Altergeist is Coming, Here’s the Title Treatment & Some Images

Altergeist portrays King’s Ransom Winery as one of the most haunted places in North America. Gruesome suicides and murders, suspicious fires, and strange otherworldly phenomena appear with disturbing frequency throughout the history of the estate. Perhaps more disturbing, however, is the fact that these are all based on true events.

As inspiration for King’s Ransom Winery, producer Aaron Heck and writer/director Tedi Sarafian turned to the real world Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville, California. Nestled amongst the redwoods in the idyllic Russian River valley, the normally peaceful grounds have borne witness to some horrific tragedy. On a trip to the century-old winery with Tedi, Aaron shared some experiences from his youth growing up amidst the vineyards, which provided the foundation for the events depicted in Altergeist.

In the late 1800s, a woman took her own life in the attic of the historic Korbel House, which served as the set for the old Till family homestead in Altergeist. Having scrawled mad writings across the walls of the attic, this formerly reserved cook’s wife was clearly struggling against dark forces she could not understand. In the end she turned to suicide as the only means of escape.

Grounds keepers at Korbel have experienced strange happenings in and around this house, and some refuse to approach it at night. Our cast and crew also felt the presence of spirits from the winery’s past, both in the house and elsewhere on the grounds.

The white lady of the Korbel house, strange orbs of light that move through the redwood forests at night, and stories of other tragic deaths in the area all served as inspiration for the twisted history of King’s Ransom Winery in Altergeist.