Charlie McPherson

**Charlie McPherson** is a character from *Halloween Horror Nights*. He was central character to the haunted house *Dead Exposure* in 2008.

## History

### Background

#### Origins

Charlie McPherson was born November 26, 1918 to Shawn McPherson, a photographer from the town of Carey, Ohio. After graduating from Ohio University, Shawn McPherson replaced John R. Neill as head magazine photographer in the year 1930.

In 1948, Charlie McPherson was hired as a photographer for the *Metropolitan Tribune Newspaper* of New York City. On the October 31st of 1948, Charlie went to the *NYC Natural History Museum*. Incidentally, this was the day the museum was terrorized by a monster belonging to the Cerebin Legion which caused it to later be fought by P.I. Boris Shuster.

#### Boris Shuster

In 1955, Charlie McPherson caught photos of, "Reputable diamond broker" Thornton Kesterson smuggling diamonds, causing Thornton's reputation to come into question. Also in 1955, the Metropolitan Tribune fired McPherson for, "one conviction of disorderly conduct", causing him to be a freelance photographer. After this, Charlie became a freelance photographer, known as a contact for private-investigator Boris Shuster.

In 1958, Boris Shuster hired freelance photographer Charlie McPherson to photograph a man named Frank Bennett cheating on his wife Diane. However, the photographs which McPherson took had zombie monsters in them which Charlie saw. When Boris showed the evidence to Diane Bennett, the couple divorced. After this, McPherson began to notice zombies appearing in the photographs which he took causing him to develop intense fear related to the pictures which he took, along with phobia symptoms related to the dark and small spaces.

#### Death

On the Wednesday, July 23 of 1958, Charlie sought help for his fear responses from "Living Fearlessly", a business run by psychiatrist Dr. Mary Agana which aimed at curing fears and phobias. On the day where he met with Agana, she noted that Charlie had extreme antisocial behaviour and that he would use irrational and inappropriate language during interviews while having elevated blood-pressure during interviews.

The next day, Doctor Agana used an extreme form of exposure-therapy to try and cure Charlie of his fears. This involved trapping him in a soundproof glass-box surrounded by flashing strobe-lights where she would monitor his vitals and hopefully incentivize him to face his fears and escape the box. In less than 10 minutes, Charlie failed to open up the lid to escape, slowly suffocated and died of cardiac arrest. Doctor Agana covered up the death, though Boris Shuster would investigate and eventually uncover the truth.

#### The Mirror

After dying, Charlie's spirit was trapped within *The Mirror*, a nightmarish reflection world which was controlled by "Bloody Mary", the ghost of Dr. Mary Agana. Within this world, Charlie was trapped within its realm of *Nightmares* where he was endlessly exposed to his worst fears by Bloody Mary. Within this world, Charlie was a 21st century photographer born on October 20, 1980 while living at *1192 E. Findlay Street* in Carey, Ohio. Here, Charlie was forever tormented by darkness, flashing lights and a zombie apocalypse where he was killed and eaten by zombies before being turned into a zombie himself.

## Appearances

### Halloween Horror Nights

#### Halloween Horror Nights: Reflections of Fear (2008)

Charlie was part of Bloody Mary's backstory.

##### Dead Exposure

Charlie was a character who appeared in this haunted house.

#### Halloween Horror Nights: Twenty Years of Fear

##### ZombieGeddon

This house took place in a continuity in-which a zombie apocalypse transpired. In the queue video, it was mentioned that Charlie McPherson's photographs were found and studied by ZAP (the *Zombie Awareness Program*). The screens in the queue also may have indirectly referenced Dead Exposure's story by saying the first zombie outbreak being recorded in Carey in June, 2010 (the geographic setting of Dead Exposure).

#### Halloween Horror Nights 22

Charlie McPherson was identified as a member of the Kerezans Legion of Horror.

#### Halloween Horror Nights 28

##### Dead Exposure: Patient Zero

In Dead Exposure's sequel haunted-house *Dead Exposure: Patient Zero*, a character named Charlie was frequently mentioned in post-cards from Emily Alice to her sister Kimberly saying "GRAB **CHARLIE**, GO TO GRANDPA'S AND QUARANTINE YOURSELF. 1192 E. Findlay St. Carey, OH 43316 USA" which was Charlie's Carey address in the original Dead Exposure.

#### Halloween Horror Nights 30

##### Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth

Charlie was referenced twice in this haunted house. His phone number appeared on a list of numbers in Boris Shuster's office, and his name appears on a time card within the museum for 10/31/48.

#### Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store

Charlie's character was indirectly given tribute in the 2023 Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store, themed around *McPherson's Collectibles Cards & Comics* in New York City, likely run by a relative of Charlie.

## Trivia

* Charlie was the only patient of Bloody Mary who physically appeared in Reflections of Fear.
* The Metropolitan Tribune in McPherson's backstory may be related to the Metropolis Tribune Newspaper from the New York section of Universal Studios Florida.
* The Press pass outside of Dead Exposure described Charlie McPherson's Date of Birth as being 10/20/80 (October 20, 1980) despite the Reflections of Fear backstory identifying it as November 26, 1918. This pass was also identified as having been issued on June 25th, 2005 with similar complications.
	+ It is possible that this is the result of the Mirror dimension creating an augmented reality which Charlie must live in.
* It is likely that *Dead Exposure: Patient Zero* does not take place in the main Halloween Horror Nights continuity, as it takes place in a universe where a zombie apocalypse transpired. It may be theorized that it is linked to the continuity of the original Patient Zero in the Mirror realm.

## External links

* *Charlie McPherson on the Halloween Horror Nights Wiki.*