Mount Shrine - "Forest Fire"

Beautiful rainy deep sub ambient soundscapes from Mount Shrine

I was deeply saddened when I learned that Cesar Alexandre, the Brazilian artist behind dark ambient act Mount Shrine, had passed away from Covid complications last year. I was a huge fan of his unique take on the dark ambient genre, opting for a warmer, rolling, almost meditative drone as opposed to the standard dark, discordant sound. His 2019 track, Underpass, is still one of my all-time favorites...

Fast forward to today and I was pleasantly surprised with Cryo Chamber's announcement of All Roads Lead Home, a brand new release featuring the final Mount Shrine tracks composed before his death.

I immediately snagged a copy and have had it on a constant rotation here at the Cemetery. More wonderfully warm atmospherics with just enough dark elements to keep things interesting. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen over on the Cryo Chamber Bandcamp page. It's a fitting end to a wonderful catalog of unique dark ambient work.

Rest in peace, Cesar.

 

Rest In Peace, Jason Oliver

Well, this was definitely NOT the way I wanted to kick off 2021, but yesterday I heard the sad news that Jason Oliver, from Canada's Haunted Wastelands home haunt, had passed away. Gone way too soon, good sir. My deepest condolences to his family and friends, his fellow Canadian haunters, and the entire Haunters Hangout group. You will be missed...

Here is a Haunted Wastelands shirt that I had won from Jason back in 2016, on an episode of Haunters Hangout. I will rock it today in your memory.

Rest in peace, Jason.

Rest In Peace, Neighborhood Sign

Rest In Peace. You lasted only six days into your seventh season before you were tragically cut down by a careless driver.

I got the photo above yesterday while at work and my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. My mind raced with thoughts of miscreants purposely damaging the sign as an act of malice toward our beloved holiday. Who could do such a thing, and how could I find them to get sweet cold revenge...

When I finally got home, I grabbed a drill, some screws and a few scrap pieces of plywood and headed up to the top of my neighborhood to see what had happened. Any thoughts of vandalism were quickly dashed. I noticed the angle, size and length of the muddy tire track and deduced that someone in a large truck had simply backed out of a driveway too far and crushed my sign. Thanks...

I'm still gutted, but at least it was an accident and not an act of vandalism. And I was able to "Frankenstein" the sign back together. It can be used for the rest of this season but will have to be replaced. Which is also okay, because a new sign with new art will be fun to create.

Rest in peace, neighborhood sign. You will be missed...

  

Rest In Peace, Basil Gogos

I came home from a long weekend trip to the unfortunate news that iconic horror illustrator Basil Gogos had died. While the news wasn't completely shocking (his health had been declining for some time), it was still saddening.

I had tried to meet Gogos at two previous horror conventions, only to have him cancel both due to his poor health.

Last night, I had set up a quick photo shoot to honor Gogos, only to have my computer crash and delete all of the photos. This was getting worse by the minute!

So, I only have the original scan of my prized Basil Gogos autographed "The Mummy" Topps trading card that I had won in a contest back in 2010...

And had I had the chance to meet Gogos at either of those two cons, I would have had him sign my well-read copy of his book, Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos. This book showcases his iconic, richly illustrated portraits of classic movie monsters, most of which graced the covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine during the 1960s and 70s.

And my personal favorite...

Rest in peace, Basil Gogos.

  

Rest In Peace, Tobe Hooper

Another horror legend has passed. Tobe Hooper, director of classics like Poltergeist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, died Saturday at age 74. Rest in peace, Tobe.

You can read more about Hooper's passing here.

And the question that comes to my mind is that in losing two giants in the world of horror films (George Romero and now Tobe Hooper), which directors will step up and become the marquee names to lead the genre through the next generation?

Image courtesy of MovieStillsDB.com

 
And as I did with the passing of George Romero, I will sit down tonight and toast Hooper with a viewing of his 1974 masterpiece...

Rest In Peace, George Romero

Sad news today from the world of horror. The godfather of the modern day zombie film, director George Romero passed away today at age 77.

Time to sit back and toast him with a viewing of his 1968 masterpiece...

You can read more about Romero's passing here.


Rest in peace, George.

A Memorial Tombstone for ActionJax

Last October, fellow Akron haunter and friend Jack "ActionJax" Herman passed away, leaving a tone of sadness to the Halloween season. He had always complimented me on my tombstones, so I decided to pay tribute to him in a way that he might have wanted: make him a part of the display that he liked so much!

Jack was a huge fan of the Gothic stylings of the classic Universal Monster movies, so I decided to create a small, simple gothic-inspired tombstone. I also decided to do a stark, nearly total black and white color palette to mimic the films themselves.

In researching elements for the stone, I found two symbols that would work perfectly on this epitaph: ivy, which symbolizes friendship and the butterfly, which symbolizes a shortened life.

Once the epitaph had been designed and engraved, and the foam tombstone shaped and painted, the final piece was ready to go! I brought the stone outside at dusk for some rather atmospheric shots in my back yard.

As the light faded, I pulled out the LED spotlight for a few dramatic shots.

I'm really happy with the way this stone turned out. It is going to look great in my yard haunt display and will serve as a nice little reminder of a friend who left us way too soon. Rest in peace, Jack!

 

Rest In Peace, ActionJax

It's a sad day here at the cemetery. Today, I said goodbye to a friend and fellow Northern Ohio Home Haunter, Jack "ActionJax" Herman, who passed away this past weekend. My deepest sympathy to his wife Jody, his three children and two grandchildren. Jack's friendly and warm personality as well as his outrageous passion for classic horror and home haunting will be sorely missed.

Spooky1, RoxyBlue and ActionJax at Midnight Syndicate Live! at Cedar Point Halloweekends

Rest in peace, Jack. This one is for you...