Manitou Springs Heritage Center gets community into the Halloween spirit
The Manitou Springs Heritage Center advertises Ghost Tours in its window display. The Ghost Tours are a popular event in Manitou Springs.
October 21, 2021
From haunted walking tours and classic horror movies to an Emma Crawford exhibit with exclusive artifacts, the Manitou Springs Heritage Center has some events that are sure to get the community in the Halloween spirit.
“On the tour, a spirit guide will lead you through the land of the dead to show you the stories of ghosts from Manitou,” said Michael Maio, the board president of the Manitou Springs Heritage Center.
“We have been doing these tours for 26 years now. In the early days, the volunteers would play the parts, but in the past two years, we have had a partnership with THEATREdART and have been doing the fundraising jointly,” Maio said.
Community members appreciate Heritage Center events, especially the haunted walking tours. “The experience was wonderful. A great blend of humor and fright,” said Hilary Vasquez, a Manitou local who attends every year with her family. “We love coming out here and supporting the Heritage Center. The actors were great.”
The haunted walking tours are on October 22, 23 and 29 and cost 15 dollars in advance or 18 dollars on the day of the tour. Expect the tour to last 45 minutes.
The haunted walking tours aren’t the only event that the Heritage Center is hosting: every Thursday at 6:30 PM, you can come to watch the best classic horror movies, which are free to the public; however, donations are highly encouraged.
“On the 21st, you can see The Monster starring Lon Chaney, who is a Colorado Springs local. He is deaf but learned the art of theatre without words,” said Maio, “And then on the 28th [of October] we’re showing Indestructible Man starring Lon Chaney Junior.”
Maio said, “Cartoon Host, founded by August Mergelman, has been helping us host these movies. The Grey Phantom will be hosting The Monster, and Sparky Tesla who is Nikola Tesla’s renegade brother is going to host Indestructible Man.”
Maio invites everyone to come to the Manitou Springs Heritage Center even if you can’t go to one of these events. “Right now, we have an exclusive exhibit on the photograph of Jack Ruby assassinating Lee Harvey Oswald, a new Emma Crawford exhibit.” he said, “Of course our large Van Briggle collection and so much more.”
