Scaring the Dickens out of everyone this season
Victorian Candlelight tours with ghost stories launch today — Friday the 13th
Of all the times I’ve visited the Winchester Mystery House, the holiday season is probably my favorite. The sprawling mansion is decorated with Christmas trees, lights, ornaments and garland, which complements the Victorian design. It’s like stepping into the world of Christmas past.
It’s Winchester Mystery House General Manager Walter Magnuson’s favorite time, too, but not entirely for the same reasons. The holiday season actually was considered the spookiest time of the year during the Victorian period, when much of Sarah Winchester’s estate
was built, he told me on a tour of the house Thursday.
“People sat around at Christmas telling ghost stories,” he said, pointing out Charles Dickens’ famous “A Christmas Carol” as a classic example.
That’s why in addition to its regular “Spirit of Christmas” decorations, the Winchester Mystery House is launching a new self- guided Victorian Candlelight evening today on Friday the 13th, crossing the streams to mash up the creepy and cheery. It’ll be offered on Friday and Saturday nights in November and December, with more nights offered before Christmas.
Magnuson says that with tourist travel down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it primarily has been Bay Area residents visiting the house since it was allowed to reopen to guests, and business has been good. A nighttime Halloween event proved to be more popular than expected,
which made an afterdark holiday tour a good bet.
There won’t be any Jacob Marleys rattling chains on the candlelight tours — OK, it’s an LED candle because having an open flame in a 136-year- old historic landmark is a no-no — but there will be disembodied voices — i.e., recordings — telling some famous tales from the house’s lore. The house’s appropriately spooky basement also is being opened for the tour for the first time in a few years, but Magnuson said there won’t be any stories told down there.
“The atmosphere down here is enough on its own,” he said. He’s not wrong: An electric light on the other side of the basement from where we stood flickered on and off when we were down there. Was it staged? A bad switch? I didn’t care. It was weird.
If you’d rather visit during the day, the holiday decorations are worth seeing, especially in the front of the house, where visitors can get a glimpse of two dining rooms that recently were restored to the tune of
$1 million and walk farther into the Grand Ballroom than previously allowed.
Advanced reservations are highly recommended because of COVID-19 protocols to limit the number of people in the mansion at any time (and that includes about a dozen “mansion hosts” stationed around the house to keep an eye on things and help if needed). Go to winchestermysteryhouse.com for prices and hours.
FILM FEST GOES VIRTUAL >> The College of Adaptive Arts has its 12th annual Celebrating Abilities film festival starting this weekend, and going virtual actually allowed the school — which provides a college experience for special needs adults — to expand its reach significantly.
More than 700 films were submitted for the event, so the CAA ended up with a pool of 40 short films for its festival, which has been expanded to a whole week.
The festival will open at 2 p.m. Saturday with a kickoff event on Zoom featuring films made
by CAA students and will continue with films available for viewing all week. You can get tickets for free at collegeofadaptivearts.org.
VALLEY HISTORY EXPLORED >>
The Los Altos History Museum’s annual “Catch the Spirit” event Wednesday will feature author David Mariani sharing stories from his book “Poverty of Affluence,” which follows the journey of the Mariani family. The family built a huge fruit- growing and packing business in the Santa Clara Valley and watched the region move from agriculture to tech. Following the 1 p.m. talk, choral group Schola Cantorum Silicon Valley will join up with Lyric Theater for virtual caroling.
The online event is free, but registration is required at losaltoshistory.org/CatchTheSpirit2020. Mariani will sign copies of his book at 1 p.m. Nov. 21 at the museum at 51 S. San Antonio Road.