RIP, Garage of Evil

Yesterday, we all received the news that the Garage of Evil, once the central hub of the haunter universe, was closing its doors for good. While the news itself wasn't all that shocking, it still left me a bit sad as I read Steve's notice. With the rise of Facebook and newer, larger groups like Haunter's Hangout, users (just like myself) stopped visiting the GoE site in favor of the newer kids on the block...


When I decided to take my then-unnamed little Halloween yard display to the next level in 2009, the Garage of Evil was the first "haunter site" that I discovered. I joined and the inspiration exploded. An entire forum of people who were just like me. I perused the photos of other peoples' props and displays and quickly went to work on my own. As I continued to obsess over all of the amazing work that was shared on the forum, I then discovered local haunter groups. 

My mind was blown when I discovered a local chapter group, the Northern Ohio Home Haunters. A group of fellow enthusiasts right in my own neck of the woods. I still had to drive an hour for my first meeting, but I awkwardly arrived and introduced myself to the garage full of people. And every one of them couldn't have been more friendly and welcoming. I felt like I had finally found my tribe. I sat back and scribbled notes like a madman as I was introduced to the words "make and take." Show up and everyone builds something cool to use in their display. I had a ton of fun at those meetings, building props like a flying crank ghost and a talking skull, both of which are still used in my display today. It's been quite a few years since the group last got together, but I'm glad that I still keep in contact with a few of those members. I guess in time, like the Garage of Evil itself, all things come to pass...

One of the last things I did for our group was come up with a new logo. I think the group unofficially disbanded before it could be used, but I'm still pretty proud of what I created.

Another amazing thing about the Garage of Evil, and especially the Northern Ohio Home Haunters Group, is that they also introduced me to the convention scene. I couldn't believe that there was a convention for haunters just 2 short hours away in Columbus, Ohio.

In 2011, I decided to go check out the Midwest Haunters Convention. Mrs. Highbury and I drove down on a Saturday to go check out the convention floor, meet up with a few members of the Ohio group, and then go to the big Garage of Evil dinner meet up.

Upon entering the convention floor, I was shocked by what I saw. I was like a kid in a candy store, ogling over all of the props, masks and other haunt-related goods. I really loved the Garage of Evil booth for that year, the infamous shooting gallery (perhaps only outdone by the following year's "crashed alien spaceship" booth)!

After crisscrossing the convention floor, we made our way over to the dinner meet-up. I met a lot of the big names in the haunt world, and knew from that point that I was no longer just "a guy who set things up for Halloween"...

After the meet-up, we jumped back into the car and headed for home with a bag full of goodies, including a GoE patch and projection lights, both of which I still have! As I look back, I realize that this was the defining moment that send me down the path toward Highbury Cemetery and what it has become today. So I really do owe Steve and the Garage of Evil a debt of thanks.


Last night, I logged back into my old Garage of Evil account for one last trip down memory lane. I went through my old photos, curious to see the first one that I posted. And it was a great one! 

From 2010, my William Henry Pratt/Boris Karloff tribute stone. It was one of the first tombstones that I did where I really researched the epitaph and then pushed the creative with an ornate and detailed epitaph, recessed skull face and embedded LED light eyes. I still have this stone and it continues to be one of the highlights of my ever-growing collection.


So it's with an almost nostalgic smile that I bid the Garage of Evil a final farewell, with a huge thanks for what they did for the haunt community, and especially for its instrumental development on my haunt and for the wonderful memories that I will always have.

Rest in peace, Garage of Evil, and thank you for everything. You won't soon be forgotten.

  

  

July Make & Take, 7-19-14

It had been almost two years since the Northern Ohio Home Haunters group had last gathered for a make & take, so it was well overdue that we get back together and get the collective juices flowing. I had been in a bit of a lull after this year's Midwest Haunters Convention and this was just what I needed to get back into my October groove.

And, it was nice to reconnect with some old faces as well as to meet some new...

Eric was kind enough to volunteer his garage for the Saturday afternoon gathering, and had it all done up with his new "Patient Skelly" as well as some work-in-progress tombstones.

Craig showed off his "Skelly in the Outhouse" prop: pneumatic opening door, talking skull routine with synchronized flashing LED eyes, wiper motor arm movements, red LED lights inside the outhouse and a fog machine under the seat, all controlled by a PIR sensor and prop controller. Yeesh!

We also had time to help Eric finish his talking skull, the project from the last make & take we had, two years ago!

But the highlight of the day was definitely Tracee and Matt's makeup demo. We got a hands-on demo with using gelatine for makeup effects...

