Haunted House Ads From The Past

I have always said that I was very fortunate to have grown up as an 80s Halloween kid in Northeast Ohio. We have an unbelievably rich history of haunted houses dating as far back as the early 70s, and continue to produce some of the best attractions in the country today.

When I was younger, I would race home from school every Friday starting in mid-September and grab the local newspaper. I would immediately pull out the Friday magazine insert, a small self-contained section that would have everything going on for the upcoming weekend. I would flip right past all of the boring concert and festival ads until I found what I was feverishly looking for... the ads for all of the local haunted houses!!

I can still smell the black ink that was slapped onto the porous newsprint paper (you know, the kind that transferred immediately to your fingers as you touched the page?). Page after page of glorious, horrifying clip art, spooky fonts, and outrageous claims. And don't forget the "celebrity" appearances to really seal the deal! I would mark off the ones closest to us, in hopes of having my or one of my friends' parents drive us to one (or more if we REALLY begged!) of those magical locations to get the wits scared out of us while gawking with utter excitement at all the gory props, masks, and scenes. Every weekend up until Halloween night was the same thing. And it was spectacular.

I recently came across this online article from the Akron Beacon Journal, my local newspaper. They had gone back into the photo archives and gathered up a HUGE collection of these old ads that appeared in the newspaper, dating all the way back to 1972.

I couldn't believe the instant joy as I looked through the ads. All those wonderful memories came flooding back as I scrolled, my smile getting wider the further I went.

Enjoy this amazing little slice of Halloween history from my neck of the woods. Most of these haunts are long gone, but their memories are most certainly not forgotten!

More terrifying than last year.

Hinckley's Haunted Hollow was one of the first haunted houses that my parents ever took me to. I remember it being an outdoor trail, which at that time was unique to other haunted houses in the area. I also remember this one being SO much fun!

Giant Gore House of Bloodview Heights. Best name ever!

All images courtesy of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Please do yourself a favor and check out the original article. TONS more of these awesome old haunted house ads that offer a glimpse into a bygone era. Enjoy!

 

Historic Akron Cemetery Rises From The Dead

When I started doing my Cemetery Sundays segments back in 2011, I didn't realize the connection that I would make to all of my local, historic cemeteries. 

In October of 2013, I visited an Akron cemetery, Mount Hope, after it was featured in a local newspaper story. At the time, the cemetery had fallen into total disrepair, much to the anger of locals and those that had relatives buried there. After the story ran, the city eventually stepped in and helped clean up the grounds and mausoleum. By the time I took my photos, clean up had begun and it was again somewhat presentable. 

Fast forward two years and this cemetery is again making the news.

And this time, the news is good! Akron Beacon Journal reporter Bob Dyer writes a follow-up to his original piece from 2013, showcasing David Venarge, a local businessman who after reading the original story decided to step in and do something about the cemetery's dwindling condition. To this point, Venarge has donated $100,000 for maintenance and upkeep to the grounds.

 Photo by Ed Suba, Jr. - Akron Beacon Journal

You can read Bob Dyer's full story of the cemetery's incredible turnaround at The Akron Beacon Journal.


After reading this story, I think that I will have to do my first follow-up photo session this October. I'm interested to see the progress that has been made (especially to many of the damaged tombstones), and I hope it will spur the city to act on other local cemeteries that deserve this kind of attention, too.

A heartfelt thanks goes out to Mr. Venarge for leading the effort to preserve this local cemetery and to Mr. Dyer for writing an excellent article, bringing his efforts to light!!

 

Trick-or Treat vs. Football

If there's one thing about Northern Ohioans, it's that we love our sports teams. Pro, college and yes, even high school. A fact that I didn't even think about until reading a story in the Akron Beacon Journal entitled, Area Mayors Tackle Debate On Halloween, written by Kathy Antoniotti.

My heart sank as I read through the story. Local area mayors have begun weighing in on this year's trick-or-treat festivities, and some have decided to change the time to the following day, November 1, so that it won't interfere with Friday night high school football games...

Every year I read that local officials are tinkering with their trick-or-treat times. Changing it to the Saturday before Halloween or blocking off ridiculous times like 4-6 pm. And now we have to change it again so that we can go enjoy our most-beloved high school football games.

You can probably guess my stance on the subject (c'mon, you ARE reading this in a HALLOWEN blog!), but my real concern comes from the fact that for the past 4 years, I have been the "Keeper of the Sign," the one who possesses the official neighborhood Trick-or-Treat sign that lets everyone in the area know when our Trick-or-Treat will be held. And for the past 4 years, as well as the 9 years before that, the neighborhood Trick-or-Treat has always been on Halloween night: October 31, from 6 to 8 pm, regardless of what day of the week it falls upon. I now have to step back and think about this new concern when putting up the sign for this year. For the past two years, we have been hampered by rain with one year having to be rescheduled. I really don't want to have to reschedule again. 

Personally, I think Trick-or-Treat should always been on the 31st. It is a tradition in our neighborhood, even as other parts of the city continue to tinker with (and water down) Halloween. At this point, I'm going to keep it as is. October 31. But I will start to talk to some of the neighbors to get their opinions on the matter, as I don't want to get anyone all up in arms.


So what do you think? Keep it on the 31st or change it to November 1st? Drop a comment below and let's get a non-inflammatory dialog going on the subject.


 

Happy Halloween!!

Here it is! The greatest day of the year!! Pumpkins. Monsters. Witches. Ghosts. Candy. Trick-or-Treat. It's Halloween!!!





It's going to be a very quick post today because we are underway for setting up the Cemetery for tonight's trick-or-treat.


Our Big News:
I'm thrilled to announce that after 10 long years, Highbury Cemetery has finally made the local paper! In today's Akron Beacon Journal you'll find a nice little article about me and this crazy thing we do every October 31st. So if you are visiting from the link in the paper, I would like to welcome you to our small slice of Halloween. Please come in and take a look around. You'll find lots of articles on what we do and the inspiration we find to do it. Feel free to contact us in the form on the right side and let us know what you think. You really have stopped by at the perfect time!! And a very big thank you to Jim Carney and Karen Schiely from the Akron Beacon Journal for the great article and photography!!! You'll both get extra candy in your bags!

We're going to scale back just a bit, as were expecting some torrential rains this evening (again), but do stop by if you're in the neighborhood. We'll be sure to post up pictures from the night's festivities by Sunday...

But until then:

Mount Hope Cemetery - Akron, Ohio

Broken down old gates lead me into this cemetery with no visible clue to its identity. The only way I know where I am is due to an article written by Bob Dyer a month prior in the Akron Beacon Journal.

This eye-opening article talked about Mount Hope Cemetery's sad descent into disrepair by delinquent ownership. The grass and weeds had gotten so bad, the city had to step in this summer and clean up the property.

And while I recently toured the cemetery, there were still piles of branches and other debris scattered around, but the grounds appeared to be under a somewhat routine schedule of upkeep.

My only hope is that the proper measures are installed to preserve the heritage and legacy of the more than 10,000 that are laid to rest there.

 

Some of the older stones' epitaphs here appeared to be written in Greek, while many others were some sort of Eastern European.