Highbury Cemetery

Anger Is My Middle Name...

2012-02-19T13:37:00.000-05:00

Not much going on around the Cemetery lately, although I did stumble upon something that MUST be shared...

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The First MnT of 2012 And Other Madness...

2012-02-12T13:25:00.000-05:00

Well, a week later and I'm finally able to document the incredible time Scrapes and I had at the Northern Ohio Haunters' first Make & Take of 2012...

As a quick recap, the Make & Take was held at Forsaken Haunted House, which was by far the most perfect venue to hold a gathering of home haunt loonies like us. A HUGE thank you to Brian and Diana for allowing us to come in and use their space and especially for giving us a full tour of the haunt. Scrapes and I will definitely be making the trip back up in October to get the full effect (and for anyone else thinking about going - hold on in the Decontamination Room!).

A talking skull routine welcomed you to the haunt, complete with a hidden hose that pumped out a buttered popcorn scent. Yum!

After the guided tour, we got down to the business at hand. For this Make & Take, we were carving foam tombstones (which was nice because all of the tombstone epitaphs in our Cemetery haunt thus far were painted). Eric and Tracee gave a detailed how-to and we were off to carve...

Scrapes gets busy with the x-acto blade in between bites of his Sloppy Joe...

Eric brought an amazing sample from his tombstone collection...

Stacey got to try out a hot wire foam cutter (but her daughter took off when she saw me bust out the camera)...

And Randy showed off his incredibly detailed tombstone. Wow...

The time flew by and we soon headed home. Scrapes and I talked about the direction we wanted to go with our (his) new tombstone and decided to go a little bit more subtle. Instead of adding "Jason" to the Voorhees name, we decided instead to add the roman numeral for "13." (Get it? Friday the THIRTEENTH??) Scrapes was so pumped, he went home and continued to carve that night, firing off a new photo the next morning. I'd say he's got it!!

I can't wait to get some paint on this thing. The subtle reference is spot on and I think we've decided that the only other thing that we are going to do is to hang a hockey mask off of the corner. This thing is going to look incredible sitting amongst the other tombstones in our Cemetery this year. We'll definitely post more photos as we continue to progress on it...

In other news, our GoE friend Stacey sent us a link, saying she thought of us when she saw it. I wonder why??

HGTV - Calling All Extreme Halloween Fans!

Is Halloween the most important holiday of the year for you? Do you spend a days, weeks, even months turning your house into the scariest place on the block? Then you could be a part of an HGTV Halloween special!

We're searching the country for home decorators, designers and pumpkin carvers who go all-out and over-the-top getting their house, yard, pumpkin patch or corn maze ready for the scariest day of the year.

Does this sound like you or someone you know? If so we'd love to hear from you! Please send us an email to halloween@stvcasting.com. Be sure to include the following:

Your name, address and contact information (please include email address and cell phone number)
A brief description about yourself and why you love decorating for Halloween
Pictures and/or video of you and your Halloween decorations and creations

Thanks, Stacey, but I know a whole slew of fellow haunters that can be included on this!! Hmm... An entire segment focusing on the Northern Ohio Haunters??? Let's make it happen!!

And finally, anyone who frequents our blog knows what a big fan I am of the Swedish band, Ghost. In October, I was pumped to see them play in Columbus, only to have them cancel the entire tour because of visa trouble. Currently, they are on their rescheduled tour, but aren't playing any city remotely close to me (Chicago being the closest, a mere 6 hour drive away...). So imagine my joy when they announced another tour starting in April. And this time, I'm making the drive to see them in Pittsburgh on April 15th. For anyone else who might be at the show, (they are opening for Opeth and Mastadon), I'll be the dork up front with the camera and the perma-grin at the start of the show...

For anyone who hasn't heard of them yet, simply feast your eyes on this...

So there you have it for this installment. We'll be back soon with more updates as we complete more projects for Halloween, 2012. Only 262 more days, which means, as always, we need to get moving!!!

We Got Tagged...

2012-02-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

A big thanks goes out to Cemetery friend Lisa, from the Maple Grove Cemetery blog, as we have officially been "tagged." At least this will give us an opportunity to get back to posting something. Anything.

So here we go. We had done a similar list a while back and I had posted some info about myself, which you can still read here, so for this one, I'm going to let Scrapes step up and take the lead. So sit back, relax, and enjoy some little-known facts about Scrapes, the other half of Highbury Cemetery.

Take it away, little brother...

The Rules

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 3 new questions for the people you tag.
5. Go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged.
6. No cheating & saying "if you're reading this you're tagged".You have to legitimately tag 3 other people.

Random Things:

Take my birth date(3/20/78) and jumble the numbers to get 7/23/80, the birth date of mywife. Soul mates.
Back when the VCR firstbecame commonplace in American homes, my 3 most viewed tapes (and those which Istill know word-for-word, I promise) are The Goonies, Police Academy 4, and theMaking of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Since childhood,hearing the M.A.S.H. TV show theme song makes me depressed. Probably the producer’s intention.
My parents’ favorite movie of all time is M.A.S.H.
My favoritesinger/band/artist right now is Regina Spektor.
My most desired traveldestination right now is Stockholm.
You know how you holdup three fingers in the air, like pointer, middle and ring? I can’t do that. My pointer and ring fingers must bemissing something- they only go halfway.
I often have a burningdesire to tell strangers what celebrity they look like, but I rarely followthrough. For example, “Dude, youlook just like that fat kid from Superbad.” Probably for the best.
So far I have spent 45minutes on this list. Probably toolong.
When I retire I’m starting a shopping cart patrol infront of my local grocery store. If you leave the cart just “somewhere,” I’ll bark at you through amegaphone then tip the cart upside-down behind your car so you cannot leave.Some have to be taught a lesson.
I dislike when people use the term “less than” whenthey really mean “fewer than.”
In 1992 I buried a time capsule in my backyard. It was full of sports memorabilia likebaseball and football cards, and a Sports Illustrated with Jose Canseco on thecover. Unfortunately, the “capsule” was a cardboard box, and I unearthed it amonth later to find a soggy pile of cardboard mess.
In the early years of eBay, I sold a steering wheelfrom a 1950 Mercury, starting at .99, for $821.00. I shat.
My long-lasting nightmare since childhood involvesFisto from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe being chased by boulder down the side of a desert mountain.

And now for thequestions put forth by Lisa:

What did you really want to be when you grew up?

A landscaper. When I wasyoung my folks had some landscaper form some mulch beds and plant trees andshrubs around our house. I thoughtI could do it better. I also hadthoughts of becoming an actor or soccer star.

What are you most afraid of?

I’m afraid I can’t tellyou.

What is the most exotic place you've visited?

I’ll interpret exotic as being a place visited byfew people. “The Ridges” isfitting because it’s also haunted and creepy. “The Ridges” refers to theabandoned tuberculosis hospital and mental asylum near the campus of OhioUniversity in Athens, OH. Entryrequired sneaking in through a hole in a chain link fence. Once inside you realize it’s theperfect backdrop for a horror flick. My words cannot do it justice: go to one of my favorite sites for proper background and photos.

And finally, 3questions for the next victim:

What was the last moviethat made you cry?
What song do you wantplayed at your funeral/memorial service?
Better decade: 80’s or 90’s? Explain.

So there you have it. Everything you ever wanted to know about Scrapes. And yes, don't you worry. I will most assuredly procure a photo of Scrapes' hand and it's inability to put three fingers in the air. What a weirdo!!

And yes, I think he also needs to expand on the Fisto nightmare...

And finally, the part of the game where we "tag" three other bloggers. The lucky three are as follows:

1. Ked from Something WicKED This Way Comes...

2. Dixie and Jaybo over at Nichols Manor

3. The Frog Queen over at Frog On The Pumpkin

I find the three people (okay, technically four) above to be outstanding examples of all that is truly great about the Halloween season. Passion and dedication, but most of all fun. Take a minute and visit each of them and tell 'em Highbury and Scrapes sent you!!

We'll be back on Sunday with a wrap-up of the first Northern Ohio Home Haunters' Make & Take of 2012. I'm really excited to get back into the swing of things, see some fellow haunters, and build the first new tombstone of 2012 for the Cemetery.

And don't forget! Only 10 more days until new episodes of the Walking Dead on AMC!

(Editor's note: I was going to post a funny mashup trailer of the Walking Dead recut to the intro song of Growing Pains, but it has already been taken down. Nuts...)

Welcome, 2012!

2012-01-13T18:58:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Okay group, after a few weeks' hiatus, we have returned! We staggered through the holidays and now we're ready to hit the ground running and get our plans for 2012 underway. And this year, we're going even bigger!

