Steampunk Halloween

We're thinking about inviting the Steampunk community to The House on the Rock for a Halloween costume extravaganza in October of 2011. The House on the Rock collections contain artifacts and models from the age of steam and diesel, as well as mechanical clockwork devices reminiscent of a bygone age. Here are a few examples from our model steam collection -- below are pictures of a rare model of the Turbinia, the first steam-turban ship, dated 1909, and one example from our collection of Dreadnoughts. These are just two examples of many artifacts in our collection of model steamships. As our plans become more definite, we will be posting more information and photos from our collection.

The House on the Rock Special Winter Tour

The Japanese Garden

In the fifty years that The House on the Rock has been open to the public, tours have always been self-guided. This winter season we are offering our guests something special, something that we have never offered before---a nostalgic walk through The House on the Rock as it was in the middle 1970s including stories about Alex Jordan and the building of The House on the Rock. In his mind it always remained his country place—even after it grew far beyond just the House. He collected whatever struck his fancy and brought it here for all of us to enjoy. On our walk through tour you will see the Gate House, The walkway to the House, The House itself, The Mill House, The Streets of Yesterday, and then you'll wind through the first part of the Music of Yesterday. After that, you can visit The Alex Jordan Center at your leisure and learn more about Alex Jordan and the creation of The House on the Rock.

The only tour offered during the Winter Season is the guided walk through. Many buildings and exhibits are closed during this time of year including the Heritage of the Sea, the Carousel, the Organ Room and all others not listed above. If you want to see the full tour, please come after March 25, 2011 for our Regular Season.

Winter at the House on the Rock
January 7 - March 20, 2011	9 am to 5 pm
Open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Martin Luther King Day and President's Day (Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) Tours leave every hour on the hour starting at 10:00 a.m. and last tour leaves at 3:00 p.m.

Admission Prices:
Adults age 18 and over:	$17.50
Children age 4 - 17:	$12.50
Children 3 and under:	FREE

Last tour leaves at 3:00 pm. All rates, dates, times and displays are subject to change without notice. Please dress according to the weather as parts of the tour include outside ramps and areas.

The Asian Garden

Future Events

Post-gathering, The House on the Rock has been fielding dozens of questions about future events. Many have expressed an interest in behind-the-scenes tours of the Attraction. The House on the Rock has been thinking about doing just that, and would like to know more about what you would be interested in seeing.

There have also been questions about The House on the Rock hosting a "steampunk" event, and we'd like to hear more--what are your thoughts on this? What would you like to see or do?

We encourage you to keep posting ideas for future events here on the blog--the more interest there is in something, the greater the possibility it can happen.

--HOTR

The View from Inside the Carousel by Tom Kupsh

The View from Inside the Carousel by Tom Kupsh

I was not able to participate in the public part of The Gathering of American Gods at The House on the Rock, although I did speak at one of our panels here at the Attraction.

Because I had a part in building the carousel (sculpting many of the custom creatures) and am very familiar with the whole machine, I agreed to guide the rides on the Carousel for our guests. We had practiced dry runs some weeks before the event but we weren’t really sure how it was going to go. The World’s Largest Carousel has been turning for 30 years, “collecting energy” as Wednesday would have it, but no guest had ever ridden it. The first time that I rode it myself was just six weeks before the Gathering when I was exploring how we would manage the rides.

I was the one, without a name tag, who guided riders to their mounts and kept an eye on things as we rode.

As I led each lucky rider to their place I looked back to make sure they were following me; they were looking up and down and like wide-eyed children lost in a magic place—which was true. Some said, “I can’t believe I’m here,” or “this is the greatest moment of my life….” I remember Miss Liberty sitting on her Lion with her wide smile and wide eyes. Halfway through the ride I asked her if everything was all right—what a silly question.

Who was the youngest rider all in red? Eyes darting everywhere--speechless I think.

