Dead Mountain takes its inspiration from the true-life events of the Dyatlov Pass Incident where nine hikers mysteriously perished in 1959. The story is told in two parallel stories using the journal of one of the hikers as the link between the past and present threads. The present day story focuses on a group of American scholars and their guide who have come to collect data to prove their theory that the triggering cause of the incident was an avalanche. The show is well researched and uses actual journal entries from the original hikers. I’m so glad this was the show I ended my festival coverage on, it’s ranks among the top shows of the festival. It tells a scary story with the added creepiness of being based real events that are hard to explain, no matter what you think caused the deaths. It’s well acted and directed using the two ends of the space to allow for transitions between scenes and locations to flow quickly and for the past and present to meet. The script has some well placed humor as well as a couple of genuine shocks.

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 4
Violence – 3
Blood – 2
Warnings: Loud noises
Suggested Age: 16+

I can’t think of a better way to end my time at season XI of the TCHF, Highly recommend this show. But hurry the festival ends 10/30/22 and there is only one more performance of Dead Mountain at 6:00 PM on Sunday for more information and to purchase tickets for any of the remaining shows go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

Here is the schedule for the remaining shows

Saturday, October 29
4:30pm Gillman Genesis
6:00pm Ted’s Talk
7:30pm Victor, Invictus
9:00pm Bad Egg
10:30pm Spooky & Gay

Sunday, October 30 (Closing Day!) 
1:30pm Gillman Genesis
3:00pm Edgar Perry 
4:30pm The Shrieking Harpies
6:00pm Dead Mountain
7:30pm All Your White Darlings
9:00pm Ted’s Talk

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. To Subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. Also you can follow me on Facebook, search @thestagesofmn and click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers, you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. Follow that group, It’s a great way to see reviews for shows I don’t get to. We have some exciting things in the works for 2023 for the TCTB and our readers follows us to be the first to know about those happenings.

The Mystery takes place at an art gallery where there are two mysteries to solve. What has happened to Jabez Wilson’s art exhibit and is someone going to try and steal Mr. Merryweather’s own piece of art? The adventure begins before you even arrive at the gallery, once you buy your tickets you’ll receive emails with links to letters, VM messages, security footage and other information you’ll try and use to solve this case. You are Sherlock Holmes! as is everyone else! There are a lot of clues and red herrings to sift through and you only have an hour in which to do it. Luckily Watson is there to help you along. You are free to take an active roll or more or less sit back and watch the mystery unfold. There were some really fun elements i.e. lasers, and unexpected surprises, the end for example which I will not spoil. All in all it’s not quite as entertaining as their last show Feed Your Head but we still had a good time. I think it would be the most fun with a group of friends who really get into it. It could be improved by controlling the space better, there’s too much to look at and try and sift through, keeping the options down a bit would allow the audience a better idea of what they should be focusing on. That said the cast did a good job on engaging the audience without making you feel uncomfortable and giving we Holmes little hints and encouragements along the way. I’m definitely excited to see what they cook up next.

For more information and to get your tickets go to http://www.sparkletheatricals.org/theleague. But hurry the show ends Oct. 31st. As further encouragement here are a couple of discount codes to use at checkout, to save $10 off each ticket use SHERLOCK. Or buy 2 tickets at full price, get a 3rd for only $10 when you use the code TRIO.

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. To Subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. Also you can follow me on Facebook, search @thestagesofmn and click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers, you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. Follow that group, It’s a great way to see reviews for shows I don’t get to. We have some exciting things in the works for 2023 for the TCTB and our readers follows us to be the first to know about those happenings.