So to start, I'm really excited because the mailman finally delivered the goods:

Today I unwrapped my brand new copy of The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris. (To see some of the photos from this amazing book, head over to my wonderfully witty Dear Santa post). Apparently Santa got my list too late, so I had to order it myself...

Anyway, this book is absolutely incredible. Beautiful pictures throughout, and with each page I flipped came a new idea for this year's home haunt (which by my count, is down to only 292 days!). I can't wait to sit down and carefully read all of the information contained within. I was pleasantly surprised by the size, fit and finish of this book. It is the new crown jewel in my small collection. This is the perfect photo reference for all of my upcoming "corpsifications"...

Also, for anyone in the Northeast Ohio area (and beyond), the word has gone out that the Northern Ohio Haunters group will be getting together for their first Make & Take of the year. And this one is going to be special. Be sure to clear your calendar on Saturday, February 4, because the first M&T of 2012 is going to be held at Forsaken Haunted House in Mentor, Ohio. Sweet! I can't wait to get a behind-the-scenes tour of a pro haunt. I will be taking copious notes and photos and will report back as soon as I can. The wheels are really starting to turn for Halloween, 2012!!

Moving right along, Scrapes and I have both been monkeying around with a cool, new iPhone app called Instagram. We've taken some of our old photos and imported them into this program, complete with different photo exposure textures and borders. Tons of users posting up tons of beautiful photos. I'm there representing the home haunters!!

And finally, I can't close this post without realizing the date on today's calendar. So for all of you horror fans, I present the single greatest scene from any of the Friday The 13th film franchise...

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

...from everyone at Highbury Cemetery! We hope that Santa has brought you all kinds of goodies for being good little boys and good little girls. We're going to take it easy here for another week, but the countdown to Halloween 2012 will start on January 1. If you want to take your game to the next level, you have to get up pretty early.

But for today, we're going to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family. We hope that you will too!! Merry Christmas everyone!

- Highbury

Dear Santa...

2011-12-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

7 more days until Christmas, and I've finally figured out what I want from you. If you check your lists, you will most assuredly find me on the "Nice" list this year, as I tried not to terrify too many children this year at the Cemetery, I obeyed my parents and I always ate my vegetables. So if you could find it in your jolly heart, I only want one thing under my tree this year...

I REALLY want the book, Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris.

Thank you, Santa!

Love, Highbury

From Amazon.com:

From bone fetishism in the ancient world to painted skulls in Austria and Bavaria: an unusual and compelling work of cultural history.

It is sometimes said that death is the last taboo, but it was not always so. For centuries, religious establishments constructed decorated ossuaries and charnel houses that stand as masterpieces of art created from human bone. These unique structures have been pushed into the footnotes of history; they were part of a dialogue with death that is now silent.

The sites in this specially photographed and brilliantly original study range from the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Palermo, where the living would visit mummified or skeletal remains and lovingly dress them; to the Paris catacombs; to fantastic bone-encrusted creations in Austria, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and elsewhere.

Paul Koudounaris photographed more than seventy sites for this book. He analyzes the role of these remarkable memorials within the cultures that created them, as well as the mythology and folklore that developed around them, and skillfully traces a remarkable human endeavor. 290 photographs, 260 in color.

I could think of no greater gift to a Halloween haunter like myself than a book such as this, just chock full of incredible information and absolutely beautiful photography. This would be a centerpiece of reference material sure to take Highbury Cemetery to the next level in 2012.

As an added bonus, you too can see the incredible collection of photographs at the book's accompanying website, Empire de la Mort. I visit this site regularly, perusing the beautiful photography and each time my mind races, planning to replicate every shot in next year's home haunt. All photos below are from Empire de la Mort. Do yourself a big favor and take a few minutes to check it out.

As The Scare Crows by Methane Studios

2011-11-27T11:17:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! In our last post, we detailed a great poster from Methane Studios. Well, after diving a little deeper into their offerings, I found another really great poster that I had to post up for everyone.

Another beautiful piece by Robert Lee, this one is a 4-color, 15.5" x 24" edition of 100 entitled As The Scare Crows. And lucky for everyone, this one is also still available.

Halloween Owl by Methane Studios

2011-11-23T14:42:00.001-05:00

An 18" x 24", 2-color screen print produced by Robert Lee of Methane Studios in a limited edition of 50. And they're still available!

And tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so why not take a second to stop and remember what you're thankful for.

We at the Cemetery are thankful, of course, that it's the season to again watch Thankskilling!!

Texas Cemeteries Timelapse by Jake McKee

2011-11-16T21:35:00.001-05:00

"Halloween" by Jason Willis

2011-11-09T21:11:00.001-05:00

Here's a great stop motion video made by Jason Willis (from the amazing Scar Stuff blog!) for the traditional holiday classic, "Halloween" by Kaye Lande and Wade Denning. The most impressive part of this video is that it was produced with an iPhone and the Instamatic app.

Thanks to Jimmy T. at The Terror on St. Leger for the link...

Highbury Cemetery, 2011

2011-11-02T21:43:00.000-04:00

Well group, after months and months of planning and building and taking trips to Lowe's, the big day finally arrived. Halloween. The nervous anticipation was palpable with everyone who was on hand to help out. And there were numerous people helping out this year!

As we started setting up, Mother Nature was in a foul mood and opened the skies with a cold, miserable rain. This stretched everyone's already worn nerves to the brink, but somehow our good karma must have cashed in, because an hour before trick-or-treat, the clouds retreated and the sun actually poked out to dry things up a bit. We kicked it into overdrive, setting up all of the props, running all the extension cords and taking turns in the bathroom-slash-makeup booth.

And after everything was said and done, the clock struck six and we were ready to go. The hordes of children, parents and curious neighbors descended upon the cemetery to see what we had cooked up this year.

All in all, it was another incredible Halloween. The weather cooperated, friends and family either worked the yard or stopped by to check things out and we totaled close to 300 visitors.

A HUGE, HUGE thank you goes out to everyone who helped put this thing on this year. Without your help I could have never done this. This year's t-shirt recipients are: Scrapes, Mrs. Highbury, MY MOTHER-IN-LAW!!!, Sharon, Karen, Neighbor Joe (who graciously let me spill into his yard this year!) Andrew and Peter. With the cast above assembled, we were able to set everything up AND tear everything down in one day. Unbelievable...

Okay enough of the rambling, onto the photos!!

Mrs. Highbury (right) and our newest member, my mother-in-law!! Two of the four witches from the new witches' den.

We all prayed for the rain to stop. And by trick-or-treat time...

My favorite shot of the night. The colors really popped in this shot and give a wonderful creepiness to the image.

Little Dustin Horner was playing his part all night. I saw so many people checking him out, poking at him, wondering why he wasn't moving. It was hilarious! I even caught a couple of kids "peeking" into his little pumpkin bucket. Shame, shame!!

Abigail Harrington (my new FCG) worked flawlessly all night, shrouded in a dense fog (except in this shot) within her crypt. A few kids asked if she was really flying.

This year, the front porch was transformed into a witches den, complete with 4 terrifying witches.

The witches' cabinet of potions and other curiosities.

Stick your hand in the cauldron to get your treat!

One of two new potter's fields, on either side of the main cemetery. It appears as though someone was not happy being buried without an identity...

The new Highbury Obelisk taking its rightful place in the center of the cemetery.

The shihatsu ground popper created last year. I will have to post a video and how-to on this one. Quick and easy with really great results.

Walk up the pumpkin path to get your treat...

Scrapes, Highbury and Andrew

And now we only have 364 more days until Halloween, 2012. Time to get back into the garage to start planning the props to top this year's display! I hope everyone had as great a Halloween as we did!

Complete exhaustion...

2011-11-01T21:23:00.000-04:00

Well, another successful Halloween is in the books. Heart-crushing rain stopped just in time for trick-or-treat and the ravenous masses of children, parents and curious neighbors came out to the cemetery in droves. More props and more actors brought it to another level this year.

And today, I am completely exhausted. A sign of a job well done. And the same goes for everyone who helped out this year. I just downloaded last night's photos and they look absolutely amazing (if I do say so myself!). Check back in the next day or two, as I'm going to bed early tonight. You'll have to wait a bit, but I guarantee it will be worth it.

A big thanks to Peter from Cleveland Frowns for stopping by and an even bigger thanks to Peter for introducing me to Jan Terri and her ultimate Halloween anthem...

I will pay any of you to loop that constantly at next year's haunt... I'm keeping it short tonight, but the glorious sounds of Get Down Goblin should keep you all satisfied until we return shortly.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, especially our fellow haunters on the east coast who had to endure the crazy snow. You've definitely earned the Ironhaunter Award this year!!

