There is something else I love about tattoos: They are, in effect, commissioned artwork. Two hundred years ago, before the invention of photography or even daguerreotypes, if you wanted a picture of your kid or your significant other or even yourself, you had to find an artist to either paint or draw it. Portrait painting was a profession, and you had to have plenty of scratch to hire a great artist, who might even live in your mansion or on your plantation while doing the work, which could take months. (Think of the presidential portraits that are commissioned by the White House even today.) For regular working folks, there were traveling artists – many of whose names are lost to us – who would do smaller drawings or paintings at more affordable prices.

Nowadays, motorcycle and hot rod aficionados still get custom designs painted on their vehicles; filthy-rich guys commission paintings of their trophy wives, their spoiled daughters, their yachts and/or their racehorses; old-money corporations commission portraits of their past presidents and chairmen of the board – but how often does the average guy or gal actually COMMISSION ORIGINAL ARTWORK? Well, a custom tattoo image is just that – a commissioned work of art – and I urge anyone considering getting a tattoo to select an artist carefully, be pretty sure of what you want and be prepared to pay the artist’s going rate.

Which is why I encourage tattoo connoisseurs and the unadorned alike to stop by the 31st National Tattoo Convention  this weekend, Sat. and Sun., April 17 and 18, at the Doubletree Seattle Airport Hotel at 18740 International Blvd. The event has been organized, as usual, by Aaron Bell of Slave to the Needle in Seattle (www.slavetotheneedle.com) and his compadres, with artists coming from around the country, from Canada and as far away as Denmark and Japan.

“It will be a spectacular event featuring, seminars, painting and tattooing from the world’s top tattoo artists,” Aaron told me earlier this week.

Well, I have been to the convention before, and I can tell you that these are top-notch artists in a competitive field. Aaron himself does some of the finest Japanese-style work around, and he’s going to be in the VERY, VERY SKILLED company of several dozen artists: Some of whom I have met over the years or whose work I know are Doug Hardy and Kahlil Rintye of Tattoo City in San Francisco (www.tattoocitysf.com); Charlie Roberts of Spotlight Tattoo in Hollywood, CA (www.SpotlightTattoo.com); and Paul Jeffries of Smilin’ Buddha Tattoo in Calgary, Alberta.

While not all the artists will be tattooing at the convention (artists from out of state have to be licensed to tattoo in Washington, even just for the convention, in addition to having to transport all their equipment), this is a fantastic opportunity to see some of the top practitioners of the art form, view their work (they all have portfolios) and either get tattooed on-site or think seriously about having it done sometime soon. Believe me, if you love tattoos or are even just a little interested, you’ll be talking about this convention weeks from now.

See the full list of artists, a convention schedule and directions to the venue at www.SlavetotheNeedle.com. Admission is only $10 – and if you wind up finding exactly the right tattooist as a result, it’ll be the best ten bucks you’ll ever spend.

Tattoo art by Aaron Bell, Slave to the Needle. Used with permission.

At a juncture like this, I can’t help but think it’s the ideal time to reaffirm our mission: to provide a fun, interesting, informative venue of interest to collectors in a wide range of fields. We will endeavor to do so by offering features, news and a calendar of events that will hopefully become a valuable resource in your collecting adventures.

Whereas most collector Web sites are narrow in their subject matter – focusing on toys, say, or photographs, or music boxes – we at AmeriCollector want to be more diverse: In fact, we welcome reader submissions on any collectibles subject in the form of leads, advice, comments and questions, as well as reviews of shows, exhibits and other events you have recently attended. (As we’ve indicated before, we just request that you be honest, sincere and nice; check your facts; and try to include supporting and even contrary opinions from others. Needless to say, avoid using offensive language or innuendo: We’ll only have to cut it.)

That said, let me urge my fellow autograph and memorabilia collectors to check out the Alexander Autographs 2010 Winter Historical Autograph & Manuscript Auction (viewable online at www.alexautographs.com), which will be held in two parts on Wed, Jan. 20, and Thurs., Jan. 21.

