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Aftermath
I was introduced to Aftermath recently. They are "A specialty cleaning service" that can remove bio-hazardous material. According to their site, aftermathcleaning.com, they handle decontamination of structures and vehicles, odor removal, and bio-hazardous clean up, removal and restoration. After the last Party With the Dead bash, you know we are adding them to our rolodex! That, and "Jack Splatter" is not invited back. Thanks for the quick clean-up. 
Find a Grave
Ever wonder where your favorite departed celebrity is spending eternity? I know where Elvis' grave is (whether or not he is actually in it I can't say). However, if I need to meet up with someone else, I would start looking at FindAGrave.com. You can search for famous graves, claim to fame, or location. Heading to Orlando for golf? Say hi to Payne Stewart between rounds; after his plane crashed, he rests in Doctor Phillips Cemetery. It's like Google for the dead!
Barrett's Haunted Mansion still rules!
Barrett's Haunted Mansion, in Abington, MA, is still the best haunted house around. To top it off, the Party With the Dead crew was invited to help scare the visitors this weekend. See pictures from the big night. They had over 1400 guests, and we had a blast getting made up and getting our scare on. Thanks to everyone at Barrett's for having us. If you have not been there, it is so worth seeing for yourself. Find out more 
Mommy, where do zombies come from?
What parent hasn't welled up a little bit when a child finally starts to wonder about the world around them and ask this important question? I know it was a special day when I explained to my kids about Human Zombie Virus (HZV) and the secrets the military kept from most people. Thanks to some friends, I was able to secure one 55-gallon drum of HZV infected remains. I have cracked it open a little in my garage and a bit of green fog is oozing out - not sure if that is a good thing or not? I will certainly roll it out for Halloween night to show the neighborhood kids. Gotta run, I am getting hungry for some brains. 
Shipments!
The next wave of halloween goodies has arrived! Thanks to Jeff at Death Studios for these awesome masks - he's still the best! 
This guy is currently haunting my living room mantle...
...and this zombie rocks back and forth behind his tombstone.
ZOMBIES!
Since we have settled on a basic zombie theme for this year, I started searching for some good makeup and costuming resources. Here is what I have so far:
Our New Haunt
We can now share our new location. Halloween will be at 89 Endicott Street, Westwood, MA. (map) Also, we have settled on "Zombie" as our theme for the year. More to come on that and the specific events for this year.
Moving?
It's true. After 12 years, the Party With The Dead Halloween events are moving out of Randolph, MA. We don't have a new location, yet. But check back over the next few weeks; we will post all the details here.
Halloween Night 2006
We have slowly started adding some pix from the big night. We will also be posting a video clip from the great
TV coverage from Fox 25 News. Click to see the photos.
Halloween Party 2006
The party was a huge success! Thanks to everyone that came by.
The photos are here.
New Coffin...Re-animated
We wrapped up most of the coffin today. All the photos are here. We stained it red mahogany and put 2 coats of semi-gloss on top of that. We put an actuator in the foot end that opens and closes the lid. We will hook that up to a motion sensor that will make the lid open when victims walk by. Perfect...
Barrett's Haunted Mansion
We took a field trip a few nights ago to visit Barrett's Haunted Mansion in Abington, MA. It was a VERY long line, but we were entertained by some pretty scary characters working over the guests. One of the girls in front of us literally was on the ground crying because of the guy pictured below. It was beautiful!
The mansion itself was probably one of the best I have been through. Not just a dark maze with people jumping out at you, they had many rooms with themes (like a forest, a butcher, a dirty bathroom) each with cool props, lighting, and startling effects and performers. See it if you can!
The New Coffin
I have been thinking about building a new coffin for a while now and, after visiting the Halloween Outlet last week, decided now was the time to build something much more realistic. We started on Saturday and made good progress. Here are all the pictures.
When this one is done, we will be cutting the old coffin in half and staging it as an un-earthed piece with a zombie crawling out in front of it.
Oh, It's on now!
I received the first boxes of supplies from our friends at Fright Catalog full of goodies for our "Fairy Tale Nightmare" including my ogre mask (that Ethan had to try out. Lot's of good ideas
are pouring for this year's fright. Getting started for real, now...
Inspiration
We have settled on a theme for this year. It will be the "Fairy Tale Nightmare" I have included some inspirational artwork below...
The Day Has Arrived!
We are all very excited about today. The weather is finally clear (amazingly it was snowing for the Bash on Saturday night!). All the projects are done and now we just have some serious scaring to do tonight. Thanks to everyone who helped with or otherwise tolerated our obession. When this is over, we can get started on next year. Happy Halloween!
