An Impressive Homage to a Classic Halloween Character
This Halloween might get a little bit damp.
Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Happy Friday the 13th…er…31st…or maybe just Happy Halloween! Now let’s go deep sea diving.
There’s a life-size doll of Jason Voorhees floating at the bottom of a lake in Minnesota.
Many people get excited about dressing up for Halloween. Others are all about pumpkin spice everything and tasty treats. Still others can’t get enough of Halloween films, from “Hocus Pocus” to the “Friday the 13th” series.
(Personally, I’m a fan of the movie “Hush,” a classic “killer trying to get you in a cabin in the woods,” but the main character is deaf and mute. It’s an interesting twist on a familiar trope, and seemingly no one has heard of it. Go watch it!)
Anyway, you can combine a love of costumes, candy, and movies all in one go—just replace Jason Voorhees’s knife with a chocolate bar. I’m nothing if not innovative.
If scary movies do give you the creeps, however, I would recommend avoiding Louise Mine Lake, a mine pit in Ironton, Minnesota.
Back in 2013, a diver and electrician named Doug Klein constructed a lifelike model of Jason Voorhees, the villain in “Friday the 13th.”
As a fan of the series, Klein thought it would be fun to deliver a hidden Halloween fright to experienced divers. Louise is a state-owned mine pit that institutions like the Minnesota School of Diving use for teaching. It was the perfect place for a little mischief.
Klein used plywood for the torso and two-by-fours for his arms and legs. His pal, Curtis Lahr, provided the mannequin head. Throw in a little bubble wrap and foam to keep Jason afloat, and voila!
Getting the Jason doll 120 feet below the surface was another story, requiring a combination of cinder blocks and a lift bag, which is most commonly used to pull up cars that have plunged through ice.
After a few snafus that included Jason rocketing back to the surface on the other side of the pit, Klein finally secured him with a lock and chain. It only took eight hours, or the equivalent of watching the first five “Friday the 13th” movies, with 20 spare minutes for bathroom and snack breaks.
Since most people are recreational (or worse) divers, we probably won’t see Jason with our own two eyes. Luckily, Lahr has taken a camera down to Jason’s mine pit home and gotten us some very vivid footage.
The doll is still down there today. Klein swings by occasionally to wipe Jason’s eyes, but he lets the algae, grime, and whatever else has clung to Jason’s body over the years remain.
While Klein’s creation is notable (and creepy), he was inspired by divers who came before him.
In the 70s and 80s, mining companies realized some of the open-pit iron mines in Minnesota weren’t lucrative, so they said “au revoir” to them. Since the companies were no longer pumping out spring water, the pits began to flood.
When the floors of my home get some water on them, I panic and look for a wet-dry vacuum to suck the water up. When a mine pit floor floods, divers decide to explore the depths.
And because you probably need to have a good sense of humor to dive many feet below the Earth’s surface, Louise divers have left all kinds of spooky props in the depths.
Take a look at some of the highlights—it’s much more comfortable than suiting up for a dive yourself. Happy Halloween!