Get down goblin. Get down goblin. Get down goblin. Get down tonight...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:20:00.002-04:00

The big day is finally here! Happy Halloween from Highbury Cemetery!! The final props are being set up as I type, the makeup kit is ready to transform and we wait patiently for the children to come tonight in ravenous packs for their treats. I hope everyone has had an amazing season thus far and is ready to cap it all off with a bang. Months of planning and building all come down to this!

And like every Halloween, I'll drop a little teaser from the cemetery for everyone. This year, we're going high tech...

The QR code above will be placed at the end of the driveway tonight. Parents and their kids can scan the image with their smartphones for an extra little treat. Why not give it a try with your phone now? Don't have a smartphone? No problem. You can just click here!

And because I can't go through October without at least one mention of The Misfits...

Happy Halloween, everyone! Check back later in the week to see photos and video from the big night here at Highbury Cemetery!!

Glendale Cemetery - Akron, Ohio (Part 2)

2011-10-30T11:45:00.000-04:00

Alas group, for we have reached the final installment of this year's Cemetery Sundays. Today, we are going to finish up our photo tour through Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio. If you missed the first part, you can still check it out here.

At this point, we're only half way through this enormous cemetery. We re the tour as we climb through a hole in a fence where we come upon a treasure trove of old, German graves as well as finishing off on the row of creepy family mausoleums...

This one was made of wood...

A double-family marker with an interesting arch.

A cross tombstone made of iron.

Here are the shots from the final leg through the cemetery, a long row of family mausoleums.

This mausoleum was built into the side of the hill.

As was this one, right next to it.

With a closeup of the intricate door sculpture.

And this completes the tour. Hopefully I was able to provide some inspiration for your haunts with these photo tours. I know it has provided me with a wealth of new reference material to make our cemetery better. Feel free to take any of my photos for your own reference library, too.

Also, a big congrats to Daph, who made mincemeat out of yesterday's contest question and has won her very own 2011 Highbury Cemetery t-shirt! Go Haddonfield Huskers!! You have to be quick to win the goods here!

And finally, our hearts go out to all of the east coast haunters that had to deal with the snowstorm that wreaked havoc on their displays this weekend. All the months of planning and this happens. Ugh...

Current weather forecast for Halloween night:
52 degrees with a 50% chance of showers

Looks like we'll be haunting in the rain tomorrow. Be sure to stop by for an early morning teaser from the Cemetery. And if you're close, why not stop by? Our trick-or-treat is Halloween night, from 6 to 8. And I'm looking at you, dear Akron Beacon Journal photographers...

Night Of The Living Contest!

2011-10-29T15:59:00.000-04:00

So I know we're a day behind, but here's the final installment of this season's Freebie Fridays. This installment is a little contest for all of our loyal followers as well for all fans of Halloween. The first batch of Highbury Cemetery 2011 t-shirts are done and we're giving one away to one lucky person for absolutely completely 100% free. Our Halloween gift to you!

This year's shirt is based on our 2011 poster, converted to a simple, one-color design and lovingly hand-screened in the Highbury Cemetery basement. This version features white ink printed on a dark brown, size large t-shirt.

And what do you have to do to win this piece of svelte couture? Simply be the first to answer this question correctly:

What is the name of the football team of Michael Myers' alma mater?

(And yes, we are talking about the film character, because, you know, it IS Halloween...). Be the first to drop the correct answer in the comments and the shirt is yours!! Good luck!! This contest will be open to everyone for the next seven days and will close at midnight, November 3.

I wanted this year's contest to be a little bit harder than last year's, as last year's was answered in about 3 minutes.

A big thanks goes out again to Skaight at Psycho Reindeer for help with this year's screen. As always, be sure to buy something nice from him, as he uses wonderful clothing models...

2 more days until the big night. Unless you're Scrapes, because his trick-or-treat is tonight. So we'll be over there, helping spread the fear, err, cheer!

Current weather forecast for Halloween night:

51 degrees with a 50% chance of rain

Which means it's going to rain. Because it's jumped from 20% to 50%. Damn...

But then again, it's not snow.

More Tombstone Updates

2011-10-28T10:16:00.000-04:00

I finished up another two tombstones for the cemetery this week. These two were part of the original cemetery many years ago, and were in desperate need of an update.

The first was our old Silas Long tombstone. It was one of the first stones we did. For the astute Scooby Doo fans in attendance, Silas Long was, in fact, the wolfman villain from the 1970 episode, Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Werewolf?

Why not take a second out of your busy day and watch the entire episode here? It's quite good!

So the tombstone was in pretty bad shape, as I had originally tried to mount it to a wooden stake by driving two screws through the foam. After a couple of years of wear and tear, the screws tore through the foam, leaving two nasty holes.

The first thing I did was repair the holes by filling them with spackle.

I then painted the entire thing with flat white ceiling paint. The moisture in my basement got to the spackle on the bottom hole and you can see a patch of brown mold discoloring of some sort...

Not a problem, as it was covered by a wash of watered-down black paint, followed by a quick wash of watered-down green. I have used this same color pattern on a few of my tombstones, as well as my new obelisk.

Next, I created a full-size epitaph. I printed the tiled 8.5" x 11" pages out and taped them together.

The difficult and time-consuming part comes when it's time to cut out all of the lettering and the flourish at the bottom.

I then traced everything onto the front of the stone with a permanent marker. After the initial tracing was completed, I used black paint to fill in the larger letters. I just filled in the small letters and detail areas with the marker.

After all of the lettering was complete, I wanted to add a few extra details, as Abigail Harrington is the new witch in our cemetery. She will also be flying around my new crypt on Halloween night (she is my new Flying Crank Ghost).

A hole at the top of the stone (from the years we used actual candles and the hot wax melted down into the foam) was perfect for a new PVC flicker candle, complete with melted wax down the front. The scribbled "XXX"s were taken directly from the mausoleum of Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. The story goes that if you put an XXX on her mausoleum, she would grant you your wish. And I figured, if Abigail Harrington is a witch, perhaps she would do the same. This also allows for her followers to leave flowers and other small offerings at her grave during the dead of night. I'll have some plastic flowers and other offerings (whatever I can find that will work) to place around the stone when it's set up on Halloween night...

I was also able to quickly update another old tombstone that we had created years ago. This time it was poor Solomon Grundy that needed a refresh. I'm not a comics guy by any stretch, but the idea came from a rather hilarious commercial that was done by Cartoon Network back in the late 90s...

"Solomon Grundy want pants, too!" was the catchphrase that entire Halloween. But after years of wear and tear, it was time for Solomon to be retired. In keeping with Abigail Harrington's witch theme (as well as adding a coven of live witches to this year's haunt), Mrs. Highbury did some research on the Salem Witch Trials and came up with a fantastic new epitaph for poor Bridget Bishop, the first convicted witch to be hanged at Gallows Hill.

I filled two nasty holes at the bottom of this stone, too, but used two coats of a watered-down brown paint on top of the white base coat. This gives the stone a more sandstone appearance.

But don't worry comics fans. The spirit of Solomon Grundy lives on, because if you look closely, his original epitaph is starting to come through the paint. His memory of wanting pants will live on in Highbury Cemetery!!

3 more days until the big night!! All major prop building is complete and I'm into the frenzied state of sorting out all of the lighting and extension cords and stereo equipment. Once this mess is all sorted, I might be able to relax for a second, although I do have one last project to complete. But you'll have to check back later today for our final Freebie Friday to see what it is. Just be sure to bring your thinking caps with you when you stop back...

Current weather forecast for Halloween night:

54 degrees with a 30% chance of showers

New Prop How-To: Highbury Obelisk

2011-10-26T12:25:00.000-04:00

Time to mark another project off the to-do list for this year! I just finished the new centerpiece for the cemetery, the Highbury Obelisk. The namesake of the cemetery now has a worthy marker for his final resting place.

With some wood, a sheet of 1" thick foam insulation and a vague idea of how to assemble it, I went to work in the garage. I'll show you how I built it.

Materials list:
- 4' x 8' foam insulation sheet (1" thick)
- 8" foam sphere
- scrap 2" x 4"
- scrap plywood (cheap particle board used)
- 10 inch length of 1/2" PVC pipe
- 1/2" drill bit
- box of 2" screws
- tub of spackle
- fine grit sandpaper
- white ceiling paint, along with satin black and green latex paint
- 4 small paper mache skulls

I started with a rough sketch and a few measurements. As I went along, I made a lot of new measurements, adjusted details and even more scribbles...

I needed to build it in 3 separate pieces so that it could be stored easily. I started with the tall top piece, cutting the angled sides from the foam insulation board that I picked up from Lowe's. A 4' x 8' board costs about $15. I cut each panel 4' tall (the height of the foam panels), then adhered each edge with Gorilla Glue, then reinforced each with 3 screws. I also added a square at the top, middle and bottom for reinforcement. Each panel was 10" wide at the bottom and 8" at the top, so that it would taper correctly.

