The Evolution of Cemeteries, Part Three: A Mini-Essay

     As the social elite deserted cemeteries, the rising bourgeoisie, comprised of craftsmen and laborers, seized control of the territory and, “no longer content simply to sleep in sanctified ground with no thought of the memory they left behind them,” used their modest means to purchase permanent plots from the church and erect gravestones that began as simple crosses and evolved into elaborate markers modeled after the private monuments of the upper echelons.[1] This act, Ariès reveals, weakened the connection between church and cemetery, reverted the graveyard back to a specialized place for burial (a concept not maintained for a thousand years), and began the gradual move back to the outskirts of the community.[2] Part of this migration, in turn, was driven by the insidious conditions caused by cemetery neglect in the middle of the eighteenth century, with overwrought clergy incapable of keeping pace with growing maintenance and dereliction breeding a slew of sanitary issues, including water contamination, infestations of flies spoiling nearby gardens and farms, air from the common graves leaking into the cellars of neighboring homes, and the effluvium of decay, chiefly during sweltering summer months, plaguing the local residents.[3] While administrative reports like Grande et Nécessaire Police (1619) first brought the problems to light during the seventeenth century, serious legislature was not introduced until a century later, with the Decree of the Parliament of Paris of March 12, 1763, for instance, making demands for improvement yet failing to ensure their applications.[4] Despite these governmental holdups, the relocation of burial grounds outside of city limits continued and, by the nineteenth century, it fostered the creation of rural monuments which served as fashionable resting spots for the dead and popular retreats for the living, who flocked to their park-like grave gardens and elaborate memorials to both honor the deceased and cherish each other through social interactions.[5] In doing so, Ariès reveals, the cemetery readopted its communal nature once established in the Middle Ages.[6]

Works Referenced

Ariès, Philippe. The Hour of Our Death: The Classic History of Western Attitudes Toward Death Over the Last One Thousand Years. 1977. Trans. Helen Weaver. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2000.

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[1] Ariès, 272.

[2] Ariès, 320-321.

[3] Ariès, 348-352.

[4] Ariès, 479-491.

[5] Ariès, 531-536.
[6] Ariès, 555-556.

2021's Haunt (Night)

2021: Haunted Cemetery

 

2021 proved a rough year for many people, including myself. I lost my job of seven years and struggled to find employment well until August. With money being scarce, I was unable to build anything and even considered cancelling my Halloween plans; however, family and friends convinced me that doing something spooky for the holiday season would be good for my mental health. So, I gathered up a few staples and created a cemetery on my parents' front lawn. Although it was a rather lackluster display, it did help elevate may waning spirits. Presented here are images of the haunt in all its nocturnal glory (for the daytime images, click here).

"Mr. Macklin's Jack O'Lantern" (A Poem)

Born in 1897, David Thompson Watson McCord was the associate editor for the Harvard Alumni Bulletin, executive director of the Harvard College Fund, and is best known for his numerous anthologies of children's poetry, including Far and Few (1952), Away and Go (1975), and All Small (1986). Many like "Mr. Macklin's Jack O'Lantern" examine the everyday mundane with childlike wonderment.

 

Mr. Macklin takes his knife

And carves the yellow pumpkin face:

Three holes bring eyes and nose to life,

The mouth has thirteen teeth in place.

Then Mr. Macklin just for fun

Transfers the corn-cob pipe from his

Wry mouth to Jack’s, and everyone

Dies laughing! Oh What fun it is

Till Mr. Macklin draws the shade

And lights the candle in Jack’s skull

Then all the inside dark is made

As spooky and as horrorful

As Halloween, and creepy crawl

The shadows on the tool-house floor,

With Jack’s face dancing on the wall.

O Mr. Macklin! where’s the door? [1]

 

Works Referenced

 

McCord, David Thompson Watson. "Mr. Macklin's Jack O'Lantern." Far and Few: Rhymes of the Never Was and Always Is. New York: Little and Brown, 1952. 46.

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[1] McCord, 46.

