Hi guys!
 
The end of the year crazies have started.  It’s drag when you see Christmas decorations and hear carols before the jack-o-lanterns have even had a chance to deflate and rot properly.  To inject some sanity into the season, we’re doing our part to celebrate - Dearly Departed style.
 
 
First up is a special Turkey Day Helter Skelter tour.  If you’d like a unique way to spend Thanksgiving morning, come spend it with us.  Afterward you can go home and carve the turkey with precision and gusto.  Or if you don’t feel like putting up with your family, you’re welcome to use me as an excuse.  Say you are going to Uncle Scott's.  Tickets
 
Great idea for the Death Hag on your Christmas List:  As promised, we now have a date set for the presentation by the authors of Beverly Hills Confidential - A Century of Stars, Scandals and Murders.  Clark Fogg is the Senior Froensic Specialist at the Beverly Hills Police Dept. Crime Lab.  He and author Barbara Schroeder will be in our shop on Sunday December 10 at 6pm. Together they’ll tell us about some of the Murders and Scandals that have taken place in the 90210.  Rich and famous people are just as horrible as poor people, they just leave better looking crime scenes.   This autographed book is the perfect gruesome stocking stuffer for the True Crime fan in your life.  The photographs alone are really fascinating and disturbing and, well, fantastic.
 
 
While we’re on the subject of holidays, if you’re on a tour, at an event or just feel like stopping by, you can combat the pre-holiday blues and pick up some gifts for the groovy ghoulies in your life. All the souvenirs here are handpicked so there’s no junk.  Crime scene artifacts, t-shirts, posters, books, gift certificates for the tour, shot glasses and any other thing we can whore out.  Here's the sick item of the day.
 

We’ve also started thinking ahead to when the holidays are over. To combat the post-holiday blues, we’ve invited Jill Marie Morris back for another evening. Jill is a seriously accurate psychic and on January 13 she will be discussing celebrities who died in January including: Carole Lombard, Yvonne De Carlo, Agatha Christie and murder victim Elizabeth Short (AKA The Black Dahlia). Sometimes if your dead relatives show up, she’ll answer the call for you. If your dead relatives don’t show up, though, that’s on them. Come prepared either way just in case.  Details and tickets here.
 
In other news, The Economist recently included us in an article about “dark tourism" or as we call it, "tourism."  Personally I think "dark tourism" is an expression made up by people who are too embarrassed to admit they wanna see!  Own it, bitches.  No need to label further.  Sitting on a beach or climbing a mountain isn’t for everyone so people like us have you covered. I don’t know if we belong in the same category as Auschwitz or Chernobyl but I like that we were included.  You can read it here.
 
A lot goes into running a tour business in Hollywood that most people aren’t aware of.  Just like I don’t know what goes on at your job. (Actually, I do.  Look behind you.)  Here in LA, tour companies are considered very low on the Hollywood food chain.  We're the dookie - almost as low as _________________ (insert name of the Hollywood pig dujour).  Some tour companies deserve that reputation by pointing out bogus sites, not obeying traffic laws, operating unsafe vehicles and so much more.  They suck.  Remember when I took one with a hidden camera a few years ago?
 
 
Then there are other companies who put years of research into getting facts straight, follow law, are concerned about safety and sincerely want guests to have an incredible, memorable time.  Unfortunately those other companies have become such a public nuisance that city and state lawmakers are stepping in and making it nearly impossible for any of us to do business.  In short, they've screwed it up for everyone.  Here is an article about some potential big changes ahead.  Dearly Departed Tours brings revenue to the local economy and creates jobs for the employees who work here. We are honored that so many people tell us that the main reason they come to LA is to take our tour.  This is a topic I’m passionate (and pissed) about so I wanted to share.
 
I mentioned that there are responsible tours in Los Angeles and I've been on a lot of them. You can find some of their brochures in our shop. These tours and locations are good at what they do, and deserve our business.  Our tour guide Brian Donnelly always advises people to "be a tourist in your own town."  Take his advice.  Search one out.  Learn about your homo.
 
 
Upcoming Tours:
 
The Helter Skelter Tour is one of our most popular.  Truth really is stranger than fiction.  Helter Skelter runs on most Saturdays.
 
The next Doors tour is December 10. It’s in celebration of the Lizard King’s birthday so don’t miss out!  We will stop on the real Love Street and visit the Canyon Country Store (the store where the creatures meet).  You'll find out what they do in there.
 
Later that day is the Beverly Hills Confidential event in our shop.  Come for the Doors, stay for the dirt.
 
Nasty Nellie Olson herself, Alison Arngrim is returning in 2018!  Her first tour of the year is January 14. If you haven’t been on this tour and you love Hollywood History (and we assume that you do) you don’t want to miss her tour. You’re getting an authentic glimpse into the life of a Hollywood celebrity.  Info and tickets here.
 
 
The Karen Carpen-tour is SOLD OUT but if you’d still like to bond with Karen, stop by the office and visit her bathroom sink. Yes, it’s true. We have the sink from her last home right here.  This photograph is a Carpentour shot from a couple of years ago.  The group is toasting Karen by her sink after the tour.  Our tipple of choice?  Why, Skinny Girl Mojito of course.  Shame?  Never heard of it.  
 
 
Until next week!
Love,
Scott and Dearly Departed Team