I don’t know how many people view the various collectibles auctions held by the many auction houses around the country, but I suspect that Alexander Autographs, located in Stamford, Conn., falls beneath the radar. In other words, I believe they have A LOT of interesting stuff, yet I don’t think many collectors know about them, which means less competition and more opportunities to win great items at great prices.

In fact, I suspect Alexander Autographs auctions are a magnet for other dealers, who can pick up some real bargains and then resell them to their regular clients.

(I myself have participated in two Alexander Autographs auctions, winning one lot each time, and bought about three items from their online store. In each case, even with the buyer’s premiums for the winning auction lots, I felt I got well below the going retail prices for those items.)

Some things you need to know:

• As always, you must be registered to bid, so if you aren’t already – or aren’t sure if you are – get right on it! You’re supposed to register 24 hours before the auction begins.

• Alexander Autographs has absentee bidding (where you bid in advance and hope for the best), live in-person bidding, live telephone bidding and live online bidding, if you can be at your computer when your lot numbers come up. Live bidding goes fast. My advice: Watch the bids, and if you want something bad enough, don’t balk – KEEP CLICKING: Electronics are not as instantaneous as you may think! Two auctions ago, I lost a cache of letters penned by wild-animal collector Frank “Bring ’Em Back Alive” Buck – written while on expedition in China, no less – because I hesitated five seconds.

• The minimum bid for an item is half the low estimate given in the lot description or $20, whichever is greater.

• Alexander Autographs’ live bidding is handled by an outside company (not eBay), which takes its cut: 3 percent of the hammer price. The buyer’s premium for absentee, in-person and live phone bidding is 19.5 percent; the buyer’s premium for live online bidding is 22.5 percent.

• It’s a two-part auction. Part I (lots 1 to 538) begins Wed. Jan. 20, at 10 a.m. EST; Part II (lots 539 to 1421) begins Thurs., Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. EST.

There are LOADS of treasures in this auction, at ALL PRICE POINTS. I wish I could afford to bid on any number of them, but, well, my family likes to eat sometimes. Here is a brief selection, with some few highlights …

• A great typed letter dated 1914 and signed by legendary Western lawman William “Bat” Masterson (1853–1921), written to Robert Marr Wright (1840–1915), Dodge City, Kansas. Like his compadre Masterson, Wright was a former frontiersman, Indian fighter and Dodge City pioneer; he also served a term as mayor of the town and authored the 1913 book “Dodge City: The Cowboy Capital.” The letter reads in part: “Mr. Taub was in to see me the other day and told me he has received six books from you all in good shape. Mr. Taub reads your book with much enthusiasm. He is the sort of a young man who likes that western stuff.” As any serious boxing collector knows, “Mr. Taub” was sportswriter/radio fight announcer Sam Taub (1886–1979), Masterson’s assistant at the New York Morning Telegraph. Est. $12,000 to $15,000 (no bids yet).

• A .32 caliber bullet seized from the Barrow Gang (a.k.a. Bonnie and Clyde and Associates) in a 1933 raid in Dallas County, Texas. The description doesn’t indicate the exact circumstances under which the ammo was taken, i.e., if it was left behind or dropped or taken off one of the gang members. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, of course, were killed by police machine-gun fire in Louisiana in 1934. The slug was lost for 30 years before being found in the attic of a Dallas County deputy whose father – who had been a Dallas County deputy as well – helped Sheriff R. A. Schmid chase the gang. According to the description, “the round is ‘live’ and should be handled accordingly.” Est. $400 to $600 (now at $200).

• A signed portrait photo of Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), 5 x 7, black-and-white. A pencil notation from the original owner on the back reads: "I received this picture on August 23, 1919.” Small fold to top left corner, a little smearing to signature. Est. $400 to $600 (now at $400).

• Various African-American historical items. More on this subject as we move into Black History Month, but there are a number of items of African-American interest in this sale, including slave bills of sale, est. $150 to $300.

