HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween to all from Highbury Cemetery! May the Candy Corn gods look down upon you in favor on this day and grant you the opportunities to celebrate the high holiday in the manner you see fit.

Another year's worth of planning, building, and most importantly celebrating the season comes down to this. So go forth and revel in All Hallows Eve. Our High Holiday. Carry on the traditions that make the season so great, for we are the anointed that keep the spirits alive, nurture them, and pass them on to future generations. We are Halloween...

  

Anita Cat Memorial Tombstone Prop

I just put the wraps on a special new tombstone going into this year's display. Anita Cat was a friend of a friend who unfortunately passed away earlier this year. She was a fan of the Cemetery, so I thought I'd give her a little memorial there when I heard the news...

Many years ago, Anita let me do her zombie makeup for a costume party that she was going to. I can't remember if she won Best Costume, but I had a ton of fun doing it. Rest in peace, Anita...

Let me show you how I created this stone...

I started by creating the size and shape of the stone along with the epitaph in Adobe Illustrator. I then tiled the printouts together at 100% size. I used a repositionable glue stick on the back of the paper and adhered it to a scrap piece of 2" blue foam that I had. One I had it in place, I trimmed the curved top portion of the stone with a small handheld jigsaw. I then started carving out the black areas of the epitaph with my Dremel tool. I use the guide attachment while carving to keep the depth consistent. It also helps control the tool for more accurate carving...

Once I had the epitaph fully carved, I peeled the remaining paper from the front of the stone, giving it a quick rinse with the hose to remove any paper pieces or remaining glue areas. I then took a piece of sand paper and sanded all of the edges, adding chips and divots to mimic and old, weathered stone. I also gently sanded the entire face of the stone, adding slight eroded streak areas to the cross and some of the letters. Once I had given the stone a full "weathering" with the sand paper, I was ready for paint.

I painted this stone quickly using only three colors. I always start with the darkest color and work my way up to the lightest. I used a very dark grey for my base color, making sure to get into every letter, flourish and crack. 

Once the stone was completely coated with the dark grey, I did a full dry brush coat with a light grey. This color formed the actual base color of the stone, leaving the dark grey in the recessed areas like letters, cracks and chips.

After a thorough brushing of the light grey, I went in with an olive green and sparsely dry-brushed areas of moss and mold. I concentrated on corner areas, especially at the base, and anywhere that water might run down during rain.

For the final step, I needed to add the holes for mounting into the yard display. I always drill 2 3/8" holes into the bottom of the tombstone. I insert a length of 3/8" PEX pipe into each hole, and when it's ready to go into the display, I stick 2 pieces of 5/16" dowel rod into the ground, then slip the PEX pipe holes over them. I may eventually go larger on the pipe and dowel rods, but this setup has worked well for me so far.

I knocked this tombstone out pretty quick, and was happy with the result. On Halloween night, it will get set up in the Cemetery display with the other memorial stones, and we'll be sure to lift a pumpkin beer toast in their honor.

 

Lenore Sofia Highbury Tombstone

It's always nice to get that first tombstone of the season under your belt. The first project that opens the floodgates for the rest of the Halloween season projects. I know it's the end of August already, but it's finally go time at Highbury Cemetery! I proudly present my newest tombstone prop and newest member to reside within the rusted gates of Highbury Cemetery, Ms. Lenore Sofia Highbury...

It took a while to get things going for this year, but I'm REALLY happy with the way this one turned out! I decided that I needed a few more females within my cemetery, so Lenore Sofia earned her stone. A strange idea came out of nowhere when I started working on the epitaph, and I decided that this stone's epitaph would all be in French. I thought it would add a little bit of worldly class and sophistication to my display (or maybe it popped into my head when France won this year's World Cup, I can't be sure...). Either way, I thought it was a cool idea and ran with it.



Let me show you how I created it...

As always, I start with the epitaph. I created the full epitaph, complete with names, birth and death dates - all of which in the Highbury household mysteriously die on October 31st - and a few little flourishes and clip art crosses to give it a bit extra.

Translated, the epitaph reads...

In Memory

Lenore Sofia Highbury

Born - January 19, 1809

Died - October 31, 1848

Death by Delirium Tremens (Severe, Fatal Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium)

Rest In Peace

I then come up with an interesting shape, this time based on a piece of scrap 2" thick blue foam that I had laying around in the garage.

I create the final art at 100% size in Adobe Illustrator, then print out the entire thing, tiling the 8.5" x 11" sheets together.

