A Virtual tour through the Grisly Homestead

A Tour Through the Haunt

by Dusti L. Lewars Poole

Grisly Gothic Gables Virtual Tour from Haunted Attraction Magazine #23

A dark, weathered porch adorns an even darker wooden face of the old Victorian manse before you.

Autumn leaves cover the planks, and various sounds of wind, rain, and lightning, drift through the air. In the distance there is music, and screams.

Suddenly the rickety front door beyond the porch slams open. A rather pale looking man dressed in a tuxedo, stands at the entrance.

“Hello, and welcome to Grisly Gothic Gables, I will be your guide.” purrs Vincent Bloodworth,the Grisly family butler who gestures you to join him inside the entry.

After he tells you the rules of the house (don’t touch anything, stay with your guide), you are introduced via a portrait to the owner of this disturbed household:Allistair Grisly.

As the tour begins, Vincent guides you into the house via the root cellar, where a slight spider problem has taken hold.

Cousin Maggie, covered in her pet spiders, waves to you from the ceiling,

as her sister Arachnia tries to show you her hand-held spiders.

You next find yourself in the portrait gallery of the Grisly family.

As you turn to look around, you realize there are no doors into - or out of - this room, and disturbing images cover the walls. A coffin stands at your back, and before you is a rather large fireplace.

“All of the Grislys are hung here,” explains Vincent.

“And for you, there are only two ways out. You can be hung on the walls,” as he gestures to an awaiting noose hanging from the ceiling, “or burnt in the fireplace...” With a crash, the coffin pops open and a Grisly leaps into the room, shrieking, “Burn them!” “Burning it is!” agrees Vincent.

“Quickly everyone, through the fireplace..but be careful of your heads. We have some trolls caught in the chimney.”Scampering through the fireplace you cringe from the noises of something crashing above you, and catch up to Vincent in a claustrophobic library filled with bookshelves.

As he spins a tale about how Grandfather Grisly loved to collect books, he walks around the perimeter of the room. As the story gets increasingly tense, he walks faster and faster, circling the group

- and then the lights flash and a man in a wheelchair races toward you with an unearthly laugh. “Oh no! It’s Grandfather! Come this way!” Vincent commands, as he opens yet another secret panel.

You blindly follow him into a very dark hallway…and start to wonder if you were perhaps safer with the unbalanced elder as the sounds of rats surround you. “Watch your step,” counsels your deranged guide as you fumble your way through the darkness, gingerly touching the walls, and feeling…rats?…at your fingertips and at your feet, chattering in your ears…until finally, you see a light, and race towards it.

The butler greets you with a cheery, “There you are! I thought the rats had gotten you!” and asks you for the map. “What map?” you think to yourself, as he insists that you must have one. Upon the realization that you do not, he eyes you angrily, “Well, that could be a problem,” he explains, and tells you about the mysterious ‘hall of doors’ in which you stand. It was designed by Cousin Lenny, who fancied himself an Architect, and died when he got lost in his own confusing creation. Victor further explains that “The hallway only has one safe exit, and without a map, well…finding that exit could be tricky. But you’re very lucky to have me as your guide,” Vincent reassures you, and then leads you on a bewildering chase through the hallway, running through all manner of doors, trying some that do not open, avoiding others that are being pounded on by unseen entities (that you are perfectly happy leaving unseen.) After what seems like an eternity, Vincent opens a door, and, smiling, beckons you through it.

Before you lies a dining room table, adorned with the remnants of a carnivore’s meal. “I hope you weren’t hungry - it would seem we’re too late for dinner. Cousin Mikey was here first,” laments Vincent. “You know Cousin Mikey, don’t you? He’ll eat anything…”

A crash comes from behind the table and a seemingly innocent portrait falls to reveal a blood-stained man bellowing, “Dinnertime!” Not staying to find out what the next course might be, you chase after your rapidly-exiting guide, who leads you into a bedroom and cautions you to be quiet, as the child in this room is trying to sleep despite a terror of the boogeyman. His terror is well-founded as the wall over the bed seems to be...alive? Suddenly the room is invaded by a creature leaping from the dresser. In terror, you scurry after Vincent who is slipping away into the house’s attic.

Trunks, suitcases, and assorted bits of storage surround you and the portrait of a beautiful young bride is accented by a dim spotlight. Sadly, Vincent relates her tragic tale of betrayal by the hands of one who supposedly loved her, and you feel a pang of sympathy…until the vengeful bride screams her way into the room!

Quickly you and Vincent leave the attic by way of a hall filled with broken mirrors. Shapes seem to be moving in the shattered glass - shapes besides your own reflection

- and you try desperately not to look, not to get too drawn in - as Vincent warns you to watch out for Uncle Anton, a Grisly who remains trapped within these mirrors.

Suddenly, you realize one of those reflections is a man, an old bewhiskered man who’s stretching out his arms, trying to draw you into his world!

You flee into the next room, where boxes balance on bizarre angles and distorted carnival music fills the air. The butler tries to tell you the story of Morgan and his sideshow, “Monstrosities,” but you are too distracted by the sight and sound of a massive wooden sign falling towards your head.

Panicked, you barrel into the next section of the house where ghostly stone arches stretch their arms over your head, and an eerie light makes your clothes softly glow. Vincent places one finger over his lips, gesturing for silence, and whispers to you that you have now entered the family crypt, and you must be very, very quiet…because if you are not very..very..quiet, you just…might…“WAKE THE DEAD!” he shouts, and with a maniacal smile gestures you to follow him as the restless souls of Grisly ancestors shuffle from their tombs and slowly follow you through the maze of archways and walls.

