The 2024 Highbury Cemetery T-Shirt

The limited run of Highbury Cemetery t-shirts for 2024 are done! Every year, I take the annual haunt logo and create a t-shirt graphic. I then hand print a very limited run of shirts that I give out as a thank you to everyone who helps set up, run, and then tear down the Highbury Cemetery yard haunt.

For this year, I ended up going in a completely different direction with the art in that instead of traditional silkscreening with ink, I decided I wanted to try printing with BLEACH! And the results are amazing!!

I followed the detailed instructions from Pigskins and Pigtails (which made it super easy! Thanks, Jennifer!), and got a unique series of one-of-kind shirts. Each had a different level of logo bleaching brightness followed by a random spray or spatter of extra bleach across the front and back. I'm REALLY happy with the way these turned out and REALLY excited to hand these out! I think these are some of the best shirts to come out of the Cemetery the past 21 years...

But the best part of all? It looks like I'll have an extra shirt or two left over. Soooo...

Who wants to have a contest for a chance to win one? An extra little Halloween treat for those that have been hanging out at the blog all October long?

Next week (after all of the madness), I'll post up a little something. Nothing too crazy. Win it and the shirt is yours! Cool? Let's do this!

  

Spooky Sounds of the Morgue

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

From the Fright Rags YouTube channel:

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

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

Highbury Cemetery T-Shirt, 2023

So for the past 20 years, I have created a t-shirt based on that year's haunt logo. I print a handful of shirts up here at the Cemetery, and then given them out as a thank you for anyone who helps set up, work, or tear down my yard haunt display. A small token of gratitude to those who help keep this crazy thing going for another year.

For the 20th anniversary edition, I wanted to do something a little extra in honor of the big milestone. I took this year's "XX" haunt logo and created the version for the shirt, breaking it out into two colors (not an easy task, as the shirts are always hand-screened on my kitchen counter).

But I also ended up adding that little bit extra. When you turn out the light, you get an added surprise on the shirt. Glow in the dark background!

I'm REALLY happy with the way these shirts turned out, probably the best results in 20 years of doing this. I can't wait to pass these things out at the end of another trick-or-treat for yet another job well done!

  

Highbury Cemetery Shirt, 2021

Amid all of the rush to get everything done for Halloween 2021, I still found time to print up my annual haunt shirts. That is, every year I design a new logo for the haunt, then take the art and hand silkscreen a small amount of shirts here at the Cemetery. I then give them away as a thank you to family and friends who come over and help set up, run, and tear down my display during our annual trick-or-treat.

Along with being especially happy with this year's logo, I was even more thrilled with the way this year's shirt turned out! For the first time, I was able to print up a 2-color shirt and the metallic gold and black design looks incredibly vibrant on the dark red heather shirt. This is one that I will be sporting often in the coming year, and sets the high mark for shirts that I have done over the last 18 years.

 

Highbury Cemetery Shirt, 2020

Amid all of the rush to get everything done for Halloween 2020, I still found time to print up my annual haunt shirts. That is, every year I design a new logo for the haunt, then take the art and hand silkscreen a small amount of shirts here at the Cemetery. I then give them away as a thank you to family and friends who come over and help set up, run, and tear down my display during our annual trick-or-treat.

Along with being especially excited for this year's logo, I was even more thrilled with the way this year's shirt turned out! A nice, stark white print on a dark grey shirt. This is one that I will be sporting often in the coming year, and sets the high mark for shirts that I have done over the last 17 years.

Unfortunately, all shirts for this year have been accounted for, but I still have the screen. So if I get a wild hair, I might whip up a few more and throw a little giveaway contest. Stay tuned!!!

Highbury Cemetery T-Shirt, 2019

Every year, I start October's Countdown to Halloween with the unveiling of the season's new haunt logo. I then silkscreen that logo on shirts here in the Cemetery basement to give out as a thank you to anyone who helps set up, run, and tear down the haunt. It's a tradition that now stretches back 16 years! It's not an easy job to run a haunt of this size in a single day, and I want to make sure that I show my appreciation for any and all help.

The 2019 shirts are FINALLY done and ready to be passed out. I hit a snag in late October when my original screen exposure didn't turn out quite right, forcing me to completely wipe the screen and start over. I was forced to push the printing 'til after Halloween, as I just didn't have the time to get it done before. But, a week after the big night I was able to get the shirts printed up, and I'm really happy with the way they turned out!

