to say the least. What are your favorite house haunts in the L.A. area? If there are any more I should know about, do tell!

WITCH BALL at Zombie Joe's (Opens Friday the 13th)

A new production is set to open at Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre in North Hollywood next weekend, on Friday the 13th: Witch Ball. Described as a "thrilling new adventure that follows a mysterious Witch Ball's two hundred year journey through time and space, collecting spirits, ghosts and demons along its perilous path." The play will be performed every Friday and Saturday at 8:30 PM through September 11th. For my money, ZJU puts on the best horror-themed stage productions in Los Angeles; check out their ongoing Urban Death series if you haven't already.

LA Haunted Hayride Moving to Griffith Park Zoo

The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride was one of my favorite haunted attractions in 2009, and I've been waiting patiently for updates on the 2010 incarnation. Today, my patience was rewarded! According to the LAHH Facebook page, the hayride will now take place at the old zoo in Griffith Park - a location that is rumored to actually be haunted. Here's the announcement:

We are proud to announce that The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride has moved to GRIFFITH PARK's OLD ZOO!!! In this NEW PHENOMENAL location, LAHH will be bigger and better than you can ever imagine. The Woods are darker, The Carnival is bigger, The Haunted Haymaze is heart stopping, and the HAUNTED PROPERTY...IS REAL!!!!

I'll miss the secluded feeling of the old location at the King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas, but I'm excited to see how the new spot will add to the fright, and of course I'm thrilled that everything will be "bigger." (Let's just hope the prices don't go up!)

House of 1000 Corpses at Halloween Horror Nights!

The first maze announcements for Universal Studios Hollywood's annual Halloween Horror Nights event are beginning to trickle out, and Rob Zombie fans should be pleased: There is going to be a House of 1000 Corpses maze...in 3D, no less. Looking forward to more news in the days and weeks to come!

Harry Potter and the Return of Hammer Horror

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The LA Times featured an interview today with erstwhile Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, who discussed a few of his upcoming roles. Among them was the lead in a film adaptation of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, an atmospheric little ghost story that I read a few years ago and enjoyed. Most intriguing of all, however, is the fact that the film will be brought to you by none other than those purveyors of stylish British terror, Hammer Horror. Hammer, which is best known for its '60s-era Dracula films starring Christopher Lee, has been out of commission for nearly 30 years now, but apparently there are big plans to revive the name with a series of provocative and thoughtful horror films; in other words, no "torture porn." YAY. You can read the full interview at the link, but I've excerpted the relevant bits below:

As Radcliffe walks away from the last decade’s shining success of the British film community — the “Potter” movies were filmed in England by local crews and starred several generations of top British and Irish actors — he steps into a project that taps into an older and edgier part of U.K. cinema lore: “The Woman in Black” is being made under the banner of Hammer Film Productions, the most revered brand name in European horror, which is coming back from the grave after three decades without a feature-film release.

Radcliffe, a devoted student of the British stage and film, is eager to be part of the resurrection of Hammer. The studio dates back to 1937 but really began carving out its reputation with the release of “The Curse of Frankenstein” in 1957 and “Horror of Dracula” the following year.

“It does bring a smile to my face, and it’s an absolutely genuine smile,” Radcliffe said. “Hammer is the company that everybody wants to see succeed. It’s such a part of our film heritage. It was a massive producer of films in its heyday — they were really prolific, there were tons of them — and with actors like Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. It’s wonderful to see that company, that name, in a resurgence.”

That resurgence begins with the October release of the wintry vampire tale “Let Me In,” directed by Matt Reeves (“Cloverfield”) and starring Chloe Moretz (“Kick-Ass”) and Kodi Smit-McPhee ("The Road"). Hammer also recently wrapped production on “The Resident,” which stars two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Watchmen”) and was directed by Finnish filmmaker Antti Jokinen. In a bridge to the Hammer past, Lee also appears in the film.

Hammer Chief Executive Simon Oakes said some recent compass points for the reconstituted Hammer and its ethos might be "The Sixth Sense," “The Others,” “The Orphanage” and "Let the Right One In," the Swedish film that is being remade in English as “Let Me In.” He said that sets the horror-house apart from the shock-and-splatter “Saw” and “Hostel” crowd of today.

“We’d like to try to re-ennoble the horror film — it’s ‘smart’ horror, if you like, intelligent films that are not gore-nography, as I call it, and have good story lines that attract talent and are relevant to a modern audience,” Oakes said. “It’s a much-loved and revered brand, certainly in the U.K., but like many of these things, people have a nostalgic love affair with it and they’re not entirely sure why. There are some people who are not old enough to remember the films, and some are old enough but only remember the good ones and don’t remember the not-so-good ones.”

Spooky Previews: Black Swan + Guillermo del Toro's Haunted Mansion

How much am I looking forward to Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis? The first time I heard about the film, it was described as a horror movie. Now, I'm hearing the word "thriller" tossed about, but sometimes "thriller" is just code for "horror movie that may actually be appealing to highbrow audiences," so I'm still excited. Perhaps it's because of Suspiria, but I feel like there's something intrinsically creepy about ballerinas. Plus, I love Portman's makeup in the above shot.

Also very excited to hear that Guillermo del Toro is planning to shoot an all-new Haunted Mansion film for Disney! I enjoyed the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but their last attempt at a live action HM film (the one with Eddie Murphy, slapstick comedy and lots of CG effects) was tremendously disappointing. I've been crossing my fingers that they would try again for a while now, since I adore the Haunted Mansion, and I think del Toro is just the guy for the job. I don't care whether or not it's family-friendly - I just want it to capture the fun, spooky spirit of the ride.

Ye Olde Hallowe'en Tyme

Spotted in an antique store in Cambria over the weekend. Wish we could've taken them home with us!

I'm Back

"What was the sinister secret of this unhuman creature who came BACK FROM THE DEAD?"

Did you miss me?

Wake the Dead on June 13th at the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia

Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles will be holding their monthly Spirits with Spirits meeting at the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia on June 13th. There will be tours of the haunted room, live music (courtesy of my band, Hexham Heads, and our friends in Future Ghost and Lost Lake) and more. There is no cover, and the show/meeting will be open to all, from seasoned paranormal investigators to die-hard skeptics. Join us!

Hexennacht

In case you're not up on your pagan holidays, allow me to inform you that tonight, April 30, is Hexennacht, or "Hex Night." (Also known as Walpurgis Night; check out the Wikipedia entry for more information.) As the halfway point to Halloween, Hexennacht has a reputation as the second most haunted night of the year.

Feel free to celebrate by building a bonfire in order to ward off evil spirits and usher in the Queen of Spring...or you could join me, along with other members of the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project (find us on Facebook!), for a ghost hunt on the Queen Mary in Long Beach tonight at 9 PM. Whether you're a seasoned paranormal expert or a complete newbie, you can observe a basic EVP session and BHPP investigative techniques.

The Queen Mary is located at 1126 Queen's Highway in Long Beach, CA.

"May Eve was Walpurgis Night, when hell's blackest evil roamed the earth and all the slaves of Satan gathered for nameless rites and deeds." - H.P. Lovecraft, 'The Dreams in the Witch House'