"Dark Shadow's" Crypt at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

I never thought I’d associate my Mom with vampires, but stranger things have happened. My Mom, who passed away in 2023, was an avid fan of the daytime American Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, which aired on ABC-TV from 1966 to 1971. It was one of the things we bonded over. I was probably nine or ten years old. I would come home from school and watch it with her every weekday at 4 pm. Those characters – Barnabas Collins (the main vampire), Angelique (a witch), Quentin (a werewolf) – were all super scary. I remember naming our cat, “Quentin.”

To my surprise, during a fall midnight lantern tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (in Sleepy Hollow, New York), the tour guide, John, showed us one of the scene locations of Dark Shadows! As we stood in front of a mausoleum – in the dark, lit by a dozen lanterns – John told us that the show’s producers wanted to use a particular mausoleum as the “Collins” mausoleum that Barnabas called home. Really? Wow! THAT was unexpected! (You see, I never do any research ahead of exploring a cemetery - I like surprises). But the family that owned that mausoleum would not give permission to use the structure. My hopes dashed.

“I don’t wanna be buried in a pet sematary!”

But then …John says, we WILL see another site on the property that WAS used for scenes in Dark Shadows. Damn! My lucky day! He said nothing for the next half hour as our group of twenty people trod from site to site in the dark. As we trudged forth into the darkness, we heard screams off in the distance – which I assume came from the tour group ahead of us as those people were being eaten. We saw the original graveyard of the Old Dutch Church, the graves of historical figures like Andrew Carnegie and the Rockefellers, and heard various stories involving local history and folklore. The photo you see above was made on the location where the Ramones shot the video for their song, “Pet Sematary!”

Receiving Vault

Finally, up a small incline above Washington Irving’s grave, we came to the receiving vault. After explaining that this structure, built into the hillside, was used to temporarily store bodies in winter while waiting for the ground to thaw (prior to the Industrial Revolution, graves had to be dug by hand), our guide told us that this structure had been mocked up and used as the Collins’ family crypt for the Dark Shadows television serial!

Barnabas and friend, inside a crypt

After John explained what the receiving vault was used for, he asked if anyone wanted to go inside. Of course everyone yelled, “Yes!” Nothing about the tour was really spooky, but this made up for it! He unlocked the door (with a skeleton key, I believe) and we filed inside. I certainly did not expect to see an open crypt with Barnabas Collins’ framed portrait inside! Jonathan Frid is the actor who played this role. There were three or four other large glossy photos on the opposite wall showing scenes from Dark Shadows, portraying the various regulars from the show.

Collins Family Mausoleum

Above is a photo hung inside the receiving vault showing the outside with the mocked up “COLLINS” name above the door, and some Gothic-looking statues flanking it. In the television show, Barnabas’ coffin was actually hidden behind a wall in the Collins mausoleum. You would pull the lionhead chain above one of the crypts to open the wall. Barnabas would rise out of his coffin and bite you. If you check out some of the Dark Shadows episodes on YouTube you might be surprised at how well they were done. Sixties’ horror movies are famously cheesy, but Dark Shadows can be genuinely tense and frightening. Happy Halloween!

Tombstone Faces

So here’s a creepy idea for Halloween – “Tombstone Faces!” Cemeteries can be uncomfortable places for many people, and when you’re in one by yourself and you come upon something like the scene at left, well, it can be downright unnerving. This fellow was in a century-old neglected graveyard in Camden, New Jersey. It’s origin? A stone fence post for a family plot. There’s always an explanation ....

Even His Headstone Cried

Or is there? Sometimes, the stones themselves seem to take on uncannily human features. With the bird droppings on this stone above, the “face” actually appears to be crying. This may be its reaction to the Christ Church Burial Ground people in Philadelphia charging ADMISSION to this Revolutionary War-era graveyard near Independence Hall. I’m going to guess the “eyes” you see were a result of fasteners that once held a plaque of some sort.

Cemetery face, Baltimore National Cemetery

Cemeteries usually put on their best face for the public, but what if the “face” is actually a cleverly rendered likeness within a statue? In this Civil War monument in Baltimore (photo above), I did not notice the face beneath the fallen soldier’s head (the pillow or headrest) until many weeks after my visit. Was the “face” intentionally carved as part of the marble sculpture? I was looking at my printed photograph weeks after my visit when I saw the face (yes, children, I made this image back when us old-timers used something called “film”). Is the “face” actually supposed to be there, or is it just a trick of shadows? Perhaps it is the result of acid rain on marble?

