Inflatable Reaper Carriage

WalMart, last year. If I weren't so poor, this would have been mine.

Not so sure it would have come down after Halloween, either. Like, ever.

Themes Day Pt.1!

Dark Shadows Theme

Tales of the Crypt

Halloween

Beware of the Blob

Mourning

This one is actually creepier in long shot, and especially from behind, with those big holes in her back. Those shots are up at Flickr.

Bellefontaine, Ohio

Radio spot for Halloween

Donovan - Season of the Witch

Lou Rawls (yes that's right) - Season of the Witch

And this has nothing to do with Halloween, but I just got back from a great show and the thing that makes it even vaguely relevant here is that it was such a treat for the ears, and the eyes provided it. You see, I won my ticket to the show through a photography contest sponsored by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts; and the fun of it is that I spent the show sitting directly under the subject of my winning shot.

So let me share a little something from the groups that performed:

Blind Boys of Alabama - Take My Hand

and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (who really blew me away) - Bourbon Street Parade

Ok, So It's Actually a Left Hand, and It's Not Red

My friend Susan and I were visiting Lima, taking photos of the old signs and storefronts as we do, when she looked through the window of a long-abandoned store and jumped a little. When I saw what she was looking at, I jumped too. Then we both realized what it was and relaxed.

But for a second or so, we thought something quite grim had happened there.

So we took some pictures.

Lima, Ohio

Nick Cave - Red Right Hand

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Receiving Vault
Cedar Hill Cemetery
Newark, Ohio

David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

It's October 1st, and time to kick off the Halloween season! For the next month, every post will be Halloween-related, both the songs and photos (and a few videos and recipes, too). Warning: I haunt cemeteries all year long, so there will be lots of graveyard pictures. I'll try to keep them from getting too boring, though.

And thank you yet again to my talented friend Steve (aka Karswell) who created the Halloween version of my banner as well as the original (and don't think I haven't been dying, no pun intended, to show this one off).

As usual, AEAE is only one stop on the Halloween block party, and tomorrow, I'll have a list of links to other blogs celebrating all month!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Well, this is it. The big day! It's hard to believe this Halloween month is already almost over, and yet I can't wait until I can post a picture of anything I want ... :)

If you go to my Flickr site, You'll see this photo of a very well-known family crypt in Green Lawn Cemetery; it's not only the largest private crypt in Columbus, not only the resting place of a rich and prominent Columbus family, but also ... it's supposedly haunted!

From Andy Henderson at Forgotten Ohio (that link will take you to a page devoted to this crypt) "They say that, if you knock on the mausoleum's door, the spirits will respond with a knock of their own--and, if they're particularly active, a more substantial manifestation."

Well, neither my friend Susan nor I knocked. We didn't need to; for the first time I've ever seen, the inner door beyond the gates was ajar! I don't know why, but I don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I DO, however, most certainly look a gift mausoleum in the door. Or, uh, something.

So here it is, the interior (or part of it, anyway) of the Hayden Mausoleum:



As you can tell, I'm pretty excited about finally getting a decent peek inside.

And now for the musical portion of our program, what else for today but
the Citizens of Halloween with "This Is Halloween."

And here's the video of it, because it just doesn't get any better than this.



Finally, here is my Halloween "Mix" for 2007 - really, it's just every song I've posted this month, plus a few extra goodies thrown in.

Dane's Halloween Mix 2007

Thanks for all the fun this month, everyone - I enjoyed every post I read, every comment I read, every song I downloaded ... I appreciate both my visitors and my fellow bloggers.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The Echoing Trickle

Huntington Chapel
Green Lawn Cemetery
Columbus, Ohio

Imagine walking into a chapel/mausoleum in the middle of a sprawling old cemetery; the chapel is grandly beautiful, with windows by Tiffany. The moment you walk in, you hear a loud, echoing trickle. After a couple of turns, you find yourself in a newer area, again, grandly appointed.

Turn around and you see the fountain above, rusting, barely spitting out anything, but doing so very loudly.

Maybe it's the rust, or entropy obviously having its way with something in an otherwise immaculately maintained mausoleum, or just the water itself; sometimes, in the right context, even water can be eerie. Maybe it's the loud, insistent noise in such a ... deathly ... quiet environment. All I know, is that this is by far the most unsettling thing in the chapel.

Nick Cave - Red Right Hand
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell

The Rich,

The poor, the haughty die
And all in dust without distinction lie

Green Lawn Cemetery
Columbus, Ohio


And now a few new favorites from various Halloween-a-thon participants:
Judy Garland - Purple People Eater
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra - My Friend The Ghost
The Five Jones Boys - Mr. Ghost Goes To Town

Pearls

Green Lawn Cemetery
Columbus, Ohio

Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party
The Simpsons - Halloween Special Theme

Her Eyes Seem To Follow You

Green Lawn Cemetery
Columbus, Ohio

Thanks for the heads up on this one, Susan.

Voltaire - Cannibal Buffet
Like Jonathan Coulton, whose songs I posted last week, this guy sings songs from the intersection of horror and humor. This one, about a poor guy who washed up after a shipwreck on an island full of cannibals, is ridiculously catchy; I haven't been able to get it out of my head for two weeks.

...if you're wondering what's eating me
it's cannibals on the coast of Barbary...