• Typed, signed document in which Michael Jackson (1958–2009) transferred the rights to “We Are the World” to United Support of Artists for Africa in 1985. The actual recording featured a veritable pantheon of pop/rock superstars: Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Smokey Robinson, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Bette Midler, Willie Nelson and loads of other, lesser deities. It raised over $63 million in aid for famine-stricken Africa, was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and won three Grammys (Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group), an American Music Award and a People's Choice Award. The biggest-selling single of all time, it has sold 20 million copies as of last year. Est. $15,000 to $20,000.

• An original doodle of a dog with a tin can tied to its tail by Norman Rockwell (1894–1978). It’s on the first free endpaper of a first edition of “Norman Rockwell: Illustrator” by Arthur L. Guptill (1946), above an inscription that reads: "My very best wishes to The Lenox Library, Sincerely, Norman Rockwell.” The description indicates that the artist’s wife, Molly, taught at the library, located only five miles from The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. Est. $2,000 to $3,000 (no bids yet).

• Two documents (separate lots) signed by the Sun King, Louis XIV (1638–1715). Yeah, THAT Louis, of the trendsetting duds and the wild parties. These are untranslated: Maybe Louis was just cancelling his newspaper subscriptions, but try out your high school French on them and see. Both are small folio (about legal-size). One, signed in Versailles in 1687, has a damp stain on Louis’ signature, but it still looks good and is estimated to sell for $400 to $600 and is at $260 at this writing; the other, signed in St. Germain-en-Laye in 1670, has just a little bit of foxing on the edges and is estimated to go for $500 to $600 and is now at $320.

• An official 1930 New York Yankees Major League baseball autographed on the sweet spot by Babe Ruth (1895–1948) and by Lou Gehrig (1903–1941) on the opposite side. In addition to the Bambino and the Iron Horse, the ball’s signed by Lefty Gomez, Bill Dickey, Tony Lazzeri and twenty other players. The Babe’s signature is rated 4/10, and the ball comes with a certificate of authenticity from PSA/DNA, authenticator to major auction houses. Est. $4,000 to $5,000 (now at $3,750). This is one of three Ruth-signed balls in this auction.

All images courtesy of Alexander Autographs, www.AlexAutographs.com

The first time I ever visited Seattle, in 1992, I went into a T-shirt shop to buy souvenirs and struck up a conversation with the salesgirl and another customer, both Puget Sound natives. Being from out of the area, I asked what Washington State was like, and for some reason the conversation drifted to serial killers: The salesgirl, I think, remarked that (at that time) Washington had an estimated higher percentage of them than any of the other 49 states. When I asked why, the other customer cited factors that seemed to conducive to multiple murderers: the rain, the many heavily wooded, unpopulated areas … and the belief that it’s more “socially acceptable” to be a loner in the Northwest than elsewhere.

But I didn’t mean to cast a pall on your day: This blog is not about crime. However, I can’t help but think the above observation helps explain another scary (sort of) Northwest phenomenon: that large, hairy walking cliché we know as Bigfoot, Sasquatch (from a Salishan term for “wild man”) and Skookum (another Salishan term, translated as “mountain giant” or “mountain devil” – although in the Chinook language it can be an adjective with such nice connotations as “big,” “strong,” “dependable” and “hardworking,” like Mr. Clean or Fess Parker, star of the TV series “Davy Crockett”).

It’s easy for us world-weary twenty-first-century Internet travelers to call the Sasquatch stories a lot of bunkum (NOT a Salishan word), although the Indian legends may go back millennia, and reported sightings by white people – starting with fur traders in British Columbia in the 1880s – are certainly reliable if it could ever be proven that the eyewitnesses weren’t drunk and/or lonesome and in need of companionship, if you know what I mean.

Or maybe that’s the key: I note that two of the more prominent Sasquatch Web sites – the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, or BFRO (www.bfro.net), and the Seattle-based Sasquatch Information Society (www.bigfootinfo.org) – both report a preponderance of the nation’s “sightings" having been made in Washington State (most of which involve just footprints, says the Sasquatch Information Society, with the notation “Record has not been validated or is being studied”), and a plurality of those occurring (in descending order) in Skamania, Pierce, King, Snohomish and Lewis counties. In fact, only last August, according to the BFRO, a King County man reported seeing a “large, hair-covered figure while riding on train near the Cascade Tunnel.”

