Howdy Ya'll!
I'm looking for some ideas. There's a town not far where they have a ghost walk every night from May to October. There's a lot of ghost stories around that area and things are apparently still happening. There's a hotel that goes back to the 1800's that is haunted, courthouses, an old jail, etc. I'm thinking maybe I should do some spirit theater every night also. This is a small town but it is a tourist attraction. Now should I try to get with the ghost walk tours and see if I can work a seance in there or is there other ways to go??
I appreciate all the help I get!!

Thanks alot!

Mike

How long is your seance? My guess is that the ghost walk guys will not want their audiences tied up for very long. The ghost walks I have been on have been fairly low-cost, high turnover affairs.

I think your best bet would be to get with some of the historic homes/buildings you mentioned and see if they are open to something like a seance. If they are very successful and have a lot of tourist trade you may have a tough time. You want to find the ones who could use more business and maybe don't have a touist hook yet. However, if the town has been a tourist attraction for some time and they don't yet have a seance, there might be a reason.

My partners and I have been running seances every October for the past couple of years, but we have our own space.

Best of luck!

I was thinking about that today. It would be better to find a place of my own to do it and have it sometime after the ghost walk. Thanks Bedford!

Mike

I was in Tombstone, Arizona a couple of years ago and took the ghost tour and learned that the tour group was advertising séances in conjunction with the tour. Since I did not attend it, I can’t say how well they did. You might want to visit Rick Maeu’s web site since he hold regular séances in his home in Pennsylvania and does quit sell.

Seances are good because they do not depend upon the weather, unlike ghost walks. Tying the seance to a single incident, person or place works well because it provides a focus for the show. My seance is grounded in the presence of my late Aunt Elsie. The entire seance revolves around her and certain artifacts of her life. (Some of which came from the antique stores, of course.)

Even with the Elsie limitation, I can do 25 minutes, easily. Additional material can be added, still about Elsie, to extend the seance to about 45 minutes (without it seeming like "filler.")

"Seance" magazine in book form is a good source for inspiration. It may be difficult to find a copy, however.

"Seance" magazine reprinted in book form is currently available on thecentertear.com site, under the Books tab. It looks like they have them in stock.

Hi Mike,
Why don't you "challenge" the ghost, through your local paper? You can say that you want to hunt down the walking ghost, and stay over nigth in the hotel, or other places the ghost may stumble around? That can bring you a front page story, and then, later on, you can held your spirit seance.
Break a leg....

Dexterity

Thanks all,

I want something I can do almost every night. There is a room that is supposedly haunted by a bride in the Hotel. I was thinking maybe seeing if I could do a seance in that room every night as spirit theater but am not sure if they would let me because of someone needing the room.

If they do the same ghost walk every night, why couldn't I do the same seance every night?? Of course I would probably have a different seance once in awhile in different places if I could because there's so many haunted places.

Any info would be appreciated...Thanks!

Mike

Whether the hotel will let you do a seance in that room will probably depend on what kind of income it would bring them. If you could generate more income from the seance than they could from booking the room (including making money for yourself), then you might have a shot.

Also, a couple of things to think about: First, can you get the room dark enough for a seance? I mean, it's going to have to be pitch black if you are going to do any special effects, and that will require doing something to the windows in all probability.

Second, how big is that room? You are going to want to sit 12 guests plus the medium for at least $25 a head to make any decent money, which has to be split between the hotel and yourself (plus any cast members you are using). And what about a big table to sit them all around? Does the room have a bed in it? What will you do with that while you are having the show?

Third, how will you get your hidden assistant(s) into the room once it has been darkened? You will have to work that out as well.

I know it's a lot to think about but if you don't have your own permanent space these are things that have to be addressed.

Hope this helps.

Paul

Thanks Paul, That did help. I've had a few books on seances but which books are the most important to have?

Thanks

Mike

If you are looking for a lot of ideas and material you can use for a seance,
SEANCE by Scott Davis (compilation of Seance magazine)

I've had seance once and never thought I would get to do them, but I'll end up getting it again.
Thanks

Mike

Two other good resources for seances (theatrical ones) are:

Spirit Theater by Eugene Burger (out of print but you may be able to find a copy on eBay)

Manifestations by Lee Earle, a CD and softcover manual set which takes you through the entire process of setting up and running a seance. It's basically what he did for his show, and they had funding to build a room specifically for their seance. Of course you will want to create your own original show, but you can get some good ideas and inspiration from this set. It will give you an idea of how to market and promote the show as well.

I'd really like to get ahold of Eugene Burgers book. Anyone have a copy for sale??