There were madcap capers at Club Anabel in the Burlington Hotel this week. A hearse was driven in. A coffin was carried to the stage, and entertainer Dessie Goodwin in grey wizard's outfit rose, as if from the dead. Dry-ice curled its way over a sea of spectators.
Haunted House!, a new TV series being made by Funny Stuff TV, a Dublin production company, to be screened on TV3 over three days in March, was being launched.
Bernard McHugh, from Co Donegal, did a strip-tease and sang Tom Jones's song, Delilah. This was the scariest part of the night, truly. Readers may remember this star when he was first plucked from obscurity on Blind Date.
The 27 people chosen to take part in the filming will spend a weekend in a spooky house, where they will be terrified out of their wits. There are prizes to be won, of course. Contestant Jennifer Meagher, from Montenotte in Cork, wants "to test my fear factor - I can't wait". Michael Delaney, from Timahoe in Co Laois, is "looking forward to seeing if I can be scared".
Raymond Fitzgerald, a stone-cutter from Carrowgarraff in Co Roscommon, was there with his wife Annette and their daughter Rachel. He entered "on the spur of the moment". Gabriel MacSharry, a software designer and nephew of former EU commissioner Ray MacSharry, was ready to be frightened. "It's going to be good craic," he said. Hah!
Another intrepid fear-explorer was Raelene Bourke, a massage therapist originally from near Brisbane in Australia. Innocent onlooker, Stephen O'Donoghue of Unique Dining was enjoying the atmosphere - when, out of the blue, he was "asked to carry in the coffin". That's the thing - you never know when your time has come. We exit before anything else appears out of the fog.