Happy Halloween in Second Life!

If in any quest for magic, in any search for sorcery, witchery, legerdemain, first check the human spirit.

Rod Serling

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays in Real Life (RL).

(No, I don’t go trick or treating anymore. Significant Other made me stop.)

Autumn is in full riot when it occurs.  Summer is a memory.

It’s then followed by my next favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, which then leads to my favorite one of the whole year, Christmas!

Of course, Second Life (SL) is no slouch either when it comes to Halloween.  In fact, it may give RL a run for its money here. 

IMHO Halloween may be the biggest holiday inworld with the biggest and baddest costumes and parties.  Not to mention all the haunted, spooky locations that pop up to be visited. 

Naturally, at this time of the year, I turn to my oldest friend inworld, Perryn Peterson, Mayor of Mieville and impresario extraordinaire of its social life to tell me what he and his merry band are up to for Halloween!

We’re not to be disappointed! 

This year’s theme is a magical town with a hint of witchcraft and magic thrown in for good measure that happens to be surmounted by an impressive castle. 

The town is called FloxWarts and the event is called FloxWarts Halloween! 

The spirit of Halloween is evident throughout the town. 

This is without a doubt the most involved town setting from the gang at Mieville.

For one, I kept getting lost.  (Significant Other says no surprise there and is willing to bet I wouldn’t stop to ask for directions either.) 

There are a myriad of streets, alleys, byways, and dead ends.

Oh, and BTW watch out for the spiders in the alleyways and the Whomping Willow.  (Just go see for yourself with that last one.)

As in all Mieville events, FloxWarts Halloween is a non-stop social whirl leading up to the main event on Halloween. 

Close to one hundred merchants are offering their wares in shops and carts

throughout the town for the shopping pleasure of visitors. 

Entertainments, gachas, dancing, amusements, food and drinks, and much more will be available to delight guests.

A pumpkin hunt, whereby players can earn points by catching small pumpkins rolling around all over the place to buy gifts, will be ongoing during FloxWarts Halloween.  (This is very similar to the acorn hunt in the last Renaissance Faire.)    

There are new merchants to add to the growing community.  A few are: Porcelan Resident, Xanna Wahwah, and Abondurant Resident aka Miss Phoebe. 

Be sure to check out the FloxWarts Express!

An amazing train assembled exclusively for this event by Troy Waxman.

(Hint: You can find it by following the little blue arrow on the floor of the main (actually the only) train station.  A must for train aficionados! 

There will be broomstick riding and unicorns!

Don’t miss FloxWarts Castle either! 

“Floo powder” will transport you around which you can find in the fireplace at the Faulty Firkin arrival area where you’ll start your journey.  Also, check out the chairs there too! 

As always, a Mieville production is fun and well worth attending.  FloxWarts Halloween is no exception!

I strongly recommend your going especially if you enjoy Halloween as much as I do. 

Further, Mieville is a wonderful community of people to go and hang out with.  

And, in case you don’t believe me, FloxWarts Halloween has been included on SL’s Top Haunted Places Tour & Hunt this year!

FloxWarts Halloween runs from October 7^th to the 31^st and can be located here.    

Please come and enjoy yourselves and maybe you’ll run into me!

Additional pictures from FloxWarts  Halloween can be found on this flickr page. 

I’d like to thank The Companion for once again helping me out and taking all these wonderful photos. 

I’d also like to thank Perryn for once again taking the time from his busy schedule to give a pre-opening tour and to everyone in Mieville who make wonderful events like FloxWarts Halloween happen!

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

            If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life  please click here.

            Open roads and kind fires!

More about an Old Fashioned Halloween in Second Life

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

John Donne

 

          Recently, I blogged about this year’s Old Fashioned Halloween in Second Life (SL) hosted by Perryn Peterson and the good folks of Mieville. 

          While I wrote this last story, I felt the need to write another about this festival. 

          Why you may ask?

          (Significant Other wants to know why I ask that question because I’m going to tell you anyway.)

          First, because I’m taken with the spirit of the Mieville community and the effort that they put into these events.

          Next, new merchants and team members are always joining to participate and to help out.  This tells me that this is a dynamic and growing community.

          All these reasons got me wondering about the motivations behind all these folks so I decided to find out more about them. 

