DENVER (KDVR) — Those who dare to go to a haunted theater on Friday the 13th can see the world premiere of a paranormal documentary made by Colorado filmmakers.
Co-directors Alan Megargle of Westminster and Jesse Morgan of Thornton spent two years investigating paranormal activity at a 130-year-old farmhouse in Blue Hill, Nebraska.
Megargle told FOX31 it all started when his friend Kenny Collins from Estes Park bought a home in Nebraska. He knew the previous owner died of cancer in the home about a year before he bought it, but he didn’t know what and who he would find in the basement about a year later.
One day, Collins was working on fixing up the basement, which Megargle described as a dirt-floor cellar where you have to leave the house and open the cellar door to go underneath the house.
He started seeing some things, little shadow people, and weird things started happening.”
Alan Megargle
That’s when Collins discovered a room tucked away in the back of the cellar.
“Inside that room was a box of items, and there was an old German religious book, and he thought maybe that had something to do with what was going on,” Megargle said.
Collins took the box of “haunted items” outside of the house, and the paranormal activity stopped, thus sparking an investigation and inspiring the Twisted Tree Films documentary “A Haunting in Blue Hill.”
An investigation to bring comfort to the new homeowners
“I grabbed the camera and was like we’re just going to start recording what happens and it turned into a big paranormal mystery,” Megargle said.
A team of paranormal investigators out of Colorado and some haunted doll experts did an investigation at the house in Nebraska. The goal, Megargle said, was to bring some peace and comfort to the new homeowners.
“We were able to make contact with what was there and kind of bridge the gap between the spirit world and Kenny and help them understand that he was just trying to fix the house, and they don’t need to try to scare him away,” Megargle said. “Ever since we left it’s been nice and quiet there.”
More than just a premiere
They decided to do a whole premiere event, rather than just a showing, which will be held at the Historic Park Theatre in Estes Park at 6 p.m. Friday. Megargle said the theater itself has a long history of paranormal activity.
“It’s a whole evening of paranormal and Friday the 13th in Estes Park, I mean, what more could you ask for?” He said. “We’re very excited about it, I don’t think there’s another paranormal film quite like this one.”
Paranormal investigator Kari Bergen from Denver will present some of the haunted dolls and objects before the showing. Afterward, several people from the film will host a Q&A with the audience, and there will be a late-night ghost hunt at the theatre.
The haunted items will be on display. Plus, Rebekah Blackburn of Estes Park will be doing tarot readings at the event.
Megargle said he hopes to have the film available for streaming on Amazon Prime by the end of the year, and other platforms next year.
He said they put together a traveling exhibit of the items and hopes to showcase their findings at more events in Colorado and Nebraska. Twisted Tree Films will also be featured in the Haunted America Conference in Illinois next June.
Tickets to the premiere Friday are $25, and tickets for the late-night ghost hunt are $35.
