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Last year, Portland got its first-ever strip club haunted house, from Portland strip club and adult entertainment mainstay DJ Dick Hennessy. As far as we know, it was the first strip club haunted house anywhere.
This year, the Strip Club Haunted House is coming back. Instead of three nights, it will be up for five, including Friday, Saturday and actual Halloween night in Chinatown's Spyce Gentleman's Club.
Related: Portland's Is Getting A Strip Club Haunted House
Last year's theme was Seven Deadly Sins. This year, it's time travel. We talked with DJ Dick to hear about what that exactly means.
WW: I understand you have a theme this year.
DJ Dick: It's Dick and Matt's Haunted Strip Club Time Machine, that's the technical time machine.
What's that going to look like?
The premise is that me and Matt love strip clubs to death, so we decide to go in a time machine and experience what they were like in the past, but things take a turn for the worse. Guests will get to experience the different time periods of strip clubs, like Medieval times or the 1970s or maybe even a strip club in the future—all of which will have a horrific twist, being that it is a haunted house. I've been living in Portland my whole life and loving Portland to death I feel like I have my finger on the pulse of what people in Portland are interested in and I thought time travel and strip clubs would be a good mix.
What about time travel do you think interests people in Portland?
I know I love Back to the Future, growing up in the '80s, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I feel like anyone who grew up in that time would be fascinated with time travel. Even just in day-to-day life, my favorite movies are ones that take place in a different time period. I thought people in this region would enjoy it.
What other time periods will be featured?
We're going to go back to Jack the Ripper time period, the Salem Witch Trials, the Vietnam War, and I don't want to give the rest away. There will be a bar with the ghost bartender from The Shining serving up drinks and shots.
Was there a bar last year?
Yeah, but that was the only part that didn't have live actors. We just had a skeleton with a bunch of hotel key cards, but honestly having that kind of space could be utilized for something way cool because there's actors in every other aspect.
What kind of feedback did you get last year?
We only had two negative comments last year. It was kind of shocking how good everything went. The only negative feedback was that it went by too fast, but that's because it was a lot of fun, too. And the area with the bar, people didn't know if someone was going to pop out or not. Other than that, there was no negative feedback. We only had it on weekdays last year because Spyce already did so well on the weekends. To take up Friday and Saturday, it shows how confident we are.
GO: DJ Dick Hennessy's Strip Club Haunted House at Spyce Gentleman's Club, Wed, Oct. 26–Sunday, Oct. 31. 9 pm, 33 NW 2nd Ave., $15 admission with free gift.
Willamette Week