The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion (1969)

In 1969, this Disneyland Records Storyteller album was released to commemorate the opening of Haunted Mansion. Intended as a simple promotional album, this recording has become a cherished childhood memory for many a Disneyland guest. "The Story and Song from The Haunted Mansion" includes original scenes and effects that never made it into the final attraction as it follows the story of two teenagers (voiced by Robie Lester and a young Ron Howard) who take refuge inside the eerie mansion during a rainstorm. (Synopsis from DisneyStore.com) The picture above shows Ron Howard in the Happy Days episode "Haunted", made about 5 years after the album.

Roseanne: Halloween the Final Chapter (1995)

Originally aired October 31, 1995. Roseanne is "Queen of the Gypsies, consort of wizards and seer of souls" on Halloween. An Ouija board sends a message and foretells an unexpected event...a new baby. (Synopsis from Hubpages.com)

Disneyland Haunted Mansion 8mm Souvenir Film (c. 1974)

Edited from souvenir films that were sold at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the 1970s.

Our Gang: Shivering Spooks (1926)

Originally released August 6, 1926. Years ago I found this short on TV and hit record on the VCR in time to catch the last several minutes. Now it's fairly easily found online. The plot is straightforward. Phony spiritualist Professor Fleece is holding a seance, but is continually interrupted by the gang's noisy ball game outside. He chases them off, but they take refuge in their underground hideout, which just happens to be directly beneath the seance room. They manage to ruin the seance, so Fleece decides to give them a good scare. This silent short contains some great sight gags.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee: Hauntings Ghostly Adventure

[This post has been updated to reflect the closure of Hauntings in 2015.]
The town of Gatlinburg, in the Smoky Mountains, houses a lot of sidewalk attractions and shops: museums, arcades, custom airbrushed t-shirts, taffy, miniature golf, more airbrushed t-shirts, etc. Several attractions are themed towards the bizarre and supernatural, including Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, Ripley's Haunted Adventure, World of Illusions, Ghost Haunts Tours, and Mysterious Mansion.


I first visited an attraction called Hauntings in June 1991, during a summer trip to Tennessee. The show took place in a small room, dimly lit, with seating for about 20 people. Throughout the show, objects seemed to move by themselves (candle moving across mantle, spirit writing on slate board), noises were heard throughout the room (chains rattling, wolf howling), and an eerie voice narrated. At the end of the show, a figure appeared in the flashing of a strobe light, thrusting a chainsaw menacingly at the audience.

In 2009, I visited the attraction again. It had actually changed very little since 1991, although (unfortunately) the madman with the chainsaw had been removed from the show. Instead, there was something that occurred where a large head was moving toward the audience. I can't remember what that was about, but it managed to catch me off guard. Anyway, the video I posted contains narration from the beginning of the show. Most of it is pretty laughable, including a direct quotation of Rod Serling's opening spiel from The Twilight Zone, and annoying music ripped off from the Halloween theme.



Even though the attraction was pretty cheezy, it was refreshingly quaint. Unfortunately, it closed in 2015. The strip is increasingly being taken over by larger Ripley's attractions. Current Ripley's attractions in Gatlinburg:

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum
Ripley's Davy Crockett Mini Golf
Ripley's Haunted Adventure
Ripley's Marvelous Mirror Maze
Ripley's Moving Theater
Ripley's Super FunZone

That's Incredible: Haunted Toys 'R Us (1978)

This segment from That's Incredible! investigates the story of a haunted Toys 'R Us in Sunnyvale, California. Apparently, the toy store was built on the property where a man died after a wood-chopping accident, and psychic Sylvia Brown claims that this man's spirit is haunting the store. A séance is staged in the toy store for That's Incredible! As Brown attempts to make contact with the spirit, a photographer captures some interesting images.

The Search for Houdini (1987)

This TV special aired when I was 11 years old. Around this time I was very interested in magicians and performing magic. The previous year I remember visiting the Magic Shop at Disneyland and buying the "Siberian Chain" (one of the many packaged Adams magic tricks they sold). My friends and I pretended we were great escape artists and took turns chaining each other's hands up.

The Search for Houdini was very appealing to me because it involved magicians and another one of my interests: Halloween. The special featured many magicians paying tribute to Houdini, including the Amazing Randi, Dean Gunnarson, Steve Shaw, Harry Blackstone, Jr., and The Pendragons. Host William Shatner kept the show lively and provided a lot of humor. Even though the televised séance near the end of the show was pretty anti-climactic, the program remains one of the most unique Halloween specials that I ever remember seeing. It was filmed live in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theater.