For the past four years New Mexico Ghost Tours and the Southwest Ghost Hunter's Association have teamed up to create a unique haunted attraction for Halloween. We combined the elements of the Ghost Tour of Old Town with haunted house and theatrical elements. The event even had its own logo (see left) designed and was sold on T-shirts during all four nights.

However, 2005 brought many changes as it was the largest event we had organized and our attendance over last year had tripled. All three major networks covered the event and the event itself was added as a Tricentinal event for the city of Albuquerque. Despite this it has always been the philosophy to create a bigger and better experience each year and this year we got as big as we could get in Old Town.

We were not able to book bands for entertainment and every single bit of "scary" useable space was utilized. Therefore this was the last time we would be doing this attraction in Old Town Albuquerque.

For the sake of memories, and for those of you who had missed this years event, we have created this webpage to show you what you have missed. All the pictures are thumbnailed so click on them to see the larger image which will come up in a new window.

Fear not though, what will come will be even grander and scarier!!!

Of course everything started in the Plaza. Gracing the gazebo was a ten foot replica of New Mexico Ghost Tours logo complete with a ghost that lit up. this was also a favorite spot for the tour goers to take photographs after their "haunted" experience in Old Town.

Also located in the Plaza was our ticket Booth. We were actually quite proud of it because the ticket booth turned out really well and added some ambience to the Plaza. Around the Plaza were four stations decorated with skeletons in Old West attire. These were the staging areas were our customers would be assigned into groups.

Around the gazebo were merchants selling various tour merchandise from buttons to T-shirts, including the Ghosthunter X DVD that features the Southwest Ghost Hunters Association.

After being assigned to a group, the customers had about a ten minute wait before being whisked away to see the ghosts of Old Town and the many horrific surprises we had waiting for them.

These pictures were taken on the last night and many do not have all of the show's elements included in them.

1. The Ghost of Scarlett

The patrons are lead around the block and into the alleyway where the "real" ghost of a prostitute named Scarlett has been seen on several occasions. The narrator tells her story then the ghost appears and attacks him.

Several elements of this scene changed from night to night but they all ended with Scarlett (Carrie) emerging from a cloud of fog, grabbing the narrator by the neck and flinging him to the wall. She then goes after the customers who are quickly pulled away from the scene. (most of the time anyway).

Alley Zombies

However the ordeal was not over yet for the unsuspecting tourist. They now had to navigate all the way down the dark alley to reach the next scene. The problem was that the alley was filled with zombies lying in ambush! the audience suspected something as ambiance music was playing loudly from the far end of the alley.

This was the first area where screams were heard sitting in the Plaza. Several of our zombies had found excellent hiding places and were able to startle just about anyone at will.

2. Patio Market (La Placita Ghost Stories)

After surviving the zombies. The group was whisked into the Patio Market to hear the haunting tales of Casa de Armijo.

The stories were recordings that were played back over stereo that was hooked into our animatronic zombie. The zombie mouthed the words and looked back and forth as the ghosts of Victoria and Elizabeth wandered around the scene. Right after the story ended, the bad Confederate ghost who pop around the corner and fire two blanks at the other ghosts, who screamed and fled. The group was then led to the next scene.

The majority of this scene was lit by blacklight and it is hard to get a feel for this scene with flash photography.

3. The Hatchet Lady and the Killer Clowns

The next scene on the tour was a stop behind the old Bluher barn where the ghost of the Hatchet Lady resides.

This scene was performed much like it is on the regular ghost tour except that the Hatchet Lady appears at the end and attacks the narrator. She then starts towards the crowd as they are being pulled away by the tour guide. However the group is not safe for long.

The second they come around the corner they are assaulted by a group of insane killer clowns that pester the group for the next thirty yards before getting bored and moving off.

Once again, the photo we have here does not do the killer clowns any justice. There were a total of five of them, moving about on scooters, ambushing the group from bushes and causing general mayhem.

4. Zombie Alley

Zombie alley is actually a very narrow passage between two shops with a larger section in the center. The top was enclosed by a tarp and it was pitch black inside. The area was filled with cobwebs (reattached before each group came through), and the area was filled with fog.

As the group entered they were immediately confronted by a strobe light, its effects amplified by

5. The Haunted House

After surviving the assault of the zombies, the group was then led through the rear walk way of the museum where we had constructed a haunted house. The haunted house consisted of 5 rooms which then turned into a maze. As with many of our photos, no justice is done and the pictures we have here do not show the details of the operation. Much of this area was in complete darkness with occasional black lighting and the actors is what made this so scary.

Fog billowed out of the entrance s the crowd entered. A make shift air cannon blasted as unsuspecting participants as they made their way to the first room. We called this room the black light room and it mostly served as a early warning system to the actors to get ready.

6. Sarge, the Confederate ghost

The story telling of this real ghost story was shared between Bob and Kristin. After the storyteller finished telling the story, the ghost of Sarge would appear out of a hidden area and fire his musket at the crowd yelling "Damn yankees! Get away from my guns!"

7. The Church Street Cafe

Right around the corner from Sarge is another real ghost story. The storytellers alternated between Bob and Kristin, this scene was done much like the regular ghost tour but condensed allot.

The New Mexico Gun fighters

8. The Big Finish (The story of Grim)

The final scene was a short play based on yet another real ghost that has been seen in Old Town. The New Mexico Gun Fighters helped us out with this one and brought the big finish to the show that ended in a massive gun fight between ghosts.