Pulse: Night of the Stripping Dead?
W hat do you get when you cross a strip show with a haunted house? How about "Night of the Stripping Dead"?
The local angle: Statesville Haunted Prison in Crest Hill was one of the sponsors of the Oct. 14 event at the Admiral Theatre, an adult entertainment venue in Chicago.
Paul Siegel , a major owner and the original creator of Statesville Haunted Prison (also a former Will County Board member), said the night at the Admiral was one of six marketing events sponsored this season by Statesville, the Chicago Zombie actors that work the haunted house event, and radio station Q101, in an attempt to broaden the market reach.
The Admiral and Statesville Haunted Prison are adult venues, he noted, but Statesville doesn't have nudity -- just blood, gore and mayhem. No one under 10 is admitted, and a guardian must accompany anyone under 16.
"Because we're an adult haunted house, we're trying in a down market and a depressed market to do what we can to attract customers to our haunted house," Siegel said.
He spent most of the night outside of the Admiral on marketing efforts with Q101 folks, Siegel said. Asked if he'd bring a "Night of the Stripping Dead" to Crest Hill some day, the answer was a flat no.
But now the true story can be told. Though the Joliet Democrat parked in the county building lot at 5:02 a.m., he was not first to the door. Sheriff Paul Kaupas pulled into the lot and was first to start a line outside the building.
"When I was still in my truck, he pulled in and he beat me there," Babich said.
But the Republican sheriff graciously let Babich ahead of him in line.
"Me and the sheriff, we're friends," Babich said.
Babich is glad the first-in-line contest ended peacefully: "I don't know if he was packing or not," he said.
Pulse contributors included Bob Okon, Cindy Wojdyla Cain and John Patsch.