I then built a quick framework for the middle section, using the plywood for the top and bottom and the 2" x 4" for the corners.

I adjusted the angles and squareness of the framework after this photo was taken, just before I attached the foam panels. I then built the bottom section in the same manner.

It looks really wobbly in this photo, but fine adjustments were made before the foam panels were attached on both. At this point, I screwed and glued the foam panels on the middle section. I added some rails on the top for decoration. I also left an open area on the top so that the tall section could fit down inside. It slid down into the open area perfectly.

I then screwed and glued the foam panels to the bottom piece, adding the same 2 layers of top rail decoration pieces. The opening at the top is set to the dimensions of the middle section, so that the middle section will also slide right into place onto the top of the bottom piece.

After all of the foam panels were attached on the middle and bottom sections, I sealed all of the seams, gaps and screwholes with spackle. After it had dried, I sanded everything, including all the corners and edges. I wanted to give it a weathered, rounded look.

At this point, I also took some paper mache skulls that I picked up at Pat Catan's, cut the back of the heads off, and mounted them into the top section. I dremeled a recessed area for each so that they sat in the foam panel face. I Gorilla Glued each skull in, then sealed them in with spackle.

I also cut a circle out of foam for each skull as a decorative frame. I attached all with Gorilla Glue and screws.

I was originally going to try and form a pyramid cap at the very top, but I was low on foam and time, so I ended up picking up a 8" foam sphere from JoAnn Fabrics (maybe $7??). I glued a length of 1/2" PVC that I had lying around into the sphere. I also cut a 1/2" hole in the top of the top obelisk section, where the sphere post slid down into.

At this point, the obelisk was ready for painting. I started with a basecoat of matte white ceiling paint. It was a dull finish and it was thick, so it worked perfectly. I have used white ceiling paint as a basecoat on all of my tombstones.

I then added a watered-down coat of black. I streaked it everywhere, giving it a weathered look. I applied it heavier in some areas to give it an old, filthy look.

After the black, I went and gave it a quick splash of watered-down green to give it a natural, mossy coat.

After all of the weathering was finished, I added a Highbury plaque, made from scrap foam. I laid out the stencil template, traced it on the foam, cut it all out, sanded it, painted the lettering and then weathered it with watered-down white paint. The font I used is Abaddon, the same font I used for my main Highbury Cemetery sign.

I was trying to add an epitaph, but I think I'm going to leave it as is for this year. I haven't settled on a name yet, and I don't want to rush something on a project that has already taken so long to complete. I was able to add a flourish above each skull head for detail though. It was done by making a stencil that was traced on each side, then filled in with permanent marker. And with that, the obelisk was complete...

The final obelisk stands at over 7 feet tall and will be placed in the middle of the cemetery. It will be covered with spanish moss and a black crow. I just finished making a few more PVC flicker candles that will be on it, too. As it's planned now, I'm going to put a big blue flood light at the base to illuminate the entire piece.

Only 5 more days until the big night!!

Current weather forecast for Halloween night:

52 degrees with a 30% chance of showers.

Glendale Cemetery - Akron, Ohio (Part 1)

2011-10-25T10:18:00.000-04:00

Sorry group, but we're running a few days behind with our Cemetery Sundays feature this week. Everyone was over this weekend and we have begun setting up the yard for Halloween night. The new witches den is almost complete on the front porch and it's looking great!

On Saturday, Mrs. Highbury and I made our way to the city's largest and most famous cemetery, Gendale Cemetery, on the outskirts of downtown Akron. We walked the grounds, snapping photos left and right and amassed a collection that we'll have to break into two parts. A cool, sunny day made for a perfect backdrop to document the thousands of stones and mausoleums that fill the grounds...

Glendale Cemetery

Akron, Ohio

The cemetery belltower, built in 1883.

The Civil War Memorial Chapel, built in 1876.

So we're down to a mere 6 days until Halloween and I'm getting giddy with nervous anticipation! Many of my 2011 projects have been crossed off the to-do list and now I'm getting all of the small details together for the big night. The posts will be dropping daily from here on out, as I've got a lot left to show and share. Thanks to everyone that has been stopping by and commenting on our posts! This final countdown to Halloween is going to be crazy...

Current weather forecast for Halloween night:

49 degrees with a 30% chance of showers.

Little Dustin Horner

2011-10-22T15:51:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick prop I finished up this week. After seeing the Frog Queen's awesome Trick-Or-Treaters, I decided that I needed to make one, too (imitation is the most sincere form of flattery!). I wanted a little something to mess with all of the people who came past the Cemetery on Halloween night. And Little Dustin Horner is that little something.

See, Dustin is a frightened little child, trying to muster up the courage to walk up to the Cemetery to get his candy. But only we know that he will never do it. Because he's made from PVC. And he will stand at the bottom of the driveway the entire night. Frozen with terror, his only real purpose for the night will be to simply stand there and get in the way. And we'll watch all of the concerned parents and other trick-or-treaters awkwardly interact with (and walk around) him as they try to go up the driveway for their treats.

I made a quick trip to the thrift store last week, where I scored a little jacket, little jeans, little shoes and little gloves all for $11. To my surprise, the jacket had a small name tag area on the inside, where Dustin got his name...

I made the body out of 1-1/4" PVC. The leftover length of pipe is being used to make a few more flicker candles. Smart, huh? I used plastic chicken wire to fill out his little chest and newspaper to fill out his little legs.

His right hand is made from rolled-up newspaper fingers taped together inside the glove. I used a coathanger wire for each finger on his left, as it needed to be bent and rigid in order to hold his jack-o-lantern bucket.

I used a 1/2" drill bit to drill through the bottom of each shoe and drove 2 pieces of 1/2" rebar into the ground (one for each leg), pulled the shoes over the rebar and set the leg tubes over that. I added a styrofoam wig head (painted tan) and an old Frankenstein mask that had been in the attic for the past 10 years and he was ready to go...

I can't wait to see the way people interact with Little Dustin Horner all night. I wonder how many of them will understand? His fear is real, even if his body is not...

And hey, we're down to 10 days before the big night! Time to start checking the weather report:

Cloudy, high of 46 degrees, low of 39 degrees, 20% chance of rain

This will of course change 10 more times over the next 10 days, but the fingers are crossed that will we have great weather. And our fingers are crossed that you will, too...

Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 5

2011-10-21T10:42:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another round of Freebie Fridays! Today we're dropping our fifth installment of our Halloween Punkcast series, where I pull loosely Halloween-themed music from my ever-expanding collection. Don't forget that you can still get last week's Freebie, a series of iPhone wallpapers, here. And you can still get all of the previous volumes of the Punkcast series here. And as always, don't forget to pull the cover art for No. 5 below!

Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 5:

The Misfits - Astro Zombies

The Subhumans - Dead At Birth

Zero Boys - Civilizations Dying

Angry Samoans - The Todd Killings

The Offspring - Beheaded

The Violators - NY Ripper

The Misfits - Mephisto Waltz

D.I. - Witch In The Canyon

G.B.H. - Midnight Madness And Beyond...

Really Red - Balance Of Terror

The Ramones - Psycho Therapy

Drunk Injuns - ...And Then You Die

The Spits - Witch Hunt

The Insults - Zombie Lover

Psycho - Psycho

The Accused - Septi-Child

T.S.O.L. - Darker My Love (Live)

Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster

Agent Orange - This House Is Haunted

Bad Religion - F*ck Armageddon... This Is Hell

Samhain - I Am Misery

The Accused - Psychomania

Click here to download Punkcast No. 5.

Rocket From The Crypt - Born In '69

2011-10-20T21:21:00.000-04:00

Absolutely amazing video from one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time...

A big, big thanks to Jon H. for introducing me to these guys all those years ago!

Classic Monsters Linocut Book Project

2011-10-19T16:43:00.001-04:00

Recently, I was digging around in my mom's basement and I found an old art project that I had done while I was a student in college. It was a book of three linocut prints done for a printmaking class in about 1996. I decided to do a book on classic movie monsters.

I started with the cover, which was completely covered front and back in black fur (I was in a black fur phase, because I also used it to cover a CD packaging cover project as well as a lowrider bicycle seat around the same time - I only got a C on the cd project, but I still have that sweet bike in my basement)...

The first spread was dedicated to my all-time favorite, Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster!

The second spread was Count Dracula, although I'm not sure why I went with Hammer's version, played by Christopher Lee. I guess I had something against Bela Lugosi back then? But I love Bela Lugosi, so Christopher Lee must have been the only reference material I had handy for a project that I was surely running late on...

And the final spread goes back to Boris Karloff, this time as The Mummy. And yes, I did glue real sand to the edges of the pages...

