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Haunting Tales from the Historic Cuban Club in Ybor City/Tampa, Florida

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Cuban Club

Next month, on October 5, 2019, iHorror will take over the historic Cuban Club in the Ybor City district of Tampa, Florida for the first annual iHorror Film Festival. Fans can expect a full day of outstanding short horror films, a panel featuring Dan Myrick (The Blair Witch Project) and Jeffrey Reddick (Final Destination), and if they’re lucky, perhaps a ghost sighting or two.

After fire destroyed the original “El Circulo Cubano” in 1916, the four-story building that stands today was constructed housing a theater, pharamacy, cantina, ballroom, and library. In its time it has hosted everything from boxing matches to plays to a variety of musical acts including Celia Cruz and Glenn Miller.

In its century long existence, the club has earned a reputation as a venue for weddings, concerts, and other important events, and along the way has also developed a reputation as one of the most haunted buildings in Florida, possibly even in the United States.

Two specific acts of violence are most often pointed to in the building’s history as a primary cause for the paranormal activity, but they can hardly take credit for everything that has been reported there.

Suicide and Murder in the Early 20th Century

One of the earliest stories concerning the Cuban Club and its hauntings revolves around a mysterious actor who, reportedly unhappy with is career, committed suicide on the main stage of the location.

Though I wasn’t able to track down specific details about the incident, locals have come to call him Vincent and more than one has reported run-ins with his spirit.

One man reportedly met up with Vincent while out for a night of theater when he stopped to freshen up. Suddenly the actor appeared in the mirror in front of him and then walked right out of it and began to harangue the man about his failed career before asking for one good reason not to kill himself.

As I said, there aren’t a lot of details about Vincent, but for the second violent act, we have plenty.

It seems that in the 1930s, there was some upheaval about how the club was being run. In his book, Ghosts of Florida’s Gulf Coast, Alan Brown describes this scene:

“One night in 1934, during a meeting at the club, an argument broke out. Fists flew and members pummeled each other in heaps on the floor. Suddenly, several gunshots ripped through the air, and Bellarmino Vallejo lay on the floor, bleeding profusely. He had been shot in the face. By the time Bellarmino’s elderly mother arrived at the clinic where he was being treated, he was dead.”

Since then, more than one witness, including police officers, have reported sightings of a woman wailing in grief, and she is assumed to be Vallejo’s mother.

Elevators, a Drowned Boy, Elegant Women, and more!

Not every sighting or haunting in the Cuban Club can be ascribed to these two specific instances, however.

Over the years, many have witnessed the apparition of a boy bouncing a ball in the area of the cantina that used to house a swimming pool, leading many to surmise that he drowned there.

Others have reported a beautiful woman dressed in a stunning white evening gown and wearing red shoes walking up a staircase.

Pianos have reportedly played on their own and men in early twentieth century dress randomly appear in the club’s elevators. Those same elevators have been known to take on a life of their own, moving up and down between floors between the hours of 4:00 and 5:00 am.

A Beacon for Paranormal Investigators

Because of its reputation, some of the most well-known paranormal investigators in the world have traveled to Ybor City and the Cuban Club.

Notably, the Ghost Hunters TV show featuring TAPS performed an in depth investigation of the premises in season five of the popular series. During the investigation, the team employed a twist-on flashlight, asking questions of an entity with which they felt they’d made contact.

The flashlight turned on and off repeatedly answering that the entity was a boy and that he was between eight and nine years old.

Ghost Hunters are far from the only investigators who have visited the Cuban Club and filmed their findings there. Episode four of Haunted Tours from Brian and Jake Jalbert takes place at the historic location. You can view the full episode on Amazon Video.

You can reserve your spot on one of the numerous Ybor Ghost Tours which includes the Cuban Club as one of its prime locations recounting stories of the club and other reportedly haunted locations in the district.

As with any haunted location, and paranormal activity in general, there are those who believe and those who don’t, and the line is almost always clearly drawn. The Cuban Club in the Ybor City district of Tampa, Florida, however, seems to be one of those places that makes a believers out of skeptics.

Join us for the iHorror Film Festival and maybe you’ll be a believer too.

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Childhood Memories Collide in New Horror Film ‘Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble’

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It looks like ITN Studious and Jagged Edge Productions are going the Avengers: Infinity War route with their upcoming film Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. From the deranged mind of Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey) comes this belligerent mash up of beloved childhood icons.