2021's Haunt (Day)

2021: Haunted Cemetery

 

2021 proved a rough year for many people, including myself. I lost my job of seven years and struggled to find employment well until August. With money being scarce, I was unable to build anything and even considered cancelling my Halloween plans; however, family and friends convinced me that doing something spooky for the holiday season would be good for my mental health. So, I gathered up a few staples and created a cemetery on my parents' front lawn. Although it was a rather lackluster display, it did help elevate may waning spirits. Presented here are images of the haunt by day (always less atmospheric than their nighttime counterparts, but the best means to reveal detail).

The Evolution of Cemeteries, Part Two: A Mini-Essay

     Because of their popularity and the limited confines of the land, Ariès explains, churches needed to establish a burial system that perpetually supplanted older corpses with newer bodies. What emerged, the historian reveals, was an intricate arrangement of stacked stone sarcophagi and dirt graves which could be filled and emptied, with the remains of past parishioners relegated to either the garrets – land overgrown with grass whose pasturage was regularly disputed between the church and the community – and the charnels – the church’s galleries which, by the fourteenth century, became intricately decorated with bones and skulls.[1] While social standing influenced the final resting place of an individual’s remains (poorer parishioners, for instance, were often relegated to the garrets), it also determined the initial location of internments. The choir, the chapel, and before statues of the Virgin Mary were the most sought-after locations, but frequently reserved for the more financially generous of churchgoers; however, given the limited space of most cemeteries, even the most charitable of Christians were not guaranteed their chosen places of rest.[2] Due to this factor, members of the congregation made general requests (near the elm tree or somewhere between the church and the cross, for example), graves were not marked, and records of burial were kept haphazardly by clergy in ledgers whose entries were often as unspecific as the requests themselves.[3] This process existed uninterrupted in the majority of Europe until the seventeenth century when, at the end of the ancien régime, the upper classes abandoned the communal nature of the graveyard and, desiring to preserve familial unity, built chapels and family vaults to help contain lineages, both physically and metaphorically.[4]

Works Referenced

Ariès, Philippe. The Hour of Our Death: The Classic History of Western Attitudes Toward Death Over the Last One Thousand Years. 1977. Trans. Helen Weaver. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2000.

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[1] Ariès, 56-61.
[2] Ariès, 78-82.
[3] Ariès, 78-82.
[4] Ariès, 288-293.

Organ Harvesting Device

$50 - $60 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes one device

 

2020’s mad scientist haunt was a massive undertaking, with the laboratory needing several large pieces of equipment to truly sell the theme. To create a unified set, I decided to use similar elements in all of the pieces: copper and silver pipes and joints, lights fashioned out of Christmas ornaments, and steel-colored bases. For this version, I repurposed an old light-up stack of skulls which had been a decorative element in the haunts for years.

• One 12” x 24” board of foam insulation
• 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 copper
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in metallic silver
• A random assortment of bolts, caps, rollers, and screws
• One 4 oz. bottle of clear, all-purpose tacky glue gel*
• One 2” x 6’ PVC pipe
• Four two-inch PVC elbow joints
• Two two-inch PVC angled joints
• Two two-inch PVC cross joints
• One two-inch PVC coupling joint
• One one-inch PVC coupling joint
• One light-up skull tower (roughly seventeen inches tall)
• One 8 oz. can of oil-based interior wood stain in red chestnut*
• One 8 oz. can of oil-based interior wood stain in Jacobean*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One twelve-inch glass candle votive with removable base
• One ten-inch wooden dowel
• Two severed eyeballs (learn how to make them here)
• One 0.3 fluid ounce bottle of red food coloring*
• One 4 oz. bottle of clear, all-purpose tacky glue gel*
• Four feet of 3/4” clear plastic tubing
• Six clear plastic Christmas ornaments (two inches in diameter)
• One foot of red steel wire
• One foot of black steel wire
• One hot glue stick

1. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, build up layers of black and metallic silver spray paint to give the foam board 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.

2. Detail the board with the assortment of bolts and screws, applying a small dab of glue to the bottoms of their heads and pushing them into the foam. Your arrangement is entirely based on your chosen aesthetic, so you can apply as many or as little as you like.