Another such occurrence was this statue I found in the Italian Club Cemetery in Ybor City, near Tampa, Florida. The child figure was small, maybe sixteen inches high. I did not see the large face at the time I made the photograph at right (this image was quite digital, thank you), as I was concentrating on the child's face. So is that an intentionally-carved weirdly happy monster face posing as the pedestal in the scene? You tell me.

Walter Matthau from www.fanpop.com

Then there are the eroded faces like the one you see above (the stone carving at left, I mean). Perhaps they were once something attractive. A hundred or more years later, they become what we humans become after we have shuffled off this mortal coil – shriveled, distorted shades of our former selves. I’m thinking this old gnarly Walter Matthau-like face (at left) was once that of a sweet youthful cherub. We all age; everything ages – even the graveyards and gravestones that mark our passing.

"The Scream!"

Halloween is Cancelled!

Let’s face it – the “Cemetery Traveler” blog is not all that scary. I mean, its mostly about making photographs in graveyards. Maybe a little creepy at times, but it won’t typically scare you out of your wits. I’m guessing that a lot of people find my blog and browse a few articles, hoping to be scared, but then leave somewhat disappointed. So why is it that people like to be scared?

A good topic to cover as we approach Halloween. Its all about controlled fear, isn’t it? A vast subsection of the American population likes to be scared a little. They like to be frightened – but on their terms. That’s why horror movies and novels are so popular, not to mention “fright nights” at mock-up “haunted houses” around Halloween. There are even people who will PAY to walk around in a cemetery at night! (Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia offers night photography tours through the grounds. People sometimes show up without cameras just for the experience! Now that’s controlled fear.)

 

Night photographers at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia

 A friend of mine, who works at Laurel Hill, called me on his cell phone the other day. The connection was rather choppy, so I asked him if he could call me on a land line. He said, “Sorry, I’m out in the middle of the cemetery and there’s a dead zone here.” He’s probably used that line a million times but I always fall for it! Cemeteries can be frightening places for many people. There is a different kind of fear there – fear of the unknown. What’s happening there under our feet, what will happen to us after we die. Even after traveling to hundreds of cemeteries internationally over the last fifteen years, I still run across graveyards that just look creepy! Its like they just can’t help themselves.

Cemeteries may not look so forbidding in the summer, but in the fall, when things are beginning to die (at least here in the northeast portion of the U.S. where deciduous trees abound), they take on a more stark appearance. Sure, the orange and red leaves dress them up a bit, but that only lasts a few weeks. Then the trees are bare, the air gets cold, and soon the snow begins to fall.

Not many people crave real fear, the actual thing. Consider the current (October 2014) situation in the counties in northeast Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountain region, where Halloween has been cancelled. Suspected murderer Eric Frein (who supposedly ambushed PA State Police officers and killed one on September 12, 2014) is still on the loose. There have been two sightings near the Pocono Mountain East High School (Swiftwater, PA), where a witness described a rifle-toting man with mud on his face. Think those residents are thinking about trick-or-treating?

Suspected killer, Eric Frein (ref)

Thanks to Eric Frein, there’s no Halloween. It's been cancelled. The fact that controlled fear has been replaced with the real thing might get people thinking about fright nights a little differently. The manhunt continues as I write this, six weeks later. Schools have been closed, hunting season has been cancelled. Again, there will be no Halloween. Night time, as usual, is the scariest time. Consider this account of a Swiftwater resident interviewed by CNN:

"Every night, every day, but mostly at night, the helicopters would be flying over our house, waking us up at 1 o'clock in the morning," said Cory Batzel, in Swiftwater.

He said he's not afraid, except at night, when he believes Frein might be on the move.

Reference and further reading:

Eric Frein sightings: How 'wilderness ninja' has outfoxed 1,000 cops

Creepy Halloween Photography Exhibition

"Leg Up," by Veronika Schmude

When I asked some photographer friends of mine to participate in a “Creepy Halloween Photography” exhibition, I was surprised by the submissions. I thought MY work was creepy! I certainly expected some cemetery work, but half the entries are non-cemetery images – and they are downright frightening. A few of them (along with the artist’s name) are sprinkled throughout this article. Even the cemetery images are unusual, e.g. night scenes from Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery and Jonathan Klein's piece (below) -  a community mausoleum in Poland! I really am awestruck by the depth and breadth of people’s creativity.

