I'd like to introduce a Haunt & Horror colleague of mine, who has made his mark on the Horror/Haunt/Mask industry in so many ways... Meet:
"The Late" Dr. David Lady has earned a reputation as a
Master Artist in the Halloween and horror industry. Beginning in the early 1980s, Lady has amassed credentials in a range of complementary yet diverse talents.
His experience and expertise span six areas:
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Author- writer (
books, magazine and newspaper articles, comics, comedy sketches, scripting for the annual Horror Hotel tour);
Event Coordinator (Haunted House attractions,
Horror Hotel, Chamber Of Horrors Museums, American Red Cross Blood Drives)
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Designer-Sculptor-Maker of Masks (custom design and fabrication for attractions, museums and private collections plus film and TV work including
Casper,
Zombiethon,
Earth Girls Are Easy,
Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity,
Life Goes On,
Saturday the 14th Strikes Back)
Presenter (Chiller Theatre conventions, The National Halloween Trade Show, The Midwest Haunters’ Conference, various schools and libraries).
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He is also currently employed as Mayor of the town of Chatfield, Ohio. Lady resides in Chatfield with his wife
Laura.
Their annual haunted attraction, the award-winning Horror Hotel museum tour, also serves as home to the Ladys and their “family” --a growing collection of monsters, ghosts, aliens and zombies.
David insists that he has been dead since 1997 and remains convinced that it’s his destiny either to save the world or to destroy it (he hasn’t been able to determine which yet).
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THE LATE DR. LADY SHOW
CAST:
David Lady………..himself
John “Wolfie” Hamrick………Wolfie
Laura Lady………..herself
Kellie Hamilton………Ilean
First went on the air in north central Ohio in October of 2003.
Each 2-hour episode features a horror or sci-fi movie plus approximately 30 minutes of DR LADY’s hosting segments and comedy skits shown at the breaks.
The setting is Horror Hotel, a hotel for monsters owned and operated by DR LADY (a frustrated would-be mad scientist who is apparently some undefined type of revenant), his wife Laura (a vampire) and their assistants Wolfie the bumbling werewolf handyman and Ilean the (possibly human) maid.
He always serves up a healthy helping of cinematic trivia about the evening’s feature (sometimes showing viewers a mask or prop from the film) and the remaining skits and bits are typically a free-wheeling rapid-fire collection of jokes and blackouts, mock TV series and commercials, and spoofs of popular horror and sci-fi movies and themes.
The series is taped at the Ladys’ home, an actual 150-year-old former railroad hotel which they also open to the public for guided tours weekends in October each year.
Horror Hotel the attraction features all-new scenes and themes each year, and is considerably less silly than on the TV show. Similar to traditional horror host shows in format, the show is unusual in that the host and hostess are basically playing slightly exaggerated versions of themselves as opposed to out-and-out character portrayals and that much of what is depicted is at least loosely based on some genuine aspect of the cast’s oddball lives. Suffice to say, trying to separate fantasy from reality in this series can be a challenge.
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HORROR HOTEL
A Halloween enthusiast’s itinerary would be incomplete without a stop at HORROR HOTEL for a tour of what has to be the nation’s most unique and original Halloween attraction.
Rumored to be built upon the portal between the world of human beings and the great beyond, HORROR HOTEL provides accommodations for all the ghosts and monsters who materialize each Halloween season for their annual trip to haunt the land of the living.
Winner of several national haunt awards and voted one of the country’s top 13 haunted attractions in online polls, this cross between a haunted house and a classical wax museum comes to life each October inside its creators’ home (!), a 150-year-old hotel in central Ohio.
Every year, the husband-&-wife team of former Hollywood FX artists David and Laura Lady turn their already bizarre home into a haven for strange and deadly creatures of every kind.
They offer guided tours to curious human visitors, who are shown through the hotel’s lobby, dining hall, library, laboratory and various guest rooms occupied by various odd and inhuman beings.
The emphasis is on the all-encompassing fantasy-horror theme, bombarding guests with a sensory overload of menacing, unsettlingly realistic life-size monster figures and a level of set detail that is unsurpassed in the industry.
First-time visitors often find that they need to go through the horrific halls of the hotel more than once just to take in all its freaky sights and sounds.
Promoted as being suitable for all ages, HH rejects the usual haunt scenes of blood-drenched victims in favor of a morbid sense of graveyard humor, preferring to use its ever-changing cast of ghastly ghouls to entertain rather than simply to shock.
Drawing more out-of-state traffic each year thanks to its growing reputation as a must-see event for horror fans and Halloween buffs, the hotel is an easy destination even for spooks with no sense of direction.
It’s conveniently located on State Route 4 in the village of Chatfield, 45 minutes south of Sandusky (home to Cedar Point Amusement Park) and 75 minutes north of Columbus.
The hotel is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings in October. Admission price and exact dates sometimes fluctuate from year to year, so interested parties are encouraged to check for the gory details before loading up the family hearse and making the trek to Chatfield.
Write to David and Laura Lady,
c/o Horror Hotel, 6977 State Route 4,
P.O. Box #8, Chatfield, OH 44825
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They’ll leave a light off for you!
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Laura & David Lady
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by Miss Monsterella. |
The Ladys and The Fiendish Dr. Phil and myself always had a bloody good time at the annual Halloween & Party trade show in Chicago, Il. I found this picture of the two ghoul doctors in my archives...
Featuring the makeup artistry of "The Fiendish Dr" Phil Nichols, and designed for the beginner, intermediate or advanced makeup practioner. This is a great companion for the Reel FX line of latex prosthetics, or any pre-made latex prosthetics on the market. 
