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Ravens Fair 001
Ravens Fair
Category: Town
Continent: North America
Country: United States of America
Points of interest: Ashen residence; Guignol Theater; Moss Lake; Ravens Fair Cemetery; Ravens Fair Motel; Walker Funeral Home
Residents: Edward Ashen; Henry Walker; Jamie Ashen; Lisa Ashen; Marion Walker; Mary Shaw; Richard Walker
1st appearance: Dead Silence

Ravens Fair is a non-fictional suburban town and the primary setting of the 2007 James Wan film, Dead Silence. The town is home to the Ashen family and is known for generating the legend of an angry spirit known as Mary Shaw.

History[]

During the 1930s and 40s, Ravens Fair was a wealthy community, catering to society's elite. It was the home of a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw, who headlined her act at the Guignol Theater on Moss Lake. In 1941, Mary performed her act with a doll named Billy. Attending the performance were two young boys named Henry Walker and Michael Ashen. While Henry was suitably impressed with Mary's talent, Michael found her to be a fraud. He pointed out how he could see her lips moving during her act. This angered Mary at great length, but she restrained herself from lashing out too severely at the child in public. After the show however, Mary kidnapped Michael Ashen, took him back to a private room in the theater and murdered him. When Michael went missing, the townsfolk immediately suspected Mary Shaw. Though they had no proof that she had murdered the boy, they exacted their own brand of justice. Led by the Ashen family, the townsfolk captured Mary, slit her throat and let her bleed to death. Her remains were buried in a special corner of the Ravens Fair cemetery and, as per her will, all of her ventriloquist dummies (totaling more than a hundred), were buried in private caskets in the area surrounding her.

The story of Mary Shaw did not end with her death however. Her angry spirit wanted revenge against all of the families of Ravens Fair. Over the span of years, her ghost haunted the town, plaguing everyone who lived there, until most of the townsfolk were forced to leave. She concentrated most of her efforts towards terrorizing the surviving members of the Ashen family.

By the millennium, aging millionaire Edward Ashen, in an effort to protect his son Jamie from Mary's influences, drove him away, forever destroying their relationship. Edward could live his son hating him so long as he believed that he was safe. This did not halt Mary's wrath however. Her spirit tracked Jamie and his wife Lisa down and murdered her. What Jamie didn't know at the time was that Lisa was pregnant, so by killing her, Mary was in fact destroying the last member of the Ashen family line.

Jamie returned to Ravens Fair to bury his wife, but was doggedly pursued by a grim homicide detective named Jim Lipton, whom believed that Jamie may have been involved in his own wife's death.

In short order, both Jamie and Detective Lipton found Mary's secret room at the now-dilapidated Guignol Theater. Mary acted through her doll collection and succeeded in murdering Detective Lipton. Jamie set fire to the crumbling building, destroying Mary's dolls. He believed that by doing so, he could rid Ravens Fair of her evil once and for all.

This was not to be the case however. Returning to his father's estate, Jamie learned to his horror that his father's young wife, Ella Ashen, was secretly carrying out Mary Shaw's wishes. She had already killed her husband and turned him into the perfect doll. Jamie was horror-stricken at this revelation and began screaming. In moments, he became Mary Shaw's final victim.

Points of Interest[]

Ashen residence
Ashen estate
This was the home of the Ashen family. A spacious manor, patriarch Edward Ashen lived here with his four wives and his son Jamie. Jamie left home as an adult due to irreconcilable differences with his father. Edward's fourth wife, Ella, murdered him and transformed his corpse into the perfect ventriloquist's doll.
Guignol Theater
Guignol Theater
Located on Moss Lake, the Guignol Theater was a reputable vaudeville theater during the 1930s and 40s. It was here that Mary Shaw performed her final stage act. In the years following her death, the theater was closed down and grew into a state of severe disrepair. Jamie Ashen and Detective Jim Lipton came to the theater ruins many years later in the hopes of putting an end to the ghost of Mary Shaw.
Lost Lake
Lost Lake
Located on the edge of town near a quarry, this was where the Guignol Theater was located. In the years since the theater fell into disrepair, water from the lake began leaking into the building's lower cellars.
Ravens Fair Cemetery
Ravens Fair Cemetery
A special section of the cemetery was designated as the resting place of Mary Shaw. In accordance to Mary's will, all of her ventriloquist dummies, numbering more than one hundred, were buried in private caskets next to her. This was also where Jamie buried his wife Lisa and where he attempted to re-bury Mary's old dummy, Billy.
Ravens Fair Motel
Ravens Fair Motel
Jamie Ashen rented a room here when he returned to Ravens Fair to bury his wife, Lisa. Detective Lipton came into town and rented the room right next to Jamie's so he could keep an eye on him.
Walker Funeral Home
Walker Funeral Home
In 1941, Richard Walker prepared the body of Mary Shaw at his family's funeral home. His young son Henry had a terrifying experience one evening when he crept into the preparation room to see the body of Mary Shaw. Henry eventually inherited the funeral home from his father and lived there with his wife, Marion.

Characters from Ravens Fair[]

Notes & Trivia[]

  • The exact location of Ravens Fair is not revealed in the film.
  • Halloween Horror Nights 17 (Universal Studios Orlando, 2007) placed Ravens Fair in Ontario, Canada.
  • In the film Annabelle, the box that the doll comes in bears the name Ravens Fair on its side. This is a subtle, though not necessarily canonical insinuation that Dead Silence may take place in the same continuity as Annabelle, and by extension, the Conjuring film series.

References[]

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