This year, I printed the logo onto black shirts with a cool new metallic gold ink that I had just picked up. I'm really happy with how "sparkly" they turned out, and I hope everyone that receives one will be, too.

A big thank you must go out to Mrs. Highbury, who helped me print the shirts up in the kitchen this past weekend. After 16 years of doing this, we have really streamlined the whole printing process and every year, the shirts turn out a bit better. Even if you have to do it a second time. A week after Halloween night.

  

Highbury Cemetery T-Shirt, 2018

Every year, I start October's Countdown to Halloween with the unveiling of the season's new haunt logo. I then silkscreen that logo on shirts here in the Cemetery basement to give out as a thank you to anyone who helps set up, run, and tear down the haunt. It's a tradition that now stretches back 15 years! It's not an easy job to run a haunt of this size in a single day, and I want to make sure that I show my appreciation for any and all help.

With 2 days to spare, the 2018 shirts are all done and ready to be passed out. And I'm really happy with the way they turned out!

It's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but I experimented with a white and metallic silver swirl in the print. Some turned out better than others, but I'm still really happy, and I hope everyone that comes over this Halloween will be, too.

A big thank you must go out to Mrs. Highbury, who helped me print the shirts up in the kitchen this past weekend. After 15 years of doing this, we have really streamlined the whole process and every year, the shirts turn out a bit better.

And every year, the number of shirts printed seems to increase...

Someday I might just go crazy and print up a bunch to sell online, but for now, it's another project off the list for this year's haunt. Two days to go until the big night and so much left to do. Time to make my final push toward Halloween!

  

Highbury Cemetery T-Shirt, 2017

This one kinda got lost in all the madness leading up to Halloween night, but I still wanted to share it with everyone! As has been the case every Halloween here at Highbury Cemetery, I silkscreen custom shirts down in my basement for friends and family that come over and help out on the big night.

I always start the October countdown with the revealing of the new haunt logo. I then take the logo and create a simple, one-color version for use on our shirts. I burn a silk screen with the logo down in the basement and print off a few shirts to give away as a thank you on the big night.

This year, I went a little crazy and decided to print two versions of the shirt!!

The Brown Shirt
I had a stack of brown shirts left over from last year's shirt run and decided to print them up with a standard white ink.

These shirts were given away to friends who live elsewhere or who couldn't make it over for the big night. I'm really happy with the way these shirts turned out. The details held throughout the run and I have a few left over that will be staying in the permanent collection at the Cemetery. Unless you ask REALLY nicely...


The Purple Shirt
This one was the limited version that was only given out to those that helped out with this year's haunt. Each of them earned it with the amount of work they contributed to make the show the success that it was. Without them, Highbury Cemetery wouldn't be what it is today.

This version was extra special and revealed a little surprise for each recipient when they got home...

Glow-in-the-dark ink! I was SOOOO happy with the way these shirts turned out. I ended up having to buy a new container of glow-in-the-dark ink (due to the fact that my old container looked more like tapioca pudding than ink when I opened it), but it made a huge difference. These shirts printed out really crisp and detailed and looked totally awesome in the dark. A worthy thank you for all the hard working friends and family on Halloween night!! Each of them earned it.

  

Highbury Cemetery T-Shirt, 2016

The 2016 Highbury Cemetery t-shirts are done! Each year, I hand screen a small run of one-color shirts in the cemetery basement and then give them away to everyone who helps out on Halloween night as a thank you gift. Every year the shirt art is based on that year's haunt logo, and this year's shirt is by far the best...

I even printed one up for the newest member of the cemetery crew, and he couldn't wait to show it off with a couple of his friends! Beast Boy approves...

  


And with less than one week left until the big night, it's time to check the weather forecast.

We're still hanging on, but I'm hoping those Sunday showers are long gone by the time the 31st rolls around. Fingers crossed! Only 6 more days to go...

 

Highbury Cemetery T-Shirt, 2015

Based on the Highbury Cemetery 2015 logo, the new shirts are finally done! The new batch were just hand-printed in our basement and are ready for the grand unveiling! This year, I didn't want to do another "white ink on a dark shirt" combo, so I tried to get a bit more creative, with a bit of luck thrown in for good measure.

I had ordered the dark chocolate shirts without really thinking about what color to screen the logo, so I looked at what I had available. Outside of using white, my choice was pretty easy—orange!! It was one of the only other colors I had and it was an obvious choice for the season. Of course it may have also been a tongue-in-cheek nod to the updated colors of our horrible, awful, miserable football team, too. Wink, wink...

