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161st Room – “Sarah’s Attic,” Discovered At Winchester Mystery House!

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This past August ihorror announced the new guided tour only by candlelight taking place at the world-renowned Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California this Halloween season. “This new guided tour experience promises a classic haunting, an unnerving tour that is atmospheric and frightful,” states Walter Magnuson, General Manager of Winchester Mystery House. “If you believe in ghosts or are seeking the quintessential haunted house experience for the Halloween season this is the destination for you!” Click here to read more about the Candlelight Tour.

iHorror has just learned that a new autumn treat has been uncovered at Winchester Mystery House referred to as “Sarah’s Attic” (aka. The 161st room). It has been said that “Everything in this new room is authentic to the estate and seemingly has a life force of its own.”

Read more about Sarah’s Attic (161st Room) from The Press Release:

161st ROOM “DISCOVERED’’ AT WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE! Attic Room Full of “Activity” Re-Located Out of House For Enjoyment of Sharp-Eyed Guests to Take Aim at Fun!

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Sept. 20, 2016) – In the seemingly unending lore and physical labyrinth that is the Winchester Mystery House (one of the most famous haunted residences in the world) an entirely new room has been “discovered” is now open for guests to experience – bringing the total number of known rooms now to 161.

The Winchester Mystery House preservation team recently opened an attic space that had been boarded up since Mrs. Winchester’s death in 1922. They were delighted to find the contents undisturbed after nearly 100 years!

The heavily damaged, unrepaired plaster wall testifies to the massive San Francisco earthquake of 1906 that nearly destroyed the house. Mrs. Winchester must have used the attic space as storage for many of her belongings such as her Victorian couch, beautiful pump organ, dress form, sewing machine, some paintings she was fond of along with several other eclectic items.

There is also clear evidence that she used this space to conduct séances, perhaps due to the paranormal activity that was discovered to regularly occur in this room- odd occurrences that continue to this day. A collection of rifles was also discovered, many looking like authentic Winchester rifles of long ago.

“When moving the room to our Central Courtyard a rifle accidentally went off and surprisingly activated the spirits that haunt the space and all kinds of crazy phenomenon occurred,” said Walter Magnuson, General Manager of Winchester Mystery House. “Now our tour guests will have the opportunity to do the same as we have opened it up to let them take a rifle in hand to activate 38 known targets (one for every year the incredible mansion was under construction) that unleash the supernatural.”

Affectionately dubbed “Sarah’s Attic” this new space joins the newly revised Winchester Café, now presented by renowned Santa Clara Valley caterer Tony Santos, plus the recently announced all-new Halloween Candlelight Tour and Skeleton Key Club as the latest offerings that are part of the Winchester Mysterious House experience. “These new additions may not be as boisterous and frenetic as the construction that took place during Sarah Winchester’s time but it proves that expansion continues here at Winchester Mystery House,” adds Magnuson.

About Winchester Mystery House

For nearly 100 years the Winchester Mystery House has stood as a testament to the ingenuity, persistence of vision and lore that surrounds its namesake, Sarah Winchester (heir to the Winchester Repeating Rifle fortune). A true pioneer who crisscrossed the United States via steam train many times during the waning days of the “wild west,” Sarah Winchester lives on in legend as a grieving widow who continuously built onto her small farm house to appease the spirits of those killed by the guns manufactured by her husband’s firearms company.

The mansion is renowned for its many architectural curiosities and paranormal activity (TIME magazine cited it among the “Top 10 Haunted Places”). From 1884-1922 construction never ceased as the original farm house grew into the world’s most unusual and sprawling mansion (24,000 square feet built at a then astronomical cost of $5.5 million), featuring: 160 rooms, 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms and 9 kitchens.

The estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a California Historic State Landmark, a San Jose City Landmark and one of the leading attractions in the Bay Area. Additional information may be found at Winchester Mystery House.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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