"The Grave-Digger" (A Poem)

Among the first Arab American writers, Kahlil Gibran became part of New York City’s The Pen League (Al-Rabita ak-Qalamiyya) in 1920, joining fellow Arab American authors like Ameen Rihani who composed their works in both Arabic and English.[1] Being an immigrant, much of Gibran’s work deals with negotiating a dual existence and sacrificing parts of his heritage for acculturation. In his poem “The Grave-Digger,” he uses the metaphor of a sexton to discuss growing wiser with time after accepting the loss of his past self.

Once, as I was burying one of my dead selves, the grave-digger came by and said to me, “Of all those who come here to bury, you alone I like.”
Said I, “You please me exceedingly, but why do you like me?”
“Because,” said he, “They come weeping and go weeping – you only come laughing and go laughing.”[2]

Works Referenced

Fadda-Conrey, Carol. Contemporary Arab-American Literature: Transnational Reconfigurations of Citizenship ad Belonging. New York: New York University Press, 2014.

Gibran, Kahlil. “The Grave-Digger.” The Madman: His Parables and Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1918. 40.
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[1] Fadda-Conrey, 17.
[2] Gibran, 40.

Mossy Skull

$20 - $25 (based on 2024 prices)
Makes one skull

 

For 2024’s cemetery, I endeavored to create a series of props to elevate the graveyard’s theme. One of them was this mossy skull with mushrooms sprouting from its head. The prop turned out well and inspired me to apply the same technique to a large planter filled with similar heads.

• One human-size plastic skull
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in grasshopper*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat gray*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in hunter green*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in neon green*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in olive*
• One adhesive moss sheet (roughly 12” x 12”)
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One 0.12 lbs. bag of mixed moss
• Two artificial palm leaves with wire stems
• Two artificial mushrooms with wire stems
  

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the skull, removing any decorative elements to give the paint a clean surface to adhere to. For aesthetic purposes, I chose to remove the jaw, but you can incorporate it into your version. Following this, use a stippling brush to build up layers of grasshopper, hunter green, neon green, and olive paint, working from dark to light and trying not to overthink the application (a random pattern will look more natural).

2. For further depth, stipple brown and gray paint onto the skull’s surface. Like the first step, you want a random application to achieve an organic appearance. If either color becomes too heavy, you can use some of the green hues to dial it back. 

3. Cut the moss sheet into several random patterns, ensuring there are no straight edges. Then, starting at the base of the skull, adhere them to its surface. Concentrate their placement on locations where growth would naturally occur, such as inside the openings of the eyes and along the crown of the head. If you cannot find adhesive moss sheets, cover small areas of the skull with glue and press loose moss into the paste.

4. Accent the skull with clusters of moss. As with step three, position them in spots where this greenery would typically grow and utilize a variety of colors to give the prop more visual interest.

5. Use a 1/8 bit to drill three holes into the skull: one below the zygomatic arch and two in the crown. Insert the stems for the leaves into the hole under the zygomatic arch and the wire supports for the mushrooms into the holes in the crown, gluing all of the elements in place. Although I used store-bought mushrooms to save time, you can fashion your own with modeling claw molded around a steel wire for support.

6. I kept the prop relatively simple, but you can embellish it further with additional details, like a cluster of insects crawling across its surface.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.

Male Witches in Colonial New England: A Mini-Essay

     The role of male witches in colonial New England, as E.J. Kent discusses, has been largely overlooked by historians, with numerous scholars focusing primarily on their female peers.[1] Examining the trials and persecutions of thirty-five men accused of witchcraft, Kent reveals that the vast majority (twenty-three individuals) were tried, imprisoned, and/or executed for the same deeds of maleficium as their female counterparts, namely “murdering and bewitching men, women and children, bewitching and killing livestock, [and] harming property and domestic product.”[2] Unlike female witches, though, men were also charged with crimes of non-malefic witchcraft, including charming, conjuring, enchanting, and sorcery.[3] In fact, twelve of the thirty-five men examined by Kent were convicted of using evil spirits to find hidden treasure, fortunetelling, and employing black magic to deceive others and enact love spells.[4]

 

Works Referenced

Kent, E.J. “Masculinity and Male Witches in Old and New England, 1593-1680.” History Workshop Journal 60 (2005): 69-92.

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[1] Kent, 69-70.
[2] Kent, 71.
[3] Kent, 70-71.
[4] Kent, 70-71.

Severed Ear Cloche

$5 - $10 (based on 2020 prices)
Makes one display

Among the last builds for the laboratory theme was a series of small cloches containing a single specimen – an ear, an eye, and teeth – which served as small details placed among the larger towers of equipment. Featured here is the ear version (see the eye version here).