Before screening the art, I did some research on lighter colors printed on darker shirts and quickly realized that I had no way of printing an underbase of white in order to get the orange to pop and hold its brightness. It was at this point that I decided to roll the dice and see what we'd get if we printed the orange anyway.

And this time it paid off! As expected, the orange ink absorbed into the shirt. But when it dried, it was more of a dark burnt orange that looked AMAZING on the dark brown shirt. I was really happy with the subtle image. I always try to do something different from the usual haunt logo/shirt, and this time I was very pleased with the results.

As always, these shirts will be given out to all of the helpers that set up, run and tear down the Highbury Cemetery yard haunt on Halloween night. My time is very limited this year, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to run a contest to win one, but keep checking back. You never know when a free minute and a wild hair may pop up...

Halloween Weather Forecast Update:

Nuts. Please put the emphasis on "late" for those newly forecast showers... 5 more days to go!!

 

A Quick Update

No real post today because I'm spending the day in the garage, working like mad to get the last of my new props finished in time for Thursday. Instead, I'm just going to go through a couple of things happening...

First, good luck to all of my fellow home haunters whose Trick-or-Treat takes place tonight. Scare lots of kids and have lots fun doing it!

Next, the Highbury Cemetery 2013 T-Shirt Night of the Living Contest is still going on! Nobody has submitted the answers to the three questions yet. Wanna win a FREE shirt? Why not check it out and give it a go!!

Also, if you find yourself with some free time today, why not check out Outside The Cinema's Annual Halloween Throwdown. They'll be broadcasting horror movies all day, building up to the night's big feature, Heavy Metal Massacre (a movie widely panned as one of the worst ever made)! It's a great podcast and the Throwdown promises to be a great time! Horror movies ALL DAY LONG. Tune in at tv.outsidethecinema.com.

And finally, I came across a great, free comp from Graveyard Calling Records out of the UK. A Haunted Journey is a comp featuring 14 tracks of ambient electronic music that sets a wonderfully creepy atmosphere for the Halloween season. Visit the label's Bandcamp page for more cool electronic tracks and comps!

We'll be back tomorrow with our final installment of Cemetery Sundays for 2013. We'll be touring a small, local cemetery that I had to jump a locked gate to get into...

 
 

Night Of The Living Contest! 2013

We're down to the final week before Halloween and the annual t-shirts have been printed. It's the final Freebie Friday for October, so that means it's time to give one away!

Welcome to our Night of the Living Contest, where one lucky follower will win a FREE Highbury Cemetery 2013 t-shirt*. This year's shirt features a glow-in-the-dark design based on the 2013 logo. As an added bonus, you'll also get the matching glow-in-the-dark square pin!

* Shirt comes in size large. Contest is open to residents of the continental U.S. only, because I'm too cheap to pay for oversees shipping. Canada, I guess you're cool, so you're in, too.

Okay, we're going to keep this contest quick and easy. The first person to post the correct answers to the three Highbury Cemetery blog trivia questions below wins the shirt. All answers will be found within this blog. Simple enough? Okay, let's do this...

Ready, set, go.


Here are your three questions:
1. What anniversary is Highbury Cemetery celebrating this year?
2. What name is inscribed on the tombstone of the witch buried in Peninsula, Ohio?
3. What Halloween soundtrack was "recorded LIVE on the estate of COUNT DRACULA"?


So there you have it. The first person to post the correct answers to all three questions in the comments section below wins. Good luck and get cracking!!!

 

Return of the Living Contest! Part II

So all of the Highbury Cemetery 2012 t-shirts have now been printed, tagged and are ready to go. The list is all accounted for, but there is one extra shirt left in the stack. What to do with it? The only thing we can do with it! Give it away to one lucky reader!

It's the Return of the Living Contest! Part II!

Just like our first contest, we'll ask a horror-related trivia question and the first one to answer correctly in the comments section below wins the shirt, 100% FREE*!
 *Free shipping only to residents of the good 'ol USA. A winner from outside the US may have to pay a small fee for shipping, depending on location. But don't let that stop you, because this really is the best shirt we've ever done!

But because this is the last shirt we have and it's a sequel to our first contest, we have to go a little bit bigger. You'll have to strap the thinking caps on tight.

So the first one to answer the three trivia questions below gets the prize!



Here we go. Three questions based on popular horror movies:

1. What cult sci-fi horror classic was originally going to be titled, "Star Beast"?

2. Popular comedian Dana Carvey's first film role was in this popular 1981 horror sequel, in which a blond reporter interviews him in front of a certain house. Name the movie.