"House of the Dead," by Jonathan Klein

I curate monthly photography exhibits at the Dawson Street Pub in Manayunk, PA (a Philadelphia neighborhood), and I thought the October show should have a spooky theme, what with Halloween and Day of the Dead looming. I set up the exhibit Saturday, October 4 (2014), and I must say, it is exactly what I hoped it would be!

"The Portender," by Marietta Dooley

I especially like this one by Marietta Dooley (at right) - I have no idea what it is, but it is downright ghoulish, in a Blair Witchy-kind of way. And Veronike Shmude's "Leg Up" image (at top) from New Orleans' St. Roch Cemetery chapel is just wonderful. It's odd how half the (lucky) thirteen images involved people (or some semblance of a person), while the other half were basically still lifes. My brother Tim Snyder's "G.I. Jerrys" is an eerie little piece - sixties-era G.I. Joes dressed as WWII German soldiers.

"G.I. Jerrys," by Tim Snyder

If you’ve ever seen the original version of any artwork, you know that it is always superior to a reproduced image. So please come out to the Dawson Street Pub and see these macabre images in person! You can stroll to the back room gallery any time the bar is open (every day from noon to 2 a.m.) or you can join us at the free reception on October 18. during the reception, most of the artists will be present so you can pick their brains about their work. There's always a story behind every photograph!

FREE Reception/Halloween Party!
Saturday, 2- 4 pm, Oct. 18, 2014
(in conjunction with award-winning Philly Blind Pig BBQ  event)

Dawson Street Pub, Manayunk, PA

"Concrete City, Thanksgiving Day," Patricia Kinsman

The stories behind some of the photographs are in some cases scarier that the images themselves. For my money, one of the best offerings might be Patricia Kinsman's "Thanksgiving Day, Concrete City" (at left). This subtle image has a wild story behind it. An actual all-concrete village of was built in 1911 in northeast Pennsylvania, then abandoned in 1924. It is so out in the woods, it is unnerving. Hats off to the intrepid explorers and abandoned site photographers who traverse these Texas Chainsaw-like woods to visit the ruins.

The “Creepy Halloween Photography" exhibit will be up from October 4, 2014 until the Day of the Dead – November 1, 2014. Free Opening Reception Oct. 18, 2 - 4 pm (in conjunction with award-winning Philly Blind Pig BBQ event, for which I suppose I should post an "excessive meat warning"). All the images are framed and available for immediate purchase.

Dawson Street Pub, Manayunk, PA (with the Philly Blind Pig)

Participating Artists:

 Veronika Schmude

 Frank Rausch

 Karen Schlecter

 Jonathan Klein

 Ed Snyder

 Patricia Kinsman

 Emma Stern

 Karen Schlecter

 David Swift

 Tim Snyder
 Marietta Dooley

 Maria Rose                

It's October, and things are beginning to Die

Its October, and things are beginning to die. Nature, however, is quite selective in that regard. Here in the northeast portion of the US, summer is dying fast. In this particular temperate zone in which I live, leaves change their colors, flowers and people die.

In many areas of the country, nature-lovers like to tour about and see the wonderful fall colors provided by the deciduous trees. One area which depends somewhat on this seasonal tourism is the Pocono Mountain region of northeast Pennsylvania. This year, however, such activity may be limited due to the massive manhunt currently in place for the suspected killer, Eric Frein. So intense is the situation that the state has suspended game hunting and trapping seasons in Pike and Monroe counties. The intent is to keep people out of the woods.

According to PAHomepage:

 “The closure was initiated after the Pennsylvania State Police advised on Tuesday that troopers who are part of the search for fugitive Eric Frein had uncovered explosive devices that apparently were left behind in wooded areas by the fugitive, and would pose an obvious danger to anyone who would encounter them."

"

Billboard depicting the subject of manhunt in northeast PA (ref)

"Frein is wanted in the Sept. 12 [2014] ambush-shooting death of Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryon Dickson II outside the state police barracks in Blooming Grove, Pike County. Trooper Alex Douglass was wounded in the attack. The search for Frein has continued since, and police recently discovered explosive devices – at least one of which was attached to a trip wire – in the area they were searching.”

Halloween and Day of the Dead are supposed to be pretend frightening events, not real ones.

References and Further Reading:

PA Game Commission: Manhunt Places Hunting Season on Hold