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

The Dearly Departed Players

2013 Performance of The Dearly Departed Players

This coming Sunday, October 12, 2014, the Cemetery Traveler will be traveling to Scranton, Pennsylvania (from Philadelphia, where I live) to attend the annual “Dunmore Cemetery Tour.” This is actually in Dunmore, PA, a suburb of Scranton. And it’s really not so much a tour, as it is a a tour-d-force performance by the Dearly Departed Players, a theatrical troupe headed by Julie Snell-Esty.

Julie Esty (r) with daughter Megan during a performance

"Dearly Departed" cast member

The free tour is held on two weekends every October. This year, it was held on Sunday, October 5; next weekend, it will be held on Sunday, October 12. To give you an idea of the size of this event, about 400 people showed up last Sunday! This is typical. The Dearly Departed Players are a cast of about fifteen amateur and professional theatrical performers who enact scenes at different spots in the cemetery. The crowd is led to each of maybe eight sites where it stops to witness a (audio amplified) short play, monologue, reenactments, ballet, or a Spoon River Anthology-type presentation.

Wendy Conrad Belaski performing at Dunmore Cemetery

The crowd enjoys a witty and historically accurate script written (a new one each year!) by the troupe's artistic director Julie Esty. Some of the stories of those interred here in the Dunmore Cemetery have been published in Julie’s two books, listed below. As with her books, Julie bestows upon the audience an abundance of humor, tears, and history, all the while raising the public's awareness to the importance of cemeteries. The enthusiastic cast of Dearly Departed Players brings her script to life - so to speak.

Books by Julie Snell-Esty
Stories in Stone: Tales of Life from the Dunmore Cemetery
Stories in Stone Volume II: Tales of Life from the Dunmore and Forest Hill Cemeteries
(Please contact Julie Esty directly to purchase.)
      

This will be the third year I have attended the tour, officially as a guest artist, but I do tag around after the crowd to enjoy some of the entertainment. I set up on the lawn near the entrance about an hour before the crowd arrives (noon), along with a few other artist/vendors. So basically, I create a freestanding exhibit of my photographs, greeting cards, jewelry, books, etc. on a table and display racks on the lawn at the cemetery entrance. Then, busloads of people show up. It is in this short interval of time that I try to make my sales! I do spend quite a bit of time, however, chatting with folks about cemeteries in general. The tour begins at 2 pm.

Ed Snyder's "Stone Angels" sales display at the Dunmore Cemetery

Ballet during 2012 Dunmore Cemetery Tour

It is fascinating to see how many people show up for the performance, attesting to the quality of the production and the dedication of the Dearly Departed Players! You may notice from my photos that the performers typically dress in period costume, with the Victorian era being a quite popular one.

Performer entertaining an audience of hundreds at Dunmore Cemetery

After the two-hour tour/performance, the main thing on the minds of those hundreds of people is a bathroom! So while the cemetery for the most part clears out quickly, I tend to chat with many hangers-on, whether they be genealogists, actors, historians, or just regular people sharing ghost stories! There has traditionally been a dinner afterword and I am grateful for the invitations I have been extended by the Dearly Departed Players. They are such a joy to spend time with!

2013 cast of the Dearly Departed Players at the Dunmore Cemetery

More information!

Voices from the past tell their stories as tour windsthrough an autumn hued Dunmore Cemetery

First Friday: Julie Esty and the Dearly Departed Players

Around the Towns, Sept. 28, 2014
The Dearly Departed Players on Facebook
The Dunmore Cemetery Tour on Facebook

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