Countdown To Halloween, 2024

Here we are at the doorstep to September! Only 32 more days until the greatest month of all, and then the REAL party starts!

I just signed up again to participate in the annual Countdown To Halloween, where for my FOURTEENTH year in a row, I'll be celebrating all October with daily blog posts all the way up to the High Holiday itself. Anything and everything Halloween! An orange-and-black blitz of all things creepy and cool!

If you have participated in the past, I hope to see you again this October. If you haven't yet, please go check out the Countdown To Halloween blog and sign up for the fun. And don't forget to grab one of their annual banners, this year created by Mr. Chad Savage himself!

I've got tons more to roll out this month, but please be sure to stop by the Cemetery on October 1st to get this party started!

Only 63 more days until the big night. Are you ready?

  

Classic Horror Ads From Comic Books, Magazines & Newspapers

I recently came across this great collection of vintage horror ads from Cult Movies Magazine & TV's Facebook page (and thanks to Johnny Thunder and Hauntcast for posting this!). I can remember seeing a few of these crazy ads filling the back pages of horror magazines and comics as a little kid. I wanted to send a dollar to each, although even back then I knew I would receive a silly, cheap trinket in return. But wasn't that part of the fun??

Monsters! Vampires! Ghosts! HORROR! These ads pushed the creative limit, each trying to outshock the rest as they all fought for your attention (and your money) within the back pages of magazines and comics. They remind me of those great old haunted house ads that battled for my attention as I flipped through the local newspaper's Friday insert. Only the boldest and most shocking ads would be considered for a weekend visit! What a great time it was to be alive!

Enjoy this really great collection of the hilarious and crazy ads of the past!

Image courtesy of Flickr.

Image courtesy of House Of The Unusual.

  
  

Spooky Sounds of the Morgue

Here's a fun one for the weekend! Last October, I ended up grabbing a copy of Fright Rags' limited edition "Spooky Sounds of the Morgue" 7" record and t-shirt bundle. It's a really cool, nostalgic old school "spooky sounds" record with a great illustration on the cover and on the shirt. Along with the soundtrack, animator Mickey Miles created a full video to go along with it. And it is crazy!

From the Fright Rags YouTube channel:

Do you accept the Fright-Rags Fantom's invitation to enter The Morgue?!... Immerse yourself in a macabre auditory & visual experience, as he sends you on a waltz through a nightmarish journey. Each hair-raising note is guaranteed to send shivers down your spine & leave you checking the corners for the boogeyman. Good luck!

And if you missed out on this release, don't fret. This is expected as a full digital release this Halloween. Enjoy!

Cleveland Haunt Club's Haunted Garage Sale & Hearse Cruise-In

Here is one for my local ghosties, ghoulies and goblins. If you are in the Northeast Ohio area and find yourself with nothing to do this Saturday, August 17th, why not head over to the Lake Erie Crushers Stadium in Avon and check out the 9th Annual Haunted Garage Sale & Hearse Cruise-In!? Bigger and better than ever before!

Over 100 Creepy Cool Vendors, Food Trucks and an awesome Hearse and themed car show. It will be our biggest and best yet at this much larger location. A $3 parking fee will apply with a portion going to Skeletons for St. Judes.

A perfect event to get your haunt season kickstarted!

  

Vintage Haunted Schoolhouse Poster

FINALLY! I got this personal gem into a proper frame, ready to go up on the wall!

I am finding that the older I get the more I look back, longing for the black-and-orange nostalgia and Halloween innocence of my youth. As a kid, I absolutely loved getting the Friday insert section out of the local newspaper each October, eagerly and voraciously devouring page after page of glorious black-and-white ads for all of the local haunted houses (and being an 80s Halloween kid living in Northeast Ohio meant page after page of haunted houses! It seemed like every city had one!).

And even with page after page of wonderful ads, there was always one that caught my attention and became the one I always looked for: Akron's Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory. The iconic grim reaper graphic really caught my young eye, and it became the one (technically two) haunted house that my friend Jim and I would always beg our parents to drive us to every Halloween season.

Fast forward 35 years, and the opportunity to be a guest actor at the Haunted Schoolhouse presented itself. Needless to say I jumped at the chance, fulfilling all those old childhood dreams. It was everything I had hoped it would be, and I appreciate Dave allowing me to come back each season to "get my haunt on."

Two seasons ago, he unearthed this ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE Schoolhouse and Lab silkscreened poster from back in the early 80s. Up to this point I had never asked for anything from him, but I REALLY wanted a copy of that if one was available. And Dave totally came through, allowing me to own a piece of haunted house history!

And now it's finally in a nice frame, ready to go up on my wall. Amazing clipart and fonts. Admission $2.00. FREE BABYSITTING! They just don't make 'em like this anymore!

Monster Make A Wish at Distortions Unlimited

THIS is what it’s all about! A huge shout out to Ed and Marsha over at Distortions Unlimited for making Jackson's Make-A-Wish Halloween dream come true. Creating an incredible, one-of-a-kind animated prop based on his sketches, the Distortions crew went above and beyond to ensure Jackson will have an absolutely awesome yard haunt this year. Their kindness is just another reason why our haunt community is just so good.

And be sure to subscribe to Jackson's YouTube channel and Instagram page to see his killer display. Haunt on, Jackson!

Enjoy this one!