Things Begin To Stir At Highbury Cemetery...

An eternity of cold, lifeless slumber is abruptly shattered. Movement stirs within the undead crypt as frantic reanimation courses through once stagnant flesh. A distant bell beckons from the darkness, tolling the seasons’ metamorphosis. The tomb’s stone slab lid slides ever so slightly releasing a fiery amber glow. This awakening cannot be stopped, will not be stopped! A withered hand jolts skyward, breaking the silence of eternal rest. Blood red eyes cast a manic gaze into the blackened depths of a cold autumn night. And locked in the incessant grip of insatiable voracity… I rise from my grave.

I took another extended break from all things Halloween (just for the sake of my sanity) and had planned on making my triumphant return just in time for TransWorld. And Half Way To Halloween. And again for the Midwest Haunters Convention. And then again for the 4th of July...

But it kept getting pushed back because I just didn't feel "ready." The full commitment wasn't there, so I just kept kicking the can down the road. And now the "100 Days 'Til Halloween" posts are coming. Damn. The alarm bells began ringing and the decrepit old voice buried deep in the back of my rotting brain whispered, "It's time..."

A small but fiery glow from a single candle cracked the darkness of the Cemetery and reanimation began the yearning toward those chilled nights of Autumn.

The planning begins again as I revisit the long list of new ideas and old repairs. The full transition will continue over the next few weeks as the stream of all things Halloween begins to flow again, but for now the seal of the grave has been broken and things are once again stirring at Highbury Cemetery...

102 days until Halloween. Are you ready?

  

ARISE!!! (The 2025 Redux)

An eternity of cold, lifeless slumber is abruptly shattered. Movement stirs within the undead crypt as frantic reanimation courses through once stagnant flesh. A distant bell beckons from the darkness, tolling the seasons’ metamorphosis. The tomb’s stone slab lid slides ever so slightly releasing a fiery amber glow. This awakening cannot be stopped, will not be stopped! A withered hand jolts skyward, breaking the silence of eternal rest. Blood red eyes cast a manic gaze into the blackened depths of a cold autumn night. And locked in the incessant grip of insatiable voracity… I rise from my grave.

I originally posted this in 2022, but it's more relevant now than ever. I took another extended break from all things Halloween (just for the sake of my sanity) and had planned on making my triumphant return just in time for TransWorld. And Half Way To Halloween. And again for the Midwest Haunters Convention. And then again for the 4th of July...

But it kept getting pushed back because I just didn't feel "ready." The full commitment wasn't there, so I just kept kicking the can down the road. Until the "100 Days 'Til Halloween" posts appeared. Damn. The alarm bells began ringing and the decrepit old voice buried deep in the back of my rotting brain whispered, "It's time..."

A small but fiery glow from a single candle cracked the darkness of the Cemetery and reanimation began the yearning toward those chilled nights of Autumn.

The planning begins again as I revisit the long list of new ideas and old repairs. The full transition will continue over the next few weeks as the stream of all things Halloween begins to flow, but for now the seal of the grave has been broken and things are once again stirring at Highbury Cemetery...

100 days until Halloween. Are you ready?

  

ARISE!!

 
An eternity of cold, lifeless slumber is abruptly shattered. Movement stirs within the undead crypt as frantic reanimation courses through once stagnant flesh. A distant bell beckons from the darkness, tolling the seasons’ metamorphosis. The tomb’s stone slab lid slides ever so slightly releasing a fiery amber glow. This awakening cannot be stopped, will not be stopped! A withered hand jolts skyward, breaking the silence of eternal rest. Blood red eyes cast a manic gaze into the blackened depths of a cold autumn night. And locked in the incessant grip of insatiable voracity… I rise from my grave.

The "100 days until Halloween" posts have once again snuck up on me. You would think that after doing this for so long, some sort of internal alarm clock would be ringing...but I'm caught off-guard again. Time to fire up the blog and get back into planning mode for Halloween! 99 more days to plan, build, and execute another super spooky yard haunt display. 

Lots to do and lots of ideas already in my head, so it's now officially go time. I'm REALLY excited to blow the dust off the casket, rise from the crypt, and dive head first back into spooky season.

I have quite a few new posts ready to go (the ones that never saw the light of day in 2023 PLUS some brand new announcements for 2024), so check back soon for a whole new crop of creepy fun!

2024 will be year TWENTY ONE for Highbury Cemetery and I STILL get just as excited for Halloween as I did way back in year one. Reanimation is coursing through the veins and it's time to get back to work. LET'S DO THIS, creeps. It's go time.

ARISE!!

 

An eternity of cold, lifeless slumber is abruptly shattered. Movement stirs within the undead crypt as frantic reanimation courses through once stagnant flesh. A distant bell beckons from the darkness, tolling the seasons’ metamorphosis. The tomb’s stone slab lid slides ever so slightly releasing a fiery amber glow. This awakening cannot be stopped, will not be stopped! A withered hand jolts skyward, breaking the silence of eternal rest. Blood red eyes cast a manic gaze into the blackened depths of a cold autumn night. And locked in the incessant grip of insatiable voracity… I rise from my grave.

