Highbury's Halloween Punkcast No. 3


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


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


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


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


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:


Last Night's Moon


So driving home from dinner last night, I noticed the moon. It was huge! Full with a creepy orange hue. I raced home to grab my camera, but the moon was hiding behind the neighborhood trees. So I jumped back in my car to find a great viewpoint when it hit me...






Of course! The cemetery down the street! Luckily, the main gate was still open, so I drove in and found an opening where the moon was glowing brightly. As the night went on, the moon continued to rise and lose its orange hue, replaced by a bright white. With the help of my car headlights, I was able to grab a few shots of the moon's glow and a few tombstones. Then I started to hear some noises off in the dark, got creeped out and got the hell out of there.

I'm planning on going back to that cemetery to explore all of the tombstones and get some reference photos for Highbury Cemetery. Only I'm going to do that during the day...

Okay group, I'm off to the Garage of Evil's Northern Ohio Haunters Make and Take where I'm going to build my first Flying Crank Ghost. I'll bring the trusty camera and document the entire process. I already have a slightly different look in mind for the final piece and I already know where he's going to be placed in the cemetery this year. Can't wait!

And don't forget! There's only 107 days until Halloween!!


And So It Begins...


The sun has just gone down, and it's nearing dark. October 31st. But I'm 45 minutes away, having dinner with my family. I check the watch. 7:30 pm. Oh my God! I'm missing Halloween!! I haven't put anything up! There's no way I'm going to get home in time to put any of my props out for the trick-or-treaters! Doesn't anyone in my family even care?? Panic turns to hysteria. How did it become so late and how in the world did I forget about Halloween!? HALLOWEEN!? The people in my neighborhood will be so disappointed...

And then I wake up. It's dark. The clock reads 4:17 am. Saturday, July 9. The sheets are damp with sweat and my head is pounding with a dull headache behind my eyeballs. Just a nightmare. The same one I had last year at this time.

114 days until Halloween. Time to get going on this year's props...



New Video Treats


I recently came upon two great, new videos that I had to share with the group. First up is MK12's "Follow The Sun," a crazy take on the famous concession stand short that used to play in movie theaters across the country.

From MK12's vimeo page:
While we have a few minutes before the show, stop by our refreshment stand! We have all kinds of tasty treats! Popcorn for all eternity! Hell's on it's way!

Press kit, Print material, more info on our website: followthesun.tv




And the second is Mastadon's new music video for "Deathbound," created for the Adult Swim Singles Program.

From Adult Swim:
We asked Mastadon for a song for our Adult Swim Singles Program. When they sent us this incredible jam, we knew we had to make a video for it. We called our friends at Authority Films and the first thing they thought was "puppets!"...



Enjoy the videos, but then get back to work, because by my watch, we only have 116 days until Halloween. And that means that I'm officially behind schedule for another year. Damn...