The horror theatre shows later named Phantasmogoria was first developed by the German illusionist, freemason, and occultist Johann Georg Schröpfer (1730–7 October 1774). The pioneer of entertainment séances, and the use of magic lanterns to project the appearance of ghosts; Schröpfer would invite audiences into his Leipzig coffee house, where after preparing a magical punch of his own recipe they would be led with the sound of thunder into a darkened and windowless room. Upon a sacrificial altar the smoke would begin to take shape into a human form, where Schröpfer would then convince his audience that he could talk to the dead.  Schröpfer would use a variety of techniques that would be later adapted into phantasmagoria by Paul de Philipsthal and Étienne-Gaspard Robert. It is claimed that Schröpfer was driven mad by his own illusions, and shot himself in1774 after promising an audience he would later resurrect himself.