A Quick Announcement!

So no Cemetery Sunday segment again this week, but we do have a special announcement!

After 16 years of doing this home haunt, we have decided to change things up a bit. Every year, our claim to fame has been that we are a one-night-only haunt. Set up the morning of Halloween, run the entire display for trick-or-treat, and then take everything down that night. Come see the show and if you miss it, you'll have to wait until next year. Truth be told, it was a TON of work...

I had toyed with the idea of extending our display before, but I was always a little leery on the whole thing. I didn't want all of my handmade props getting damaged by the less-than-perfect Ohio fall weather and I REALLY didn't want anything "growing legs" and disappearing...

But with our new neighborhood location and the utter craziness of this past year, I finally decided, "What the hell" and decided to make the change.

So for the first time in 16 years, I proudly present an early sneak peek of Highbury Cemetery, 2020!!

All of our static props went up today. I'm going to keep a close eye on things mostly due to the wet forecast coming up in the next few days, but I'm thinking that everything should hold up nicely. The next stage will be putting out all of the lighting, and then the animatronics, fog, sound and figures will all go up on Friday. I have decided to run a full show on Friday night for relatives and friends who can't make it over on Halloween night, and then on Saturday night for our neighborhood trick-or-treat. I'm nervous, but I'm a bit excited to be able to have time to make adjustments on props and lighting. And adding more to the display each night should be fun for the neighbors to come check out.

So there you have it. You now have a full week to come check out Highbury Cemetery!! And if you're in the Akron, Ohio area with nothing to do, come check us out. We're on Alexander Court in Copley, just off of I-77 and Rt. 18. And our neighborhood trick-or-treat will be Saturday, from 5-7. But 2 hours isn't going to cut it for me, so I will be running everything until at least 9:00!

Closed Casket Home Haunt, 2018

In going back through the all the years that I have been writing this blog, I realized that one thing has always been missing. And that is any photos showing off anyone else's haunts in the Northeast Ohio area. Which is crazy, because there are SO MANY incredible displays!

The reason, of course, is that I'm always too busy trying to get my own haunt ready to go, and I always run out of time. Always.

But somehow, this year, I actually made time to go visit one. On the Saturday before Halloween, I got to go visit the small yard haunt that was put on by Dave over at Closed Casket Studios and his surly crew. I have only been trying to go see it the last three or four years without luck. But on this rainy, dreary night I finally made good. I grabbed a six of pumpkin beer and headed over to their shindig.

(Technically, I "saw" Dave's first yard haunt way back in 2009, the first time I met him. Unfortunately, as I wrote about it then, we made it just AFTER the local Fire Marshall visited and shut the haunt down for not meeting fire code. We still laugh about that today!)

I arrived to a rain-soaked, empty neighborhood. The bad weather had gotten them and their trick-or-treat fizzled out. Luckily everyone was still there, in high spirits. I quickly joined, but not before touring the haunt display itself and snapping away with my camera.

And even though the weather sucked, the haunt still looked great. Fantastic lighting and props, adorned with killer Closed Casket Studios prop heads and hands. There was a lot of great detail tucked into a small cemetery setup.

I'm really happy that I finally had the chance to check this haunt out. It was a welcome break in my otherwise hectic schedule leading up to Halloween night, and it gave me some inspiration for some new prop ideas for next year. From here on out, I'm going to block off time to visit at least one other haunt in the area during each Halloween season. And who knows, maybe even get in some guest acting! I think this is a big part of the haunt community that I have been neglecting...

(And yes, Randy Skalos, next year I'm absolutely, positively visiting you!! The fourth time will be the charm!!)