Sunday, October 16th, 7pm
Halloween Stories with Lesley Bannatyne and Ron Kolek
An evening of ghostly lore and a celebration of the otherworld with Halloween author Lesley Bannatyne and paranormal investigator and author Ron Kolek.
Sit back and listen to a reading of creepy stories from Bannatyne’s anthology, A Halloween Reader: Poems, Stories, and Plays from Halloweens Past, as well as from other favorite grave classics in the tricky treat canon ‘ Poe, Stoker, Lovecraft ‘ read by favorite local performers. Then delve into the shadowy world of one of New England’s most notorious ghost hunters, Ron Kolek of the New England Ghost Project. Kolek will recount the tales of some of his strangest investigations, where all is not as it appears to be. The eerie evening will conclude with Kolek leading members of the audience in contacting the spirits of the Inn Magnolia. If you’re looking for a “good scare,” join Bannatyne and Kolek for an evening of harrowing fun.
Lesley Bannatyne (Author) is one of the country’s foremost authorities on Halloween. She is the author of five books, and has appeared on Halloween specials for Nickelodeon and the History Channel, and contributed the Halloween article to World Book Encyclopedia. Most recently, she, with many compatriots, held the Guinness World Record for “Largest Halloween Gathering” from October 2007-09.
David Adams (Reader) is known to many on Cape Ann as both The Tree Guy (arborist) and Actor-at-Large in a wide variety of local productions. He most recently appeared in The Beauport Anthologies as philanthropist and Gloucester benefactor Samuel Sawyer, grantor of the Gloucester charter Lord Robert Sheffield, and Hermit of Ravenswood Mason Walton; he also did a recent stint as Antonio in Merchant of Venice.
Gordon Baird (Reader) cofounded and published Musician Magazine, founded the West End Theater, and created the cable TV local smash hit, Gloucester Chicken Shack. He is a performer with a thousand skills, most recently appearing in Music at Eden’s Edge narrating Journey, A Seagoing Narrative, with text based on Richard Henry Dana’s novel Two Years before the Mast, and in The Beauport Anthologies as John James Babson, who wrote the first history of Gloucester in 1860, and as sea captain Gordon Eldridge. You can see him in the rock band The Tide, and in December as the flying ghost Jacob Marley in North Shore Music Theater’s Christmas Carol.
Thomas Hauck (Reader) is the editor of Renaissance magazine and the author of several books, including the rock music novel Pistonhead, the horror novel Lucas Manson, and the Kevin Lone series of thrillers, which includes Roses for the Reaper.
JoeAnn Hart (Reader) has had short stories and essays published in Prairie Schooner, Hobart, and Open City, and she is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe Magazine. Her novel, a social satire, Addled (Little Brown, 2007), concerns issues near and dear to Hart’s heart, such as animal rights, cooking, and positioning in the social order.
Ron Kolek (Ghost Investigator) is the founder and lead investigator of The New England Ghost Project. He uses his educational background in science to seek the truth about the paranormal. He is the producer and co-host of the popular radio show Ghost Chronicles and the co-author of the books Ghost Chronicles (2009) and A Ghost a Day (2010).
Tickets are $10. Reservations are STRONGLY advised — seating is limited. Email InnMagnolia@gmail.com for information or to make a reservation.