Lansing Jaycees Haunted House 1984

After yesterday's post on the early Jaycee haunted houses of the 1970s, I discovered yet another classic gem. This one is another guided haunted house walkthrough in Lansing, Michigan from 1984.

And this one is pretty bonkers from start to finish! It looks like an absolute blast, and every actor really goes for it in front of the camera from the standard gorilla (with human hands) in the cage to the guys really hamming it up at the butcher shop. In fact, the only one not going crazy is the ticket guy at the front of the haunt, as he looks to a be a little bit "out of it"... (wink, wink)  :) I would think that working at a haunted house back then would have been a lawless wasteland, but it would have also been incredibly awesome!

Be sure to watch for all of the now classic and collectable masks that some of the actors wear, including the Zagone Fang Face and the Don Post Halloween III Skull and Hagatha Witch.

Another dose of the nostalgic warm fuzzies from 1984. Enjoy!

Jaycee Haunted Houses 1975

There is nothing better for me than to get that warm, fuzzy feeling of Halloween days gone by. The nostalgia of my childhood trick-or-treating is something I reflect upon frequently when I now set up my annual yard haunt, trying to capture that magic to share with my neighborhood today.

Growing up, my parents took me to my first haunted house back in the early 80s, put on by a local Jaycee chapter in Parma, Ohio. By today's standards, it was pretty silly, but it was that moment that changed me forever! I HAD to go to other haunted houses!!

I came across this amazing video last year, but somehow never posted it. It's a mini documentary about those first haunted houses that were put on by local Jaycee chapters. It's a wonderful and hilarious look back at where the haunted house industry first got its start nearly 50 years ago.

If you're a fan of Halloween and haunted house history, this one will should give you the warm fuzzies, too. Enjoy!

Revere Cemetery - Richfield, Ohio

So originally, I decided that I was going to scrap my Cemetery Sundays segments for this year, as I thought I just wouldn't have the time to do it. Funny how things change...

This morning I decided to merge 2 tasks into one: get a nice long bike ride in AND make sure I rode past a local cemetery to get a few photos. And just like that, a new version of Cemetery Sundays was born! Grab my bike, head out, and make sure the route takes me past a local cemetery that I haven't photographed yet.

So here we go!

My first cemetery of 2020 was an obvious choice. I have been past this small, unmarked cemetery hundreds of times. And it just so happens to be located directly across the street from my son's elementary school.

Revere Cemetery (also known as Hershey Cemetery or Revere Road Cemetery), was established in 1858 and contains the graves of some of the earliest inhabitants of the town of Richfield, Ohio. Only holding a total of roughly 55 graves, I was able to tour the grounds quickly and get a few cool photos of the wonderful old, ornate tombstones.

So kick back and enjoy a few photos from Revere Cemetery in Richfield, Ohio...

3 Hours of Ambient Sounds from Forbidden Planet's Alien Krell Machines

I'm hoping to get some serious work done on this year's yard haunt projects this weekend. So I was really stoked to get this from Planet Doom Haunted House ace and all-around pleasant dude, Brent Wilson.

3 straight hours of ambient audio pulled from the 1956 sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet! Now to be completely honest, I have only seen this movie a couple of times and I don't readily recall the noises of the Krell Machine, but after listening to it I was quite surprised!

This looping track makes an incredible dark industrial ambient audio track on its own and would make a really, REALLY great background audio track in a haunt scene! It's so menacing!!

I'm off to work in the garage, and I'll be playing this while I toil away...

Press play and enjoy!!

"Hallmark Howl-o-ween Sounds" Cassette

Welcome to day 2 of our October celebration, and welcome to the first Freebie Friday, where I rummage through and share my ever-expanding collection of novelty Halloween records, tapes and CDs! 

This segment has become my absolute favorite. There's just something so fun and nostalgic about listening to the old gems (and the stinkers!) that populated store shelves each Halloween. So let's dive in!!

"My... what an ugly costume!"

"Aren't you a little big... to be trick-or-treating?"

"Why didn't you wear a mask? Oh, excuse me. I guess you did..."

Hallmark Greeting Cards released a series of "spooky sounds" cassettes in the late 80s, including "Howl-o-ween Sounds" in 1987 (their third of four cassette releases). I had seen their other releases, but happened upon this one at just the right price - cheap!

The cool linocut wolf howling at the witch on the cover just drew me in! Very dark and ominous for a happy greeting card company.

The cassette contains a standard, somewhat random collection of "spooky" sounds, but nothing too frightening. Organ, chains, wolf howls, cats, creaks, laughs, heartbeats, bubbling lab, thunderstorms and wind, a few shrieks and echoed screams. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The one big thing of note on this one is the inclusion of silly vocal cuts (including the three quotes above). They are way too prominent here, and distract from the overall fun of this release. Each voice actor seems to try way too hard to deliver their lines.

And that leads to my other issue, repetition. The content is repeated on both sides, but everything also repeats 2 or 3 times on each side. So instead of "45 minutes" like it says on the cover, you only really get about 10 to 15 minutes of unique sounds.

But even with those issues, this one is still fun to listen to at least once. It has enough cheesy nostalgia to it to add to your collection. Enjoy!!

DOWNLOAD "HALLMARK HOWL-O-WEEN SOUNDS" HERE.

Welcome, October!

Welcome. Here we are again. October 1st...

IT'S OFFICIALLY HALLOWEEN SEASON! And it's time to start the annual Countdown to Halloween! An orange-and-black blitz of 31 posts in 31 days, all leading up to our high holiday of All Hallows Eve!! This is our 10th year celebrating all things creepy and cool with the Countdown to Halloween blog party, and we are still going strong. Can you feel that crisp, electric excitement in the air!!??

We've got a long list of blog posts all lined up and ready to go. A full month stuffed with tricks and treats, so be sure to check back daily because this party is going nonstop straight through the 31st! And you don't want to miss out on the good candy, do you??

So let's get this thing started, shall we!?

In previous years, I would kick off the big party with the reveal of my annual Highbury Cemetery haunt logo. But I'm going to switch it up a bit. In truth, I'm still putting the final touches on this year's logo and will reveal it soon. So in the mean time, I created a new piece to share with you all...

It's my unofficial official Countdown to Halloween banner for 2020! I was in a vintage mood and created this fun little piece. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO GRAB IT AND SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE! It's yours to spread far and wide, to help celebrate the greatest month of all!

And I won't stop there! Be sure to come back daily for more spooky fun, as I'll be bringing back the Freebie Fridays segments where I share more nostalgic gold from my ever-increasing collection of classic novelty Halloween "spooky sounds" records, tapes and CDs! I might even have time for a couple of new Cemetery Sundays segments where I grab my camera and tour a local cemetery, photographing the beautifully ornate old tombstones within. Kick back and share a toast to the pumpkin gods as we sample an array of new pumpkin beers and rate them on our dreaded Drunken Jackos pumpkin beer rating scale! And of course, I'll have tons more daily Halloween hijinks to carry us closer to that big night! So settle in, take a deep breath, and let's get this pumpkin party started!!

And if you're REALLY in the festive mood, why not sign up at the Countdown to Halloween page and throw your own party!? I'll be sure to stop by and I'll bring the snacks!