Haunted tour fundraiser was a spook-tacular success

On Saturday night Ralph and I volunteered for three hours outside a stately (and haunted?) Victorian mansion that is now a funeral home.


It was one of several stops along a Halloween-inspired haunted lantern tour through downtown Derby, Ct. 
We told a spooky story hat we read from a script given to us.
Hundreds of people - who paid $5 apiece - came to get spooked and learn local history.
I counted 20 tour groups, although I could have lost track, because I was getting rather punchy near the end of the event.
 

So does Ralph look kinda creepy here? I think so.
It was cold out there and the wool cape added a bit of a 'Grim Reaper' look, in my opinion...


We told the story of a young woman, Emma Schabert, who lived in the house with her first husband - who was 40 years her senior.
She and her brother were lucky enough to survive the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 after being rescued from a lifeboat by the crew of the Carpathia.
The question we posed was: would her wealthy husband, Rufus W. Blake, who owned the Sterling Piano Co. in Derby, be as lucky?

As the story goes, the couple was home one night playing cards when Rufus went upstairs and accidentally shot himself in the eye. He never regained consciousness.
Newspaper accounts at the time said his death was accidental. However, the "accident" left Emma a very wealthy young widow.


Coincidence? No one can say for sure.

But as the script we read says, "Someone in the house rests uneasily.  Footsteps are heard echoing through the building, cigar smoke is frequently smelled and doors open and close without explanation."


Hmmm... 

Before the tours there was a Jack O'Lantern contest. Guess who didn't win?

 BEFORE
AFTER

 

Bwahahaha ~ I've only carved three pumpkins in my entire life, so I'm not too skilled at it.