August, of course, was the month that the Washington State Liquor Control Board hiked the price of booze 6.5 percent, so clearly someone got a few shots in before last call. Expect a hell of a lot more sightings once the state legalizes pot.

And yet, goofiness aside, look what happened with Roswell and so many other cockamamie UFO sightings: Those people all insisted they KNEW what they had witnessed, with the conspiracy theorists among them asserting that the government was covering up close encounters of the third kind (not just Jack Kennedy’s and Bill Clinton’s). Meanwhile, the more cynical among us – including myself, standing uncomfortably alongside conspiracy theorists on the other end of the spectrum – were convinced that there was nothing extraterrestrial about flying saucers. We WERE still fighting the Cold War, weren’t we? No doubt, the Pentagon was up to something – and covering it up, for obvious reasons...

We were ALL right, to a greater or lesser degree: Most of the documented sightings of flying saucers WERE real – they just weren’t alien craft – and the military DID have something under wraps all those years. Turns out, the Nazis had been experimenting with the aeronautical possibilities of flying discs and flying wings for some time. In the spring of 1945, as the Third Reich crashed and burned, U.S. forces captured as many eager German weapons scientists and as much of their research as possible before the Soviets could; then OUR scientists picked up the ball – or the Frisbee, in this case – and ran with it for a few decades. (Behold: the Stealth bomber.)

Getting back to Bigfoot: Did the hunters and trappers and trekkers and picnickers really stumble across the spirits of Native American lore in those dripping Northwest forests – or were they the spirits in a bottle of backwoods hooch, the bugbears of white people with overactive imaginations and too much free time? Were they sightings of true biological missing links – a human subspecies that refused to go extinct – or of some ageing hippies who missed the exit to Olympia and decided to homestead in the woods? And is the correct plural “Bigfeet”?

We may never know for sure, but anyone with a passing interest in huge unidentified bipeds will surely find the new exhibit “Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch” at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma (Jan. 23 to June 27) intriguing, entertaining and educational. Taking a broad look at “the Sasquatch phenomenon” (per the museum press release), “Giants in the Mountains” draws on all the various aspects of the subject – the legends, the sightings, the hoaxes and the legitimate scientific research – and includes visuals ranging from Native American artifacts to contemporary artistic depictions to physical evidence collected by the late anthropologist Dr. Grover Krantz and Idaho State University professor/Discovery Channel expert Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum.

I asked “Giants of the Mountains” curator Gwen Perkins, specialist for school and online programs at the Washington State History Museum, about the exhibit:

AmeriCollector: There was a Sasquatch exhibit at the State Capital Museum in Olympia a couple of years ago. Is this different?

Gwen Perkins: “Giants in the Mountains” is the same exhibit that was at the State Capital Museum. However, we have added new artifacts for the show, due to the increased space in Tacoma. Among some of the new things visitors will see will be more casts from Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, a “tree twist-off” and native masks from the collections of the Washington State Historical Society and the Burke Museum. We were also fortunate to be able to include illustrations by artist Rick Spears, illustrator for “Tales of the Cryptids.”

AC: Do you have a personal historical or anthropological interest in the Sasquatch legends and sightings? Did you volunteer to curate this exhibit?

Gwen: The exhibit itself was actually organized by the Washington State Historical Society, with myself as lead curator.

The idea of doing a Sasquatch exhibit was birthed after I had done a significant amount of research for one of our school programs here, in which a professional actor portrayed Dr. Grover Krantz and allowed students to ask him questions. Not long after that, the State Capital Museum in Olympia was trying to decide on a major exhibit for their museum. Sasquatch was suggested, due to the popularity of that presentation and staff members’ interest in the subject.