For each spread, I ended up doing a linoleum cut of each monster, printing each color sequentially. I then did the background spread for each, adding the printed pages for each, cutting out the print, and then assembling all the pieces together to form each page spread. I don't recall what grade I received on this project, but it must have been okay because I ended up getting a minor in printmaking.

I spent many hours in the printmaking studio, including many hours of making screenprints of band shirts that we sold on the side to make money. Maybe I should have also gotten a minor in business!!

Two Weeks To Go...

2011-10-17T21:07:00.000-04:00

Two weeks to go until the big night and it looks like things are starting to come together here at the Cemetery. Yesterday, Mrs. Highbury did a dry run on this year's new witch makeup. A new nose and chin prosthetic and some makeup to blend it all together. She'll also be using her zombie contacts from last year...

I think the children will be sufficiently frightened. And now that we have this down, we'll be doing the same makeup application to the two other witches in our coven this weekend. Whether they like it or not...

Also, the Trick-or-Treat sign has gone up at the top of the neighborhood, proclaiming the official date of our annual event. It's been up for a day and it hasn't been stolen or vandalized yet, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. A bigger challenge looms in the forecast for the rest of the week, as it's supposed to rain for the next three days. Hopefully the paint will seal the wood enough to make it through the next 14 long days.

And it's amazing that this sign is 4 feet by 2 feet in size. I thought it might be too big for the street, but it looks a bit small driving by. But I don't want to overdo it...

Compared to last year's version:

East Akron Cemetery - Akron, Ohio

2011-10-16T11:24:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another edition of Cemetery Sundays. Today, we head to the east side of town for a walk through East Akron Cemetery, positioned next to the Goodyear Tire & Rubber World Headquarters in Akron, Ohio, former rubber capital of the world...

East Akron Cemetery
Akron, Ohio

Beautiful patina...

I was enjoying my walk through the grounds, documenting the beautiful, old stones in the cemetery. At the very back of the grounds, I went up a hill and came upon this...

A decrepit, old, grey marble building completely sealed off (except for the kicked out window at the basement level of the building where wild animals, homeless wanderers or perhaps even Satanists of some sort can climb in). I carefully walked around the entire building (as it was wild and overgrown), taking a few shots, but for some reason I had a very uneasy feeling while I was here. Something about this building really creeped me out, so I took the shots and then got out of there. On one corner of the building, someone had left a pile of bread for the animals and a pile of spaghetti for whom or what I could only imagine.

I ended up calling the cemetery the next day where a woman with a horrifying, old voice told me that the building was a public mausoleum and that it was completely full. Which is fine, because I had no desire to get in there any time soon.

Unless I can convince someone to go back there with me with some flashlights and muster up the courage to climb through that open window...

Scrapes? I'm looking at you, brother. Or if there are any intrepid readers who would love the opportunity to enter a public mausoleum and face the possibility of getting arrested (or bitten or robbed or killed), contact me. I'm dead serious.

15 days to go, haunters. Are you ready?

Highbury Cemetery iPhone Wallpapers

2011-10-14T11:43:00.001-04:00

Welcome to another Freebie Friday, group. Today we're giving away some iPhone and iPod Touch Halloween wallpapers (not sure about Android usage, although it could probably be done). All designs were created here in the Cemetery and are free for you to use and enjoy! Go here for detailed directions on how to install the wallpapers to your device.

Feel free to grab any one that you like, or download the entire group here. 17 days to go!!

2011 Neighborhood Sign

2011-10-13T17:06:00.000-04:00

So last year at this time, I became ever more impatient, waiting for the neighborhood sign to go up, announcing that Trick-or-Treat will again be on October 31, from 6 to 8 pm (like it should be!). One week from the big day, I was disappointed with the sign that was put up and made a desperate plea to the signmaker and/or overseer.

This year, I have decided to take matters into my own hands. With a quick Google search and a stroll through my font collection, I have decided to create a neighborhood sign worthy of the greatest holiday of the year. A sign that can be clearly seen as you come into the neighborhood. A sign that says, "this neighborhood does Halloween right!"

I present the new 2011 neighborhood sign. It will be going up Sunday night, so that:

a) people have time to prepare

b) my sign will be up before someone else's

Selfish, I know, but the word around the neighborhood is that anybody can put up a sign for Halloween. There is no one person who is in charge of it. Until now...

Yard Haunt Soundtrack

2011-10-11T19:29:00.000-04:00

Sound is a very important piece in your yard haunt. It is an integral part of setting the right tone. In our early years, we simply played an off-the-shelf "scary haunted house sounds" cassette tape, but as we have progressed, we have found much better options to take the creep factor to the next level.

I just created a playlist on our youtube channel for the soundtrack we use in the cemetery every Halloween night. I know there are a few of you who find ambient tracks to work best in your haunt and we couldn't agree more. All tracks are from Aphex Twin's 1994 release, Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2. I found this CD in my wife's collection 6 years ago and we've been using the selected tracks ever since.

Click here to listen to an ambient yard haunt masterpiece by Aphex Twin. Enjoy! Only 20 days to go!!

Saint Vincent Cemetery - Akron, Ohio

2011-10-09T11:07:00.000-04:00

Time for another edition of Cemetery Sundays! This week, I got up early and took my camera to Saint Vincent Cemetery in Akron, Ohio. I got some really great shots as the sun began to rise, creating great highlights and shadows. And to my surprise, as I was shooting I turned around to find someone else in the cemetery, taking pictures with his camera. Must be the popular thing to do this time of year!

Saint Vincent Cemetery
Akron, Ohio

My favorite stone in this cemetery. Such great weathering coupled with beautiful typography and decay...

The headstone remnants of John Murphy, soldier in the Civil War.

Toppled tombstones now embedded into the ground.

One of the most interesting grave markers I have ever seen. It looks like a brain.

Soon to be overtaken and forgotten.

This cross must have been 8 feet tall.

Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 4

2011-10-07T19:30:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday, group and welcome to a new October segment we are calling Freebie Fridays. Yes, on top of Cemetery Sundays, you can now stop by the Cemetery and pick up a little something free every Friday in October to celebrate the Halloween season.

Today we are starting with Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 4. Another hour-long blast of Halloween-themed punk rock from my closetful of records. Enjoy the latest edition! And as always, don't forget to grab the cover at below.

Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 4:

Angry Samoans - Not Of This Earth
Los Olvidados - Death Trap
Subhumans - Death Was Too Kind
The Effigies - Coarse In Vain
Samhain - All Murder, All Guts, All Fun
D.O.A. - Woke Up Screaming
Die Kreuzen - Pain
Gang Green - Rabies
Christ On Parade - The Plague
The Plasmatics - Living Dead
Dead Kennedys - Forward To Death
The Misfits - Hybrid Moments
D.I. - Richard Hung Himself
Agent Orange - Living In Darkness
The Orphans - All My Friends Are Dead
S.N.F.U. - The Gravedigger
The Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy
The Zodiac Killers - Go Psycho
La Peste - Better Off Dead
The Dickies - Hideous
The Accused - Tapping The Vein
The Misfits - Death Comes Ripping
The Faction - Demons
The Chinese Lungs - Stab My Heart
The Misfits - Vampira
Necros - Bad Dream
The Accused - I'll Be Glad When You're Dead

Click here to download Punkcast No. 4.

And if you missed them, you can still get the first 3 Punkcasts here.

Finally, don't forget to drop a suggestion in the comments if there's something you'd like to hear in an upcoming edition. Blast it in the garage, because we only have 24 days to go!!

Highbury Cemetery 2011 Poster

2011-10-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

Okay group, feast your eyes on our brand new poster, just created by yours truly. 2011 is the eighth year of the Highbury Cemetery home haunt, and everyone who works at the Cemetery on Halloween night will score one for free. Enjoy! This artwork will be the basis for our upcoming t-shirts, too. Now to find the time to screen up some in my basement...

And a big thanks to our good friend Peter over at Cleveland Frowns for the shout out and traffic surge last week (had I known, I would have hit you up with the Zombie Walk info!). After last week's game, you are a much better fan than me!! Go, Browns!!

26 days to go!! Time to head back to the garage...

Shipyard Brewing Pumpkinhead Ale

2011-10-04T18:33:00.002-04:00

Time for another quick beer review, group. Because what's prop-building out in the garage without a frosty beverage or two to keep you company? This time it's Shipyard Brewing's Pumpkinhead Ale from Portland, Maine.

This one threw me for a loop right out of the gate because as it poured from the bottle, it was a lighter amber color than any other pumpkin beer I've tried so far. It's a pumpkin-flavored wheat ale, although the pumpkin flavor was somewhat masked behind the crispness of the wheat. This beer had a very crisp, somewhat spice-forward flavor with a slight nutmeg aftertaste. Overall, not a bad beer for the mid-fall prop building season. Pumpkinhead Ale gets three out of five Drunken Jackos.

