The original special effects spooktacular emphasized comedy and audience interaction. The stage was a recreation of the Temple of Gozer and the show opened with a female tour guide expressing her disbelief in ghosts. Familiar characters from the films began to appear including Slimer, Gozer, Stay Puft, and of course the Ghostbusters, who saved the day.

An illusionary technique called Pepper’s ghost was used to create the effect of the ghost figures appearing beside and interacting with the actors. A huge slanted glass window was built across the entire width of the stage between the actors and the audience. When the stage was brightly lit the actors appeared as they normally would. A balcony mezzanine was built above the audience where mechanical “ghosts” were located. When show lights illuminated these figures, their reflections appeared on the half mirrored window next to the actors.

This worked very well visually but the ¾” thick window blocked all sound coming from the actors. MLA developed a method of reflecting sound from speakers located along the front of the balcony so that it appeared as if the voices and music originated from the actors. The illusion was so well constructed that the audience never realized that there was a piece of glass at all.