The exhibit premiered in Olympia in 2007. It did very well at that museum and so we wanted to bring it to Tacoma in order to give more people a chance to see it, examine what’s on display and draw their own conclusions. We’re all excited to see it back, particularly those of us who were involved in the original exhibit curation and programming. The Sasquatch community is a great group of people: One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about this subject is the opportunity to connect with visitors from across the nation.

The exhibit also coincides with another on display called “Icons of Washington History.” After all, what better icon of the Pacific Northwest can you think of than Sasquatch? (That’s my opinion, of course.) But one of the other points of the exhibit that I wanted visitors to understand is how far-reaching stories of Sasquatch really are, not only in terms of place but time as well. So while it’s seen as a regional story to many Washingtonians, the exhibit itself also explains that there have been stories and reported sightings of this being that go back hundreds of years.

AC: Does the exhibit lean toward belief or skepticism, or does it intend to present both sides of the subject and let the visitor decide?

Gwen: The exhibit does not take one point of view or another. We present the story of this being and leave it up to the visitor to draw their own conclusions.

AC: Have there been any recent sightings, and what individuals or agencies keep tabs on these?

Gwen: Sightings of Sasquatch are reported constantly and across the nation. One of the organizations most diligent in tracking these sightings is the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. They have a web site where they track sightings across the nation: As I type this, Washington has had 479 reported incidences since September of 2007. BFRO is just one of a number of groups that shares information. There are several websites and blogs devoted to Sasquatch: Cryptomundo (www.Cryptomundo.com), Bigfoot Times (www.BigfootTimes.net), Oregon Bigfoot (www.OregonBigfoot.com) and North American Bigfoot (www.NorthAmericanBigfoot.blogspot.com), just to name a couple. These groups aren’t all in the Northwest, either: One of the most active is located in Texas – the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservatory (www.TexasBigfoot.org).

AC: What do Native Americans of the Western Washington tribes think of the interest in Sasquatch? Are there any investigators/proponents among them?

Gwen: I think that you will find there is just as much diversity of opinion among the tribes as in any community as to whether or not Sasquatch exists but also as to which form this being takes. I have met some who are out there actively investigating Sasquatch but many more who perceive this being as part of the environment and the natural cycle of life. I have also met Native Americans who were not believers as well.

Decide for yourself. The Washington State History Museum is located at 1911 Pacific Ave., in downtown Tacoma, right off 1-5. Hours are Wed. to Fri. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with extended hours and free admission every third Thursday from 2 to 8 p.m.); Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults; $7 for seniors (age 60 and above); and $6 for students and military with valid ID. Children (age 5 and below) and members are FREE. For more information, call (888) BE-THERE or visit www.WashingtonHistory.org.

Drawing by Rick Spears/Darby Creek Publishing and are from "Tales of the Cryptids" by Kelly Milner Halls. (Rick Spears)

Images courtesy of Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, author of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science

Washington State History Museum: Sasquatch Press Release

Purchase Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, by Dr. Jeffery Medlrum

Meanwhile, the “Roadshow” has just announced their 2010 tour stops:

Tickets to the “Roadshow” are given out by random drawing, and you have to apply by April 19. Visit the Web site to learn more.

And by the way, just last month, “Antiques Roadshow” executive producer Marsha Bemko published a book about the show: “Antiques Roadshow Behind the Scenes” (Touchstone/Stonesong Press, $16.99). Watch for a review of it in this blog.

Order book online:  Antiques Roadshow Behind the Scenes: An Insider's Guide to PBS's #1 Weekly Show

Visit AmeriCollector.com Calendar of Events

 Poster art, like album cover art and T-shirt art, has been part of the iconography of American music since the 1960s – that decade of so many great, misguided and/or lost causes – when music really started to make a statement. You can trace some of the evolutionary branches of rock and roll through its graphics: The “Sergeant Pepper” and “Magical Mystery Tour” covers; the Grateful Dead’s various skeletons; the Ramones’ American eagle; the Boss’ leather-jacketed back on “Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Hits,” electric guitar rakishly slung upside down – and Weird Al Yankovic’s parody of the same image, with an accordion instead of Telecaster … Whatever the era, whatever the music, the art embodied and immortalized it long after the bands left the stage.