3. Measure, mark, and cut the PVC pipe into one fourteen-inch section, one eight-inch section, four seven-inch sections, one five-inch section, three four-inch sections, and one three-inch section.

4. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the pipe sections two even coats of copper spray paint and the joints two coats of silver. You can always vary the colors to cater the prop to your haunt’s distinct color scheme.

5. Since the insides of the angled and coupling joints will remain visible with the finished prop, paint them black to darken their interiors.

6. Assemble the joints and pipes as shown in the picture to create the frame for the harvesting device and then, using hot glue, attach it to the foam board. You may need to use a collection of sturdy objects to help support the framework while the glue fully dries.

7. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, stain the skull tower. You want the color to build up in the cracks and fissures. You can use whatever color you desire. I chose red chestnut because it gives the bones a meaty appearance. Once you have achieved your intended look, allow the tower to completely dry and then paint the insides of the eyes and noses black.

8. Accent the skulls with a variety of bolts, caps, rollers, and screws. To ensure they remain in place, use an industrial-strength glue and, for the bolts and screws, drill holes into the bones (be careful not to nick the electrical wiring) and glue the items in place.

9. Position the tower near the two protruding pipes with the angled joints and glue it in place. You want to leave enough room between the skulls and the joints to accommodate the tubing, so do not place them too close.

10. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well ventilated area, paint the candle votive with the Jacobean wood stain. I discovered that applying a thin coat and patting it with paper towels produces a hazed appearance. Then, dab the surfaces with the red chestnut wood stain to create spots of dried blood.

11. Cut the wooden dowel into one six-inch section and one four-inch section, give them two even coats of silver paint, and then glue them to the base of the votive. As with step eight, an industrial-strength glue will ensure a sturdier hold.

12. Position the eyes on the ends of the dowels and glue them in place. You want the yarn to dangle downward to wrap around the dowels in step fifteen.

13. Place the base on the board, situate it near the one-inch coupling, and glue it down. As with step nine, you want to allow enough space between the votive and the coupling to accommodate the piping.

14. In a plastic container (because the food coloring will stain, use something disposable or that you won’t mind dying), pour in your desired amount of clear glue gel and slowly add red food coloring to the solution until it achieves the sanguine hue you desire. To give the blood further density, add blue food coloring and mix well.

15. Saturate the yarn dangling from the eyeballs in the blood glue and wrap the strands around the dowels to make it look like the optic nerves have clung to the stand. After this, pool blood on the base around the dowels.

16. Cut the tubing into three sections (one nine-inch piece, one fifteen-inch piece, and one nineteen-inch piece), fill the tubing with the blood glue, and allow it to dry. Based on the space between the skull tower and the piping and the votive and the coupling, you may need to adjust the measurements of the sections.

17. Use a 3/4” bit to drill two holes into the skulls (be careful not to nick the electrical wiring) and feed the tubing from the angled joints into the openings. You may need to trim the tubing if it is too long to prevent the excess from bunching up inside the prop.

18. Reattached the glass sleeve no the votive, glue it in place, and run the tubing from the one-inch coupling into the votive. As with step seventeen, you might need to trim the tubing if it is too long.

19. Use the remaining blood glue to detail the prop, dribbling the liquid around the junctures where the tubing enters the joints and skulls, pouring it down the sides of the votive’s glass, and creating puddles at the base of the skull tower.

20. Remove the hanging loop from the Christmas ornament, cut a jagged opening into the ball, and dust the interior with a blast of black spray paint to give the illusion the light bulb has burst.

21. Fashion a filament to rest inside the ornament with strands of black and red steel wire and two pieces of a hot glue stick.

22. Insert the filament into the bulb and glue it to the two-inch coupling resting at the top of the frame to give the illusion the bulb has burst during the experiment.

23. The prop can be enhanced further with additional details to cater it toward your haunt’s needs, like swarms of maggots crawling across the skulls and eyes for additional creepiness. Also, the red food coloring can be substituted for green to make slime rather than blood. 

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