This site, by the very nature of its subject matter, is no laughing matter. But even the most terrible tragedy has some comic relief. Nick has a wicked, dry wit, and can crack jokes even under the greatest pressure. So he’d appreciate me giving a little “time out” to show you something that, now that I look back on it, is absolutely hilarious.

You may remember the publication Weekly World Digest, which was sold mostly at supermarket check-out lines and newspaper stands. It was a black and white rag that was even worse than a tabloid, because tabloids at least attempt to convey something like the truth (they have to, it’s illegal not to…). Weekly World Digest preferred to tell tales of babies born with bat wings, demons possessing ball machines at church bingo nights, vampires feeding off the First Lady, etc. All of these stories were accompanied by usually terribly unconvincing photoshopped pictures – ringing any bells now? Unfortunately, Weekly World Digest went out of business, so I can’t link you to a web site with samples. But I’m sure it’s well logged in the annals of most people’s memories.

Well, Weekly World Digest got wind of the aftermath of the Memorial Day Rose Red trip and printed what may have been the only WWD feature ever to have some basis in reality, even if the details in their version are – to say the least – highly inventive.

(Continue reading…)

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Post tags: annie, april, bollinger, cathy, cora frye, ellen, emery, john rimbauer, joyce, magazine, nick, pam, professor miller, rachel, steve, sukeena, vic

A local bridal magazine, Seattle Bride, did an interview with me in October of 2004. It’s all about Nick and my wedding (which is still hanging in the balance!) and quite a bit about Nick as well. I thought that you might find it interesting to get a better idea of our life together and our plans for the future.

The Ever Wedding
by Priscilla Baines for Seattle Bride, October 2004

Editor’s Note: It’s not often we profile a wedding steeped in tragedy. But when noted author Allison O’Sullivan agreed to talk to us about her on-hold nuptials with fiancé Nick Hardaway, who went missing in Rose Red in 2001, we simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity. We hope that you take away from this interview not a sense of sadness or wistfulness, but the infectious hope and optimism with which Allison still approaches her wedding.

October of 2001 was the month Ally O’Sullivan was to become Ally Hardaway, or for those who prefer formality, Mrs. Nicolas Hardaway. But in May of 2001 her husband-to-be vanished into thin air in famed haunted house Rose Red, which used to reside in the heart of downtown Seattle.

The house itself was a wedding present from John Rimbauer to his young wife Ellen Rimbauer, and one would think the romantic gesture would fill the place with love. But instead, unknown forces Ally continues to relentlessly study twisted it into a psychic black hole, devouring any who crossed its path. And on that now infamous Memorial Day weekend, 4 of the party of 9 who set out to explore the mansion met an unpleasant, if rather unresolved fate.

Ally now lives in a condo on the site of what once was the Rimbauer estate. Determined to somehow solve the mystery of her fiancé’s disappearance, she prefers to think of her wedding as pending, rather than called off. Specially for our October issue, she spoke to us about her life, her love, and her “ever” wedding. (Continue reading…)

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Post tags: ellen, magazine, nick, Photos, steve, wedding