Was the Shriners Haunted Mansion REALLY Haunted?

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Most people don’t know that besides all the fun and spooky special effects in the Haunted Mansion each year.. were a few strange and unexplained happenings. Several things happened that spooked more than one construction volunteer during the night. There is the night at 3 am that Timothy Drake was locked in the building all by himself and heard footprints running across the second story of the Haunted Mansion. A quick search of the doors proved that they were indeed still all locked and that nobody had entered the building. When the upper floor was examined there was no sign of anyone in site nor any evidence  anyone had been there.

Later when the story was recounted to Western Fair Security Guards they also has stories to share about that building and strange happenings late at night. That year a documentary was being filmed about the Haunted Mansion and when the videographer interviewed the person who ran the museum next door to the Haunted Mansion it was learned that in 1887  Western Fair opened in a beautiful natural site known as Queens Park, where St. Paul’s cemetery had been. Over 1200 graves had been moved from the Western Fair site to Mt. Pleasant Cemetary in the 1870′s.

Later in 2003 during the construction of the Western Fairs Agriplex more human remains were discovered and to be relocated.

Shriners Haunted Mansion in London 2012?

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Now that the Halloween season is on us I took time to review the webstats for the Haunted Mansion Website and it seems there is still quite a bit of interest in Londons Shriners Haunted Mansion. I will definitely be exploring options to bring the Haunted Mansion back to London in 2012. Thanks to those who emailed with possible location tips and please keep a location in mind as you travel about London this year. If you see something suitable ( remember its got to be in the 20,000 sq ft range ) then please let me know.

The other good news is that I have been spending my time off of the Haunted Mansion learning and developing more spooky special effects and haunted illusions that are sure to delight should we ever bring it back. I can promise you that if it does return it will remain London’s Premiere Halloween Attraction.

Oh and one last thing. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Very Best Regards,

Timothy Drake

Mad Science Movie from Shriners Haunted Mansion

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As the Haunted Mansion grew, I was faced with the fact that he was running out of room to build new exhibits. The solution was to merge or combine past exhibits with each other in order to make room for new ones.  One such case was the Mad Science Lab. We also had a room infested with spiders so I decided to combine the two into one. We had several skeletons that were half human and half spider so it fit in perfect to the theme. When visitors entered the lab they saw the remains of a once busy lab that had experimented with gene splicing humans and spiders with horrific results.  We decided to shoot a movie that would show visitors what had happened in the past when the lab was in operation before time and neglect left it in the state they were now seeing. This movie ran on a screen mounted on the wall. We wrote the script and filmed it in less than an hr. Its bad on purpose do don’t judge it as a normal Timothy Drake production. LOL

Look closely and you will see Jim who played the mad scientist looking off camera for me to give him his next direction. Enjoy!

Haunted Mansion Founders

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Back in 1999 when Timothy Drake decided to create the Shriners Haunted Mansion he met with a little resistance to the idea. Timothy had an idea and that was all. There was no video or photos to show…. just a concept for a Haunted House that was based on special effects rather than blood and gore. Not many could see Drakes vision.

Enter … Scott McNair. Scott caught wind of the idea, set up a meeting with Drake and from that point the rest is history. This photo was taken of Scott and Timothy in 2004 if memory serves correct. As mentioned in previous blog trivia posts … The name McNair over the Haunted Mansions Entrance Doorway is in tribute to Scott McNair. Visitors to the Shriners Haunted Mansion would also remember Scott as the host that welcomed them into the parlour each year and had them say the magic word to open the secret door. Of course that magic word was….. ” Haaaalllllllloooooooweeeeeen”

Magician Timothy Drake and Scott McNair

Haunted Mansion Founders Timothy Drake and Scott McNair

Haunted Walls at the Shriners Haunted Mansion

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I promised I’d share some more Haunted Mansion Trivia so here it is.  The hallways that came to life and reached out for you was part of the Haunted Mansion for the first 4 years or so. They were indeed popular with visitors to the Mansion and people have often asked why we quit doing it in later years and how I even came up with the idea.

We quit doing the effect because as time passed kids who had been to the Mansion for several years  came to expect it and were waiting for walls to reach out for them and would in turn swat, whack and punch the hands. It turned into a ” whack a mole” game of sorts and we had several close calls where volunteers who were behind the wall reaching out were getting hurt.  I myself was injured while filling in for a volunteer so that was the last year for that effect. Too bad as it was one of the fun ones that people really enjoyed.

Shriners Haunted Mansion Wall

Nick Paparella meets the living wall at the Shriners Haunted Mansion

One of the Haunted Mansions many secrets is that I came up with this idea as a last minute fix to fill in for a special effect I never got to finish the first year. In year one at the Oxbury mall I had planned on having a wall where glowing eyes could be seen peaking at you through the wallpaper on the walls. It was to be as if ghosts were hiding in the walls and watching you.  I literally ran out of time to wire everything up so the day before when I realized I’d have to open to the public with an unfinished area I just said.. ” Cut holes in the walls and cover the entire wall in spandex”. Then it was a simple matter of putting volunteers behind the wall to reach out  for visitors. The walls were set just far enough apart that you could walk down the very centre and not get touched by them as you can see here in this video still of Rogers Tv host Francee Ender. Not many took that option and preferred to run the gauntlet and take their chances.

Haunted Walls come to life.

Living Walls at the Shriners Haunted Mansion.

You have mail!

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I was recently surprised by the following email. From time to time while I was building the Haunted Mansion I would ask myself why I was putting myself through what it took to bring that thing to life each year. Letters like this answer that question for me.

Thanks Emma for a wonderful letter!

Hello! I was browsing the internet looking to see if London had any haunted houses to visit this year, and came across this page. I dont know if this email will make any difference, but I just thought id let you know how much this haunted house ment to my family! My grandma and grandpa had took me and my sister every year since 2012, and it was something we would look forward to every year. It ment so much to the four of us as it was tradition, and the house itself was so well done. To this day, whenever I hear the song “This is Halloween”, I think of the last room in the haunted mansion. My grandpa passed away in 2005, and it would mean the world to my sister, grandma and me to be able to go back and relive those memories the four of us had! Thank you for all of the memories, and crossing my fingers that it will open again one day!
Emma Berkin

The Great Haunted Mansion Swami

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If you ever visited the Shriners Haunted Mansion then you will most likely remember the Fortune Telling Swami. He was most often played by Shriner and friend Bill Wheatley or as he liked to be called at the Mansion…”Sweet William”. Bill is a special kind of guy who ALWAYS greats you with some positive thought like.. ” If you can’t find the bright side… polish up the dull.” He had the perfect personality and quick with to be able to make humorous predictions about your future. Some years he appeared as a face in the mirror and other times he appeared as a swami who could self levitate. He was also a popular attraction. Bill was also one of the Haunted Mansions biggest supporters. He holds the record for most tickets sold by any one person. He would also put in extra time and fill any spot that was needed. It was Shriners like Bill Wheatley that made Magician Timothy Drake look good. Thanks Bill!