          I sent out a short questionnaire to members of the Mieville community and this is

timed to start with the mini-hunt in the Old Fashioned Halloween festival.

          I received almost a dozen replies. 

          My thanks to all of you!

          What follows is a summary of those replies.

          The questions were:

1.     Why do you participate?

2.     What satisfaction do you receive by participating?

3.     Do you have a favorite story about this event?

 

And for those free spirits out there (You know who you are!) I gave them an option to tell me what they thought in their own words. 

The replies to the first question went along the following lines.

People enjoy being part of a lively, vibrant, and unique community in SL. 

They love steampunk.

They love, one said adores, Perryn Peterson who was described by one respondent as an “excellent and affable hunt manager.” 

(No, that reply wasn’t from Perryn!)

          Others said that they like getting out of their stores and being with others.

          For some, it’s a chance to make a little money and to assist in the branding of their products. 

          Several replied that Halloween was their favorite season in Real Life (RL) and this was chance to get out and enjoy it with others.

          My favorite reply came from Brian Landar who designed the haunted house for the

event and said that Halloween is RL wife’s birthday and he goes all out because of her. 

          Happy birthday to Mrs. Landar wherever you are!

          People had different answers to the second question but in similar vein.

          They love the people of Mieville.

          Their best friends inworld are in Mieville. 

          They enjoy the freedom and the challenge of the event and give full credit to Perryn for this. 

          The hustle and bustle along with the fun appeals to some. 

          Interacting with the other merchants and learning new things appeals to others.

          In replying to the last question, no one had any stories about this event but that didn’t stop them from writing replies! 

          Some were amazed that a community could put on one successful event after the other so flawlessly. 

        

  Others enjoyed the fun and the “low pressure” environment.

          People see things they haven’t seen before and might not have but for this event.

          Finally, people enjoy making new friends at this event.

          And, isn’t that what this is all about? 

          Looking over the replies I received I’m struck by how there wasn’t one word of complaint.

          People were enthusiastic and obviously enjoyed being part of this event.

          So, if you have time check out an Old Fashioned Halloween!

          It can be found here!

          My thanks to all who took the time to reply to my questionnaire and especially for all their hard work to make it all possible in Mieville!

          More pictures from my visit to an Old Fashioned Halloween can be found on this Flickr page.             

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

 

An Old Fashioned Halloween in Second Life

 

We're all of us haunted and haunting.

Chuck Palahniuk

 

          The seasons change around us.

          That time of the year when foliage begins to change color and then fall to the ground, when there is a crispness in the air, and when days shorten is upon us.

          Traditions are part of these seasonal changes.

          In Real Life (RL), the harvest theme is commonplace. 

          (OK, I know most of you have never even seen a farm but stay with the romance of the idea, will you please!  Sheesh, everyone’s a critic these days!)

          Shadows draw closer and the approach of winter is felt.

          Halloween is in the air! 

          As in RL, Second Life (SL) has its own traditions at this time of the year!

          One of the biggest and most well known is the annual Mieville Halloween festival! 

          This year’s is called An Old-Fashioned Halloween and brings back many of the old Halloween traditions (including dunking for apples!)

          One of the few perqs of my job as SL’s least appreciated blogger (Except for you my three loyal followers!) is that I get a sneak peek at all the wonderful Mieville events from my good friend, Perryn Peterson, Mayor of Mieville and impresario par excellance.

          (Significant Other suggests that I might be better appreciated if I quit using foreign words when I blog.)

          I meet Perryn at the haunted house which is the landing zone for this year’s festivities.    

          (The haunted house is amazing and was put together by Brian Landar.  It’s worth a

visit all by itself.) 

          As we begin our stroll around the grounds, Perryn explains to me that the emphasis is to not repeat attractions from previous years but to have new and fresh thrills for the visitors. 

          And, there is no shortage of new and fresh thrills for those seeking to be frightened!

          The Fun House is new. 

          (But, the smashing pumpkin patch is back!  Some traditions are sacred!)

          A dead pirates’ ship with a full crew of skeletons awaits those who dare.

          (Don’t blame me if they make you walk the plank.  You’ve been warned!)

          (Significant Other’s eyes roll here.)

          The ballroom is inside a large, and I mean large, pumpkin and a giant spider is the

dance ball. 

          (Significant Other leaves the room at this point.)

          The gachas are housed in an impressive new building. 