Time to head back into the garage now, because I've got quite a few props that are almost completed and I can't wait to reveal them all here. Stay tuned! 27 days and counting!!

Easton Union Memorial Cemetery - Chippewa Twp., Ohio

2011-10-02T11:15:00.000-04:00

Day 2 of the Countdown To Halloween and we're still going strong! Today we're starting a new October installment that we're going to call "Cemetery Sundays." Every Sunday through October, we'll be posting photos from our local cemeteries, documenting the tombstones, obelisks and crypts that can inspire you with your home haunt projects.

I am currently doing a project down in Orrville, Ohio and pass by this cemetery every morning. After getting a look at some of the stones, I knew I had to get in there with a camera...

The Easton Union Memorial Cemetery
Chippewa Township, Ohio

And So It Begins...

2011-10-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

Happy October 1st, group! It's the day we've all been waiting for! The official start to the Countdown To Halloween. And unfortunately for us, it starts with a bit of a thud...

I was all set and ready to make the drive down to Columbus today to go see my new favorite band of the moment, Ghost, when the unthinkable happened. They will not be playing tonight. Apparently they had some trouble securing their visas to come from Sweden and spread their ghastly greatness and had to drop out of their entire U.S. tour. I can't tell you how gutted I am...

I REALLY, REALLY wanted to see these guys and I've been listening to their release, Opus Eponymous for days straight.

But after taking a step back and thinking about it, a famous quote comes to mind:

"When life gives you lemons,
find a person whose life gave them vodka."

I can't remember where I heard that quote (possibly Stevil from All Hail The Black Market?), but we are going with Plan B. We're still going to Columbus, but instead I think we'll go check out The TerrorFest, Columbus' biggest and best haunted attraction. No sense in wasting an opportunity when things don't work out. The TerrorFest has made many "Best Of" national lists, so I might as well check it out. I'll just have to listen to Ghost on the drive down...

And as a small treat for those that haven't heard or seen Ghost before, or for those that are sharing my sense of utter dismay that the tour has been canceled and won't be seeing them in their city either, here is a two-part show from July in Nijmegen, The Netherlands:

So there you have it. Simply amazing! Hopefully they get things straightened out and reschedule their U.S. tour asap. I will be waiting patiently...

So a slight letdown, but October has begun and we couldn't be any more excited. We have got a full month of posts lined up from a few of the Highbury Cemetery regulars as well as a few new faces, so be sure to check back daily. We'll have posts on all things Halloween, from a slew of new prop how-to's that will be going into this year's home haunt, prop inspiration, music, film and even a few freebies to help celebrate the countdown to the big day. Only 30 days to go! And be sure to check out all of the other participants in this year's Countdown To Halloween, too, because there are some heavy hitters on the list. This is going to be one hell of a celebration! See everyone tomorrow!

Turn Blue: The Short Life of Ghoulardi

2011-09-27T22:39:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update, group. I've been toiling away like a madman in the garage, hammering out Halloween prop projects left and right. I have a card full of progress photos but I'm going to save them all for the Countdown To Halloween, a mere 4 days away! So much to do and so little time! Where has all the time gone!?

I was able to stop for a moment tonight and grab a little bit of dinner in front of the tube (that's "tv" for all the youngsters out there), and was amazed to see that the local PBS station was playing, Turn Blue: The Short Life of Ghoulardi. What luck! I had wanted to see this documentary for a while and had actually forgotten about it until I started scanning the channels and channels of mindless drivel.

Ghoulardi, played by Ernie Anderson, was one of the early Shock Theater horror hosts of the early '60s in Cleveland, Ohio. And while I wasn't born in time to witness the madness firsthand, I have checked out quite a few clips and would have to say that this would have been right up my alley. Stay Sick!

Lorain County Zombie Walk - Part 3

2011-09-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

There is no stopping me now! I've made the cover of the single largest news publication in all of Amherst, Ohio. A big thanks to Jason Hawk for the cover photo and story.

Lorain County Zombie Walk - Part 2

2011-09-13T21:53:00.000-04:00

So after the events of the actual zombie walk had ended and many of the undead shambled into the nearest watering hole to quench their thirst, a group of us decided to walk a few blocks down to Cleveland Street Cemetery, in Amherst.

Always one to keep an eye out for reference material for my own home haunt tombstones, I pulled out the camera and went to work as soon as we passed through the nondescript entrance (we couldn't even find a name for the cemetery anywhere - I had to Google it). And what a treasure trove of reference material it turned out to be! Centuries-old tombstones were packed into every corner of the small cemetery. I could have taken pictures of every single stone there...

And seeing as though we were all dressed up as zombies, and we were in a cemetery, we couldn't resist the urge to goof around a little... Oh, the faces of some of the motorists as they drove by and saw us lurching toward them from behind a tombstone. PRICELESS!!

And it looks like we just got an added bonus, as Tall Frankenstein, Eric and I have made the homepage of the Amherst News-Times! The accompanying article has a few more photos, too. Looks like I'll have to find a copy of Tuesday's paper. We'll all be famous for sure!! Call George Romero!!

Lorain County Zombie Walk - Part 1

2011-09-12T22:48:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, I decided at the last minute to venture up to the Lorain County Food Drive & Zombie Walk, put on by some friends in the GoE's Northern Ohio Haunters group. Originally, I was not planning on going, as Mrs. Highbury was out of town at her parents' house and Scrapes was off doing the Warrior Dash. I really didn't want to go by myself, but late Friday night I got a volunteer to tag along. My mom! Sweet! How cool is it when your mom wants to go to the Zombie Walk with you!?

So we jumped in the car and headed up to Amherst, mom driving, me desperately trying to finish my makeup in time for the start of the walk. As we got into town, the walk had just started, so I grabbed a rubber brain, jumped out of the car, gave mom the camera, and ran to catch up with the shambling horde of lunatics, lurching down the street.

And I must say, we had an unbelievable time. I met up with a few GoE members and we all staggered down the road with well over 100 other ghastly, undead pedestrians. A big, big thanks to Tracee WitchOtastic for putting this thing on, for all of the zombies for coming out to help good causes (benefiting the Lorain County Food Bank and Life Share Blood Bank), and to my mom for grabbing the camera and taking all of the shots below!!

Tons more event photos here and here.

It's Here! Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale!

2011-09-08T21:59:00.000-04:00

(EDIT: Okay, I'm going to try this again. Somehow, my whole post got deleted after I spent an eternity penning another one of my glorious masterpieces. Dammit.)

Today is the official start to my Halloween season, as I got to taste my first Dogfish Head Punkin Ale of the year. And again, it didn't disappoint. A nice spice note with a dash of pumpkin and a not-too-sweet cinnamon sugar aftertaste. Last year, I became a huge fan of Punkin Ale and it already appears that this will take the Pumpkin Crown again this year. A great pumpkin taste, a neon orange carrier and the word "PUNK" on the neck label make this a no-brainer. Punkin Ale gets the highly coveted FIVE Drunken Jackos!!! (Although in looking at their site, nowhere do they mention pairing this fine beer with prop making. It's the perfect pairing! C'mon guys!!)

So outside of drinking the nectar of the October gods, I have put together my "Halloweenie-Do List" for 2011. And I think I'm in trouble. 14 projects of varying scope and complexity. And by my count, we have 53 days to finish them all. Looks like I'll be buying more Punkin Ale and putting a cot in the garage...

On another note, we have also signed up to participate again in the 2011 Countdown To Halloween. And we are really excited to do it. 31 posts in 31 days throughout October. Give or take. At the Cemetery, the pink foam will be flying, the paint will be flinging and the fabrics will be flailing in a mad dash to get everything done for the big day. And the camera will be by my side, documenting it all. We hope to have some more goodies this year, too, so be sure to check back often (because hey, we can bribe our readers, can't we??). And the crew at Countdown To Halloween really outdid themselves this year, offering an amazing array of blog icons, featuring a who's who of horror icons. Of course we had to pick Dr. Phibes!!

Still one of my absolute favorite Vincent Price roles. So that does it for this quick snippet. Time to really get going on my list. I have a tutorial for my latest tombstone in the works and will be posting it once it's completed. But for now, maybe another Punkin Ale before my head hits the pillow, ready to dream sweet Halloween dreams...

An Omen And A Movie Review!

2011-08-29T13:39:00.000-04:00

So after getting home from a weekend trip to visit family, I plopped down on the couch with an Abita Amber and turned on the TV. I was flipping through the channels when something caught my attention from the corner of my eye...