According to an article out of Variety today, Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will consist of Winnie the Pooh, Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, The Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty. All of these iconic figured will be warped into nightmarish versions of their former selves. Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble is set to be released upon the world sometime in 2025.

Poohniverse

Actor-producer Scott Chambers (Malevolent) had the following to say about Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. “As horror fans, we would love an Avengers that is all villains. It’d have Freddy Krueger, Jason, ‘Halloween,’ ‘Scream,’ all of those. Obviously that will never happen, but we can make it happen in our own little way, and that’s where this film has been born.”

Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will be a part of The Twisted Childhood Universe. Just like the MCU, each character will first get a standalone film. After introductions are made, they will be reunited in an Avengers style film. Although they will be killing off the survivors from the previous films, they won’t be working together.

Chambers describes this as an “epic sequences of monster vs. monster.” And I don’t know what more fans could ask of the studio. This fantastical idea is a huge risk but Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble sounds amazing.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Check back here for more updates on Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. If you haven’t already, check out the trailer for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 below.

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Blumhouse’s ‘The Wolf Man’ Reboot Kicks Off Production with Leigh Whannell at the Helm

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Blumhouse Productions has officially commenced filming its reboot of the Universal Monsters legend, “Wolf Man”. Under the direction of Leigh Whannell, known for his acclaimed work on “The Invisible Man” (2020), the project promises to breathe new life into the iconic tale. The film is slated for a theatrical release on October 25th, marking a new chapter in the storied franchise.

Wolf Man

The journey of a “Wolf Man” reboot began in 2020 when actor Ryan Gosling presented a fresh take on the classic story to Universal. This concept quickly evolved into a screenplay crafted by the talented duo Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who are known for their work on “Orange Is the New Black,” alongside contributions from Whannell and Corbett Tuck. The narrative is set in contemporary times, drawing inspiration from the atmospheric tension of Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Nightcrawler,” albeit with a distinct supernatural twist.

The film has seen its share of directorial and casting shifts, with Whannell initially signing on to direct in 2020, only to step away and then return to the project after Ryan Gosling and director Derek Cianfrance exited. The lead roles have been filled by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom bring significant talent to the screen. Abbott portrays a man whose family faces the terror of a lethal predator, with Garner likely playing his wife, sharing in the familial peril. The storyline also hints at a daughter named Ginger, adding a layer of depth to the family’s harrowing experience.

Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott

This reboot represents a collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, with Jason Blum producing. Ryan Gosling remains involved as an executive producer, alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell himself. The announcement of the film’s production start was made by Jason Blum, who shared an exciting glimpse of Whannell on set, signaling the beginning of what is hoped to be a memorable addition to the horror genre.

As the “Wolf Man” reboot moves forward, fans and newcomers alike are eager to see how this modern interpretation will pay homage to its roots while offering a fresh and thrilling experience. With a talented cast and crew at the helm, the film is poised to reintroduce the timeless tale of transformation and terror to a new generation.

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‘Immaculate’ Stars Reveal Which Horror Villains They Would “F, Marry, Kill”

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Sydney Sweeney is just coming off the success of her rom-com Anyone But You, but she’s ditching the love story for a horror story in her latest film Immaculate.

Sweeney is taking Hollywood by storm, portraying everything from a love-lusting teenager in Euphoria to an accidental superhero in Madame Web. Although the latter got a lot of hate among theater-goers, Immaculate is getting the polar opposite.

The film was screened at SXSW this past week and was well-received. It also gained a reputation for being extremely gory. Derek Smith of Slant says the, “final act contains some of the most twisted, gory violence this particular subgenre of horror has seen in years…”

Thankfully curious horror movie fans won’t have to wait long to see for themselves what Smith is talking about as Immaculate will hit theaters across the United States on March, 22.

Bloody Disgusting says that the movie’s distributor NEON, in a bit of marketing smarts, had stars Sydney Sweeney and Simona Tabasco play a game of “F, Marry, Kill” in which all their choices had to be horror movie villains.

It’s an interesting question, and you might be surprised at their answers. So colorful are their responses that YouTube slapped an age-restricted rating on the video.

Immaculate is a religious horror movie that NEON says stars Sweeney, “as Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarking on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Cecilia’s warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.”

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