GHOULA's Annual Report 2015

(Alhambran F.E. Ormsby, creator of the 13 month calendar, 1929)

HAPPY BOOOOOOOOO YEAR!

GHOULA has many great things planned for the upcoming year.

But first, let's take a last look back at 2015.

The question that we were asked most often last year  (as well as in 2014) was "When is SPIRITS with SPIRIT coming back?" So, let's address this first... We took a break from our monthly meet-ups in historic (haunted) bars to concentrate on other events we wanted to do, namely off-beat ghost events that celebrate the twisted history of our city. The temporary hiatus will continue thru 2016, so that we can focus on other events in mind for 2016. This is not the end however, "SPIRITS with SPIRITS" will return, since there are still so many haunted restaurants/bars we haven't been to yet.

The big news of last year was PHANTOSMIA, a collaboration with THE SMELLY VIALS PERFUME CLUB (of The Institute for Art and Olfaction). Since some ghost stories have a smell that accompanies the sighting (like Peg Entwistle’s ghost and her gardenia perfume) or not just a smell (like Orson Welles' phantom cigar smoke), we explored that idea with a celebration of LA's 13 smelliest ghost with kits that contained perfumes that recreate those spooky odors and a map of each location with the fragrant ghost stories.

GHOULA also conducted "Haunted House tours" of the very historic and very haunted Perry Mansion in Heritage Square, where we lead people through this Victorian era house, stopping in the haunted rooms to discuss the ghost stories of the building.

Last April, GHOULA collaborated with our friends at Captured Aural Phantasy Theater to create a tribute to the spooky puppet films of Kevin Mcturk at the world famous (haunted) Bob Baker Marionette Theater (oldest in the U.S.) called "Beneath the STRINGS that Go Bump in the Night."

Also in October, GHOULA (with the EPFC Filmmobile) brought back "Haunted Films in Haunted Places" with a special screening of "NIGHT STALKERS," a documentary about Los Angeles' local Ghost-hunting culture. The Filmmaker, Wayne Poe, was present to answer questions. The screening was held at the East end of Pasadena's (haunted) "Suicide Bridge."

Because of our group's LA-centric interest in the phantom folklore of this city, GHOULA once again participated in Los Angeles' Halloween Convention, ScareLA, where other groups and companies that create spooky content and events in October, got together under one roof to share (and promote) what would be happening in October with each other and the public. It was so much fun, GHOULA plans on returning next year.

GHOULA was also invited to tell ghost stories to our local journalists at the October meeting of the L.A. Press Club.

Last, but not least, last year GHOULA not only brought back its "Haunted Red Line Tour" (which uses the Metro to explore haunted areas of our city) in October, but we expanded it, offering tours throughout the summer as well.

2015 was a great year for GHOULA, and judging from the surprises that are in the works, 2016 will be even better.