Holiday Decorations are up

We setup Calvin and Hobbes Thanksgiving weekend and the reaper and scrooge tombstone last weekend.

Ghost effects in the display

It is often hard to photograph the ghost effects in the display for two reasons. One, it has to be dark to see the effects well but that makes taking pictures hard without a flash. And two if you use no flash the effect is blured when using long exposures.

So we solved the issue the night after halloween when we ran the effects one last time. We paused the video effects so we could photograph them. I think they came out nice.

New Effect this year

We added an new ghost effect of children walking in the graveyard. It turned out to be the simplest effect to do but had the biggest impact on all our visitors.

What we did was string a cable from the back of the house to the shop at about 9 feet high. We took 3 10x10 cotton black muslin photography backdrops and sewed them together and strung them along the cable like a curtain. We then filmed our friends kids in white doing stuff along the curtain. Then created a ghost video using the same techniques we always use. Then stuck a projector behind a tombstone at the same place we filmed from and projected it onto the curtain. We created six 5 foot long tube sandbags to hold the curtain down in the wind. We would bring the curtain out at night and setup the projector and just let it run. These photos were taken one night when we paused the projector.

26th Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated our 26th Wedding Anniversary by going out to our favorite restaurant Plainfields. The best indian food resturant in the area with Chef Craig Plainfield. We brought our bottle of 1999 Opus 1 for our special night and half way through the evening Craig offered to cut us a deal on another bottle he had in his huge cellar. We had a great time as always and enjoyed some great wine and the best indian food as always.

Halloween a big success

We had the largest turnout ever for Halloween. The weather was great and it was a Saturday night. The Graveyard Dancers performed all night. We saw some of the biggest crowds we have ever seen.

A wedding in the graveyard

We had a young couple get married in the graveyard on Halloween. They contacted us a month ago and asked if it would be alright and of course we said yes. Just a short little ceremony with a few guest at 11am. They were done by 1pm in plenty of time for us to get ready for halloween.

Special Awards

We gave out a few special awards at the party this year.


The sketch artist award (Etch-a-Sketch 60's packaging).
















Best Assistant award. (dirt devil vacum)














Messiest Creator Ward (just a bunch of paint and mess on plywood)

The Damn that was close award for standing right next to Andy when he fell.

Party Dedication

At the party we dedicated the struture in front of the shop the Westerman Abby in honor of Andy and his sacrafice of his foot to the display.

The Party

The annual party was a big hit. We think everyone had a good time.

Sexiest Costume.

Scariest Costume (Jesus)
















Most Elaborate Costume. (hand made holster and replica gun)





















Peoples Choice Award.




















Best Couple.

Best Costume (Jack)

artMOB makes tombstones

The Milwaukie Art Commitee came over on Sunday and carved 12 tombstones and painted them black. We cut them out, shapped them, and applied the epitaphs Saturday morning. Made for a busy weekend. On top of the full crowds that showed up for the display.

Big Friday night turnout

We had a lot of people show up last night. The weather was nice. No wind and a bit warm. The fog looked good. Everything was running pretty well with only a few minor hiccups. We kept things running after 11pm so we could take some pictures and video.

Haunt Tour 2009

We went on a mini haunt tour of Portland last night with our friends from Union that own the Darklore Manor in eastern Oregon.

Every year we turn the offer down from haunt owners to visit their haunts because we are so busy. But we figured if they could drive 8 hours (4 each way) to visit haunts, we really had no excuse.

We saw, in this order:

Fright Town - First time we had seen this and well worth the trip!! I know Dave by name only in the haunt circles and friends of friends, really want to meet him sometime to tell him how great his stuff is.

Scream at the Beach - Carnival and everything, wow! PDX was out there filming...be sure to watch for them on TV!!

13th Door - thanks Raymond for the personal tour and being an overall great guy!! Favorite of the night......and I am not just saying that cause he let us in for free :D

They were all great haunts! We had a great time.

Still have not seen the haunted Maze at Sauvie Island (and we have made props for Craig, another really nice guy. . . . so we really should go out there), but since Craig's haunt only runs on weekends....I don't know if we can make it happen :(

These are great haunts and some generous and gracious haunters that deserve our support. If you are in the area, be sure to check out PortlandHaunts.com for more details!

2009 Davis Graveyard Open House

Everyone had a great time at the open house. The weather was great (which in the NW means that it did not rain - cold, but no rain) and we made over $600 for the Milwaukie High School Dance Team.

It is a great community event and we estimate that we had over 800 people attend throughout the day! Thanks to all the volunteers who helped throughout the day answering questions and giving tours. And special thanks to the Portland Coffin Cruisers for bringing by your rides!! You guys rock!!

Here are pictures of the event. Thanks to everyone who came and helped support the dance team. If you were not able to make it and still want to donate to the dance team (who danced their as...behinds off! :) Contact hosts@davisgraveyard.com.

Photos by the cute and funny Marci B.

A word from our local fan club

Here is a link to our friend Brian Dorr's blog, he is part of the neighborhood association with us and a good friend. Here is his take on the Davis Graveyard open house. He makes us sound so cool!!!

I am glad he got his pictures up...we are still working on ours. Open house wrap up is on the way!

Great photos and words Brian, thanks! http://www.bjdorr.com/200910112152

Photo courtesy of Brian Dorr