(I had major makeup case envy...)

Applying some gelatine (a simple mixture of store-bought, unflavored Knox gelatine mixed with hot water and manipulated with a popsicle stick as it cooled)...

Adding a length of surgical tubing for a cyborg effect. The rigidity and adherance of the gelatine was much stronger than with liquid latex or spirit gum. Something that I didn't know, but am now very eager to try out soon!

(To point out, the white areas where the tubes are attached are actually a thin overcoating of latex. The latex is used to cover and "seal" the gelatine to keep it from hardening and to keep it soft and flexible.)

Tracee also brought some of her incredible mache projects...

And Matt brought a foam zombie head that he was working on...

 

Notice his left hand - we also had a "bloody wound" tutorial. He also brought some found paintings that he had made some "improvements" to...

 

(Note the shambling zombies added in the trees on the left side, the bridge and in front of the barn. Hilarious!)

After more than six hours of talking, eating, watching, working and fixing, it was finally time to depart - but not before one surprise from our hosts:

And just when you think you can't possibly top "Buttered Popcorn" or "Glazed Doughnut" Vodka as a party favor, the final surprise of the night came from Stacy (via Eric), in the form of 4 sections of cemetery fence and a handful of extra finials that she didn't need - FREE of charge!!! THANK YOU, Stacy!! This is a big piece to check off my build list for this year. These are going to look great stretching across the front yard cemetery this year!

A long overdue but very successful day, with our next project already in the works for our August get-together. I'll be sure to post up the info as soon as it's finalized. I can not wait to get working on next month's project—it's going to be in your face!!
 

Wait, It's Almost April Already?

My, how quickly a month can pass by. It's been that long since we last posted, but it feels like only yesterday. Time to get caught up with everything going on around the Cemetery...

First up: it looks like Mrs. Highbury and I will be joining some of the other members of the GoE Northern Ohio Home Haunters group this weekend and heading down to Columbus for HorrorHound Weekend. We're pretty excited about this, because this is finally going to kick the 2012 haunt season into high gear. We've been slacking off in that department and we really need to get things moving...

I can't wait to finally meet Elvira, err, Casandra Peterson... Pam Grier, Norman Reedus, Adrienne Barbeau, Tyler Mane, Gunner Hansen, Danielle Harris, Marilyn Burns, Judith O'Dea, Rhyno (the old ECW wrestler), a bunch of people from the original Day Of The Dead and a slew of other horror actors, actresses and hosts slumming the convention circuit. I'll be sure to report back next week with a full report as well as a few autographs and photos.

And speaking of Norman Reedus (Darryl), did everyone catch the season finale of The Walking Dead last week?? Fantastic! Zombies, a shotgun with endless rounds and finally getting off the farm! What a great episode. Definitely sets up season 3 and I'm super excited that we only have to wait another incredibly long 7 months or so... Be sure to get a quick and concise review of season 2 at BuzzFeed's "Best Memes From Season 2 Of The Walking Dead." So true, so true...

Poor T-Dog... 




Next up is a quick logo thing I did for The Northern Ohio Home Haunters. This started after a FaceBook conversation about printing up shirts and patches for the 2012 season. My mind went racing and I came up with this:

Fun with grungy type and vector art skulls and zombies, all wrapped up in this wonderful state we call OHIO! I may decide to print a few up for the hell of it just to see how they look on a shirt and then I may decide to come up with some kind of contest and maybe give one or two away. For the hell of it.

And speaking of the Group, we have scheduled our next Make & Take for April 28th (I think?) where we are going to be building talking skulls. I'm not exactly sure of all the details yeat, but I'm exactly sure that I am REALLY excited to get this project going. I've already got everything planned out for this one and when all is said and done, it should be the new centerpiece of the Cemetery. Which means it will take the place of last year's centerpiece, which was an 8-foot-tall obelisk...

And finally, last month I posted a video by the metal band, Thor, which was titled, "The Worst Music Video Ever." Well, yes, the video was pretty ridiculous, but I couldn't stop listening to the song. I loved it. So I did a little digging on Thor and came upon this little nugget. Watch the video below and then ask yourself, "Might not this be the greatest band that nobody has ever really heard of?" The following video is entitled, "Thor Hot Water Bottle"...

That may be the greatest thing I've seen all day. Thor is awesome.

And if anyone is heading to HorrorHound on Saturday, look for us. We'll be the group of horror fans walking around, wearing black. Oh, wait...

The First MnT of 2012 And Other Madness...

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!!!