There’s a certain magic about Halloween, a sense of wonder that seems to transcend the generations, spurned on by the works of authors like Ray Bradbury (“The Halloween Tree”) or most recently by filmmakers like Mike Dougherty (“Trick r’ Treat”). That slight hint of a chill in the air, a whip of wind that scatters the leaves across a pumpkin patch, the promise of the night’s cool embrace, and the possibility of witnessing the gossamer veil between here and the afterlife at its thinnest. While the traditional haunted house is a seasonal mainstay, rarely can the ghouls and goblins of the revving chainsaw variety match the calming mystery of All Hallows Eve; of bursting candy bags and cat cries in the night. But there is one spot in New Orleans where you can find Halloween at its most pure; a place open to all the living, and the dead, in search of a spooky, good time among the warm glow of flickering jack ‘o lanterns.
This is GHOST MANOR.
An uptown mainstay for over ten years, and most recently heralded nationwide during ABC’s “The Great Halloween Fright Fight” (2023), Ghost Manor sits on a prime piece of Magazine Street real estate that proved to be the perfect location for the best Halloween display in the city. While homeowner and creator David Gentry never intentionally set out to create a multi-media medley that would go on to delight around ten thousand visitors a year, his love for the season and technical proficiency from a young age should have been a dead giveaway of the frights to come.
“As a kid, Halloween was my favorite holiday. It’s just a magical time to dress up, have fun, and really step outside of your everyday self,” said Gentry. “As a kid, I was always into building things. My grandfather was my first electronics teacher and my father was an engineer, so I came by it naturally. When I was nine years old, I had a model skull that I rigged with lights and a walkie-talkie that I set up to scare my sister’s friend who was sleeping over. Decades later, I’m still out here making skulls talk.”
After purchasing the house in 2012, Gentry hoped to take advantage of the house’s unique layout and have a green ghost traverse the upstairs windows during October. From the start though, Gentry’s intuition for realism spurred ingenuity. Not content to simply allow the ghost to float within one window, Gentry modified the projection effect so that it could move freely between four or five windows; giving the impression that the spirit was roaming realistically through the home. The effect was an instant success, and almost too effective for some passersby.
“When I first tested the ghost, someone was riding a bike down Magazine Street and nearly fell off,” said Gentry. “Thankfully, they were OK, but they thought they had seen a ghost. At that point, I realized that I was onto something. As the years went on, I would begin to combine the video content with lighting and animatronics into a unified cohesive show.”
Taking partial inspiration from the key designers of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, most notably the great Marc Davis, David decided to cultivate a place where spirits could come visit after a long day of haunting; a comfortable speakeasy-type environment where guests of all ages, and spiritual planes, could enjoy the simple, elemental joys of Halloween.
“There’s something beautiful about a great scare, but we prefer to take a different approach and focus more on the whimsical, magical aspect of Halloween,” said Gentry. “I asked myself, ‘What do all the ghosts and monsters do on their time off? How do they unwind?’. I decided that they head over to Ghost Manor.”
Utilizing an ever-evolving repertoire of digital projection effects, audio/visual wizardry, and animatronic ingenuity, Gentry has transformed that original single ghost effect into a 25 – 30 minute musical revue, complete with a quartet of singing skeletons, eighty-five coordinated jack o’ lanterns, and customized lighting displays that dazzle uptown crowds on cool October nights. Never one to rest on his laurels, Gentry is ever tweaking and improving the show; stretching his creative and engineering abilities to the wonderment of a rapt and eager audience.
“I have dozens of ideas for how to improve the show each year,” said Gentry. “The best ones bubble to the top and get introduced. But everything has to work within the format of the show. This year, we have three scenes; two of which involve the most advanced animatronic we’ve built to date, a skeleton named Dwight.”
In contrast to his four singing brethren, Dwight has been a five to six year project for Gentry. With over 16 motors throughout his bony body, this multiple award-winning animatronic is able to move not just his mouth but his arms as well; adding a whole new dimension of performance that allows him to dance and even emote.
“Dwight is the hardest thing I’ve ever built, but we are very proud of him,” said Gentry. “Guests may have seen a preview of him in 2023 but this year he takes center stage.”
Not wanting to give away all the fun, Gentry is looking forward to guests witnessing these new offerings for themselves, with all the surprises they entail. For him, after months of dedicated experimentation and creative energy, to see multiple generations of families return year after year to find solace and community in his particular brand of Halloween fun makes all the work worth it.
“I consider this project really a multimedia art installation whose sole purpose is to make people laugh and smile,” said Gentry. “That is what drives me, not just the technical challenge but to be able to create something that people will delight in. No matter who they are, everyone can put their differences aside for Halloween. To help create a small piece of joy, a taste of that little bit of magic they felt as a kid, and bring people together, that’s what I love the most.”
Ghost Manor is running from 7 – 10 p.m. on Oct. 17 – 20, 24 – 27 and 30 – 31. Each performance runs from 25 – 30 minutes and repeats throughout the night, so no matter what time you arrive you can see the whole show, weather permitting.
To learn more, please visit ghostmanor.org.
See y’all in the moonlight!
