By Ivan Adame, Contributor
Scary Stories, which has entertained audiences of all ages with terrifying tales for so long it’s become a local Halloween tradition, returns on Oct. 29 for its spooky-sounding 13th year.
As if the event won’t be nerve-wracking enough, its producers are anticipating an amorphous green specter, which in recent years has tended to be captured in photographs, to be among the attendees at Angels Gate Cultural Center.
This Halloween’s 90-minute fright fest will feature locals Melanie Jones, Heather Handwerk, John Charles Meyer and Cathy Scott Skubik in a sort of “greatest hits” performance, reading favorites from the past 12 years. Stories by the likes of Saki, Thomas M. Disch, Mary Howitt and others will be told around a campfire, complete with sound effects.
In its earliest incarnations, Scary Stories took place at the fire pit where the Iron Circle Nation frequents the annual Many Winters Gathering of Elders event. After seven years, it was relocated to the gun emplacement. That’s when an apparition — photographic or spectral — began to mysteriously appear in photographs by speaker and photographer Handwerk.
“Some people think it’s a camera glitch, but Heather and I believe that we have a Scary Stories fan from the other side — or the in-between,” said Jones, the director of Scary Stories, during a promotional video on YouTube. “She is getting more and more at home with us. There is a definite communion going on, and we welcome her — or him — or them.”
Jones says factors like the military presence during both World Wars and the Cold War have made the grounds of Angel’s Gate “founded on fear.” She finds that highly fitting. She’s looking forward to seeing the green specter, too.
“I’d like to think this green being is rejoicing in the fire and dancing our fear away and trusts us and approves that an old gun emplacement is used for listening and snuggling up and creating community,” Jones said. “I hope she will be back.”
Scary Stories 13 will take place on. Oct. 29 at Angels Gate Cultural Center, at 3601 S. Gaffey St. Admission is $5. Children six and younger are admitted free. Be sure to bring your own seating and dress warmly.