  

Soon...

 

Back From The Grave!

 

After four long months away, it is time to reanimate this festering, lifeless corpse! Time to awaken from my deathly slumber...

Four months since I've posted anything here in the Cemetery. It's hard to believe that it has been that long, but life and time, even when flipped completely upside down, still move on...

Back in March and April, when the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect all aspects of our lives, I figured that further on down the road, our high holiday of Halloween would inevitably be cast aside. Yet another unfortunate but necessary precaution to insure the safety and well-being of us all until things could return to normal (whatever "normal" may mean anymore...).

And as I had alluded to in previous posts, the burnout from 16 straight years of home haunting had really begun to take its toll. Couple that with moving to a new neighborhood and having to "start over" last year to a much smaller, unsuspecting crowd (on a Sunday, no less) drained my Halloween enthusiasm tank to near empty.

As the days rolled on into summer, our annual Halloween and haunt conventions were canceled one-by-one, further removing that traditional ramp up toward the big night.

It was then that my obvious choice was clear. 2020 would be the perfect year to take a break. A year off from the taxing craziness of home haunting. Especially if there wasn't even going to be a Halloween this year.

But apparently, I was wrong...

Within the past couple of weeks, a strange thing began to happen. Murmurs and rumblings began about our beloved day. And it got me to thinking about the possibility...

"What if?"

And then it happened. My city announced last week that there would be no official trick-or-treat planned for this year. BUT! Each neighborhood was free to conduct their own trick-or-treat, if done in a safe and responsible way.

Bingo. Go time. I was talking to a new neighbor who was quite fired up on the announcement and decided to "take over" the night's planning as no one else had stepped up to lead the charge. And at this point, I was still on the fence about even doing anything this year. So I quickly decided that I had a strong, new ally for Halloween night.

We sat and talked for at least 30 minutes as I revealed my true Halloween identity. She was floored. At that moment, my plans for 2020 changed. I decided that I needed to step up and help rescue Halloween this year. Trick-or-treat COULD be done in a safe, responsible way that could be enjoyed by the entire neighborhood.

I immediately volunteered to create a trick-or-treat flyer. In previous years, our neighborhood trick-or-treated on the Sunday before Halloween, 5-7 pm. This year, that just ain't gonna work. We have already decided that our trick-or-treat will be on Halloween night. As I think it should be. And being on a Saturday night this year is quite a bonus...

My previously empty Halloween tank had just gotten a quick jolt of life. I broke out a couple of my wonderful old spooky Halloween records and they sounded better than ever. I took my son to the local Spirit Halloween store and bought his costume for this year. He is super excited and he is going to look great as whatever-the-heck Fortnite character he's going as. I even pulled out my annual inventory list for the home haunt and I'm seeing what I still have time to create for my yard display. And I realized that I could channel this sudden surge of inspiration and creativity into this blog.

So after four months away, it looks like the orange-and-black spirits have brought me back to the fold. And I don't think I could have it any other way.

I hope my little kickstart helps inspire and motivate some of you as well. It is a very strange time, and we are nowhere near out of the woods with this pandemic yet. Halloween needs us all this year, but we need to stay safe and prove that we can do this responsibly. I have seen quite a few announcements that haunted houses will open up, mostly in reduced capacities. But for this year, I'll take it. 

Please be safe and follow established guidelines to help us get through this crazy year. It will ensure that we all come back full force next year.

47 days until Halloween. Are you ready?

2020 Starts Today...

So there I was, enjoying another much-needed clean break from all things Halloween. October thoughts had been relegated to the back burner, allowing other life passions to get some much needed attention.

And then it happened.

This past weekend, we were at a neighbor's surprise birthday party having a great time. The neighbor was introducing me to some of his other friends, when out of nowhere he started telling them about my crazy/incredible Halloween display. And a few of the friends became very interested, asking all about it. By the end of the conversation, a few of them were really excited and very intent on coming over to check it out this year...

Ding. Break over. 

Looks like it's time to bring those simmering October thoughts off of the back burner and get it over some high heat right up front. The light switch has been thrown and it's now time to start thinking about Highbury Cemetery, 2020.

Last year turned out to be surprisingly good for our first display in our new location. We really shocked the neighborhood (in a good way) and got the attention of the neighbors.

So it looks like I'll be doing it again this year, and as always, adding a bit more to this year's show. And I can't wait.

In thinking about this all, the new ideas are already starting to flow. There's a lot to organize and plan, and eight months may seem like a long time, but those days will fly by and it won't be long until we're again sitting at October's door.

It's time to jump back in and get things moving. There's a lot to get to in the upcoming months, so let's get the Halloween vibe going again.


And stop back tomorrow, as I'll have a special announcement for all you haunter lovebirds out there!