I looked up and something was flying around the living room. It swooped back at me and that is when I got a good look at it. It was a bat. A freaking bat. Flying around inside my house. It was at this point that I just about soiled myself in horror. The damn thing had a wingspan of about 7 or 8 inches. It was huge!! Somehow I managed to keep my cool to the point that I was able to first grab my beer and then run like hell. I screamed up to Mrs. Highbury, who was upstairs, that there was a bat in the house as I made a mad dash to the basement. Every chicken for himself!!

I heard some muffled yelling from upstairs and then quiet. And then I heard blood-curling screaming, followed by the stomping of a full-out sprint. Mrs. Highbury raced down the steps to join me in the basement.

And wouldn't you know that the damn thing followed her downstairs. Two of us running around the cluttered basement with a bat flying around. When it flew into the far corner of the basement, we darted back upstairs. I slammed the door to the kitchen behind me. I then went out through the back door and came to the side door that led to the basement. I propped it open and ran (really fast) back into the house. We were able to get a great vantage point of the side door from our kitchen window. We could see that damn thing flying around and around, finally finding its way up the stairs and out the open door, back into the wilderness.

After getting our heart rates down hours later, we actually had a bit of a laugh. The tables had been turned on "the Halloween House." This time it was us who got to experience a scare. It was at this point that I realized the potential of true fear in a haunt. It's something that I'm going to stop and think about this year as I plan this year's layout. Try to maximize that moment of true fear to make a lasting impression on the trick-or-treaters. This is something I will have to think about and get back to everybody on...

* not actual representation home-invading bat

During our weekend trip, we also made it out to see a movie on Saturday night. Mrs. Highbury, my Mummy-in-law and I went out to see the new Fright Night. And while I have yet to see a remake that didn't leave me feeling like I just completely wasted two hours and a few bucks, I had the increasingly rare opportunity to see this film at a drive-in. I can't even remember the last time I got to see a movie at a drive-in. I think all of the old classics around my area have long since closed down.

Now before I dive in, I must admit that I had seen and read other bloggers' reviews before seeing this and each one said that the film was not a total remake, in that they changed some of the characters and storyline, but in general, everyone liked it. Which is fine with me, except that I, like many horror fans, am a big fan of the original. So of course I'm going to compare it to the original. It's a remake with the same title. Duh.

So, okay, to be brutally honest, it wasn't THAT bad. Especially for a remake. I actually liked Colin Farrell as the vampire Jerry (he's no Chris Sarandon, though), and I also really liked David Tennant as the snotty Brit, Peter Vincent. His dialogue exchanges with girlfriend Ginger were hilarious. Even main character Charley Breswer (played by Anton Yelchin) was tolerable.

The storyline actually didn't stray too far from the original, only moving the location to Las Vegas. And I'm glad they didn't play up Las Vegas too much because they could have easily ruined it all. The action kept up at a good pace, too, so there weren't any "dry spots" in the film.

And I'm especially glad they didn't make vampire Jerry a modern-times "wienie vamp" like the other movie wienie vamps that are only out to suck dollars from your wallet (with an emphasis on "suck"). Thank you, Craig Gillespie (Director) and Marti Noxon and Tom Holland (writers) for not selling Jerry out to be a glittery poster boy for prepubescent tweens (and their mommies).

But of course, this film wasn't all rainbows and candycanes. There were a few points that stood out to me that brought it back down to earth.

First, I thought the beginning of the story was rushed. You were placed at the start of the film (after a scene of a small boy hiding under a bed while his parents were slaughtered by a creature of some sort - oh, later we realize it was a certain vampire) and Evil Ed's first real dialogue was that he thought Charley's neighbor was a vampire. What? There was no buildup to get us to that point. It just kind of came out of nowhere. It didn't go into enough detail of how he had drawn the connection between the local disappearances and neighbor Jerry. Everything just kind of fell haphazardly into the start of the story.

Furthermore, I found Evil Ed to be the biggest disappointment of the movie. They turned the original, loveable horror geek into just a total geek. McLovin is a perfect LARPer, but his character fell well short of the original (I know, I'm comparing again). And his return as Vampire McLovin left me saying, "meh." There was no depth or connection to his character at all.

And I won't even speak about their friend Ben, the stoned emo kid. He couldn't have been wiped out soon enough. I really don't need to see whiny, rich high school kids in every movie I watch.

Also, I was really disappointed that the new Peter Vincent was a Las Vegas Criss Angel magician. Roddy McDowall's local public access horror host really lent a great, campy feel to the original - something that this version was definitely missing.

So there you have it, my sloppy rundown of another remake nowhere as good as the original. But I must admit that this came a lot closer than a lot of the garbage remakes that have been churning out of Tinseltown lately. So all in all, I guess I will have to give it two out of five drunken jackos. Which is pretty good, because most remakes get zero. And I'm looking at you, Mr. Krueger...

And for the few astute readers who thought to themselves, "Hey, Highbury usually just sums up a movie in one short, unbelievably witty and hilarious sentence!", I haven't forgotten about you:

My review? WELCOME TO SLIGHT NIGHT, FOR REAL.

Post Number 100!

2011-08-21T19:56:00.000-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it. Our 100th post. It seems like only yesterday that we decided to take our little home haunt to the next level and share it with the rest of the world. But in reality, it has already been 2 years. As they sometimes say, time flies when you're having fun.

And what fun we have had! I wanted to stop for a second to take a quick look back and see just how far we have come.

To date, we have had over 6,500 blog views, so I must thank everyone who has stopped by, wherever you're from (including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran). But especially the three of you who arrived here last week via the Google search for "toilet paper rash." I sure hope you found what you were looking for here...?. The traffic has really started to pick up as of late, so the word is spreading.

A big, big thanks must go out to all of the people who have subscribed to our blog. We appreciate the fact that you find our drivel interesting enough to keep coming back! You will definitely see more frequent posts in the near future, as I would like a few more guest bloggers to chime in on all things Highbury Cemetery as well as Halloween in general (I'm looking at you, my love, oh dearest Mrs. Highbury!!). I've never considered myself as any kind of remotely serious writer, but I come up with a subject and just start typing. This thing is way too big and way too fun to have only one person writing most of the posts. I would love to have input from the friends and family that make this haunt work. I await your stories with corpsed arms...

A round of applause also must go out to the multitude of friends we've made in the two short years we've been blogging. People from down the road to people across the country and even people across the globe, and their multitude of blogs we have subscribed to. Home haunt bloggers we aspire to be as talented as and horror bloggers we wish we could write as eloquently as. We have plugged in and we truly enjoy this exchange of information with you all. We've made so many friends through HauntForum and we've gotten to know the local haunt scene through the Garage of Evil's Northern Ohio Haunters Group. With these two resources alone, our home haunt has grown by leaps and bounds. Without this exchange of information and inspiration, we would probably have nothing more than a few blank tombstones in the front yard on Halloween night (and we would probably start planning the week before Halloween). Thankfully, we know those days are long gone!!

We also want to thank the people that have stopped by our brand new YouTube channel. And although there is only one video posted so far, we will continue to update it as the projects roll out.

But the biggest thanks must go out to the people who help make Highbury Cemetery what it is. The friends and family who have as much fun as I do, planning, building, painting, measuring, scrambling, gathering, cutting, carving, lighting, corpsing, drilling and drinking. From friends like Jimmy T, who were there when we were just three punks setting up a nameless, little cemetery ten years ago in a front yard of a rental house on the south side of Akron, to family members like Scrapes, Jenn, Sharon and Karen who lend their time every single year (even after I boss them around!!). And we can't forget our neighbors, especially Neighbor Joe, who agreed to let us expand our cemetery into his front yard this year. We also thank all of the new friends who have agreed to come over and become part of the ever-growing madness this year. Without all of you, we would have nothing.

And of course, all of the growing number of neighborhood kids and their parents who now charmingly refer to us as "the Halloween House" and can't wait to come back every year to see what we have come up with this time. You are truly the reason we do what we do.

So we've made it to 100 posts and 2 years without any slow down in sight. The giddiness I still get every time I write something new ensures that this blog has no intention of stopping. And with continuous refining and adding, Highbury Cemetery will only continue to grow and grow. Spread the word...

Highbury, Scrapes & Mrs. Highbury

Prop Updates for 2011

2011-08-14T16:21:00.004-04:00

So according to my new, free iPhone app, Halloween Countdown, we only have 78 days until Halloween. Not much time left! Like you, I've been busy in the garage, trying to cross everything off of this year's to-do list (although when one gets crossed off, two more get added on).

