Alas, poor Yorick, I knew his smell. Wait…that can’t be right.
Deborah Dominguez in “The Ebony Frame”, photo by John Thvedt

Praise be to Wicked Lit, the haunted house that I would take my mother to.

I mean this as a compliment. Wicked Lit draws its haunt from the pages of classical literature, appealing to an audience who has a penchant for Gothic stories. Wicked Lit’s scares are mostly of the cerebral nature, with nary a jumpscare to be found.

Held, as they have for the last seven years, in the ornate Mountain View Mausoleum in Altadena, Wicked Lit brings four classic stories to life.

Unbound Productions, the production team behind Wicked Lit is helmed by Jonathan Josephson, Paul Millet and Jeff G. Rack. The trio and their team excel at transforming the mausoleum, already magnificent, into a place of literary terror. Utilizing performance, lights, sounds, smoke and set pieces, they bend the mausoleum to their will.

Because nothing scary ever happens in a mausoleum. The Mountain View Mausoleum, Altadena, CA

This was my third year of being marveled by their show, and this year’s offering was no exception.

The audience enters the mausoleum ground and are invited to sit outside of a tent. Once there we are told we are now at sanitarium in the early 1900’s. A journalist and a photographer (played by Kyle Fox and Mark Ostrander, respectively) playfully banter with the audience as they await a tour by the doctor and his head nurse.

Major props to Mr. Fox. I have seen him in other Wicked Lit productions, and his ability to stay in character while riffing with the audience is nonpaiel. His turn of the century personality clashes with the modern-day audience is a riot. He is endlessly confounded by the “Book of Faces” people keep referring to, and at one point he warns his colleague of the dangers of professionals being liquified and canned, such as the fate of one Doctor Pepper. He is a hoot. A gosh darned hoot.

Sometimes you feel like a nut. Alan Abelew and Kevin Dulude in “The System” photo by John Thvedt

We have come, apparently, to witness “The System”, a loose adaptation of Poe’s “The System of Dr. Tarr & Professor Fether”, and even a passing familiarity with the story gives the audience an understanding that in this sanitarium the staff is nuttier than the patients.

From there the audience was split into three groups, and we were taken around the Altadena Mausoleum grounds to witness different stories come to life.

The stories this year were “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Ebony Frame” and “The Grove of Rashomon”.

Each tale had a different “mood” to it, and after they are over we gathered back outside of the tent for the next portion of “The System’s” interstitial.

“Usher”, the first story that I visited, was played straight and sinister, telling the tale of a doctor visiting his ill colleague, only to learn that the home of his colleague contains a terrible family shame. “Usher’s” use of practical effects was sublime, truly taking the mausoleum and shaping it with light and sounds, making it a character all its own.

Each year Wicked Lit gets a bit more advanced, their lighting and audio playing such a large role in transforming the mausoleum into a character in the stories. “Usher’s” lighting effects, which made it look as if a giant eyeball was peaking out from the mausoleum’s rose window, was wonderful.

After another visit back to the sanitorium and then it was on to “The Ebony Frame”. After the very serious “Usher”, “Ebony Frame” was a lighthearted fare. The story is about a man inheriting his aunt’s manor. In the attic he discovers a painting of a woman that is so enchanting he falls madly in love with her. She emerges from the painting (a great visual trick) and he realizes that he has been in love with this woman for 400 years, throughout various lifetimes. While this is all well and good, his girlfriend doesn’t take too kindly to the news.

The actors were silly, the story brisque, and again the mausoleum was utilized in a wonderful way, taking the audience throughout the chambers, upstairs, downstairs, around back and into the rose garden for a cameo by Satan himself. A wonderful journey.

Did you wear your grave robbing kimono tonight? Sachi K and Alpha Takahashi in “The Grove of Rashomon”- photo by Daniel Kitayama

The third show, the final one in my rotation, was “The Grove of Rashomon”. Based on a Japanese ghost tale of a mother raising the dead to learn about the fate of her daughter. It is the same story that Kurosawa based his film on.

Unlike the first two tales, this one took place in the adjacent cemetery. So, you know, not creepy at all.

Being a Japanese story, the tone and style of “Rashomon” were different than anything I have ever seen Wicked Lit do. Bravo to them for taking a risk. By utilizing Asian-American actors and by having the story laced so heavily with Japanese culture, they crafted something that I truly haven’t seen anyone else achieve in Southern California’s haunt community. And what a revelation! Eastern culture is rife with its own horror stories, and Southern California is in a prime position to bring these to life.

Kudos to Wicked Lit for showing the way.

Of all the stories, “The Grove of Rahimon” was the longest tale by far. If there was a way to trim ten minutes off of it, I feel, I would have been far more engaged by the whole production.

That aside, Wicked Lit stands apart from other Halloween offerings. In many ways, they class up the season.

Bravo for Unbound Productions for taking advantage of one of Los Angeles’ most magnificent buildings and to breathe life into such a solemn place. Bravo to continue to offer new and interesting ways to showcase such a lovely location.

An evening with Wicked Lit is a way to still be able to enjoy a haunted house while also feeling like you spent an evening at the theater. It is the reason it keeps me coming back year after year.

I highly recommend you check them out.

Wicked Lit is located at Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery 2300 N. Marengo Ave.
Altadena CA 91001. It runs now thru November 14th, Thursday – Sunday evenings. Pre-show starts at 7:15, show begins at 7:30. Tickets are $45 each and $70 for a post-show backstage tour by the creative team, and can be purchased online.