Halloween Preparations Continue
We have updates in the photos section that shows progress on several projects. This year will be our biggest ever. Ha! We can't wait!
Halloween Bash 2005 - Invitations are Here!
The invite is now available. The invite has been temporarily removed for privacy.
Halloween Bash 2005 - Save the Date!
We have settled on Saturday, October 29th, for Halloween Bash 2005. Invites will be going out in a couple weeks, but save the date. This is not to be missed.
Halloween 2005!
The night of terrors creeps toward us. It will be here too soon, yet we are still unprepared. This year's festivities will include a pre-Halloween bash and another over-the-top haunt for the daring children of the commonwealth. More details to follow...
Necro Goes into The Tank!
Here is NecroBoy getting ready for his first trip into the subterranean oil
tank of love. We prepared a 250 gallon oil tank buried six feet under with air
lines and one of our best "dearly departed" for the Boy to hang out with. What
happens in the tank, stays in the tank.
Best Haunted Houses
AOL Cityguide has compiled a list of haunted attractions for your consideration. They all look cool - if only I could see them all. Check out the list
...and so it ends for another year.
There is a part of me that is sad. Another part of me that is both tired and happy. Several parts are rather sore from abuses at the hands of props. However, we had a wildly successful Halloween at Mr. October's house. Hell, we even had Fox25 come and film us for a bit (not that we made it on the news, there was only some stupid squeaky witch from Salem). But nothing comes close to having kids so close to you that they are kicking you and saying, "That's not real..." and then scaring the hell out of them. Or having some little kid poke you with his plastic sword, bragging to his friends, "I told you he wasn't real..." and flying down off the scarecrow cross at them. All in all, it was phenomenal fun.
Best Halloween Prop Ever!
Here it is again; proof that truth is stranger than fiction. Seems that a Delaware woman who committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree was left for hours because passers-by thought it was a Halloween prank. Get the whole story here.
Log of Pain
So, it seems my house requires blood sacrifices to be happy. Several times during the course of my kitchen recontruction, did the fell building demand payment, and again now during crunch time for Halloween. IT Princess (aka Resident Evil) backed into an open electrical socket, getting a very pleasurable 110v directly to the spine. Mr. October did his best to slice off his fingerprints with a speed square. Yesterday, however, while running down my basement stairs to retrieve some faux rock paint to bring to Mr. October, I drove a good size roofing nail into the ball of my foot. Mrs. Prince of Darkness was rather upset when I handed her a hammer and asked her to remove said spike from said foot. Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to take any really good pictures of the rather significant (at least in my mind) amout of blood coming out of my foot. It's not a critical injury, it just slows me down a bit in my quest to finish up the scarecrow cross and church window BEFORE Halloween, as opposed to AFTER.
Red Eyed Demon
I have been meaning to put this picture up for quite some time now. I have included a cropped small version here. Use the link to get a better sense of how huge this thing really is. The statue was once used in a movie and now sits in a back yard in Mt. Laurel, NJ. I love it, but I am not your average neighbor, either. The eyes glow red - as do several of the New Jersey residents that live nearby who have tried various legal gymnastists to get the statue out of sight. I would have it in the front yard and have mock sacrifices on Saturday nights.  Full view
Looking for the "Death Mobile"
Saw in the news that a museum is willing to pay $1 million for the Porsche that James Dean died in. story I am guessing that this museum knows about our little group and thinks they can start their own "death party drive-in" with folks like us shelling out big buck to sit in famous death-mobiles. Maybe. But will they let you party in the backseat with your favorite cold and clammy mammy? I think not. Party With the Dead kicks any musuems butt!
Sweet Suicide
You might have seen them on HBO, but the web site called Suicide Girls has super hot photos of leather and lace, goth, pinup girls. More revealing that the pinups from 60 years ago, but certainly a modern take on the concept. Founded by Missy Suicide, the site includes journal entries and other features in addition to the photo spreads. Hey, they also have a book! Enjoy.
Soundtrack for the eternal party
Came across a record in the UK by the Ripmen called Party with the Dead. That is one kick-ass name for an album. We may have to get a copy just to give it a listen at the next PWTD national convention in Death Valley. Yeah, that'll be cool!
Are you on the list?
George Burns used to say, "Every morning when I get up, the first thing I do is read the obituaries. If I am not in it, I have a cup of coffee." Now you can keep tabs on who has checked out (or who is just resting) on the Dead People Server. Make sure you aren't on the list, then enjoy.
