Funhouse Faces

24/03/2025

Join us for a Steampunk Whistle Stop Tour during the Buckeye Lake Pirate Fest May 16, 17 & 18, 2025. Located 30 mins east of Columbus, Ohio. Steampunk craft and apparel vendors will be at the Pirate Marketplace at Port Royal.

There will be 40 Treasure Chests around the lake, collect a free Treasure map and a special Steampunk Tour map at Port Royal then head out looking for treasure. There will be several locations with special features and attractions for Steampunk enthusiasts. For info see the Buckeye Lake Pirate Fest website.
We’re having a custom steam whistle made for our Steampunk Tour booth. The picture is from last year when we had a custom steampunk ribbon cutting machine.

26/10/2024

In memory of Karen Murphy – I met Karen in the late 1990’s when she was hosting an event for haunters in Michigan. She planned workshops and gatherings for haunted house owners and haunt actors. I thought it was awesome that someone would volunteer their time to help so many people learn about the haunted house business.
This was part of the inspiration for the development of the Midwest Haunters Convention (MHC). I saw how she developed training workshops and worked with haunted house owners to plan an event for an industry gathering in Michigan. She lived in Michigan and helped countless number of haunted attractions. She worked on hearse gatherings too.
The attached picture was taken during the first MHC held in Columbus (2004) and Karen was there representing IAHA (the International Association of Haunted Attractions). She’s in the middle between Beth and Bob Turner.
I spoke with Karen at many haunt conventions where she volunteered to help with the planning and behind the scenes preparation for shows. She also assisted with haunt bus tours and parties. We would have lengthy conversations (yes Karen loved to talk about the haunt industry) while sitting around at the end of a long day at a show or we would spend an hour or more talking on the phone.
We talked just a couple weeks ago after her stay in a hospital and she was home recovering. She was sad she wouldn’t be involved in a haunt this season, but knew she needed to stay home and get her strength back.
I’m shocked and sadden by her passing. I’m missing one of her big hugs right now…. I guess its fitting that someone who loved Halloween so much has passed in October, just a few days before Halloween. She will be sadly missed by so many. I’ll end with “Anyway” which is how many of our conversations slowly came to a close….

30/09/2024

Reserve the dates on your calendar for the 2nd Annual Buckeye Lake Pirate Fest, May 16, 17 & 18, 2025.

The festival is for Pirates, Steampunk & Mermaids, along with their enthusiasts. We’ve extended the show to 3 days (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) to accommodate requests. We’re still working on details for a larger trade show and additional activities around the lake. We had over 6300+ entries in our treasure hunt last May while over 3000+ guests attended the Pirate Trade Show.

The Pirate Marketplace is located at the Harbor Community Center at 5312 Walnut Road, Buckeye Lake, Ohio. It has been renamed to PORT ROYAL during Pirate Fest. A portion of the Marketplace Tradeshow proceeds will benefit the non-profit Harbor Community Center.

We are not accepting exhibitor applications yet; we need to finalize our expanded trade show location details. We plan to offer online vendor applications sometime this November.

30/01/2024

Buckeye Lake Boater Training is hosting two FREE seminars in 2024: Buckeye Lake Women & Boats and Boating for Beginners on Buckeye Lake. One will be in March, the other in April. We're finalizing dates and locations now, website will be updated soon with additional information at https://buckeyelakeboatertraining.com .

Once the weather warms up and the lake fills, we'll resume our Hands-on Boater training workshops. You can get on our wait list now for Hands-on dock and navigational training programs. Send an email to [email protected]

Training is offered by Captain Kelly: the only Certified Boat Trainer on Buckeye Lake. Captain Kelly can perform safety inspections on your boat, help you with navigating Buckeye Lake, provide assistance with docking and/or launching and loading your boat.