Ghost, Live in Youngstown 10-10-19

Seeing the band Ghost will never get old to me. Yes, they have become more mainstream and yes, concerts have become much more expensive, but the band continues to deliver their trademark style of pop satanism with a twist of humor.

Last night, I made it show number five when Mrs. Highbury and I travelled to Youngstown to see them play at the Covelli Centre. It was nice to see them playing in a larger venue, but we were still able to get close to the stage with our floor tickets.

It was also nice to get in with my trusty camera, and as soon as the band hit the stage, I started snapping.

As always, Ghost put on a really great set, spanning music from all of their releases. Lots of costume changes, Cardinal Copia's comedic wit, incredible lighting and pyrotechnics, confetti, and super-tight musicianship made for one hell of an experience.

They are still out on the road on their North American 2019 Ultimate Tour Named Death, so go check them out if they're playing a city close to you. It's worth every penny!

Enjoy some of my photos from last night's show...

  

"Haunted Mansion" Cassette

Welcome to another exciting edition of Freebie Fridays, where I scour the depths of my vintage novelty Halloween vinyl record and tape collection and then review and share them with you all!

This time out we have "Haunted Mansion," by Rubie's Costume Company (who somehow are still in business after all these years!).

Now if like me, your first thought is, "Cool, Haunted Mansion. I love Disney!" you would also just like me, be completely wrong. This has no affiliation with Disney's iconic haunted attraction whatsoever, outside of simply lifting the name.

The Ultimate Sounds Of Horror In Stereo.

I would be willing to say that this tagline is a bit far fetched, but honestly this is a really fun cassette.

What you get is two sides of classic, novelty Halloween sounds. A mishmash of screams and cackles, organ notes, werewolf howls, weird cat meows, thunder cracks, and just about every other standard Halloween sound effect, all rolled into two 15-minute tracks.

And I love it! This cassette nails what's so great about the vintage Halloween soundtracks of the 80's. All kinds of "spooky" sound effects pasted together with a paper-thin production quality, mass-produced with over-the-top graphics, and available everywhere during the Halloween season. Pure Halloween nostalgia!

And the best part about this one? It's still available everywhere, most still sealed in their original backing card! Straight from the late 80s directly to your door. And for cheap!! They must have way overproduced these things back in 1987 and are still trying to get rid of them today. But their loss is our gain!

Enjoy "Haunted Mansion, " because this one really is a classic novelty Halloween gem.

DOWNLOAD "HAUNTED MANSION" HERE.

  

Tröegs Brewing - Master Of Pumpkins Ale

Another week, another pumpkin beer sampled and ready to face the dreaded Drunken Jackos rating scale!

This week, I'm reviewing a beer that was near the top of my pumpkin beer want list. Troegs Brewing's Master of Pumpkins is a once-a-year limited release, so finding it required more than just simply going to the local grocery store and plucking it off the shelf. Luckily, I was able to find the highly-coveted 4-pack at a local liquor agency.

After giving it a day to chill in my refrigerator, I greedily grabbed a bottle and scampered off to my office to sample my little treasure. I didn't realize that it is recommended to be served in a chalice as opposed to a standard pint glass, so I had to get fancy with a Great Lakes Christmas Ale chalice (although in hindsight, seems a little bit sacrilegious with THAT holiday's title emblazoned on the glass...). I untwisted the wire cap, popped the cork from the 12.7 ounce bottle and poured away...

I was expecting big things from this beer, and Master of Pumpkins did not disappoint. It poured a velvety rich, dark red/amber color with a nice thick head. It gave off a unique, slightly earthy, nutty note with a hint of wood.

Upon first taste, a slight tangy sweetness quickly gave way to a bold, dry malty flavor at the back of the tongue. Something much different to the sea of other pumpkin beers out there.

The only ding was a slight, lingering sour tartness throughout that I didn't care for.

But as I let the beer breathe a bit, the taste actually opened up with a nice sweetness, pushing that sour flavor back a bit. And I was eventually rewarded with a nice clean, dry, semi-sweet pumpkin flavor aftertaste, which was unexpected and pleasant.