Trend Analysis
I happened across this site today, AmIAnnoying.com (Dead Before 40). Although the site includes many lists, this one is a list of people that died before they turned 40. Since I turned 39 on Friday, this seemed appropriate. The premise of the site is to collect votes for how annoying each person is. You will see that murderers and terrorists are generally regarded as more annoying than their victims. What I found interesting was a couple other trends. First, there seem to be more women than men dying in their teens. The opposite is true when you get into the thirties. Next, for such a small percentage of the (famous) population, pro wrestlers seem to die young at an alarming rate (perhaps due to bad habits?). Lastly, I notice that, in most cases, the decedents all died from a violent encounter or self-inflicted abuse. Not a lot of "natural deaths" among the under 40 set.
Fantasy Coffins
In Ghana, Fantasy Coffins are created by craftsmen for the wealthy departed. With enough money, you do not have to be relegated to the usual box shape. Like travel? Spend eternity on board a jumbo jet. I saw one that was made for a gynecologist that was a uterus and ovaries. You can see samples here and here.
Scary as hell
I did a Google image search for the phrase "Scary as Hell" just to see what would come up. I figured I would get some photos of crime scenes, some movie clips, and maybe some random scary images from haunted houses and Halloween. I did get all of these, but the scariest item (showed up several times in various forms) was this photo.  This particular image highlights the gross self-mutilation that a billionaire can indulge. There is no doubt in my mind that this kind of ugly goes to the bone.
Some haunting ideas
Found a great site with lots of high-quality do-it-yourself haunting ideas. Perfect for Halloween or any of the Party with the Dead events. Check them out here.
Say it isn't so
Maybe some of our readers won't be able to get here, but the folks at PervScan have a site dedicated to news of the depraved. This is not a porn site, but rather a collection of news stories with perverse themes. Of particular note is their necrophilia category. This shows how many people have unwisely indulged their dark urges outside the safety of Party with the Dead.
Pierced posers
With a name like Graveyard Girls, what's not to love? This site features photo contests with a stone cold theme, goth girls with gravestones. Brilliant! 
Meet Karen Cooper
Karen Cooper is the 10-year-old girl zombie in the 1968 documentary "Night of the Living Dead." Karen, you may remember, gets bitten by the walking dead, dies, and rises again in her family's basement. Upon her re-animation, Karen eats her dad and kills her mom in a memorable scene with a garden trowel. Karen's face is certainly a recognizable icon that symbolizes the best in the horror genre. Karen was played by Kyra Schon. She has a website that discusses her involvement in the film. Kyra is now an artist that sells some NOTLD inspired memorabilia - including my favorite new gift idea, custom signed trowels. Perfect gifts when having guests for dinner! 
No relation
While looking for the undead breathern, I came across this happy site. It is not a band, and it is not a place to get personal with the cold and the gray, but another Dead Man's Party. This is a very entertaining comic by Mike Akers, a Florida artist with a very dark sense of humor. Great stuff!
Crowded out
Paul Hester hanged himself in Australia over the weekend. For those who don't know, Paul was the drummer for Split Enz (1983) and Crowded House starting in 1985. ( Story) Yet another Behind the Music story of a band making it big... then not. Reminds me of another Aussie rocker that reached the end of his rope, Michael Hutchence. We should have a "Party with the Dead Aussie Rockers" event to pay tribute to these folks.
Just not the same
With the launch of our website, and the global interest it has generated, it is not surprising that some folks have gotten confused by the imitator sites that can be found. This is the only true home for Party with the Dead. This should not be confused with Dead Man's Party, an Oingo Boingo cover band. While we would welcome DMP to perform at one of our events, it's just is not the same. Be sure you aren't stuck in the audience listening to 80's music when you really want to be your own star and Party With the Dead!
More partiers found!
I came across a blog that chronicles the history of a party with the dead in Nederland, CO. They have coffin races, T-shirts, and Champagne sipping at dead grandpa's shed. Read all about it.
St. Patty's Day
Being a special day for some folks, I offer the following: This site attempts to capture leprechauns on a hidden webcam (including a 360 view) and offers visitors the change to report a sighting. While "party with a leprechaun" has a nice ring to it, I think I will have my green beer with a dear friend that just happens to be sporting a fine covering of green mold (very tasty!).
You are not alone
Think partying with the dead is just a human thing? Think again! Read about these randy birds who don't need a warm body to have a good time. "The sad tale of the Dutch homosexual necrophiliac duck last week inspired enormous interest among readers all over the world..."
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