Some of you have watched with interest the DVD of ‘Carnival of Souls’ 1962 after my recent blog, and emailed to say that you enjoyed it, but wondered if I knew anything about the creepy derelict Pavilion used in the movie.
The Pavilion was built in the 1800′s as a health spa on the edge of The Great Salt Lake in Utah. Thousands came to take to the waters that were heavily salted… the only creatures able to sustain life in it’s saline depths were tens of millions of Brine Shrimps, harvested today as pet fish food… In those days one could simply float without drowning in the water! The end of the Pavilion came as part of The Great Salt Lake began to dry, and by the time the movie ‘Carnival of Souls’ was made in 1962 The Saltair Pavilion was in a sorry state.
I hope that makes the film even more interesting for you… By the way, the director had seen the Moorish type Pavilion driving home one night across state, and seeing it at its most erie gave him the idea for the film.
October 2010. Many of you still find this erie Pavilion compelling, so I’ve re-blogged it from November 2009 and given the Pavilion another airing. To the best of my memory the Pavilion had been many things in its life-time; from being a saltwater spa and ballroom to its decline as a sort of Coney Island set-up in the 1950’s. The Pavilion has many ghosts in its past and is never more convincing than portrayed in ‘Carnival of Souls’ The movie seems hard to find on DVD, but if you get lucky and find a copy – then it should be watched, and nurtured, and treasured, but yet, hidden away… For it plays with your mind, plays on your fears, and tempers your thoughts and your soul.
