• Intro

Forgotten Cemetery

Address:

140 E Mayfair
Orange, CA
92867
United States

Tickets:

currently free, up grading to charitable donation 2009

Myspace:

http://myspace.com/kidzero2525

About:

Return to Forgotten Cemetery Okay I have been reading a lot about back stories and themes. “Much like Kant and Descartes ground their philosophies I want all of you to ground your haunts with a theme. That is the first step to creating real magic with your haunted house…A haunt should focus first on developing a solid story line or at least a solid theme.” I know I want to use the cemetery I’ve got, because I can’t really afford to start over at this point. So what comes to mind story wise that hasn’t been done to death? (I’m never doing anything with pirates!) Well one of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft stories is “The Statement of Randolph Carter” and most of it takes place in a graveyard. The story begins when Randolph Carter is found wandering through swampland in an amnesiac shock. In his statement to the police, Carter attempts to explain the disappearance of his companion, the occultist Harley Warren. Warren has come into the possession of a book written in an unknown language that he forbids Carter from seeing. From his mysterious book, Warren apparently deduces that doors or stairways exist between the surface world and the underworld through which demons may travel. He encourages Carter to travel with him to the location of one such portal, an ancient graveyard near Big Cypress Swamp. Upon arriving, Warren locates a particular tomb and opens it to reveal a staircase that descends into the earth. Taking a lantern, he leaves Carter on the surface and follows the stairs into the darkness, communicating with his companion by a telephone wire. After several minutes of silence, Warren suddenly begins to make vague, panicked outbursts that culminate in a desperate plea for Carter to flee. Finally, after Warren is silent for several minutes, Carter calls to him down the line, only to hear an alien voice telling him that Warren is dead. That’s it; short and spooky. The imagery is perfect, a swamp, an ancient cemetery, descent into a tomb, demon creature kills you or drives you insane. So now I have my theme. What do I do with it? Step one. Big Cypress Swamp. My house is a typical fifties rock roof dwelling, not at all menacing or reminiscent of a cypress swamp. So sixteen feet of flats attached to the garage, painted to resemble a moonlit swamp should help. I think a few skeletal trees, half a dozen new gravestones and all the dead plants Home Depot will give me should just about do it. My little fog machine won't cover the added footage, so I guess it's time to put some bucks into a new bigger one. Maybe put some of sinister scents mildew or swamp smell into it. For sound effects I have recordings of Okie Fenokee Swamp; alligators, frogs, night birds, etc. Step two. Ancient Graveyard. My nice manicured lawn hardly reminds one of an ancient graveyard showing 'the manifold signs of immemorial years.' First of all the Oriental Trading company's kiddy tombstones are just too cute. I need a deep, damp hollow, overgrown with rank grass, moss, and curious creeping weeds, filled with a vague stench of rotting stone. If there is to be the signs of neglect and decrepitude on every hand and the haunting notion that we are 'the first living creatures to invade a lethal silence of centuries' I have a lot of work ahead of me. I'll start with three or four ground cover pieces made of poultry netting covered with fabric and glue. The idea is to make relatively light mounds that will hold artificial plants. The center of these mounds could hold a crumbling cross, antique slab, or over turned urn. They could also hide a fog machine or speakers. The front of the house doesn't need the swamp flats because I will build a row of cenotaphs , and mausoleum facades to cover the front door and windows Back in the corner will be a moss-grown, moisture-stained, half- obliterated sepulcher of terror . Partly concealed by unhealthy vegetation.

History:

Two or three years ago I bought a miniature for my Halloween town called "Forgotten Cemetery" I loved it and thought I would make a great setting for a front yard haunt. So I started building it one piece at a time. I have some real wrought iron fences, no plastic. My wife hates them because they weigh a ton, but they don’t blow over in the wind. I've yet to build the four stone columns to support them, but the wait has given me some usable plans. My first tombstones were a learning experience, with each getting better than the last. I’m ready for the big boys, four to five inches thick, and three to four feet tall. I only slightly aged the first ones, the next will be well weathered, names and shapes nearly worn away. The nice short lawn covered with leaves also doesn’t make it. I want one and two foot weeds covering most of the lawn. Cynthia, the flying crank ghost, looks great in her new crypt but the second smaller tomb needs work. Counting Eddie the ground breaker, I now have four skeletons skulking about. They need corpsing but work just fine as is.