Pär Boström - "October"

Lots of things going on but nothing coming out of the Cemetery today, so have another helping of seasonal audio bliss. This one from Pär Boström, the dark ambient artist behind Kammarheit, Cities Last Broadcast, and other amazing projects.

Some gloomy autumn music. Enjoy.

  

Throbbing Gristle - "Hamburger Lady"

I recently revisited this horrific masterpiece by Throbbing Gristle, originally released back in 1978. Still so unnerving today! This would make an incredible soundtrack for a haunt. Or a nightmare...

Enjoy.

  

"Nightmares Of Halloween Past" By Gary Baseman

I recently grabbed a copy of artist Gary Baseman's new book, Nightmares of Halloween Past. And what an incredible book it is!

288 pages cataloging Baseman's extensive collection of vintage Halloween photography, which serves as the inspiration for many of his paintings also showcased...

All photos courtesy of Gary Baseman and Two Fauns.

Since the book has shown up at my door, I have spent quite a bit of time perusing its contents. So many wonderfully old, creepy, and nostalgic vintage Halloween photos alongside Baseman's now-iconic character style paintings. And the background stories give great insight into both the artist and his works.

I grabbed this book on a bit of a whim, but I am SO glad I did. It really straddles the line of being both an artist's book, and a nostalgic Halloween book. And if you're into either (or both, like me), I highly recommend adding it to your collection!

It is now sold out at Gary Baseman's site, but a few copies remain over at Two Fauns. Get on it!!

And if you're really into Baseman's Halloween-inspired art, he's currently offering a really cool, limited edition print of The Bad Luck 13 Monster Gang, a painting featured in the book. Available here.

Only 20 days until Halloween, monsters! I hope you're ready!!

  

Asath Reon - "Three Times Burned And Three Times Born"

Fantastic ritual dark ambient from Slovakian artist, Asath Reon. This release has become one of my favorites and I'm 93.6% certain that this track will be used as the main soundtrack in my Cemetery display.

Enjoy!

New Jack-O-Lantern From Willow Cove

Man, is this thing COOL! I just received my new paper mache jack-o-lantern from fellow haunter Willow Cove, and I couldn't be happier. He absolutely nailed that creepy, hand-carved Halloween pumpkin feel. So much intricate detail in the sculpt, and super solid on the build. And he even came with a tea light to illuminate his ghastly grin! This guy is taking his rightful place dead center in my Halloween shelf display.

Thanks so much, WC!! He is perfect!! Be sure to visit the Willow Cove Manor Etsy page and pick up a little something for your display, too. Let's support those independent Halloween artists!

  

Sheet Ghost No.1 Prop

Here's a quick and easy prop that I threw together in about a week, and will stand out nicely among the tombstones in the Cemetery...

I decided that I needed to add a few figures to my Cemetery display this year, and the first idea that came to mind was a group of sheet ghosts. But not the standard, white sheets with two eyes variety. I wanted to make them much darker and creepier...

I had the old sheet for this prop sitting in a bin, as it was used as a backdrop for an old prop years ago. It had already been dyed a patchy grey black color, perfect for this ghost. So with this sheet as the focal point, I went to work...

I ended up using a styrofoam skull head, as I wanted the sheet to form around the skull features on the face.

I also wanted to keep this light and cheap, so I simply used a 1-1/2" PVC pipe for the main body shaft and the shoulders, connected with a 4-way PVC junction.

I then drilled into the bottom of the skull with a 1-1/2" hole saw bit, and then Gorilla Glued the neck portion of the PVC pipe into the bottom of the skull, finishing it with a full coat of flat black latex paint that I had down in the basement. I ended up drilling the hole slightly off-center, as to give the head a slight cock to the right...

I then assembled the main body shaft to the connector section, attaching shoulder sections to both sides. To give the upper part of the body a bit of form, I simply wrapped the shoulder sections with a bit of bubble wrap that I had laying around...

I ended up spray mounting the sheet around the skull head, as I wanted to make sure it adhered tightly to the skull features of the face.

I then finished the prop off with detail work to the sheet. I cut small eyes and a slit for the mouth, adding various washes of watered-down black paint, streaking and dripping across the entire head.

I ended up using fabric glue and a few concealed safety pins to ensure a tight bunching of the sheet around the neck portion, accentuating the folds with black paint.

I simply gave the rest of the body a slight wash of watered-down paint. Nothing too detailed, as I wanted to keep the focus on the head.

This one came together REALLY quickly and easily, and I'm REALLY happy with the end product. I think this ghost is going to look super creepy with some colored lighting to accentuate the horrific contrast of the face as it sits behind one of my tombstones in the display.

I have a few more sheets and one more foam skull, so I'm going to throw another one together this weekend. A family of new ghosts will bring some much-needed life to my cemetery this Halloween.