The butler flings open a door and your eyes are momentarily dazzled by the brightness of the room beyond. As your eyes adjust, you discover that you have entered a massive laboratory, where a rather large body lies on a table. Cousin Victor, a man dressed in a lab coat and speaking excitedly about new visitors and his experiments, bursts into the lab and starts fussing with switches and levers on a wall filled with confusing lights and gadgets. Of all the Grisly family members that you have seen thus far, there is something innately likeable, almost trustworthy, about Victor. Perhaps it is his eagerness to have you in his lab. Perhaps it is the lack of screams and threats, but as he motions for you to come closer, you do so cautiously, staring in fascination at the body on the table.

Suddenly chaos breaks loose as the lights in the room flash frenetically and the creature rises from the table, accompanied by the joyous shrieks of Cousin Victor…shrieks that turn to cries of rage as the animated monster turns on his creator.

Looking a little panicked, Vincent throws open another door and calls for you to follow him. You do so, gratefully, and discover that you are in yet another room with many doors and no obvious exits! The butler informs you, in breathless tones, that in order to get out this part of the house without going back through Victor’s Lab is to sneak through the room where all of Cousin Victor’s ‘less successful’ experiments are kept.

He chooses a door at random, and you pursue him through the portal, past masses of screaming, starving, decaying creatures that are desperately begging you to feed and release them.

“Ah!” Vincent exclaims, ducking through a door, “We’ve reached safety!” Smiling he and escorts you to the exit door. “Thank you for coming to Grisly Gothic Gables. We do hope you come to visit again soon..” Suddenly, behind your guide, the bolted door falls from its frame, slamming down on the floor. Your safe room becomes decidedly dangerous as all manner of monsters swarm into the chamber attacking Vincent. He screams for you to save yourself, and you do so - running at full speed out of the house - visions of the family members leaving deep imprints on your psyche as you already start planning your next visit to the Grisly family homestead.

Dusti L. Lewars Poole is the Secretary of IAHA. A Grisly veteran of 7 years, she is also the actor coordinator for GGG.

Haunted Attraction Magazine Home

A Tour Through the Haunt

A dark, weathered porch adorns an even darker wooden face of the old Victorian manse before you.

Autumn leaves cover the planks, and various sounds of wind, rain, and lightning, drift through the air. In the distance there is music, and screams.

Suddenly the rickety front door beyond the porch slams open. A rather pale looking man dressed in a tuxedo, stands at the entrance.

“Hello, and welcome to Grisly Gothic Gables, I will be your guide.” purrs Vincent Bloodworth,the Grisly family butler who gestures you to join him inside the entry.

After he tells you the rules of the house (don’t touch anything, stay with your guide), you are introduced via a portrait to the owner of this disturbed household:Allistair Grisly.

As the tour begins, Vincent guides you into the house via the root cellar, where a slight spider problem has taken hold.

Cousin Maggie, covered in her pet spiders, waves to you from the ceiling,

as her sister Arachnia tries to show you her hand-held spiders.

You next find yourself in the portrait gallery of the Grisly family.

As you turn to look around, you realize there are no doors into - or out of - this room, and disturbing images cover the walls. A coffin stands at your back, and before you is a rather large fireplace.

“All of the Grislys are hung here,” explains Vincent.

“Quickly everyone, through the fireplace..but be careful of your heads. We have some trolls caught in the chimney.”Scampering through the fireplace you cringe from the noises of something crashing above you, and catch up to Vincent in a claustrophobic library filled with bookshelves.

As he spins a tale about how Grandfather Grisly loved to collect books, he walks around the perimeter of the room. As the story gets increasingly tense, he walks faster and faster, circling the group

- and then the lights flash and a man in a wheelchair races toward you with an unearthly laugh. “Oh no! It’s Grandfather! Come this way!” Vincent commands, as he opens yet another secret panel.

Before you lies a dining room table, adorned with the remnants of a carnivore’s meal. “I hope you weren’t hungry - it would seem we’re too late for dinner. Cousin Mikey was here first,” laments Vincent. “You know Cousin Mikey, don’t you? He’ll eat anything…”

Quickly you and Vincent leave the attic by way of a hall filled with broken mirrors. Shapes seem to be moving in the shattered glass - shapes besides your own reflection

- and you try desperately not to look, not to get too drawn in - as Vincent warns you to watch out for Uncle Anton, a Grisly who remains trapped within these mirrors.

Suddenly, you realize one of those reflections is a man, an old bewhiskered man who’s stretching out his arms, trying to draw you into his world!

You flee into the next room, where boxes balance on bizarre angles and distorted carnival music fills the air. The butler tries to tell you the story of Morgan and his sideshow, “Monstrosities,” but you are too distracted by the sight and sound of a massive wooden sign falling towards your head.

Suddenly chaos breaks loose as the lights in the room flash frenetically and the creature rises from the table, accompanied by the joyous shrieks of Cousin Victor…shrieks that turn to cries of rage as the animated monster turns on his creator.

He chooses a door at random, and you pursue him through the portal, past masses of screaming, starving, decaying creatures that are desperately begging you to feed and release them.

Trunks, suitcases, and assorted bits of storage surround you and the portrait of a beautiful young bride is accented by a dim spotlight. Sadly, Vincent relates her tragic tale of betrayal by the hands of one who supposedly loved her, and you feel a pang of sympathy…until the vengeful bride screams her way into the room!