It's Krampusnacht, and that means that all of the bad children will be visited by Krampus tonight! Krampus, the Christmas Devil and evil counterpart of St. Nicholas, is a cloven-hooved, goat-demon that punishes bad children with a lash of his birch branched switch, then transports them to Hell inside the wicker basket upon his back.
Have you been good this year?
And a little homage to the horned-one himself from the 2015 Michael Daugherty film of the same name to put you in a ghastly yuletide mood... "Cloven" by composer Douglas Pipes. Enjoy!
FINALLY! Zenith is one of my favorite songs from Ghost, although it has always been a "hidden" track in that it only appeared on a special 2015 vinyl box set release of Meliora. It was the only Ghost song in their entire catalog not widely available on any streaming service. Until today!
From Ghost:
We wish to inform you that these times call for a divine compilation of some of Ghost's most sinful psalms and the most observant shall find the wider release of Ghost's cult tune "Zenith." Ghost's 13 Commandments: so let it be written, so let it be done.... Listen now everywhere.
Enjoy!
This October, I had the chance to make the short drive over to Cedar Point to check out HalloWeekends. I wanted to ride all of the amazing rollercoasters, walk through all of the haunts, experience the park at night in full Halloween décor, and most importantly see the Midnight Syndicate live stage show.
Coming off their brand new release, The Brimstone Club, I was interested to see how it was going to be incorporated into a new live stage show.
I was really impressed with their previous HalloWeekends live shows and was hoping for good things this time around, too.
Needless to say, the show was spectacular. Midnight Syndicate played many of their new tracks live, all while an incredibly talented group performed their circus-style sideshow acts. They really captivated the audience through each act, including a sword-swallower, a woman suspended by only her hair, and an intricate balancing act.
And now Midnight Syndicate has released a video of their full performance. Great production on it to really make you feel like you are there watching it live. Enjoy!
For my final act of Halloween defiance this season, I was able to get my pumpkins out for the seventh year in a row for my annual Pumpkin Dump!
Starting back in 2017, I decided that I wanted to do something more than simply tossing my post-Halloween pumpkins into the trash, and ended up covertly setting them up in a local metropark to much surprise and joy... and it has become an annual tradition ever since.
Every year I look for a new, creepy location to set up my jack-o-lanterns and extend the Halloween season for a bit longer. An Easter egg of sorts to anyone who happens to see them, and food for the local wildlife at the very least.
This year, I paid homage to the Dump location from 2021. Shortly after a successful pumpkin dump, the old, abandoned house was completely torn down by the city, leaving only an empty dirt lot where the house (and the pumpkins) once sat.
Luckily, just one lot down sat yet another old, abandoned house. Completely forgotten and overgrown, the derelict house sits equally close to the highly traveled road, lending itself to another perfect, highly visible dump location.
I loaded up all 13 pumpkins from this year's display and headed out. I calmly drove up what was once a driveway to the house, parked behind some overgrown bushes, and went to work. I quickly got some photos and videos of the setup, then slipped away completely unnoticed.
Another perfect Pumpkin Dump to end a really great Halloween season!
Please enjoy my annual submission to the Great Pumpkin Project, the Highbury Cemetery Pumpkin Dump 2023…
The 20th Anniversary edition of Highbury Cemetery is in the books, and what a wild ride it has been. Here in Northeast Ohio, we seem to have locked into a new traditional weather pattern for October. That is, the month starts off sunny and warm, quickly turns colder and rainy (Every. Single. Day.), and then I go insane hoping that we get a break from a less-than-desirable forecast for trick-or-treat night.
And for about the fourth year in a row, we somehow get very lucky. The Candy Corn gods look down upon us with favor and give us a window of perfectly dry, completely windless weather in order to get trick-or-treat completed without a hitch.
This year was no different. After a morning of constant rain, trick-or-treat ended up being another success in that we got a nice crowd (a trophy!) and an evening of dry weather with no wind. Very fortunate, indeed.
I was able to put out the full setup, with a few new and a few older pieces throughout the display. I also had time to really focus on my lighting again this year, which makes a huge difference in the photos and video. There is always a list of things that I didn't get to or just didn't get to add this year, but overall I'm really happy with this year's display. It gives a nice, solid base for next year's display.
So without further ado, I'll get to the good stuff...
Ladies and gentlemonsters, boils and ghouls, I proudly present Highbury Cemetery, 2023. Enjoy!
And before I end it, I can't go without giving a special thanks to everyone who helped put on the show this year. I couldn't do it without your help and your presence in just making the whole night a ton of fun. Special 20th Anniversary Highbury Cemetery thank you t-shirts go out to: Mrs. Highbury, Christian Highbury, Sharon, Karen, Laurie, and Brother Scrapes (who made his second appearance in two years!).
--- XXX ---
So there you have it. Halloween, 2023 is done and dusted and the Cemetery is closed for another year. Twenty years of home haunting and still going strong. The success of this year again has me motivated to start on next year's display. A few improvements on existing ideas and a few new ideas to add to the mix...
Only 362 days until Halloween. Are you ready?
