If you’re looking for music, costumes, and community, The Mansion is the place to be on Halloween.
The 16th annual Haunted Mansion Halloween Party spooks its way into another year of festivities at The Mansion in 2024. Utilizing all three levels of the venue—the main floor, living room, and the cellar—the night featured performances from Kasador, Carnelian, Squid Pistol, Ibistër, The Roses, RevZed and DJ Devious. With decorations to suit the Halloween theme, and a $1,000 cash prize for best costume, the night is a highlight of The Mansion’s calendar for organizers and attendees alike.
“It’s one of our biggest nights of the year,” Co-Owner Dave Owens said in an interview with The Journal. “We’re fortunate it’s kind of already a bit of a spooky mansion, so we can turn it into the haunted mansion for the night.”
With 500 to 700 people typically ing through the building over the course of the night, the bill’s diverse range of musicians provides something for everyone. “This year we have Kasador headlining on the main floor, they’re a big local band, and then we have Carnelian headlining upstairs, which is a Queen’s band—they’re fantastic, they bring a great crowd,” Owens said.
The multifaceted nature of the event offers an opportunity for bands to diversify their listenership and vice versa. “It gives people a little bit of a taste of different genres on different floors, and allows people to have a more complete night,” Owens added. “It’s a nice bit of variety.”
The Haunted Mansion Halloween Party also brings together some familiar faces, with most of the featured musicians having played at The Mansion many times before.
“We like to work with relationships we’ve already built, so we, you know, give them the opportunity if they’re interested in doing it,” Owens said.
Though the event has had touring bands in the past, such as My Son the Hurricane, this year it was all local. “We like to keep it mostly local bands, and kind of reward bands that have worked with us in the past,” Owens shared.
Keeping ticket prices low is important to the organizers, who want as many people to enjoy the opportunity as possible, reminding folks of the vibrant music scene that exists in the city. “We try to make it a cost-effective opportunity. You’re not paying $50, $60 for a ticket [to the event], right? It’s $15 for an advance ticket, 20 bucks at the door. We try to just give value to that,” Owens said.
An exciting portion of the event that sets The Mansion’s event apart from the rest is the highly anticipated costume competition, offering a $1,000 cash prize to the lucky winner. Judged by local photographer Virginia Meeks, creativity, effort, and originality are key ingredients for the winning ensemble. After trying different selection methods over the years, this has
been most effective.
“We think we found the best system to make it fair for everybody, and Virginia takes it very seriously, which is good because people put a lot of effort.” Owens said. In the past, individuals, couples’ costumes, and groups have won the prize.
Past winners have included a group of green army men, painted green and posed like the children’s toys, and a detailed mermaid, complete with a fish tank over her head. The winner is announced the following day and posted on social media. The participant can then come down to The Mansion to collect their coveted prize.
Owens is excited for what the future of the event has in store, building on its legacy each year.
It’s more just kind of trying to do everything a little bit better each year, get the from people, and see what people are looking for,” Owens said.
“We’re just looking to continue making it better and better every year and making sure everyone has a good time.”
Tags
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].