Laughter in the Dark

I recently worked a paranormal slumber party.  It was great fun; scary stories, ghost hunting, a seance, a visit to a cemetery and a 1am trip to an all-night diner for breakfast in our pajamas.  As I've mentioned before, storytelling is a great passion of mine.  I love everything about it- the candle lit ambiance, the wide eyes, the stilled breath held in anticipation- all for the sake of a good old fashioned scare. 

The stories I love to share the best are not the ones with a bone chilling ending; they are the ones that start out scary and provide an unexpectedly funny ending.  The darkened room then becomes filled with relieved laughter and candle lit grins.  Laughter is a little something that I try to include in my tours or any event that I work.  It's great to scare and thrill a group of people but I always like to leave them smiling. 

This especially applies to my ghost tours; the stories can be a bit history dense so I take any and all opportunities to give the history a few amusing twists.  And let us all remember- sometimes ghosts can be funny, too. 

Tonight, while walking down the street with a ghost radar detector, my group of brave thrill seekers passed a ferocious barking chihuahua who clearly would have ripped our ankles to shreds were it not for his leash.  The radar emitted two words, "Loud.  Mean."  Later on in the evening it said my name and the word "smile".  Sometimes the dead can chill us, make us laugh and touch our hearts. 

Amusing dead people aside, I also encounter many living souls who unwittingly provide some great entertainment.  I have witnessed a streaker, fighting couples who insult each other at a fifth grade level and obnoxious people having very loud and private conversations on their phone.  My favorite, however, is the drunk man who came up to interrupt my group four times to ask for a cigarette.  This man was clever; instead of coming up to me four different times as the same person, he approached me four times with a slightly altered appearance and voice.  This is how it went:

-Encounter number one-

Drunk man: Miss, do you have a smoke?

Me: No, sorry, I don't smoke.

Drunk man: Okay.

-Encounter number two-

Drunk man with a hat and higher voice: Ma'am, can I bum a cigarette off you?

Me: No, sorry, I don't smoke.

Drunk man with a hat and higher voice: Okay, sorry to bother you.

-Encounter number three-

Drunk man with hat on backwards and deep voice: Hey, uh, miss, do you have any cigarettes?

Me: No, sorry, I don't smoke.

Drunk man with hat on backwards and deep voice: That's cool.

-Encounter number four-

Drunk man with popped collar and southern accent: Miss, do you have any cigarettes?

Me: Let me get my phone.  It looks like I'll have to call the police again.

Drunk man with popped collar and southern accent: (walks away)

                     *********************

Harmless, memorable and great source of laughter for my group.  If I can leave my group having scared them and made them laugh at least once I consider it a night well spent.


Until next time,

~Story Siren

Orbs and Things That Bump Back

My group tonight was....memorable.  It was mixed, which I prefer; getting skeptics in my group is always a fun thing because I love turning them to the Dark Side!  I had one lady who volunteered to wield my handy EMF detector but refused to turn it on.  She said that if we did come into contact with supernatural energy, she didn't want to know about it.  This went on until one of her friends snatched it away and spent the rest of the night happily searching for beeps and flashes.  It was particularly funny when I took a group picture during the tour and found that my fearful guest was surrounded by orbs!  Ghosts can be funny that way. 

My look for the evening was inspired by the brilliant Lady Gaga.  (see below)

This is just like Lady Gaga....if she didn't have a team of make-up artists with steady hands and had to use drug-store eye-liner. 

Although I love getting mixed groups, sometimes it's hard to get a read on a few of my guests. Some of them are very open with their emotions, whether they are having a great time or they're bored out of their skulls.  A brilliant smile or rolled eyes are very easy to decipher.  There are also people who have facial expressions that read, "Go on, impress me."  I always enjoy a challenge.  The guests that are the most difficult to entertain are the ones who have what I call the Thousand Yard Stare. 

These guests are always hard to read; they stare at me, through me, they see nothing and they see everything.  They have a dead pan expression and eyes that are soul-piercing and lifeless.  It's a little creepy.  I had such a person in my group tonight.  No facial expression, no questions, no laughter, nothing.  There was no indication that this person was even listening to me.  For all I know he could have spent the whole evening singing the Meow Mix jingle in his head.  Apparently, this person did have a good time, since he shook my hand and thanked me when the tour was over.  You never know....

It's always great fun when I have guests who scare easily.  I make sure to comfort them and let them know that I don't have people hidden in the bushes to jump out at them and yell "Boo!"  I warn them that my odd appearance might draw some unwanted attention from passerby.  My guests have nothing to fear; if anyone tries to bother us I immediately go into Animal Kingdom Mode and assume an aggressive alpha position. 
(see below)

It usually works very well.  I'll pretty much go to any lengths to make sure that my guests feel safe and have a great time.  It's always a great adventure when we search for things that go bump in the night.  Every once in a while, we get to bump back.  

Until next time,

~Story Siren

Laughter and Gin

A Happy November to you all!

Tonight I had the great pleasure of guiding a mixed group of brave individuals through the haunted streets of Downtown Tampa.  A mixed group consists of people who are seasoned ghost tour consumers and novice ghost tour attendees.  I love getting newbies!  It's fun to watch them experience every aspect of touring and hunting for the first time. 

There was one set of plucky young ladies who volunteered to commandeer my handy EMF detector.  Every beep of the machine gave them new waves of excitement. 

My look for the night was relatively simple.  I call it Evil Disney Queen.  (see below)

I guess this would be the Evil Queen from Snow White meets Maleificent.  I hope to one day be as fabulous as either of them.  

After the touring and ghost hunting was over, I was invited to drinks by the plucky fair maidens who had bravely wielded my EMF detector.  I don't normally do this, but for these young ladies I made an exception.

We made our way to a nearby pub and shared more stories over drinks.  Amidst the shouting and screaming at the tv over the -insert local sports team- game, the ladies listened while I told them some stories that are not on the tour, extra goodies that I rarely get to share.

These stories are not for the faint of heart; I'm afraid I may have robbed them of a good night's sleep.  We talked about urban legends, ghosts stories from other countries, EMF and EVP hunting and the three types of hauntings.  

For anyone that doesn't know, the three types of hauntings are: residual (left-over energy), intelligent (conscious energy) and demonic (inhuman and evil).   This is a bit intense so I will rant about that another time.

The evening was wonderful!  Great company, beautiful weather, stiff drinks.  What more could a lady ask for?

It's nights such as these that make me appreciate and love what I do for a living.  I am proud to be a siren who sings for her supper.  

Until next time,

~Story Siren