Each time the lights went up and we started to move I heard gasps and the riders turned their heads looking up at the brilliant chandeliers and then around at the sea of color. Then they waved and the crowd cheered as we swept by ( loudest when Neil rode), and there were flashes, and waves of costumed figures, and masks in a blur and the mirrors on the back wall where they could see themselves racing by on The World’s Largest Carousel. And the music, the too-loud music out there in the crowd was just right for us.

The reporter and photographer who came here all the way from the UK had not in their wildest dreams expected to ride. It turned out that we had space for two on the last ride and they were in the right place at the right time. As this last ride began Denise (reporter) said this was totally unexpected and fantastic, and then, with tears in her eyes she said, “Here I am a hardened reporter and I’m having a moment.”

The man in the military uniform said, “It’s good to be a child again, if only for fifteen minutes.”

All the rides were over, each one ending with more cheers and applause. An hour later, some of the riders passed by—they still had those same smiles on their faces—I hope they never recover.

Photos of American Gods Gathering

To view photos of the Gathering of American Gods go to---http://gallery.me.com/houseontherock

We took a great many photos of the weekend. We tried to get a photo of everyone who rode the Carousel but we know in the excitement that we missed a few especially those who rode the Eagle/Tiger. If anyone has additional photos of the Carousel ride (from the outside) we're sure that everyone would like to see them.

Comments like these...

We're getting a lot of new comments like this...


My wife and I would like to thank HotR, deeply, and honestly, for one of the most memorable events of our lives. I didn't know until I asked that this is the first late-evening events, indeed the first event like this EVER at HotR, you folks were professional, patient, dotted I and crossed T, with little unexpected touches glittered about HotR for the Gaiman-specific fans... as a geek convention professional, I was VERY impressed with the organization and execution of plan, and oh, by the way, it's at HotR. PLEASE, beg Mr. Gaiman to come back for another round in a year or two; failing that, PLEASE, consider Halloween costumed events. (Granted, geeks tend to be pretty harmelss convention goers...). Thank you for having the wolf carousel figure for us to pose on. Thank you for staying up so late! Thank you for having MORE than enough food, enough libations, for the magician, for the special red Esmerelda tickets, for having Tom at the afternoon lectures, and for utterly mesmerizing my wife on her first trip. Quality, execution of a plan, patience, and making a special weekend we will both cherish. Thank you, thank you, thank you. -Mr.Fortune (I'll come help clean up all the bills Sunday...)
--CatDoc


Thank you all for coming--the smiles on your faces tell the whole story, and we were pleased to sponsor The Gathering of American Gods at The House on the Rock.

Keep tuned to the blog; an event recap will be coming soon along with links to photographs of Carousel riders, and other information including ideas for future events.

Happy Halloween!

A Recent Comment...

This event seems totally odd to me. How can you sell out the panels first? I was really excited about actually seeing Mr. Gaiman, but with the way you have set up this event I don't think you are really all that open to fans having a good time. I really don't understand why you would put a cap on the panels, but not on the event. I suppose greed would be a good explanation.

The panels at The House on the Rock Resort that are included in the tickets with panels are sponsored not by The House on the Rock but by an ad hoc committee know as the Low Key Gathering. The meeting rooms at the Resort are of limited capacity and the decision to stop selling tickets for these panels was made because of fire and safety regulations (we will not exceed room capacities). If you explore the blog further, you will find that The House on the Rock is sponsoring additional panels at the Attraction; these panels are open to all ticket holders. We are sponsoring these additional panels so that everyone attending will have a chance to go to a panel if they wish. See the event schedule to learn more about panels at The House on the Rock Attraction.

In terms of seeing Neil Gaiman--this is unrelated to the panels; he is not scheduled to attend any panels. He will be at the Attraction Friday and Saturday speaking, signing books, judging the costume contest, and celebrating with his fans. There are plenty of opportunities to see Neil. Again, consult the schedule to find out more about events where Neil will be present. The overwhelming sentiment among the fans is that they are really excited that The Gathering of American Gods is finally here.

--HOTR