Dark Shadows theme music missing from museum that used to have it

Reposted:

Today, on Friday the 13th, I went to Dr. Morbid's House of Horrors and to the House of Frankenstein Horror Wax Museum, both located in Lake George.


http://www.drmorbid.com/

And

http://www.frankensteinwaxmuseum.com/


First I will begin with the positive. I did not anticipate liking the Dr. Morbid House of Horrors as much as I did. This was my first time going through that one. I thoroughly enjoyed recognizing some of the background music from Dark Shadows being used on the soundtrack. The young man playing our ghoulish guide was fantastic. He really got into his part and seemed to enjoy himself while doing it. His energy carried me through the whole creepy show.
I went through the Dr. Morbid House of Horrors with a young couple (who I don't actually know). The young woman was very clingy to her boyfriend and acted terrified before it even began however I felt a private delight in watching the ghoul host deliberately set her up to be terrified.

Now The House of Frankenstein Horror Wax Museum is one that I have been to a few times over the years but I have to admit it's been a few years since I was there last. When I went into the House of Frankenstein Horror Wax museum today I noticed a lot had changed since the last time I had been in there and I was pleased to see it seemed to have expanded but there were certain things I was not so pleased about...

In walking through the House of Frankenstein Horror Wax Museum it rekindled (not that it needed to be rekindled really) my love of Gothic horror.
Now please allow me to share the parts that bothered me somewhat.

1. The Dracula transforming into a bat display seems to have been pushed too far back from the glass window. He's a little difficult to see now. The same can be said of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transformation. I could swear they used to be closer to the glass windows. Why are they pushed so far back? I can't see distance very well and I love those transformations. For years, when I was younger, I would wonder how they managed to do that. It was a very clever illusion. I was always impressed with them. So why have they been made so difficult to see? They are classic and brilliant displays.
I was also a little disappointed to see the window where you 'see your own soul' removed. Where a skeleton creepily fades into view. That was spooky.

2. I have nothing against Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees but I was horrified to see what had been done. I recognized the brick wall behind the display of Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger as being the wall from their old Edgar Allen Poe's The Cask of Amontillado display. Someone mangled a Gothic horror literary classic that had been in the wax museum for ages just so they could use the wall (that still has the space where a man is meant to be trapped behind) as a back drop for two mannequins that look like they were purchased at Spensor's gifts at Halloween! Again, I have nothing against Freddy or Jason. They are very recognizable movie monsters but if they are standing there motionless and are clearly mass produced store bought dummies it feels cheap. The Cask of Amontillado at least touched on the old human fears of claustrophobia, of being trapped, isolated, shut away and forgotten and slow agonizing death. There's a primal fear in timeless stories like that. A motionless doll of Freddy Krueger doesn't quicken my heart the way the Cask of Amontillado can. It made me wince to know a classic display had been so brutally mangled for some cheap party store props.

3. Finally: And this may sound petty but it was the most disappointing of all- for years whenever I would go to the House of Frankenstein Horror Wax museum they would play the Dark Shadows theme music at the end. This is a highly recognizable (even today) and spooky piece of music. For me it was always the cherry on top of a delicious sundae to hear that piece at the end. I was looking forward to it. Why was it removed? I would like to know who thought cutting out that haunting piece of music was a good idea.
When people go to a place like The House of Frankenstein Horror Wax museum they are usually Gothic horror fans. There's something to be said about the very title that it lures in those that love the classic and noir style of spooky horror. Gothic Horror currently is making a huge come back. The British company Hammer Horror has just been revived. The new version of the Picture of Dorian Gray starring Ben Barnes comes to DVD here in the US in just two weeks. Paranormal Activity was the biggest horror film of the last ten years. Vampires are fashionable again thanks to Twilight and Vampire Diaries. Gothic Horror is trendy because of things like True Blood, Being Human (British version and American) and The Gates on ABC. Not to mention director Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are currently working on a NEW film version of Dark Shadows set for a 2012 release. So why remove the theme music for Dark Shadows?
Pardon me for saying this but with this knowledge who would be stupid enough to remove the Dark Shadows theme music from a wax museum that is supposed to honor classic Gothic horror? I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I was simply because a minute long track of classic music was missing. It seemed to spoil the end for me. That haunting music should have lead me out the door and put a smile on my face but it wasn't there...
I don't understand why it was removed and I will never respect any justification for removing it. If you can get away with using the audio track from Madam Leota from Disney's Haunted Mansion (yes, I noticed that in the spirit summoning displace) and use segments of other portions of the Dark Shadows soundtrack for the Dr. Morbid House of Horrors I see no practical reason at all for removing the Dark Shadows theme music from the end of the Frankenstein house. It bothered me so much that the song was missing that it was all I could think about as I left.

I actually used to count this as my second favorite horror attraction in America but the simple removal of the Dark Shadows music at the end has caused me to reconsider my list. To any administrative staff at the House of Frankenstein Wax Museum who might be reading this I sincerely wish you would restore the Dark Shadows theme music, if nothing else. That really was my favorite part simply because the music was so haunting and felt like such a fitting end. Please consider it. The ending feels incomplete without it.