          There is a Great Pumpkin which leaves goodies! 

          Look for it!

          (Yes, this is a tease!  I won’t tell you where it is!)

          The merchants’ wagons have been done over by Nana Saenz and Pierre Ceriano (who are husband and wife in RL) and add color and seasonal charm. 

          And, don’t forget to the haunted, great treehouse by Marcel Ghostraven.  (No relation!) 

          Perryn does a wonderful job of redoing Halloween every year inworld.

         

The concepts are original and not static like some holiday sims are.

          He avoids the “bloody/gory stuff” as he puts it but does allow a few scenes.

          (Maybe it’s my misspent youth watching too many horror films and reading too many pulp novels but I don’t think the scenes are that bad.)

          Punkerella Summers' wonderful build-your-own jack-o-lantern pumpkin patch is back and is another nod to those Mieville traditions which are so popular. 

          The merchants’ cottages have also been redone by Nana and Pierre and are a new style entirely which befits the holiday.         

          There will be a mini-hunt in the form of trick-or-treating which will start midway through the festival. 

          The merchants have once again outdone themselves with their gifts for hunters Perryn tells me.

          In case anyone is worried, the highly creative freebies of Aley Resident/Acadia Asylum will still be offered as arranged by Briony Juran! 

          I heartily recommend this year’s Mieville Halloween festival to all!

          Come to be scared and to enjoy yourselves!

          The festival runs from October 3^rd to October 31^st and can be located here.

          Tell ‘em web sent you! 

          More pictures from my visit to the festival can be located on this Flickr page.

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!

 

 

Halloween in Second Life

 

There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery. 

Joseph Conrad

 

Happy Halloween!

Yes, it’s that time of the year again, Halloween.  At least for those of us who celebrate it it’s a time of ghosts and goblins, tricks or treats.  I know many of you don’t and are glad you don’t.  But, please indulge me.  This is one of my favorite holidays.  (Although, contrary to rumors put out by Significant Other and certain relatives, I did not go trick or treating in high school.) 

Real Life (RL) permits us some liberties and safe scares during Halloween.  But, recently, thanks to a recommendation from Lisah Lorefield, my good friend in Second Life (SL), I had a chance to visit a sim inworld where horror and terror are unleashed.  (Warning, those easily frightened should go read some of my other stories.)

SL always gives us something fun to do at this time of the year.  I blogged a short while back about Perryn Peterson’s event around gacha and last year’s story about the goings on at Tribute City which show the originality and diversity of Halloween celebrations inworld.  Not to mention, demonstrating a certain cosmopolitan and restrained view.

Well, where Lisah sent me throws restraint to the winds and attempts to scare the living whatever out of anyone game enough to go in.  (And here I thought Lisah liked me.)  Let me tell you my story…

I visit Lisah’s recommendation at Veil of Darkness and upon arriving immediately have the sense that something is different here.  I feel and hear a world that is scary.  (Don’t believe Significant Other here, I don’t scare that easily.) A lonely pathway goes into woods that are not too inviting.  But I enter because that’s what we always do in B-movies and SL. 

I notice too as I go in that others rezz in (always a good sign) and that some of them are carrying weapons (never a good sign). 

The woods hang over me and strange sounds give the sense that there is something or someone just over in the shadows.  A kneeling, young woman is impaled into the ground by a two handed sword reminiscent of those used by the Landsknechte during the Thirty Years War.  (I really hope that my readers appreciate what risks I take to get these stories.  OK, yes, the physical risk is minimal but the psychological…)  And all this is within the first few steps!

Anyway, I continue along the fog wrapped path and follow a signpost to a village.  Or, more aptly, what was once a village.  It’s deserted.  Bodies lie everywhere.  (If you’ve ever seen parts of Brooklyn after a particularly good Saturday night then you’ll know what I mean.)  Buildings have been gutted and their inhabitants’ guts (Sorry for the pun, I couldn’t resist.) lie everywhere. 

          As I exit a desecrated church (What else would you call one that’s been sacked and has a mummified corpse sitting in it?)  zombies begin to approach me.  (What’s with zombies?  A few years ago, vampires were all the rage, now these guys.) 

          Beating a hasty retreat across a haunted cemetery, I come across a rickety pier with an even ricketier raft that has a sign announcing a swamp raft tour.