• One plastic cloche with detachable base (roughly six inches tall)
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat black*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in metallic silver*
• One 8 oz. can of oil-based interior wood stain in Jacobean*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat beige*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat pink*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat red*
• One 0.44 oz. bottle of clear nail polish
• One to two feet of red yarn
• One 3/16” wooden dowel
• One vinyl ear

1. Cut the wooden dowel into a three-inch section. Depending on the height of the cloche, you may need to adjust this measurement. Then, use a 7/32 bit to drill a hole into the base’s center and glue the dowel at a slight angle in the opening. This will allow the ear to face slightly upward in the display for better visibility.

2. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, build up layers of black and metallic silver spray paint to give the base and dowel the look of steel. It works best to apply a base coat of black followed by sliver, working in quick bursts to allow parts of the black to remain visible. You can also touch up portions with additional blasts of black if the silver becomes too heavy.

3. Once the spray paint dries, create a wash of brown paint and use it to add a level of grime to the prop, allowing the liquid to settle in the crevices.

4. On a newspaper-lined surface, apply three even coats of beige paint to the ear. Then, give it a smudging of pink, focusing primarily on the tips and along the curvatures of the helix and tragus. Use your own skin patterns or those found in a medical textbook for reference.

5. Pain the entire inside of the ear red, ensuring the paint gets into all of the creases. For depth, you can build up layers of varying hues, starting with a darker shade and working toward lighter colors. Following this, use a brush with splayed bristles to apply a smattering of red paint around the wounds and up the sides of the ear. 

6. Position the ear on the top of the dowel, allowing it to tilt slightly upward, and glue it in place. Depending on the height of the cloche, you may need to play with its placement or shorten the dowel so it fits properly under the enclosure.

7. Cut five two-inch strands of red yarn and glue them in the opening of the ear to form a tangled mess of veins. Try not to overthink their placement because a random pattern will look gorier and more unsettling. After the glue dries, coat the inside of the ear and the yarn with the clear nail polish to give them a glossy appearance and lock the strands in place. You can also use a glossy decoupage medium for this process if the fumes from the nail polish become too overpowering.

8. Cut additional strands of yarn and, working from the opening, spread them across the rest of the ear and down the dowel onto the base, using a needle or fine-tipped object to spread the fibers outward. Once you have achieved your desired look, coat the yarn in the nail polish akin to step seven. 

9. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, stain the cloche. Start by applying a thin coat and patting it with paper towels to produce a hazed appearance. Then, brush the edges to create the illusion of grime buildup. You want to refrain from making the coverage too thick, though, because it can obscure the ear inside. 

10. After the stain has dried, reattached the cloche to its base. For additional detail, you can embellish the prop with a specimen tag or biohazard label to cater it to your haunt’s theme. 

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.

"I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain" (A Poem)

Emily Dickinson’s poem “I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain” uses a funeral as a metaphor for insanity, with the heavy-footed mourners a symbol for troubled thoughts. Since its publication in 1861, the poem has been an inspiration for a variety of other artistic works, including Will Walton’s 2018 novel I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain, where the main character grapples with the death of his grandfather, and Andrew Bird’s 2023 musical rendition of the poem.

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race,
Wrecked, solitary, here -

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then – [1]

Works Referenced

Dickinson, Emily. “I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain.” The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Company, 1924. 238.
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[1] Dickinson, 238.

Test Tube Rack

$30 - $40 (based on 2020 prices)
Makes one rack

One of the props I planned to make for the mad scientist theme was a test tube rack; however, time constraints prevented it from reaching completion. A few years later, I tasked myself with finishing the project. By this time, I was beginning to experiment with electrics and was able to incorporate lights into the build, which I think makes it even more impressive.

• 3 ½’ of ¾” PVC pipe
• Six ¾” PVC ninety-degree elbow joints
• Four ¾” PVC coupling joints
• Two ¾” PVC tee joints
• One string of white battery-powered LED lights
• Six plastic test tubes with metal lids
• Two feet of steel wire
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat black*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in metallic silver*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat olive*
• One 8 oz. can of oil-based interior wood stain in Jacobean*
• One 8 oz. can of oil-based interior wood stain in red chestnut*
• One piece of 8” x 11.5” copy paper with biohazard labels printed on it
• At least one tablespoon of dark roasted coffee grounds
• One pan large enough to soak the copy paper
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*

1. Measure, mark, and cut the PVC pipe into the following sections and use sandpaper to clean their edges: one sixteen-inch piece, two nine-inch pieces, and four two-inch pieces. How long and tall you decide to make the rack will dictate the length of the sixteen-inch and nine-inch sections. If you want a shorter proper, you can decrease these measurements or increase them for a larger version. 

