Esotouric offers Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour

Esotouric's Pasadena Confidential Crime Bus Tour Explores the Crown City's Dark Side

WHAT: Esotouric presents the Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour

WHEN: Saturday May 23, 12pm-4pm

COST: $58, which includes snacks and beverages

WHERE: Departs from Fair Oaks and Arlington Street, South Pasadena.

SPECIAL OFFER: Anyone buying Esotouric tickets, season passes or giftcertificates is entered into one of four May Mania drawings, for a chance towin a free Pair Pass for a future tour. One entry per ticket purchased.

On May 23, Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose offbeat tours expose L.A.'s secret history, offers its popular, occasional Pasadena Confidential tour, a true crime bus adventure delving deep into the weird and horrible past of one of L.A.'s most exclusive suburbs.

Tour guide Kim Cooper says, "I believe every neighborhood gets the crimes it deserves, and Pasadena's dark side is suitably rife with rocket scientists driven mad by their work, wealthy eccentrics coddling pet chimps and bears, seemingly respectable families misbehaving behind tall hedges and a general air of genteel psychic decay."

Please note that this edition of the tour does not include an appearance by regular guest star Crimebo the Clown. So clown-fearing passengers are especially encouraged to attend.

Crime fiends will enjoy a four-hour guided luxury bus tour to the darkest recesses of Pasadena history, with vintage photos and film clips show to set the scene. From celebrated cases like the RFK assassination, "Eraserhead"star Jack Nance's strange end, black magician/rocket scientist Jack Parsons'death-by-misadventure and the 1926 Rose Parade grand stand collapse, to fascinating obscurities, the tour's multitude of murders, arsons, kidnappings, robberies, suicides, auto wrecks and oddball happenings provide an alternate history of Pasadena that's as fascinating as it is creepy.

Crime Bus passengers will tour the old Millionaire's Row on Orange Grove, boggle at the shocking Sphinx Murder on the steps of the downtown Masonic Hall, thrill to the misadventures of one very poorly-behaved (but beautifully dressed!) chimpanzee and discover why people named Judd should think twice before moving to Pasadena. They'll also have a chance to stroll out onto Suicide Bridge for a personal look down into the gorge that tempted dozens of tormented souls to their demise.

Riders on this eye-opening, funny and informative tour will forever see Pasadena in a new light. It is highly recommended for natives and newcomers alike, crime and history buffs and anyone who likes to seek out the unexpected.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule
Thurs May 14 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat May 16 - Weird West Adams
Sat May 23 - Pasadena Confidential
Sat May 30 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's SoCal Nightmare
Sun June 7 - South LA architecture tour
Thurs June 11 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat June 13 - Vroman's edition: Blood & Dumplings
Sat June 20 - Route 66 architecture tour
Sat July 11 - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat July 18 - Charles Bukowski's LA
Sat July 25 ­ John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill
Sat Aug 1 - The Real Black Dahlia Saturday
Sat Aug 8 - Pasadena Confidential
Thurs Aug 13 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Aug 15 - Blood & Dumplings
Sat Aug 22 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat Aug 29 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Lowdown on Downtown-The Secret History of LA

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com