MIDSUMER SCREAM! 2016

Thank you to all who came out to the Midsummer Scream Halloween Convention, and checked out our pop-up Museum of Paranormal History which focused on cursed or haunted memorabilia connected to Southern Californian ghost lore (pictured above with GHOULA founder Richard Carradine). Thanks to all the collectors that allowed us to show these unique objects and paintings, especially the San Fernando Valley Pioneer Cemetery which let us remove one of their haunted tombstones for the weekend. I'm happy to report, that despite the legends about these curious grave markers, no one was hurt while the memorial was transported, and sadly no ghost were seen as a result of its temporary displacement. Plus a special thanks to local authors Michael Aushenker, Victor Avila, and Marla Brooks for signing copies of their books about local ghosts. It is quite possible that last weekend could be the only time that all those local spooky items will ever be on display together, so we want to give the organizers of this amazing convention the biggest thanks of all for allowing us to create this paranormal project.

We had a blast and we will definitely be back next year! So. if you missed our Museum of Paranormal History, don't miss next year's all new exhibit!

Also thanks to the LA Weekly for their shout out to our collection of haunted artifacts!
photo by Jared Cowan
http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/halloweens-horrors-and-haunts-emerged-early-for-midsummer-scream-7202199/31

GHOULA at Midsummer's Scream

Midsummer Scream Halloween Festival
July 30 and 31, 2016
Long Beach Convention Center (map)
(for more info about the event and tickets... http://midsummerscream.org/ )

GHOULA's BOOTH - #137

GHOULA is honored to announce that we will be a part of this year's Midsummer Scream.
Midsummer Scream promises to be the ultimate gathering for an anticipated audience of over 5000 haunted attraction fans and professionals. Basically, this event caters to the people who travel throughout Southern California (and beyond) looking for fun/interesting things to do in (and around) October.

This year, there will be a section of the show floor, highlighting local "paranormal" destinations (ghost books, ghost tours, haunted placess, etc.) Really, what's Halloween without ghost stories. The Winchester Mystery House and the Queen Mary will be there, as well as other prominent groups, and authors of ghost guide books.

As if that were not enough....

---GHOULA will reveal upcoming events before they are publicly announced.
---GHOULA will be premiering two new ghost guide books from GHOULA Press.
--- GHOULA will have different guests at our booth througout the weekend.
--- GHOULA will curate an exhibition of haunted/cursed objects.
--- GHOULA will be presenting two panel discussions about ghost lore... 

PANEL #1: Haunted Amusement Parks (SATURDAY )
PANEL#2: Haunted Bars (SUNDAY )

Additionally, this event also features:
-numerous "fun size" walk thru haunted attractions.
-workshops covering everything from special effects makeup and prop building
-classes covering ghost hunting and the business of haunts and horror
-presentations and discussions from the top names in the haunted attraction industry
-previews of all the October and Halloween events
-makeup demos, and countless creatures lurking in the halls.

As you can see, we're going to have a lot of fun. Please join us, and celebrate our regional ghost lore, and meet the people that do their best to bring it to you... If you dare!

MUSEUM OF PARANORMAL HISTORY!

GHOULA WANTS YOU!
Calling all ghost-hunters, paranormal-investigators, and enthusiasts of the other-worldly...

GHOULA is curating an ecto-exhibit of one-of-a-kind "haunted" objects (mirrors, dolls, chairs, etc) to be displayed at the MIDSUMMER SCREAM Halloween festival in Long Beach as part of their Museum of Paranormal History. (Yes, the "Haunted VCR" will be there.)

Not only will this be the first time such an exhibit will ever be attempted in Los Angeles, it will be the largest collection of such items ever assembled in one place in California,
and YOU CAN BE A PART OF THIS PARANORMAL HISTORY...

If you have a haunted (or cursed) object, and you would like to have it on display at this unique event, please contact us at ghoulahq@live.com. Give us a description of the item, and the story attached. Thank you.

For tickets... http://midsummerscream.org/

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.