          What do I have to lose?  I’m doing nothing else at the moment and I’m being pursued by zombies. Besides, I’ve always enjoyed boat tours.

          I hop on, push off, and I’m on my way.  The raft takes me through a river which runs through the sim.  I get to see, from a nice, safe, very safe distance, all the fun ‘n frolic the creators have unleashed here. 

          By land, sea, and air, I see horrors.  HP Lovecraft would be amused.  My core beliefs are attacked when I see Mickey Mouse trapped in an enormous spider’s web with guess who coming to dinner.  Elsewhere, Bambi is threatened.  Nothing, religion, Disney, nothing is safe or sacred here. 

          Bodies float in the water, lie on the riverbanks, or hobble along undead. 

          Water boas swim by.  Creatures from Dante’s Inferno haunt the shadows.  Are you getting the idea here?  I can’t even ask for my money back because this is free! 

          Then there’s the sounds.  Even when I close my eyes or turn away, they fill my mind.  There is no escape.  (Yes, I could exit and turn off the computer but what would this story look like then?) 

          The raft returns to the poor excuse for a dock and unceremoniously dunks me in the water. (Next time I’m booking through Orbitz.)  I get back on land and cross over the river on a tumble down covered bridge.  (It might be easier and more succinct if you just assume everything’s a wreck and I let you know when things get better.) 

          Walking inland past the spiders and other assorted baddies I come across yet another signpost pointing the way to a castle.  I follow along.  Let’s see how the better half live.

          Through spider webs, assorted ghouls and goblins, more zombies (BTW, forget about calling 911 for the police if you get into trouble.)  I find the guest book along the way.  (Over two hundred so far have signed in.)  I also find the nursery.  (Don’t ask.)

          Climbing stone steps long given to disrepair and after accidentally crucifying myself, (Trust me, it could happen to anyone.)   I stand on top of a mountain looking across at the most impressive castle that I’ve ever seen in SL.  The view alone is worth the trip.

          Gathering up what’s left of my nerve, and it’s not a lot, I make my way over to the causeway leading to the castle’s main gate which has Dante’s famous quotation emblazoned across its top, “Abandon all hope all ye who enter here!”  (I’ve got news for the creators, they’d scared any hope out of me a long time ago.) 

          Somewhere in this castle is some sort of goal or prize which I never obtain.  I meet others wandering about.  This is a great place for a dungeon crawl, literally. 

          RL requires that I leave, I don’t know how long I would have needed to find the end of the quest.  (Significant Other doubts I’d live that long.)  But, at least I know I tried.

          I must confess that when I first heard of Veil of Darkness I wasn’t aware of the creative team behind it.  I later found that this was part of a family of astouding sims belonging to Calas Galadhon.  SL residents, Tymus Tenk and Truck Meredith, are the creative duo behind these sites.  Many visitors whom I met during my visit referred me their other work.  I’ll blog about them and their work in subsequent posts. 

          I strongly recommend Veil of Darkness to all who are looking for a little thrill during the Halloween season. Be warned, this isn’t for the faint of heart.  Veil of Darkness is serious stuff.  Visual and auditory effects are very good and contribute to a heavy, somber atmospheric effect.  The sim interacts with its guests but doesn’t impede them like some sims guardians do. 

          Have fun and are you brave enough to visit it in the dark?      

          I’ve included a few pictures from my visit to Veil of Darkness.  I’ve deliberately avoided some of the horrors so you could go see these for yourselves.  Don’t take my word for it, go, see, and believe.    

          I’d like to thank Lisah Lorefield for referring me to Veil of Darkness.  (I still think she was a little surprised when I returned.)

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.  (Including the undead!) 

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here. 

 

 

Photo No. 1  Entrance at LZ

Photo No. 2  Into the Woods

Photo No. 3  Somebody Who Didn’t Make It

Photo No. 4  Signpost

Photo No. 5  Village

Photo No. 6 Party Didn’t End Well

Photo No. 7 Church Interior

Photo No. 8 Cemetery

Photo No. 9 Swamp Raft Tour

Photo No. 10 Guest Book

Photo No. 11  Staircase to Castle

Photo No. 12  The Castle

Photo No. 13  Approach to Castle

Photo No. 14  View from Castle

Photo No. 15  Friendly Greeting

Photo No. 16 Castle Foyer