I also had a small paper mache skull that I wanted to use for this stone, similar to the Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Von Bloemhof tombstones that I made it previous years. I also had some LED prop eyes inserted into the stone to illuminate the skull's eyes, although I forgot to photograph it this time around. Just go look at my previous stone links to see how it was done.

Once the epitaph was printed out and tiled, I used repositionable glue sticks to adhere the printout to the tombstone shape that I had cut out. I then used a couple of different bits in my handheld Dremel tool and carefully carved out each letter and cross.

Once all of the letters and crosses were carved, I simply pulled off all of the remaining paper from the epitaph printout, and then gave it a quick AND GENTLE spray from my garden hose to remove any leftover glue.

I then moved to the skull. I used a 4" full paper mache skull that I had picked up from Pat Catan's. I used a coping saw to cut the rear of the skull off, going from top to bottom. I then took the skull face and positioned it on the stone between the two crosses, tracing around the shape. I then engraved the area around the skull shape. This would allow me to embed the skull into the stone.

Once I made an even engraving all the way around and the skull sat flush, I glued it into place with a healthy glob of Gorilla Glue and let it sit overnight. Once the glue dried, I used spackle to fill in the remaining gaps. I really do this to give it a smooth look, as though it was part of stone when it was carved.

I gave the spackle a quick smoothing, and then went to work on the stone itself. I rounded all the edges and corners with a piece of sandpaper to give the stone a weathered look. I also added chips and cracks around the entire shape to give it a worn, aged feel. After everything was sanded, I went to work on the paint.

I have often heard that in painting you should always go from light to dark. But with tombstone paining, I always go from dark to light. I want everything in recessed areas to stay dark. This includes the epitaph obviously, but also the chips and cracks. I start with a complete coat of very dark grey. I never use 100% black, but doing so isn't a deal breaker. Simply my preference for a more authentic look.

After the dark grey dries, I dry brush a thorough coat of medium grey over the entire stone, leaving the recessed area the darker color. This actually serves as the base color for the stone. And once the medium grey dries, I add a few sparse highlight areas with a light grey.

At this point, I want to go with an even-more realistic look, So I add a watered-down drip/spray coating of green for a weathered, mossy and moldy detail. 

After years of photographing old tombstones throughout my area, I quickly noticed that most of the older stones had a cool, natural green coating to them. So I add this as a final paint step to all of my stones now.

Please note that this photo looks very green due to the fluorescent bulbs in my garage. It looks much better in natural light. And when this green coat dries, I drill two small holes through the stone and place the LED prop eyes into it for the skull's eyes. This time, I went with a pair of blue LEDs and I think they look fantastic.

When that was done, I drilled the two small sections of PVC conduit up into the bottom in order to slide them over 2 pieces of dowel rod driven into the ground when I set it up in my display on Halloween night.

**For a more detailed how-to, go check the post on my R.M. Renfield tombstone from a two years ago. It was the first time I used all of the same steps as this stone, and it has become my standard method for quick, easy and detailed tombstone creation.**

So now that the stone was finished, there was only one thing left to do! So I grabbed my camera, some LED tea light candles and a few LED spotlights...



The first tombstone is now in the "finished" pile and it's onto my next project. It's the big project for 2018 and I can't wait to get started. No spoilers, but this one should look REALLY cool as it guides the trick-or-treaters into the newly updated Highbury crypt on Halloween night for their candy!

We're getting dangerously close to October, so the posts are going to start flying in with more frequency, in anticipation for the big night. Like in years past, things will go absolutely bonkers starting on October 1st, going daily straight through to the big night. Lots to talk about and lots to share, so let's make this year the best one yet.

  

Highbury Obelisk 2.0

So it only took me 2 years, but I finally had a chance to repair and update my original 3-tiered obelisk tombstone prop from 2011.

Back in 2015, the top section of the obelisk blew over on a windy Halloween, cracking the insert piece that held the obelisk's giant ball topper in place. The piece was still attached, but the ball sat at a noticeable angle. I immediately placed its repair on my next year's "to-do" list, but of course it was displaced by bigger and cooler projects.

I ended up letting it go as is, until last year, when the top piece finally cracked in half and the ball completely fell off. And without the ball on top, it just didn't look right at all. So I finally put the repair at the top of the list and was able to get it all done in 2 days...

I simply cut a new top piece from some scrap foam, screwed it in to the top of the obelisk, drilled a new hole for the ball's PVC insert piece, glued it all together, spackled over all of the holes and seam cracks from its previous tumbles, and it was ready to go. Almost...

I had some daylight left after everything was repaired, so I decided to give the entire obelisk a fresh coat of grime, giving it a new darker, weathered look. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and how quickly I was able to get this lingering project off the list. Finally.

