Backlash prompts pop-up speakeasy to drop Ted Bundy references from Tallahassee event

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - It’s hard to escape on local social media —ads and posts for an upcoming pop-up speakeasy all about serial killers, including Ted Bundy, whose Tallahassee rampage still scars many in town.

On Tuesday, the Tallahassee Garden Club told WCTV via email that organizers had agreed to remove Bundy from the experience entirely following local backlash.

The event is set for mid-July at the Tallahassee Garden Club. The club told WCTV that it was booked as a mystery theater event and that they didn’t realize it was serial killer themed until recently.

The club’s board says the recent drama has caused “great angst.”

Before that news broke on Tuesday, Diane McCain gathered with a few of her former Chi Omega sisters this morning.

They were on Florida State University’s campus when Bundy killed and bludgeoned their friends.

McCain says she was disgusted when she found out about the event, which bills itself as a live, immersive and chilling cocktail hour for the morbidly curious.

“They have no clue what real death means and what evil means. And that’s why we’re speaking out. Someone has to take a stand against evil and what we influence our minds with in terms of fact versus fiction. Again, fiction is one thing. Reality is another. And that’s what they are overlooking at this point is these were real people that suffered greatly and continue to suffer to this day,” she said.

More Tallahassee news:

McCain was happy to hear the updated plans to omit Bundy from the event.

WCTV reached out to the company putting on the event, Midnight Creative, and has not heard back.

But in a podcast interview with a writer for the event posted to social media saying the intent of the event has “always been to inform, never to idolize.”

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