REVIEW: hellman pirate ship

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

review: hellman pirate ship

During one of our Inland Empire haunt outings we randomly stumbled on an unlisted haunt called the Hellman Pirate Ship. While in line at one of our favorite Rancho haunts, Straite to Hale, they told us of this house where a man had built a massive pirate ship out of a school bus - completely modifying it to become a larger than life boat on wheels. That description was all we needed to hear in order to try and hunt this place down.

We cruised a few blocks away and became slightly lost and unable to find this rumored ship. While we wondered if we should give up because maybe their lights were turned off, or perhaps it wasn’t set up yet, we began to see a massive illuminated skull reveal itself above the trees. Right there and then we knew we had found it.

Once we began to walk up, the first thing we noticed was the size of the ship. This massive, home made structure was indeed built out of a carved up school bus decorated with lights, animatronics, and a dozen of the ship’s “skeleton” crew. The “ship” sits in the front yard overlooking a makeshift island a few feet away where a skeletal mermaid rests - looking up in shock at the pirates arming their cannons. A blue, moving light gently covers the ground between the ship and land creating the illusion of undulating water. In the middle of this scene, a lone pirate mechanically rows his boat in the sea.

The pathway through the driveway takes you straight along the ship. Within this trail there are numerous props and gags, including a sensor-rigged skull that opens a door when you put your hand in its mouth. As you walk through the yard, scare actors lie in wait between props of treasures and caskets. Most impressively, we noticed a skeleton sitting atop a 34 foot tall tree, who was only revealed by timed flashes of lightning. There were also numerous air compressed moving props along the property. These were strategically positioned and powered by an underground set of tubes the owner made and dug by hand so that his annual setups are facilitated and remain hidden off season.

The Hellman Pirate Ship is active from Halloween through Christmas. It is quite a sight to behold and we were honestly surprised we hadn’t heard of it yet. When we got home we did some research, and the oldest post we could find was from an IE biker blogspot that posted lots of low resolution photos. New, unlisted discoveries for haunters are quite exciting. It is always nice to know that no matter how much research you do there are always new surprises that will land in your lap - making every Halloween season ripe for new discoveries.

VC

November 02, 2022

Hauntsofla.com

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