If you love poster art – but art that’s not so mass-produced that it’s as ubiquitous as Mick Jagger’s lips at a Rolling Stones concert – check out Portland, Ore.–based master silkscreen printer Gary Houston at VoodooCatBox.

I first saw a sampling of Gary’s work on a wall of Powell’s Books in Portland four or five years ago. I was and continue to be blown away: Some of Gary’s hand-printed posters for musicians’ tours and performances at local venues are a nod to classic concert posters (think Rick Griffin’s “Flying Eyeball” for Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers or any of the Fillmore East concert posters), but he has his own vision, his own style, and I think you’ll like it as much as I do – not just for the artwork but for his sense of time and place.

You see, Gary is a chronicler of musical events through the prism of the Portland music scene – not everyone who blows through town, of course, but music is a matter of taste. Certainly, he features lots of Northwest groups, like Alice in Chains, Death Cab for Cutie and Foo Fighters, alongside legends like B.B. King, Joan Baez, Jorma Kaukonen, Patti Smith, David Byrne, Steve Miller Band and Elvis Costello. Your biggest dilemma will be which prints to choose. They are really reasonably priced – generally around $30 each – but don’t dawdle: These knockouts are produced in limited runs (in editions of as few as 80 signed, numbered copies), and they SELL OUT!

(I need not point out that they make GREAT gifts … for yourself or the music lovers on your holiday shopping list.)

I recently interviewed Gary about his posters. You can see some of his work – along with that of dozens of other sensational artists – on display in “The Art of Musical Maintenance VI” through Jan. 25, 2010, at The Goodfoot Pub & Lounge (www.thegoodfoot.com), 2845 SE Stark, Portland, OR 97214, (503) 239-9292.

AmeriCollector: What’s your art background?

Gary Houston: I studied art at Wichita State University, Kansas, and Bethany College in Linsborg, Kansas. My formal background is more in drawing, sculpture and art history.

AC: How long have you been doing music posters?

Gary: Since 1994 or ’95. I was going through a divorce, and it was a good way to work out my angst and my frustration: It was a way of being constructive instead of being self-destructive. I also did posters back in high school and college, but not to the degree of the present. I do like the freedom that doing posters affords.

AC: Are you asked to do them by the musician or by the venue?

Gary: A lot of times we do posters for the venues, and sometimes we do touring stuff for the bands. A lot of times I do stuff because I want to: I'm not getting paid for it. I do it because I’m a music junkie: I’m a big fan of people who do really quality work, music-wise. I always think we do the “Americana of music”: I do a lot of blues/R&B/twang, with a little punk stuff. Obviously I do some things that harken back to the psychedelic era.

AC: Do you get to do what you want, or are you pretty much told what to do?

Gary: It depends on the band. For example, Los Lobos lets us do anything we want to do. Some bands micromanage, and that sucks the fun out of it.

AC: What is the printing process?

Gary: They’re silkscreen prints. I screen-print everything, I hand-pull everything. I don’t know how many colors there will be until something’s on the light table. It’s always a surprise, and I enjoy making changes, but it’s kind of addictive: I try not to be obsessive about it.

AC: Do you have help?

Gary: Someone does the computer work for me: the film, the typography and the scanning. Her name is Hailey and she’s very good at the digital stuff, and easy to work with.

AC: How many posters are in each edition?

Gary: Most of my editions are anywhere from 100 to well past 1,000 (for tours).

AC: Do you sign and/or number them?

Gary: I sign and number my stuff. There are times when I do an overrun and they don’t get numbered, but they’re all signed.

AC: Do you ever exhibit your work?

Gary: I’ve exhibited in flatstock shows in Austin, Texas, in Seattle and in Germany, and I’m currently in “The Art of Musical Maintenance VI” at The Goodfoot Pub & Lounge in Portland with around 50 other poster artists. It’s a spectacular show and will be up through Jan. 25. I’ve also had shows here in Portland and in Kentucky and California.

