Michigan Tech Students Engineer Scares At Haunted Mine

As the seasons are changing and seasonal tourist destinations will soon be closing until spring, the Quincy Mine Hoist Association will be ending its season with its Haunted Mine Tours just before Halloween.  This year’s attraction has a new line up of scary features, designed by local college students.

As anyone in the Keweenaw Peninsula can tell you, mining was a dangerous way for men to make a living during the Copper Boom, and death in the workplace was not an uncommon occurrence.

Those stories of accidents and mishaps help support the belief in hauntings of the Keweenaw, and the folks at the Quincy Mine are on board.

“We are getting ready for our annual haunted mine tour, which is becoming bigger and better every year—more effects, more ghouls, more goblins,” said Tom Wright of the Quincy Mine Hoist Association.

This year’s attraction is said to have many new features and displays.  Wright said, “This year, the Performing and Visual Arts Department at Michigan Tech, they’re kind of running the show for us, which for us as a small non profit, having that kind of help is just incredible, to get that kind of support from the staff and the students at Michigan Tech.”

Last year Michigan Tech’s Visual and Performing Arts worked sound and provided actors, but this year the entire presentation is the product of the theater company.  MTU’s Trish Helsel said, “Students are designing everything. We have students that are designing lights, costumes, and most especially sound which is what we maybe do best here at Michigan Tech.”

The students are already working on their performances, just as if it were a play to be held at the Rosza Center.  “We have a story line that we’ve been working on and this year we’re having rehearsals to make it even more realistic and challenging, more complex,” said Helsel.

Haunted Mine Tours will be open to the public the week before Halloween.  Helsel said, “This year, it’s playing there nights. That’s the 25th, 26th, and 27th.”

Wright said, “We do recommend advance purchase. The later shows especially sell out quickly.”

Ticket information will be posted on http://www.quincymine.com/ when tickets become available.