The Frightful Poltergeist!

The Frightful Poltergeist! is a traveling show in which spectators are invited to take a seat in a 'haunted' room, where they experience "Apparitions, possessions & much, much more...!".
The show became very popular, and many spin-offs have sprung up in the years since it first toured Tightland.

Execution

The show travels to a local theatre or other establishment with a large room for hire, where they will spend a few days to a few weeks, depending on how well-received it is.
The equipment is set up at night and without announcement, so that it is disturbed as little as possible.
Fake floors, walls and ceilings are set up for the mechanisms that must be hidden, and a small and cosy drawing room is created.
Once all is operational, leaflets with fanciful depictions for the illiterate and fanciful lettering for the rich will be spread throughout the local area, drawing in the curious from neighboring towns and villages.

Actors dressed up as locals of various kinds stand outside and marvel at the pompous billboards and muse at what may be inside.
When it is time for a performance, a small group that have paid the entry fee are lead in, an actor or two amongst them.
The spectators are set in comfortable, heavy chairs in a semi-circle and a 'medium' or 'druid' will attempt to summon the Poltergeist.

This is where the actual performance begins, and the details of the performance vary from performance to performance.
Here is an account from an early admirer of the show:

No sooner had we settled down and all had become quiet, the furniture began to creak ever so slightly and a grandfather clock began chiming solemnly.
Suddenly, a tin cup was knocked off a shelf, then another, then the whole shelf collapsed.
A woman screamed, but was quickly hushed by her husband for a quiet voice began to speak from the shelf.
I couldn't quite hear what was being said, but it seemed discontent at being disturbed.
But then, all of a sudden, the voice started moving around the room, bumping into furniture and knocking over a bowl of fruit, rosy apples rolling across the carpeted floor.
Something pinched my buttocks, and I shot up with a surprised yelp, before sitting down again quickly, so as not to miss anything.
Once the voice had come to the entrance of the room, which was covered by curtains, the figure of the ghost became visible for just a moment.
I was so surprised, that I didn't notice the build-up of smoke behind me.
One of the men turned in his seat, and shouted: "Look!"
We all spun around in our chairs, craning our neck to see what it was, and there before my very eyes was a ghastly figure, flickering in the smoke.
One of the poor ladies fainted, and the others appeared quite stunned.
The ghost began to speak: "All you mortals, hear my curse, for I shall pounce and make things worse!"
No sooner had it spoken the last word, it flew into the mouth of a poor man standing upright, and immediately he began to move as a puppet, making jerky movements and cackling most fearfully.
As if by magic, the door opened, and the man returned to normal.
The light brightened once again, and the druid ushered us out before we could say another word.

After the performance, the actors visit a public establishment, rest themselves for the duration of the next performance and get changed into a different set of clothes before the cycle begins anew.
Once the show believes it is time to move on, the set is dismantled and the traveling show moves on to the next location.

Components and tools

Amongst the many creative devices used in such a performance are heavy chairs with small implements embedded into the upholstery, smoking ovens, adjustable candles and, more often than not, a magic lantern capable of throwing ghastly images onto mirrors or smoke.

Participants

Apart from the actors in the audience and the 'medium' , who have the important occupations of luring spectators in and regulating the audience's reactions in the performance, there are other actors and machinists working behind the scenes and orchestrating the various experiences which may befall the spectators.

Related Ethnicities

• Tightish