Many thanks to Gary Houston of www.voodoocatbox.com for giving us this great interview. 

Freddy Krueger, get a day job! The REAL nightmare isn’t on Elm Street but on East “D” Street in Tacoma, where the Black Lake Haunted Asylum will scare the giblets out of “patients” three more evenings of this week, through Sat., Oct. 31 (Halloween).

I voluntarily “committed” myself to the Asylum last night, and glad that I had used the toilet earlier, or it would have made for an unpleasant ride home. Of course, I won’t – CAN’T – recount all the high-voltage horror I endured (loving every second of it), but suffice to say that the last time I saw so many crazy people with their mouths open, it was around the buffet at my bar mitzvah.

Now in its second year, the Black Lake Haunted Asylum isn’t your garden-variety amusement-park haunted house: It’s a heightened state of mind – so long as you don’t lose it during the Asylum “tour,” which takes place in the cellar of Tacoma’s century-old Freighthouse Square (a place I wouldn’t want to stroll alone even in the daytime). Again, you can pump me full of Sodium Pentothal and I won’t tell you what I saw – why spoil the fun? – but it’s an experience you’ll be eagerly telling your coworkers, classmates and/or analyst about for days.

Part “Mystery at the Wax Museum,” part Off Broadway play and all Halloween FUN, the Asylum is a collaborative effort of master sculptor/prop fabricator Ben Isitt (www.bensartworks.com) and professional haunted-house creator Clark (so behind-the-scenes that he preferred not to tell me his last name). I didn’t have a chance to meet with Ben, but Clark is a beefy, goodhearted ex-Marine who you’d want on your side if you ever DO wind up in an enclosed space with a lot of homicidal maniacs.

Also integral to the “treatment” in this basement Bedlam are the dozens of volunteers – Clark said at least 36 participate in each show, many of them students at the Tacoma School of the Arts – whose talents make the Asylum come alive, in a manner of speaking. So there’s no need to dread suddenly finding yourself alone in the dark amid lab specimens and experiments gone awry: THEY are always there … although, as Clark casually assured me, “they’re all crazy!”

And before you go, I advise ratcheting up the shock value of your tour by visiting the Asylum Web site at www.blacklakeasylum.com and reading about the institution’s “history” – which seemed so real that I went through four pages of Google search results before I convincing myself that the twisted Dr. West and Crazy Kristen (who scared the pants off me, to the disgust of other visitors) were figments of the Asylum organizers’ twisted imaginations. I think.

Incidentally, being of an inquiring mind, I couldn’t help asking Clark if anyone had suggested that the Asylum is, well, making light of a sensitive subject. (Actually, I asked him if anyone flat-out complained that satirizing a mental institution is in lousy taste.) Yeah, Clark replied, someone asked why he couldn’t stick to standard haunted-house fare: murderous ghosts, butchered corpses, ghouls and zombies with bad personal hygiene and even worse table manners – good, wholesome stuff like that. “Serial murderers are OK, but not an asylum? It’s ENTERTAINMENT,” he pointed out.

Entertainment it is indeed – and you have only three days left to enjoy it. Remaining show times are Thurs., Oct. 29, from 7 to 11 p.m. and Fri. and Sat., Oct. 30 and 31, from 7 p.m. to midnight: Check www.blacklakeasylum.com for details. Admission is $13 per “patient” ($1 off the price of one ticket at the door with military ID). Freighthouse Square is located at 2501 East “D” St., Tacoma. Visit www.freighthousesquare.com for more information and directions.

NOTE: The Black Lake Haunted Asylum actively supports My Sister’s Pantry (www.mysisterspantry.com), a Tacoma food bank that serves hot meals and distributes groceries and clothing to the poor and the homeless. Visitors to the Asylum are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item for My Sister’s Pantry for which they’ll get $1 off the ticket price at the door.

Images provided by Terry Carpenter of Lugh Waterman Surreal Photography