2. Use the two nine-inch and four two-inch sections to make the bases, connecting them using the two tee joints and fashioning legs with four of the six ninety-degree elbow joints. To level the prop, line them up to ensure they are the same width and height. 

3. On one of the bases, use a 5/16 bit to make a hole three inches from the top of the tee joint. You want it large enough to easily feed the LED lights through without making it too large. Then, hot glue the lights’ battery pack just below the opening and gently run the lights through the hole. You may need to gradually increase its size if it proves too small at first. 

4. Use a 5/16 bit to create six evenly spaced holes in the sixteen-inch section. This is where the lights will shine through the lids of the test tubes. As with step three, you want the holes large enough to pass the LED lights through, so you may need to widen their openings during step five. 

5. Cut a two-foot section of metal wire, wrap it around the end of the light string, and use it to feed the lights through the sixteen-inch section of PVC pipe. As you do so, use a pair of tweezers to pull the lights through the holes. This will take a lot of patience, so the temperamental haunter may want to do this in stages, working on only one or two lights before taking a break. 

6. Remove the lids from the test tubes and drill a hole in the center of each one with a 13/64 bit. Following this, feed the lights through the lids’ openings and glue everything in place. I used hot glue; however, you can use superglue for a stronger hold, especially if you plan to fill the test tubes with anything heavier than water. 

7. Cover the lights in painter’s tape to protect them from the spray paint and, on a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, build up layers of black and metallic silver spray paint to give the entire rack the look of steel. I found it works best to apply a base coat of black to the entire prop and then add the sliver, working in quick bursts to allow parts of the black to remain visible. You can also touch up portions with additional blasts of black if the silver becomes too heavy.

8. Create washes of brown and olive paint and use them to add a level of grime to the prop, allowing the liquids to settle in the crevices. Depending on your chosen aesthetic, this process can be skipped for a cleaner look.

9. Remove the tape from the lights, glue them in place so they sit below the rims of the lids, and paint the insides black. The black will help darken the interior to improve the light’s reflection.

10. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, paint the test tubes with the wood stain. Apply a thin coat and pat it with paper towels to produce a hazed appearance and brush the edges to create the illusion of grime buildup. Refrain from making the coverage too thick, though, because it can obscure their contents. 

11. Add the coffee to a cup of boiling water. The longer you allow the coffee to brew, the darker the stain. Likewise, greater amounts of coffee will produce a richer stain. Since I wanted irregular spots rather than a unified discoloration, I placed the copy paper on a baking sheet, splashed coffee and grounds onto its surface, allowed the liquid to sit for a few minutes, and then moved it to a space to dry. After this, cut out six of the labels and glue them to the tops of the test tubes as well as the battery pack. 

12. Reattached the test tubes to the prop. If you plan for a permanent display, fill them with specimens and glue the tubes to their lids; otherwise, you can keep them empty and add ingredients during the haunt.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.

Art, Dreams, and the Supernatural: A Mini-Essay

     From Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare (1781) and Francisco Goya’s El sueño de la razon produce monstrous (1799) to the illustrations in The Dreamer’s Sure Guide (1830) and John Fitzgerald’s The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (1860), visual artists during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries began to explore the origin of dreams. As Nicola Brown highlights, much of these works drew upon a similar theme – “dreams are neither one thing nor the other: they are both physical and supernatural, material and spiritual.”[1] Indeed, their art parallels the era’s growing debate on the true nature of dreams and emphasizes, akin to much of the conversation occurring at that time, the perception that the supernatural played a central role in the dream process.[2] This debate, though, was not unique to just this specific time period. In fact, many ancient civilizations maintained that dreams opened a doorway to the supernatural and became a way to reveal a person’s fate. In certain regions of European, it was believed that a dream which occurred three nights in a row was destined to come true. Likewise, in some early Asian cultures, beliefs upheld that dreams revealed the opposite of what would occur in real life, with a wedding leading to a funeral or a death leading to birth.[3]

Works Referenced

Brown, Nicola. “What is the Stuff that Dreams are Made of?” The Victorian Supernatural. Ed. Nicola Brown, Carolyn Burdett, and Pamela Thurschell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.151-172.

Pickering, David. Dictionary of Superstition. London: Cassell, 1995.

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[1] Brown, 151.
[2] Brown, 151-152.
[3] Pickering, 87-77.