Tuesday, July 31, 2007

THE HAUNTED HOUSE ON HILL STREET HANNIBAL MO

Ok, I know I’m supposed to be posting photos from our Chicago trip, but I just have to post about this cool little haunted house and wax museum that we visited a couple of weekends ago in Hannibal, Missouri.

Located next to the Mark Twain Dinette is The Haunted House on Hill Street and Wax Museum. When you glance at the house you’ll see that it looks similar to most of the historic houses that surround it.

As you look closer you’ll notice a shackled skeleton in plain view out of the top window and that’s when you think that something sinister must be taking place inside!

As you enter, you’ll quickly forget that you’re entering a haunted house as you’re greeted by a sweet old lady, who welcomes you inside with a delightful smile.

Standing next to her and by the window is Injun Joe, sculpted from wax. He stands as a preview of what’s to come.

After you fork over the admission price and go thru the turnstyle, you enter a dark room and are now greeted with the unblinking stares from 27 wax figures. These figures have the likeness of real and fictional people that were a part of Mark Twain’s life in Hannibal. For the next 15 minutes the sweet old lady acts as your tour guide and introduces you to each wax figure.




These wax figures were sculpted by Martin Krewson, the same sculptor of the Jesse James Hideout Wax Museum located in my neck of the woods here at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Once the sweet old lady is done speaking about the wax figures, she invites you to step thru the doorway at the end of the room. She informs you that she won’t be going with you and that you are on your own. Oh, you almost forgot that this place is haunted! The image of that skeleton in the window is now on your mind!

As you step thru the door you can’t see a thing, as everything is pitch black and you notice there is a dampness in the air. Suddenly, a giant spider falls from the ceiling and then something brushes against your ankles as you quickly walk thru a narrow corridor.

A few more steps and a full view of a room opens up with ghastly sites of skulls, coffins, bigfoot and a guy in a bee keeper mask? (Well, I don’t know about you, but bee keeper masks are kind of scary!)



Now you turn the corner and a chilling breeze shoots up your leg that makes you jump forward right smack dab into the face of a giant screeching bat.

You ask yourself, “when will this terror end?” It ends after you walk by the cemetery with the creepy long-haired skeleton ghosts that wave white hankies at you.


Finally, you find the exit door and out you step into the gift shop, where you can catch your breath and try to slow down your heart rate.

Next time you’re in Hannibal, be sure to visit The Haunted House on Hill Street and Wax Museum, as it’s two attractions in one! Of course you must take it with a grain of salt as this attraction is more than 30 years old and it’s something I would’ve loved as a kid, made fun of as a teenager and now respect as a classic tourist trap! It’s simple roadside spook show fun!

Monday, July 30, 2007

BACK HOME IN NEATO COOLVILLE

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Chicago and I have a bunch of photos to sort thru and post. First I need to catch up on a few things (like work) and then I’ll be sharing some of the neato places we encountered on our trip.

For starters, here’s a photo with my pal Fredbird, the St. Louis Cardinals team mascot. We started our trip in St. Louis with a baseball game.


In this second photo, I found a Muffler Man to lean on.

Monday, July 23, 2007

MR. TOAST AT SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON

If you find yourself at the San Diego Comic-Con this week, make sure to visit booth #2648, where you'll find the World of Mr. Toast and meet Dan Goodsell, the man behind Mr. Toast. I've been enjoying Dan's comic strips, books and collectibles from the beginning and every year his characters grow in popularity.

So if you haven't discovered Mr. Toast and all of his wonderful anthropomorphic friends, make a point to check out Dan's booth. Be sure you get there early, because of Mr. Toast's big following the T-Shirts, dolls, and original art sell fast!

Not going to Comic-Con? Not to worry, as you can check out all things Mr. Toast at Dan's website The World of Mr. Toast and his blog, a sampler of things. You'll find links where you can even order Mr. Toast stuff.

For everyone going to the Con this year, have fun and say hi to Dan for me as I'll be absent from this year's Con.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

GATLINBURG, TN LATE 1970's BROCHURES






Check out Kirk's blog, the Secret Fun Blog for a fun post related to Gatlinburg and photos inside the World of Illusions.

Friday, July 20, 2007

THE HAUNTED MANSION DISNEYLAND RECORD & BOOK

FLEA MARKET FRIDAYS #18

The First Lady actually found this at a flea market when she was flipping thru a big box of kid's records back in June. I was going to hold it back for my all Halloween month in October, but since this week turned into a Disneyland week, I think it's perfect for today's FM Friday! Here's some scans from the book.











Thursday, July 19, 2007

SLIDES FROM DISNEYLAND 1966 PART 4

Disneyland at night is truly a magical place and the person who took these photos captured a little bit of that magic 41 years ago. (I added boarders so they wouldn't blend into the black background)



















I’m afraid this is the last of the Disneyland slides from the shoe box. Be sure to check out these amazing Disneyland blogs for more vintage slides and photos of Walt’s playground. Gorillas Don't Blog, Stuff from the Park and Daveland.