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So during October, The Travel Channel played this show, I put it on my DVR but didn't have a chance to watch it till last week (I'm still catching up on shows from during the season). What was interesting is that 2 of the places that were on the Hauntcon pre-show tour were on the show, Myrtles Plantation outside of Baton Rouge and St. Louis #1 Cemetary in New Orleans.
I have to admit, when I was at Myrtles, taking the tour, it was a pretty creepy place, and the cemetary was just amazing, talk about atmosphere.
But what was funny is that watching these places on the show, actually creeped me out more than being there. Especially since I was able to hear more clearly the tour guides at Myrtles, and listening to some eyewitnesses. What really creeped me out though, was the segment on St. Louis #1. The cemetary was about one city block, not nearly as big as some of the cemetaries in New Orleans. When I was there I was just taking in the scenery and detail on the different crypts, as well as the Voodoo offerings/markings on some of the graves. We even joked a bit about the coin offerings placed on the graves, joking that we had collected enough coins for lunch that day (I know tacky, but funny). It was easy to lose awareness of the fact there were bodies inside these tombs.
In both segments they used characterizations to tell their story, which made the stories more real.
But what really scared me, was that during the show they pointed out that there was a lack of space at St. Louis #1, so they began to stack bodies in the tombs, they estimate that in that small cemetary there are approximately 100,000 bodies!
Throughout the show they used actor characterizations of the historic figures, which burns a visual image of the story into your memory. If I had seen this show before I travelled to these places, I can assure you my senses would have been hightened and it definitely would have multiplied the creep out factor greatly.
It made me think a bit about how the use of visuals and theatrical storytelling can set the mood and highten sensations, before someone even arrives at your attraction. This has been being done by most haunts in various ways (low tech back story to high tech audio/video) for a while now, but it was cool to think about it and experience it from the customers perspective.
Just something I found interesting,
Chris
I have to admit, when I was at Myrtles, taking the tour, it was a pretty creepy place, and the cemetary was just amazing, talk about atmosphere.
But what was funny is that watching these places on the show, actually creeped me out more than being there. Especially since I was able to hear more clearly the tour guides at Myrtles, and listening to some eyewitnesses. What really creeped me out though, was the segment on St. Louis #1. The cemetary was about one city block, not nearly as big as some of the cemetaries in New Orleans. When I was there I was just taking in the scenery and detail on the different crypts, as well as the Voodoo offerings/markings on some of the graves. We even joked a bit about the coin offerings placed on the graves, joking that we had collected enough coins for lunch that day (I know tacky, but funny). It was easy to lose awareness of the fact there were bodies inside these tombs.
In both segments they used characterizations to tell their story, which made the stories more real.
But what really scared me, was that during the show they pointed out that there was a lack of space at St. Louis #1, so they began to stack bodies in the tombs, they estimate that in that small cemetary there are approximately 100,000 bodies!
Throughout the show they used actor characterizations of the historic figures, which burns a visual image of the story into your memory. If I had seen this show before I travelled to these places, I can assure you my senses would have been hightened and it definitely would have multiplied the creep out factor greatly.
It made me think a bit about how the use of visuals and theatrical storytelling can set the mood and highten sensations, before someone even arrives at your attraction. This has been being done by most haunts in various ways (low tech back story to high tech audio/video) for a while now, but it was cool to think about it and experience it from the customers perspective.
Just something I found interesting,
Chris