“The Room”: A Portal to the Other Side?
Brothers Macabre (aka Kenny Stewart and Nate Anderson) along with Dr. Jonathan Arcane (aka Dr. J. Kirkland Redmon). Photo by Andrew Brown
“Have you ever walked in a room, and for whatever reason, it doesn’t even have to be a spooky feeling or anything, but you just get a feeling?” asks John Redmon, also known as Dr. Jonathon Arcane.
“In this world, people emit energy, emit impressions and they can have a residual effect. It doesn’t have to be a manifestation, it can be a feeling or an echo of something that has occurred,” Redmon explains. “When you start considering what makes life… are electrical impulses in the human body. Electricity can’t be destroyed. It has to change form or be posited in another dimension or space for it to exist.”
Sitting around the Hotel Congress’ lobby coffee table – a coffee table that’s face ironically features an oversized Ouija board – The Brothers Macabre and Dr. Jonathon Arcane explain how they will attempt to communicate with manifestations and energies that may still exist at the iconic Hotel Congress, specifically those on the hotel’s infamous third floor. It is the lone third floor room that survived the historic January 22, 1934 fire, which led to the subsequent capture of John Dillinger and his gang, one of America’s most notorious posses at the time and to date.
According to legend, the last occupant of “The Room” was none other than Public Enemy Number One, John Dillinger. Since then, the floor has been repaired, but “The Room” has remained unoccupied and closed to the public… until now.
Walking up the stairs to the third floor of Hotel Congress, there is a definite feeling. The stairs creak with each step – their moaning seems to convey a testament to all they’ve witnessed and endured. The atmosphere begins to feel heavier along the final flight to the third floor, as if it’s pushing or warning you to turn back. And when finally inside the fated Room 328, well, it’s easy to imagine that there could in fact be someone or something left behind, because Room 328 itself is really a ghost of what it once was. Original armchairs and electrical boxes are left as a reminder that energy and people once circulated in it. Maybe some of that energy was left behind.
“The idea is this: is it possible to open a portal between what we experience in this dimension and what some people refer to as the other side?” Redmon postulates. “So the show is about experiencing the influence of The Room, experiencing the manifestations that allegedly occurred there. Are we saying it’s paranormal? No. We’re just trying to keep an open mind.”
Brothers Macabre (aka Kenny Stewart and Nate Anderson) along with Dr. Jonathan Arcane (aka Dr. J. Kirkland Redmon). Photo by Andrew Brown
Maybe “it” is paranormal. According to Todd Hanley, general manager of Hotel Congress, the hotel is recognized as being haunted. In the past 80 years, the hotel has documented that two guests, in separate incidents, have lost their lives there. Stories have circulated about encounters with the hotel’s ghosts. And “The Room” seems to “creep out” even some of the hotel staff.
“There’s an element of spookiness,” Hanley said. “The maintenance staff has always felt that room can be a little eerie.”
Every Thursday evening in October, “The Room” will be opened for two shows, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Groups of 25 to 30 guests will experience a show unlike any other, and may decide for themselves that they have indeed felt some bizarre energies.
“They say the veil between the living and dead is thinnest in October. We hope we can get a connection. We’re doing things we can’t really explain,” said Kenny Stewart of The Brothers Macabre. “No two shows are going to be the same.”
Accompanied by a complimentary glass of champagne, guests will embark on a journey of the mind and attempt to become more “intuitive.”
“An intuitive is someone who uses their senses and hones what could be called ‘uber senses’ to work with any possible manifestations in ‘The Room’,” explains Nate Anderson, of The Brothers Macabre. “It doesn’t even have to be manifestations. It could be occurrences that have happened in ‘The Room’ in the past.”
Anderson and Stewart discuss how some people have stronger reactions to energies left behind by persons or events – kind of like how some people have more intense seasonal allergies than others.
“Generally, you (can) get impressions from things that have happened. You’re mind will go wild thinking of all of the things that possibly could have occurred in ‘The Room’,” Anderson says of those who are willing to experience what “The Room” has in store.
“The Room” will be opened for two shows -7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – every Thursday in October, starting Oct. 3, at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door and can be purchased through TicketFly.com/venue/503 and at HotelCongress.com. For more information, ring (520) 622-8848.
Category: DOWNTOWN / UNIVERSITY / 4TH AVE, Entertainment, Events
