Highbury Cemetery, 2025

Year twenty two is now complete and another successful season for the Highbury Cemetery yard haunt is in the books! For another year, the weather cooperated throughout the weekend of trick-or-treat (although heavy rains and wind struck on either side of it), allowing me time to set up, adjust, and perfect. Trick-or-treat itself, while down again in total attendance a bit from last year (something I have noticed the past two years??), went off without a major hitch with perfect plumes of thick fog rolling across vibrant colors and shadows of a cool evening. 

And with the heavy rains and wind that came after our Sunday trick-or-treat, I was able to tear down most of the cemetery display, and then put up a different, mini display for Halloween night. A new twist to Highbury Cemetery lore, and something I may look into doing from here on out!

So without further ado, I'll get to the good stuff... 

Ladies and gentlemonsters, boils and ghouls, I proudly present Highbury Cemetery, 2025. Enjoy!

When all was said and done, we ended up having 183 trick-or-treaters, parents, neighbors, and curious onlookers through the gates of Highbury Cemetery this year. A little bit lower than last year's total, but I'll still take it.

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 Highbury Cemetery thank you t-shirts go out to: Mrs. Highbury, Christian Highbury, Sharon, Karen, Laurie, and Nancy. And an extra high five to the neighbor who came up and showed me his photo of him and me from last Halloween - and wanting to take another photo this year - with his new baby boy! Congrats and thanks for bringing the next generation of Halloween fan by the haunt.

--- XXX ---

So there you have it. Halloween, 2025 is done and dusted and the Cemetery is closed for another year. Twenty two years of home haunting and still going strong. And even though our numbers were down a bit again this year, it only reinforces the importance of what we as haunters are doing - keeping the traditions of Halloween alive and passing them on to the next generation to keep it all going.

Only 362 days until Halloween. Are you ready?

  

A Halloween Night Mini Display

I had to have SOMETHING in the yard on Halloween night! After Sunday's trick-or-treat, we took most of the display down in anticipation of Wednesday's heavy rain and wind. So yesterday, I went out and set up a small display, if for no other reason than to appease the Candy Corn gods. And maybe for one more night of Halloween enjoyment for myself, too...

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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...

  

Slasher Dave - "Hell's Harvest"

Does this guy ever sleep?? Slasher Dave releases new music faster than I release blog posts!

Here's another great new Halloween release, "Hell's Harvest."

The idea in my head for this song was a possessed scarecrow that comes to life to slaughter farm residents. Very Midwest. It's also a different style for me with the strings. I've been open to more experimentation. A little snake charmer sexy vibe, too?

Cool! I really dig this new track. Enjoy!

  

Devil's Night

Here we are. The day before Halloween. These 30 days leading up to the High Holiday have absolutely flown by again. I sure could use another 30 days to celebrate...

Here's a quick teaser photo from our trick-or-treat, which was Sunday night. The weather was perfect. Cool, dry and no wind. The Candy Corn Gods looked upon us again with good favor.

But of course, good October weather doesn't last long in Ohio, so we decided to pull most of the display down in anticipation of today's rainstorms and high wind gusts. I really didn't want to have an empty yard on Halloween night, but quickly realized that I REALLY didn't want my hand-made props blowing down the street, either.

So tomorrow, I have decided to set up a quick and different little display. One last offering to the Candy Corn Gods. One last celebration of Halloween. I'm actually pretty excited for this! I'll be sure to snap a few photos of it, too.

In the meantime, let's celebrate to our fullest capacity for Halloween. Get out tonight for a little mischievous Devil's Night fun and then absolutely go all out tomorrow. It's the day we have waited for all year...

  

Toxic Coffin - "The Haunted Sounds Of Halloween" Cassette

50 Minutes Of Spine-Tingling Terror! WARNING! This Cassette Is Not To Be Listened To In The Dark. Listen To This Cassette At Your Own Risk!

No, this isn't an unexpected Freebie Friday post, but it is for fans of all of those old "spooky sounds" releases filled with the glorious Halloween sounds of howling winds, cackling witches, bubbling cauldrons, rattling chains, and snarling werewolves. Did you know that there are still artists out there who are keeping the tradition alive today??

I was super excited when I recently found Toxic Coffin out of North Carolina, and their brand new cassette release, The Haunted Sounds Of Halloween. 

Two different styles on this one. Side A's "Haunted House Sound FX" is an homage to the classic "spooky sounds" cassettes of years gone by with some great and truly creepy sounds, all backed with some nice, subtle droning synth. No silly kids stuff on this side, just great, creepy Halloween atmosphere!

Side B's "Eerie Music" is different and unique in that it is a collection of original Halloween-inspired music created by Stephen and Lance, the owners of Toxic Coffin, and performed under the name Beyond The Gate. Again, really great sounds with an almost synthwave angle. Perfect music for the season!

Both sides are on repeat as we wind down another all-too-fast Halloween season, and I will most definitely keep this one going long after the season ends.

Be sure to grab a copy of this one over at Toxic Coffin, and while you're there maybe pick up a shirt, some art or an insanely rad, super limited, coffin-shaped skateboard deck!