If you'd like to see how this monstrosity was built, you can travel all the way back to 2011 to see the whole process here!

This also served as a nice starting to point to the 2018 build season. I got a really late start this year, but it really cranked the motivation to get the next projects on the list started and completed. Time to get to the garage and start crackin'!


  

John Gray Tombstone

Even with only minutes to spare until the big night, I was able to crank out one more tombstone prop for this year's yard display! An homage to Boris Karloff's third greatest screen character, cabman and grave robber John Gray from the 1945 film, The Body Snatcher!

"Here Lies Cabman John Gray. The Body Snatcher of Edinburgh. Died October 31, 1831 in The 56th Year of His Life."

I had revisited this underrated classic earlier this month and decided to do a quick tombstone prop for Karloff's character. While the name Karloff is quickly associated with the names "Frankenstein" and "Imhotep," I now add "John Gray" to my list! If you haven't seen the film yet, I highly recommend it!

I ended up making this prop in two separate sections, joining them together with dowel rods and adhesive. After everything was set up and carved, I did a quick three-step paint job: a full basecoat of black, followed by a full whitewash and then ending with a watered down green spritzing. 

Another quick turnaround on a uniquely shaped stone that will look great in my display!

  

George Romero Tombstone Prop

This past weekend, I was able to quickly whip up a small tombstone for George Romero, father of the modern zombie film.

Upon his passing back in July, I immediately knew that I had to pay tribute to him in some small way. And what better way than with a tombstone in my cemetery haunt! I'm currently only adding smaller filler stones, so I knew it would be a quick project...

As I perused the Google page of his images, I quickly noticed the same thing in each photo: those CRAZY glasses. They would definitely have to be featured in some way. (Gary Pullin created a really cool poster with the same idea.)

The rest of the epitaph was standard information with a tongue-in-cheek nod to his zombie films in the final line, "We Await Your Return." Get it? Zombies??

And as a final homage to  his original zombie trilogy, I did a 3-color wash across the top of the stone. Black and white for Night, zombie flesh blue for Dawn, and military fatigue green for Day of the Dead. Something I'm sure no one would ever catch, but definitely a personal tribute to a director who influenced all things horror, and even Halloween, in my life.

All total, this simple small stone took about 3 days to complete and will be a nice little hidden gem to discover. And, it will look great flanked by some of my larger, more ornate stones on Halloween night.

Thanks, George!

 

Johannes Highbury Tombstone Prop

I know I should be a lot farther ahead on my 2017 haunt build list, but I figured a quick tombstone prop would be the perfect project to get the juices flowing...


Johannes Highbury, Died October 31, 1738. Morte Perpetua.

In looking at my cemetery tombstone props from previous years' displays, I noticed that unlike a real cemetery, mine had a lot of stones that were roughly the same size and shape. I knew I wanted to start off by adding some new stones of differing sizes and shapes to add visual interest for this year's display. 

I quickly found a photo from an October trip through Mount Hope Cemetery back in 2013.

No clue what this epitaph says, but the shape was really interesting, so I decided to use it for the new stone. I drew up measurements based on the size of a scrap piece of 2" blue foam that was in my garage. I added another member of the Highbury family for the epitaph, Johannes Highbury, and decided that he, along with many other family members, met his fate on All Hallows Eve (I'm currently developing a "Halloween Death Curse" backstory for all the members of the Highbury family buried in the cemetery...).

I started with the tombstone shape and then created an epitaph in Adobe Illustrator. I tiled the printouts at 100%, carefully cut the pieces and taped them all together, and then finally cut out the outer stone shape...

I traced the outer shape onto the tombstone and then cut it out of the foam sheet.

I then coated the backside of the printout with a repositionable (usually purple in color) glue stick, making sure that all of the areas around the lettering stuck firmly to the foam. Once the printout was completely and firmly attached, I began to carve out the letters using my Dremel. Once all the letters and flourishes were cut out, I removed the printout. A lot of small pieces of paper and extra glue globs were still on the foam, so I used a gentle shower setting on my garden hose nozzle (don't use anything harder, as the spray of water could damage the foam!) and sprayed off all the remaining pieces, leaving a clean, carved tombstone. Once dry, I took a sheet of sandpaper and sanded down all the edges, adding weathering, knicks and chips...

After all edges were sanded and the shape was properly weathered, it was time for paint. I stated with a full dark grey coat. This would be primarily for the lettering and any recessed or chipped areas.

When the basecoat was dry, I went back and added a coat of lighter, stone grey to the raised areas. This would help the lettering and chips remain darker and more legible.