Ok, so a few days ago, I posted the updated blog roll for the Halloween-a-thon. Well, having swiped it whole from Todd at Neato CoolGhoulville, I therefore used a list that didn't include him.
So I'm linking & plugging his site here.

Go see Todd. For reals. Everyday he seems to uncover a forgotten and happy part of my childhood. Maybe yours too.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Thomas Edison's Frankenstein

From a link on one of the blogs of the Halloween-a-thon (I wish I could remember which, and when I find it, I'll give credit), Thomas Edison's 1910 version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Yeah, Thomas Edison.

The monster's creation is really sort of gross, and simply, but creatively done. Once finished, the monster seems more obnoxious than anything else. Whiny, argumentative, nagging, petulant ... not exactly terrifying.

The ending doesn't make any sense either. But this is a thrill to watch for two reasons; because it's Thomas Edison's take on it, and because the visual aesthetic is a joy, whether you're a historian or a steampunk, horror, science fiction, or silent movie fan.

The Raven, Vincent Price, and the Muppets

What do they all have in common? Well, just this post, really. And YouTube.



The Raven, as told by Vincent Price

I wanted to put up a nifty tribute (like the Stephen King one from a few days ago) to the man - they're all over YouTube - but for two things. One, none of them were quite what I want out of a tribute to him, and two, the Stephen King one used Thriller, I don't want to post another video that uses Thriller. Guess what the best ones used? Yeah. Granted, it's appropriate, but geez.

(In case you're not sick of "Thriller" yet, here it is.)

But I did find this. The colors have faded, and the sound is terrible, but it is Vincent Price. Performing The Raven. For Halloween. What, I was gonna pass this up?

And I simply must share this: I found this initially at Armagideon Time, one of the very cool blogs I've found through the Halloween-a-thon, and thought, "YES! I must swipe this and post it for my very own!" only to find that The Retropolitan (another very cool blog I found on the Halloween-a-thon) swiped it first thing this morning.

Ah well. No post meant as a virtual hug for Vincent Price can do without posting it, so here it is anyway.



And what the hell, as long as we're on the subject of Vincent Price and Muppets, here's this:


And that was as lengthy a post as I've done in over a year. Whew! I'm so damn glad my blog isn't one of those writing-type ones. I enjoy reading them, but I don't know how y'all do it.

Vincent

I've watched so many Vincent Price movies in general, but especially this month, and read enough about him, that I feel almost as though he's an old friend.

No matter how hideous he looks onscreen, no matter the depth of his terrorizing someone, no matter what a bad, bad man he's portraying, there is always something about his characters that's compelling and sympathetic. I think it's because in real life, he was such a sweet person, with such a great sense of humor, that often, that sweetness and humor snuck through into his performance.

The above is a 5:52 short by Tim Burton about a seven year old boy who wants to be Vincent Price. It's a cute homage, and thoroughly in the Halloween spirit.

Best part? It's narrated by Vincent Price himself.

Halloween-a-Thon

The Mayor of Neato Coolville's post today reminds me that it's past time to do a roll call of bloggers participating in the Halloween-a-Thon and simultaneously makes me realize that there's a ton I didn't know about earlier. Whee! More Halloween!

Here's the roll call:


Armagideon Time
The Armchair Chef
Branded in the 80's
Cool-Mo-Dee
Creepy Los Angeles
Dartman's World of Wonder
Dave Lowe Design
Distinctly Jamaican
Dr. K's 100-Page Super Spectacular
Drunken Severed Head
Frankenstein's Fun House
Frankensteinia
Geektarded
Ghost Relations Department

The Horrors Of It All
Jart in My Head
John Rozum.com
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery
Monsterama
Monster Rally
Mostly Ghostly Music Sharing Blaaahhhggg!!!
Music You Won't (Possibly) Hear Anywhere Else
Plaid Stallions
Plastic Pumpkins
Projection Booth
Retropolitan
Scar Stuff
Secret Fun Spot
Tikiranch
Universal Horror Sounds
Vinnie Rattolle's Records
Wonderful Wonderblog

Thanks for the list, Mayor Todd. :)

Pumpkin Stack

Pumpkin Festival
Circleville, Ohio

Bernard Herrmann - Twilight Zone
Danny Elfman - Tales from the Crypt
Bernard Herrmann - Psycho theme
Los Straitjackets - The Munsters Theme

More Pumpkins

Glass Art Pumpkins
Pumpkin Festival
Circleville, Ohio

Book of Love - Witchcraft

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell On You

Frank Sinatra - Witchcraft

Ella Fitzgerald - Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

Step Right Up

Win a Pumpkin!
Pumpkin Festival
Circleville, Ohio

Alice Cooper - Feed My Frankenstein
Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein
Rocky Horror Picture Show - There's a Light Over at the Frankenstein Place

Tales of the Crypt

More from Amaranth Abbey
Columbus, Ohio

Alice Cooper - Cold Ethel
Cliff Richard - Devil Woman

Night of the Living Dead

George Romero's Night of the Living Dead
Yep, the entire movie. Enjoy!

Stephen King Tribute

I found this on You Tube, edited by a "NarugiSharpshooter" for a class assignment; I think it's an absolutely genius job.

Warning: there are (of course) moments of grue and gore. If you're squeamish, you may want to skip this.