3. At one time, TV evangelist Billy Graham claimed that a real demon resided in the celluloid reels of what 1973 horror classic?



The first person to answer all 3 questions correctly in the comments section below wins the last Highbury Cemetery 2012 t-shirt (size large), printed in glorious glow-in-the-dark ink!

Good luck! This is the last shirt that was produced this year and once this one is gone, there won't be any more. So get cracking and win yourself some new threads for the 2012 Halloween season!

Return of the Living Contest!

Well group, it's amazing to see how a 13-hour workday really takes the wind out of your sails. I was ready to post up the question for the one-question trivia contest, but after getting home late, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed.

So the Freebie Friday contest gets bumped one day. But fear not, because the prize is ready to go, willing to be shipped out to the first savvy ready who can answer the question below.

What do I win if I answer correctly, you ask? The winner of the Return of the Living Contest will win one free 2012 Highbury Cemetery t-shirt (size Large), with artwork created by me and hand-printed in the basement of Highbury Cemetery. And this year's shirt goes one better...

*Unfinished talking skull unfortunately is not included in the winnings

Not the best photo, but you get the idea. This limited edition 2012 Highbury Cemetery t-shirt was printed with glow-in-the-dark ink. And it really even glows in the dark!!! Zoweee!!

So while everyone is excited, let's get down to business. The rules are really simple. Be the first one to correctly answer the question in the comments section below and the shirt is yours. Completely free. We will even ship it out to you (but only if you live in the United States - readers outside of the US can still play along, but may have to pay a small shipping fee depending on costs.) But you have to be quick. Because who knows how many other people may be vying for this beauty...

Time to put the thinking caps on. Fastened tight? Okay, here is the question:


What is the name of the ship that carried Count Dracula's coffin to London in the 1931 film, Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi?


Good luck readers, but be careful because the answer might not be what you think it is...

Highbury Cemetery 2012 Shirt

We were finally able to bring 100% of the screenprinting production in-house this year, as we built a new exposure unit and bought some new screens and inks. The first screen exposure was a success and the first batch of Highbury Cemetery 2012 shirts have been printed.

The shirts were all hung from the piping with care,
so the very special ink color could dry with the air...

As it stands now, there will only be one small run with enough shirts to be given away as a thank you to those who come over and help set up on Halloween night. We've had a few requests, so we'll consider printing a larger run and making them available to the public next year, when time allows.

So for now, you'll just have to wait. 


Unless you want to come back tomorrow. Because tomorrow (Friday) night we will be having our annual one-question trivia contest where we give one shirt away to a savvy reader. Be sure to brush up on your obscure classic horror movie trivia, because like last year, I'll see some random image or name in a horror movie and I'll end up using it as a trivia question...

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...

Night Of The Living Contest!

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.

 

 

We Have A Winner!

I guess Highbury Cemetery's Post-Halloween Giveaway t-shirt contest was much too easy. Congratulations to cynniegurl over at Never Sleeps Again for knowing that the photos were from the horror classic, Horror House On Highway Five.

Watch this film or die!

(On a sidenote, I went out as Bartholomew one year for Halloween. Needless to say nobody got the costume.)

Cynniegurl has won herself a Highbury Cemetery 2010 shirt, hand-screened in the basement of the Cemetery. Watch your mailbox, because it will be on it's way shortly. Thanks for playing and enjoy your prize*!!

* 70s mustache mannequin not included. Sorry.

Highbury Cemetery Contest!

Okay group, Halloween is officially over for another year. I'm just finishing off my last pumpkin ale of the year, the props are all put away, the jack-o-lanterns have all rotted and the leaves have all been raked. The only good thing about this late stage is that I have some surplus to get rid of.

So that means it's contest time! Welcome to Highbury Cemetery's First Official Post-Halloween Giveaway Contest! I know everyone is coming to grips with the season being over, so I'm going to keep it really simple. All you have to do to win is be the first to tell me what Grade-A horror movie these photos are from (just drop your answer in the comments below):

And what do you win for being the true terrible horror movie aficionado? Well it appears as though I have one extra Highbury Cemetery 2010 T-Shirt, featuring the artwork from the 2010 poster. These are the shirts that I print up in the basement and give out to everyone who helps out with the haunt each year. This year's shirt is a two-sided, one-color print on a relatively nice maroon Hanes shirt. The size is large.

I only have one shirt, so there can only be one winner! Will it be you? The contest ends Monday, November 15 at 11:59 pm EST. Good luck!