For a final bit of detail, I went in with a mossy green color and added a few dry brush "stain" areas around the corners, in the creases, and down the front and back. I find that this little accent really sells the "been outside for over 100 years" moldy look and feel.

When the stone was completely dry, I drilled out the 3/8" hole in the base, inserting a length of 3/8" SharkBite PEX Pipe. When it comes time to display the stone, this piece of pipe will slide over a piece of 5/16" dowel rod that will be driven into the ground, holding the tombstone in place.

*For a more detailed how-to on this step, take a look at my R.M. Renfield Tombstone How-To. I have continually refined my tombstone-making process, and this is now the most efficient method that I use. 

This stone took very little time to complete and I think it turned out great. The unique shape will definitely stand out in a cemetery full of rectangular tombstones and will help my yard display look more authentic. I already have two more stones in progress, now including a tribute to a legend that we just lost. Check back soon, as the creative juices are flowing. I'll be attacking my haunt list with a fury as we rapidly count down the days until the big night!

  

Highbury Cemetery Graphic Series No. 4

The creativity continues to flow and I was able to whip up another collage image for my continuing Highbury Cemetery Graphic Series. This time around, I threw on my new copy of The Thing soundtrack from Waxwork Records and let the sounds influence the spontaneous image assemblage below.

This series continues to be a simple exercise in free form creativity. It has no specific intent other than to serve as a fun outlet to keep my haunt-related ideas sharp as I head into this year's Halloween planning phase.

Feel free to check out the first three images in the series here, here and here.

 

R.M. Renfield Tombstone How-To

The first tombstone for 2016 is done! I wanted to add some smaller stones into my yard haunt display this year and the scrap 2-inch foam that I have in the garage would work perfect.

Because of the time that will be dedicated to my main project this year, I needed a streamlined process to whip these small stones out quickly, and I think I now have a process that will do just that.

Let me show you what I did.


I've always wanted to pay homage to Dwight Frye and his masterful performance as Renfield in the 1931 Universal classic, Dracula, so I decided that this first stone would be in his honor.

With the subject quickly identified, I set out to create the epitaph. Like all epitaphs, I created this in Adobe Illustrator at 100% scale of the already-cut shape of the stone. I then tiled it into separate 8.5" x 11" printouts.

Here's where I actually found a new method to help save a lot of time. A BIG thanks goes out to fellow home haunter Big Ant Petrone from Eerie Acres Cemetery for posting this video. I never would have thought about this method, but it worked great!!

Not only was I able to save a TON of time by skipping the old "stencil cutout" step and simply gluing the printout to the foam, but I was also able to get greater detail with my lettering and flourishes. This is how I'm going to do the rest of my stones from here on out. Thanks, Ant!!

With the epitaph glued in place, I set about carving it out with the Dremel with exceptional results...

PLEASE NOTE that after completing the carving, I ended up adding a step to Ant's process. After wetting a towel and soaking the paper, a lot of glue remained on the stone and was getting quite messy. On a whim, I took the foam stone out and sprayed it off with my garden hose, using a gentle "shower" setting on my nozzle. Using anything stronger would have probably damaged the stone, but after a quick spray, the remaining glue washed off and left a clean stone, ready for paint.

I started by painting a flat black coat into all of the recessed lettering, flourishes and cracked and weathered edge areas...

After the black paint dried, I mixed up a medium gray color and applied it to the rest of the stone, making sure not to get any into the recessed black areas...

After the gray base coat dried, I added the standard watered-down black paint wash, giving the stone a nice decayed and aged look...

And in record time, the stone was done. The only thing left to do was to add a way to mount it. I ended up getting a 7/16" x 12" drill bit. It was a bit expensive at $15, but I'll use this to drill the pilot holes in all the remaining tombstones.

Along with the drill bit, I bought a piece of 3/8" x 10' SharkBite PEX pipe. Apparently, it's used for water lines, but the cheap cost makes it a great solution for this project! A ten foot section costs just $4, and this piece can be cut into smaller pieces and used in many stones...

I ended up cutting a piece that would measure slightly less than half the height of the tombstone. This will be inserted into the stone and would act as a sleeve that would fit over a dowel rod that would be driven into the ground...

I measured the length of tubing and then put a piece of tape at the same measurement onto the drill bit (see the drill bit photo above). I then simply drilled a hole (up to the tape) into the bottom of the stone, and then slid the tube into the hole. It went right in, fitting nice and snug!

Now, on Halloween night, I simply drive a piece of 5/16" dowel rod into the ground and slide the tombstone over it. Perfectly snug and perfectly sturdy! (If you're making a larger tombstone, you can add a second pipe for added sturdiness, like I have on my larger stones).

Enjoy!