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!

 

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:

Lorain County Zombie Walk - Part 3

There is no stopping me now! I've made the cover of the single largest news publication in all of Amherst, Ohio. A big thanks to Jason Hawk for the cover photo and story.