Damn, it feels like this year’s spooky October season came and went in a flash! And it’s hard to believe that SLAY, our scary, short film fest, had its in-person theater debut just last weekend! The pandemic forced us to get creative with a drive-in version last year, but it felt sooo good to be […]
Horrors
Posted inHorrors
Mercury Tales of Terror: Murder House (A Historic Tour of Portland’s Grisliest Murders—and the Homes Where They Took Place)
Tom Neely [Happy Halloween! All week long the Mercury has been publishing classic tales of local Halloween horror from our archives, as well as brand spankin’ new (and creeeeepy) pieces… in this one from 2013, Mercury writers recount some of Portland’s most infamous murders… that may have happened in a home near you. WARNING: These […]
Posted inHorrors
Mercury Tales of Terror: Dissolving the Dead with Portland’s First Aqua Cremation Machine
HANNAH TURNER-HARTS [Happy Halloween! All week long the Mercury has been publishing classic tales of local Halloween horror from our archives, as well as brand spankin’ new (and creeeeepy) pieces… in this one from 2019, writer Ciara Dolan inspects Portland’s first water cremation machine.—eds] In Oregon, there are five legal ways to lay the dead […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Portland’s Haunted House Actors Are Thrilled to Be Scaring You Again
Tracy Kittle (center) during her first year as a haunter at Fearlandia. courtesy of Tracy Kittle Portland actor James Lawrence has spent his Octobers scaring people at haunted houses since 2016. Unlike some fellow actors, Lawrence doesn’t only rely on jump scares, gruesome makeup, or heightened special effects to bring the creep factor. Instead, he’s […]
Posted inHorrors
Mercury Tales of Terror: An Excellent Day for an Exorcism
NATALIE BEHRING [Happy pre-Halloween! All week long the Mercury has been publishing classic tales of local Halloween horror from our archives, as well as brand spankin’ new (and creeeeepy) pieces… in this one, writer Santi Elijah Holley tags along on an actual local exorcism.—eds] On an unseasonably warm Saturday morning, Archbishop James Cloud and I […]
Posted inMovies & TV
This Weekend: Watch the Horror Fest SLAY Live at Clinton Street (Or Online at Home)!
Get ready for a screaming good time… the terrifying fun of SLAY—our scary short film fest made by horror lovers like YOU—is showing LIVE AND IN-PERSON THIS WEEKEND October 29 & 30, and is also streaming online Oct 29-31! Earlier this year, we asked filmmakers to send in their homemade short horror films (eight minutes […]
Posted inComedy
Mercury Tales of Horror: The Mini-Mall Dentist
T. ROWLANDSON [Happy pre-Halloween! All week long the Mercury will be publishing classic tales of local Halloween horror from our archives, as well as brand spankin’ new (and creeeeepy) pieces… this one is from our 2017 special feature “The Tell-Tale Tooth: True Tales of Dental Horror.”—eds] It started in a mini-mall. Dr. Nick had a […]
Posted inHorrors
The I, Anonymous HORROR Story of the Day: Salem’s Haunted House
All this week on the I, Anonymous Blog, we’re inviting YOU to submit your creepiest, scariest, preferably true horror story. And we’ve already received some truly spine-tingling tales! Here’s one titled, “Haunted House in Salem.” Several years ago my family and I lived in a haunted house. While living there, we tried rationalizing everything but […]
Posted inHorrors
Mercury Halloween Classic: The Houseguest
DOMINIC DE VENUTA [Happy pre-Halloween! All week long the Mercury will be publishing classic tales of local Halloween horror from our archives, as well as brand spankin’ new (and creeeeepy) pieces… this one is from our 2014 special feature “(Somewhat) True Tales of Terror” and was penned by one of Portland’s best writers, Ned Lannamann.—eds] […]
Posted inHorrors
The I, Anonymous HORROR Story of the Day!
All this week on the I, Anonymous Blog, we’re inviting YOU to submit your creepiest, scariest, preferably true horror story. And we’ve already received some truly spine-tingling tales! Here’s one titled, “Echoes of the Past.” When I was in third grade we moved into this huge house in upstate NY. The former owner died in […]
Posted inHorrors
Hey Readers! Submit Your Blood-Curdling Horror Story to I, Anonymous!
MICHELLE MRUK CALLING ALL READERS AND LOVERS OF TERROR! Since Halloween is this weekend, it’s time to reflect on all things HORROR. And this week on the I, Anonymous Blog, we’re inviting YOU to submit your creepiest, scariest, preferably true horror story. What can this include? Well, ANYTHING SCARY. But here are some suggestions to […]
Posted inComedy
Ghost Busted: The Mercury Uses Science to Expose Portland’s Real-est and Fakiest Ghosts!
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE MRUK [Happy pre-Halloween! All week long the Mercury will be publishing classic tales of local Halloween horror from our archives, as well as brand spankin’ new (and creepy) pieces… this one is from our 2019 special feature in which we investigated Portland’s most terrifying places.—eds] Portland is home to many so-called “haunted” […]