Overall, I was really impressed with the complexity of this beer. The flavors changed as it breathed, improving the overall experience. I would give this at least a 4.5 on the scale, but that little bit of sourness brought it back just a bit for me. I'm not sure if it was the clove or the French Saison yeast, but pulling back on it during brewing might make this one of the best pumpkin beers out there.

Still, I really like this beer and how unique it was versus most other "pumpkin pie cinnamon sweet" pumpkin beers out there, so Troegs Brewing's Master of Pumpkins still gets a 4 out of 5 on the Drunken Jackos scale.

I really recommend this one, if you can find it. Just be patient and let it breathe. Give it time to mellow and you will be rewarded.

And yes, I can't end this review without stating the obvious. Every time I type "Master of Pumpkins," I smile because I can only thing of one thing. Cheers to you, Troegs!!

Aphex Twin - "Matchsticks"

When I first discovered the dark ambient music genre and its subsequent use in my home haunt display, it was—of all places—in my wife's CD collection.

Buried in with all of her other CDs that I never thought too highly of, was an obscure double-CD by some band that I had never heard of called Aphex Twin.

And I hate to admit it, but she was the one who first told me to listen to it, saying it had a creepy sound that would tie-in to the Halloween season.

So I popped the Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2 CD into the player and pushed "play."

The audio that came through those speakers ABSOLUTELY floored me. I immediately fell in love with the hauntingly dark atmospheric sounds unlike anything I had really heard before. I listened to that CD for the rest of the night, amazed at what I was hearing...

And then it hit me. These tracks would make the perfect audio backdrop for my haunt display! No traditionally-structured songs, no immediately recognizable instruments and no vocals. The music would sit "behind" the display, serving only to add an incredible element of tension and creepiness to the visual elements.

I ended up using 6 different tracks from that Aphex Twin release for my display that year, and those tracks were used again for the following 3 or 4 years. It was the first time that I had really focused on the audio aspect of my haunt and what a truly good soundtrack could do to enhance the overall haunt experience.

Every Halloween season, I still go back and listen to that original 6-song playlist. And every time I do, I hear the first note of the first song and I get an incredibly warm, nostalgic feel. The track Matchsticks was the first track used and it is still one of my favorite dark ambient tracks of all time.

So take a walk down the Highbury Cemetery memory lane and enjoy Matchsticks by Aphex Twin.

20/20 Special Report: VCR Horrors!

Here's a really great throwback video that absolutely nails kids like me that grew up in the 80s, watching classic slasher flicks that were rented from the local video store.

It's a rather hilarious "shock" report from Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters, featured on the long-running ABC News program, 20/20.

Whether it was heavy metal music, violent video games, or gory horror movies, there was always something to point the finger of blame at as the latest culprit guilty of corrupting our kids...

Watching and listening to the kids in this piece made me giggle, as it brought me back to those amazing days of hanging out with friends, watching Jason, Freddy and Ash, without a responsible parent in sight.

And even with all of the warning signs and hysteria presented, we all turned out just fine.

Take it away, Babs, because I'm putting a flyer together for my next Gross-Out Party. I just hope that Caston Jarvis can make it, because that kid rules...

Creeps In The Corn Maze

This weekend we made it out to Szalay's Farm, a local corn farm and market that puts together a great little seasonal Halloween production each October. Tons of pumpkins, fresh roasted corn, spooky decorations, live music, a paintball shooting gallery, hay wagon rides, a vortex tunnel, and my favorite - a corn maze!

We paid our admission, got our map, and set out to find all the numbered stations within. The corn grew tall this year, and it made it extra spooky as we went deep into their cornfield to visit the setup at each station...

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Checking out all the creeps in the Corn Maze at Szalay’s Farm!! #halloween #cornmaze #creepy #halloweenprops #szalaysfarm #haunted #spooky #corn #maze #mask #halloweenmask #witch

A post shared by Highbury Cemetery (@highbury_cemetery) on Oct 5, 2019 at 7:58pm PDT

Oh, and just in case you haven't yet, feel free to visit and throw a few likes on the Highbury Cemetery Instagram page. Tons of Halloween photos throughout October and beyond!!