On a final note, along with my cassette, I also received a sticker and a hand-written thank you letter from Lance and Stephen. Super cool extras that you just won't get from larger companies. A huge Cemetery shout-out to Toxic Coffin on a totally awesome release!

  

The 15 Most Valuable Misfits Records Ever Sold On Discogs

Here is a quick Halloween-adjacent story and a fun little follow-up to this morning's Misfits "Halloween" music post.

Ever since I was a 14-year-old skate punk kid, the holy grails of punk record collecting have always been those rare early Glenn Danzig-era Misfits records. And ever since I was a 14-year-old skate punk kid, those rare early Misfits records have always been just out of reach for my wallet's liking.

Since then, I have been able to acquire a few Misfits gems for my collection, but most continue to allude my wallet's limit. And as their collectability continues to grow, their prices unfortunately follow right along.

I recently read this great little story on Discogs about the most valuable Misfits records ever sold on their site, and my jaw hit the floor. Unicorn gems of limited pressings, colored vinyl variants, and alternate record sleeves fetching prices into the FIVE FIGURES! Yikes!

At this point, I am resigned to winning the lottery in order to afford these rarities, but I at least have the music itself permanently burned into my brain.

Enjoy the eye-opening sale amounts for these records, and please note that I would gladly take them off of your hands in the odd instance that you might just have them laying around.

Just maybe not for those prices.

  

The Misfits - "Halloween"

Four weeks into October, and not one Misfits post?? Well, the obvious choice is...

  

  

Halloween 'Zines: Razors In The Night

It's time for another Halloween 'zine review! Growing up as a punk rock kid, I collected many a fanzine through the years. Small, DIY handmade photocopied, low-budget mini magazines that covered all aspects of the music genre, created and produced by the very participants within that scene. There's just something about holding a small magazine that was created and assembled by hand that always felt so tactile and genuine to me. And when I later became a home haunter, I discovered the same medium and immediately began collecting them.

Next up in my collection is Razors In The Night. This one isn't a straight Halloween 'zine, but with a subtitle of "For The Discerning Gore Hounds," this first issue is still on point!

If, like me, you were a discerning gore hound in the 80s, then this 'zine is right up your alley! It harkens back to the glory days of Fangoria Magazine, but goes way deeper and way darker in its hand drawn, cut-and-paste, black-and-white photocopied rawness.

It has reviews of deep underground, low-budget horror films (the best kind!), but keeps a foot in the Halloween realm with great stories on haunted houses and ends with the sad story of the tragic Six Flags Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire in 1984. Definitely worth the read.

Give Razors In The Night a follow on their Instagram page, and then go shopping on their Big Cartel page. Issue #1 is now unfortunately sold out, but issue #2 will be coming out on Halloween! And if it's limited like the first issue, it will sell out quick, too. So get on it, gore hounds!

  

Amazon Delivery. Service With A (Nervous) Smile!

We got an Amazon delivery yesterday. I'm assuming the driver just said, "I'll just go ahead and leave this safely outside the cemetery arch entrance..." And scooted off to the sound of Scooby-Doo running! No way was he coming into THIS yard!

This was the proof of delivery photo:

  

Revised 12 Ft. Skeleton Prop

The revised 12-foot skeleton prop for 2025!

We're getting down to the wire, but I was still able to get one more prop off of the "to do" list! A few years ago, I picked up the popular 12-foot skeleton from Home Depot, as I needed to add some height to my display. I originally corpsed the head and added a full reaper's cloak made from a roll of black fabric and creepy cloth, ensuring that it looked different to all of the other 12 foot skeletons in all of the other yards. 

Halloween, 2024.

And while I liked that initial look, I didn't LOVE it. It always looked a little too "cartoon-y" and the proportions always looked off. And whenever it got wet from rain, it became very heavy and everything would sag. So after last year's incident where the base and head snapped and broke due to being blown over from high winds, I knew this was the year to completely revamp him...

High wind damage, Halloween, 2024.

I first secured a replacement base and a new head-to-neck junction to replace the broken pieces. After all of the replacement pieces were gathered and installed, I first went to work staining the entire skeleton. I wanted to get that darker, more aged and dried look. And while it took a bit for the stain to fully dry on a few of the pieces due to the nature of the smooth plastic, it immediately looked ten times better than the corpsed flesh treatment I had originally done.

Replacement head-to-neck junction from Frawsted Creations.

The next step was to add a new cloak. And based on a cool reference photo shared by Cemetery friend Brent Wilson, I wanted to add whisps of fabric to further the decayed look. This lighter treatment of fabric would also keep the entire skeleton lighter in weight overall, and less likely to catch and winds and possibly get blown over again.

I ended up using the original old black fabric, cut into long thin strips, and then loosely wrapped around the legs and arms, further adding larger tattered pieces for the waist and shoulders. I added a few pieces of tattered stretched creepy cloth as highlight accent pieces over that and called it done. A lot less fabric ended up looking way better!

For restraining the overall approach to detailing it, I couldn't be any happier with the final look. A quick turnaround and setup in a new location toward the back my display was just the refresh it needed. I added an off-white uplighting to add that extra bit of creepiness and attention at night and now it's once again a main focal point in the Cemetery, towering over the rest of the props in the display.