I am always fascinated by auctions, no matter what is being autctioned off. It’s a primal economic venue– buyers and sellers, optimists and losers, people coming and going. In any auction, there is a side who thinks it’s better to be rid of something and a side who thinks it’s better to have something. Tension and speed.
I read yesterday that Santa’s Village here near Chicago is closing. No big deal to me– I’ve never been there and have no sentimental memories of the place. I’m a Kennywood kid. Basically, Santa’s Village is in some money trouble and they have to liquidate everything they have in order to pay off debts.
The outfit that is doing the auction is called Norton Auctioneers, and apparently they have a pretty good business in doing exactly this sort of thing. They list past auction results from places like “7 Floors of Hell” in Cleveland and Elvis’ favorite park, Libertyland.
They also do zoos– here’s a PDF (it costs $15 in real life) for the sale of zoo stuff, including exotic animals.
You missed out on breaking into the haunted house business this October, though. Here are partial results for the Hell sale:
A complete 13-room walk-through haunt labeled “The Haunted Mansion” sold for $36,200.00. A lot of torso parts went at $1,725.00; a small walk-thru facade sold at $8,250.00; Black Lights for $1,400.00; Electric Chair at $3,300.00; and a Vomit Barrel for $880.00. Other prices realized included: Shake-n-Bake, $4,900; Snake in Chest, $1,550; Bride and Groom, $2,200; Corpse Attacker, $1,925; Beast in Box, $1,250; Window, $2,100; Demon, $2,750; Talking Bride, $3,500; Jack in the Box, $5,400; Rage, $5,100; Bathtub Victim, $2,725; Drop Portrait, $1,870; Grumpy Gargoyle, $3,275; Yoguth, $4,175; Sleeping Giant, $12,750; Impaler, $7,100; Gas Chamber, $6,050; Acid Spitter, $880; French Door, $1,900; Master Gargoyle, $5,300; and a Jail Facade for $3,300.