Time to show off two of our new projects. First on the list is the new flying crank ghost. We built all of the framework at the last make-and-take with the Garage Of Evil's Northern Ohio Haunters group. After looking at other ghosts, I quickly decided that I didn't want to do the usual bleached-white ghost under a blacklight. And while I actually like that look, it seems as though everyone has it, so I wanted to do something different. I used white, tan and brown cheesecloth to make my version, the spirit of Abigail Harrington. She will be positioned in a new room, at the top of my driveway, to greet all of the kids as they come up for their treat. I will position blue and red flood lamps on her, casting a nice purple glow.

I washed the wighead with a watered-down black paint, then installed UV LED lights for the eyes. I used RIT dye for the tan and brown cheesecloth. I got the hands at Pat Catan's, which were glittery black, so I had to paint them all white, followed by a wash of watered-down black for detail.

Abigail Harrington. On cold, dark nights, her tattered apparition can be seen near her final resting place among the many graves in Highbury Cemetery. Some say she returns to seek revenge upon those whose accusations of heresy and witchcraft cast her into damnation...

The astute members of the group will notice that the above video is a Highbury Cemetery production. As of today, Highbury Cemetery is expanding! We have just uploaded our first video to YouTube (how 20th century!!). Be sure to visit our channel here, as we will be uploading all kinds of goodies to help spread the word from our little corner of town.

Second up is a quick update on a tombstone. This was a relatively quick project, as I simply weathered the stone with watered-down black and green paints. I then added an epitaph:

That's right, it's Sally's poor invalid brother, Franklin. You know, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

I may add some dates to the stone, but seeing as that it is going to be in the back row of stones, I don't want to put too much detail into it.

And finally, for those of us who enjoy the liquid aspects of the Halloween season, the first Octoberfest and Pumpkin ales have begun to hit the shelves. I was originally going to post about my first Sam Adams Octoberfest of the season, but I just stumbled upon this at the local store:

Brooklyn Brewery Post Road. Last year, infamous HauntCast (g)host, Chris Baker, gave a glowing review of it and I challenged him that Dogfish Head Punkin Ale was better. I didn't have any Post Road last year, but I must admit that it is really good. A nice sweet pumpkin taste and spicy note that isn't overwhelming. I have to give it 4 drunken jack-o's. When the Punkin Ale gets to my shelf, I'll have to do a side-by-side taste test to see which one will attain true pumpkin glory.

So that's all I have for today. Time for me to get back to the garage and knock out a few more props, because the clock is ticking!!

Mount Peace Cemetery - Akron, Ohio

2011-08-09T18:09:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the newly redesigned Highbury Cemetery! Time to roll out a few new posts that I've been sitting on. The first is a series of photos I took on a recent, rainy stroll through my local cemetery. Mount Peace Cemetery in Akron, Ohio is a visually stunning cemetery with a wide array of tombstones and crypts, some dating all the way back to the early 1800s.

My intent with these photos is to document the wide variety of tombstone configurations and duplicate some of them in my home haunt. Feel free to use them for reference and inspiration in your haunt, too. I tried to focus mainly on the oldest stones in the cemetery, as I think they have the most character and beauty. Be sure to check back, as there a couple of other great cemeteries in my town that I want to wander through with my camera.

A statue in an area of tombstones called The Garden Of Angels:

Another statue in an area called The Garden Of Prayer.
It faces the Garden Of Angels:

Mount Peace's most famous resident, "Dr. Bob" Smith,
founder of Alcoholics Anonymous:

The tombstone of Christian Merz, with an amazingly detailed,
although weathered and faded, epitaph:

And the Staiger tombstone, with a beautiful, marbled pattern:

And don't forget, we only have 83 more days until Halloween. Time for me to get back into the garage and hammer out a few more goodies!

Ghost

2011-08-05T19:49:00.000-04:00

So apparently I have been living under a rock for the past year. How had I never heard of this before? What happened to me having my finger on the pulse of all that is uber cool? Am I losing it?

Anyway, for anyone else who hasn't heard of the Swedish band, Ghost, you're in for a real treat! I'm not even sure how to accurately describe this. Melodic Hard Rock Black Metal? However you want to classify these guys, they are a feast for the ears as well as the eyes. This has to be one of the best stage performances I have ever seen.

And I just found out that they are touring the U.S. this fall with Enslaved and Alcest. And joy, they are playing Columbus, Ohio on October 1st! What a way to kick off this year's Countdown to Halloween! You can see all of the tour dates here.

And as an added bonus, they even do an interesting cover of The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun":

Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 3

2011-07-29T16:02:00.000-04:00

Okay group, the weekend is upon us and it's time to drop another edition of Highbury's Halloween Punkcast. It's just what you need for these long, summer nights of propbuilding! (Only 94 days to go!) I've scraped up a new batch of Halloween-inspired punk rock from my ever-growing collection and whipped it into an hour-long blob of aural mayhem. As always, don't forget to grab the cover art below:

Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 3:

Battalion Of Saints - My Mind's Diseased

OFF! - Darkness

The Misfits - Hellhound

Bad Religion - We're Only Gonna Die

The Damned - Born To Kill

Adolescents - Creatures

Samhain - Samhain

T.S.O.L. - Funeral March

45 Grave - Phantoms

The Orphans - Creature Double Feature

The Offspring - Demons

The Misfits - Teenagers From Mars

Necros - Conquest For Death

OFF! - Black Thoughts

The Pricks - Horror House On Highway Five

Samhain - Possession

The Mummies - The Fly

Funeral - Bloody Hands

The Faction - Tenebrae

Slaughter & The Dogs - Victims Of The Vampire

The Accused - Bethany Home (A Place To Die)

The Exploited - Dead Cities

The Circle Jerks - Casualty Vampires

Social Distortion - Mass Hysteria

RF7 - 666 Head

Electric Frankenstein (w/ Zacherle) - Coolest Little Monster

Click here to download Punkcast No. 3.

In case you missed them, you can still download Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 2, and the original, Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 1.

And as always, if there is something you'd like to hear on the next edition, drop us a line in the comments. I still have a bunch of music just waiting to be included in the next round, but I'm always open to new suggestions to keep the music cranking!

Poor Dennis

2011-07-28T06:59:00.000-04:00

I've never seen Spike TV's 1,000 Ways To Die. In fact, I've never had any desire whatsoever to even watch it. But after seeing this ridiculous clip, I might have to change that. Immediately. Alas, poor Dennis...

Easy Slider
Get More: Easy Slider

X - Because I Do

2011-07-25T09:32:00.001-04:00

Here's a great video from the infamous L.A. punk band, X, for their song Because I Do. A wonderfully creepy homage to the classic silent film era. This video was part of their 1985 movie, The Unheard Music.

(And they are on tour this fall! All 4 original members, playing all the songs from their first release Los Angeles PLUS a screening of The Unheard Music!? You better believe that I will be at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland on October 4th to see them!!)

X - Because I Do by stogref

Potter's Field Cross Props

2011-07-21T14:06:00.000-04:00

The unfortunate, lost souls of Highbury Cemetery. Buried without identity or proper ceremony. Cast aside, relegated to the potter's field...

Prop making is underway for the 2011 season and I decided to whip out some quick and easy potter's field cross tombstones. They will be scattered in the neighbor's yard, on the other side of my driveway, so that when the trick-or-treaters walk up for their candy this year, they will find themselves within the cemetery. And its residents.

I lucked out in that all of the wood used for this project was from an old cedar fence that we had replaced last year. Luckily, the haunter in me wanted to keep all of the wood because it could be used for some kind of project in the future. And voila! I simply took a sawzall and cut the boards in differing sizes for the vertical and horizontal pieces. I then took some of the cut pieces and split them lengthwise so that each cross would have a different look (I did the first four using the full width of the board, and when they were next to each other, they began to take on an old western look, which I didn't want). I quickly screwed the boards together with some drywall screws to form the crosses and tied some old rope around the middle for some detail.

(For final detailing, I'll add some cobwebs, spanish moss and maybe a crow or two. Nothing too detailed, as these crosses will be on the outside of the main cemetery, simply adding some space filler and support for my tombstones. I will cast an orange light across the front of the crosses to give it a nice, dull highlight. Finally, I'll probably throw one of my old foggers and a chiller in the bushes to get some fog to roll across everything.)

I then attached 2 1/4" one-hole conduit straps on the back. These straps will simply slide over a 1/4" rebar post in the ground and hold the cross in place.

A quick start to this year's prop-making season! I knocked 12 crosses out in one evening and with the varying sizes and shapes, they will add more space and interest to the new potter's field in my cemetery haunt (while keeping any trick-or-treaters from cutting through the yard to get to my door). Plus, it means that the haunt is now overflowing into the neighbor's yard. All kinds of new space to incorporate!!

The Walking Dead, Season 2

2011-07-18T20:02:00.000-04:00

I just saw this on Johnny Thunder's Midnite Spook Frolic, and it's too good not to pass along to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. The first look at AMC's The Walking Dead, Season 2, has just been released: