Mystery Hills, Mystery Houses, Mystery Shacks, Mystery Holes...........Places full of Mystery. An ancient tradition of the American Roadside, these are places where the rules of gravity do not apply. They are inter-dimensional anomalies that only appear within the confines of tourist destinations.
For the uninitiated, these mysterious locations are enclosures where unknown forces affect gravity and the human body. Water flows uphill, balls roll up uphill, and everyone leans at a weird angle like that one Michael Jackson video. When it comes down it, they are pure touristy fun.
The first Mystery House I visited was Big Mike's Mystery House in the tourist paradise of Cave City, KY.
In addition to containing a mystery House, Big Mike's is also home to beloved fiberglass dinosaur "Big Moe".
Inside, guided tours of the Mystery House were given for a bargain basement price of 50 cents. Past framed pictures of optical illusions the guide leads you into the mysterious "Space Room".
Immediately you realize something is off. Walking in a straight line is difficult your body seems pulled towards one of the walls. The Guide then leads you into his room of tricks. Unexplained illusions include a hallway that makes your girlfriend seem gigantic.
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| And no, I don't know these people. |
And then there is the classic Mystery House lean, demonstrated her by my son.
It was short, but satisfying and well worth the 50 cents.
The Bee-based tourist attraction Bee City in Cottageville, SC has a small mystery house known as the "Bee Crazy Fun House" (There is no humor like Bee Humor).
This was probably the least inspired of the Mystery Houses I have been to, there was no guide, and no lights, just some slanty floors and water running uphill.
The most mysterious thing that occurred in the Bee Crazy house was the fact that while taking the above pictures the auto-focus on my old camera permanently stopped working. Damn you, Mysterious forces.
Last week me and my daughter made our way to Mystery Hill in Blowing Rock, NC.
Mystery Hill is your classic roadside Mystery attraction. Like every good mountain attraction, the back story behind Mystery Hill is based around Moonshine.
The tour begins with the guide talking about a mysterious figure named "Grandpa" who noticed strange occurrences in his orchard. We then get a look at Grandpa's still.
We then get to look at the Revenuer that he buried alive.
You can tell he is still alive, because his animatronic feet are still twitching. Children are then welcome to pose for a photo op inside an out-house with the murderous Grandpa.
We are then brought into the main Mystery room. We are greeted by a Wax Issac Newton, warning us to not break any laws.
And then the fun begins.
The mysterious effects are oldies, but goodies.......Let's take a look.
Mystery Hill also contains some bonus mysteries such as this magic faucet......
And this magic light bulb.....
Also included is a Native American Museum.......
Which contains 50,000 arrowheads, which is indeed a lot of arrowheads
The Carpetbagger
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