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W e love our fear of the unknown. We like mysterious, cold spots and things that make us
jump. We smile at being caught off guard and laugh often when something makes our hair stand on end. We are at home with ghosts, and spooks, and creaky doors. It's Halloween again—our favorite time of the year. Time to embrace our fear of the dark and things that go bump in the night!
Neighbors will start to notice odd structures going up in our backyard in early August. Strange lights are often spotted in the late, night hours and the occasional, stray sounds of owls, hissing cats and long, drawn-out cries of wolves will be heard echoing down the driveway. By October, a permanent thick, gray fog will hover over our house as a multitude of fog machines are set in to place and tested. The Jack-o-lanterns will be lit and the skeletons hung. And endless yards of cobweb will be strung from every nook and cranny. The cauldron will be filled and candy will come out. The animated, black crow will call out, "It' time! It's Halloween time again!"
Halloween has always been a special time for us as artists. We get to design costumes, create an elaborate, graveyard set complete with lighting, effects, and sound. Our year-long prop making frenzy transforms our house into the ultimate haunted house for our Halloween party. For a time, we get to live in our version of the Haunted  Mansion. |
Suspense will build as this new Hallows' Eve approaches. There will be many to peak through our fence for a preview. We know they will tell their children that the sign has been posted by the roadside, inviting all once again to take a tour of The Mitchell Cemetery. It is here, spirits move around fallen stones of old and rise up from mounds of fresh-dug graves of earth … visible to the, sometimes frightened eyes of passer-bys. Some won't make it past the open gate at the entrance. Others, won't want to leave… amazed at all the glowing tombstones and ghosts that walk around to greet them. Costumed hands of the smallest visitors will hold tight to mom and dad and an even tighter grip on plastic pails full of candy. It is our greatest joy to think, that these brave souls, will one day tell stories, about the house on Penton Street…
This site offers a glimpse of what once was… a memory of a Halloween's past. We hope a chill runs up your spine, and your hair stands of end, and more than once, you will glance over your shoulder at the unknown sounds in the night. Listen. Listen carefully for that child-like voice inside to say, "It's Halloween time again…"
Lynne & Shawn
Shawn and Lynne Mitchell are the creators of The Mitchell Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida, featured in the Fearnet.com 2007 series, Route 666, America's Scariest Haunted Houses and selected as a finalist for the Haunt X Awards, Best Yard Haunt 2007. Their first self-published book, How To Haunt Your House, is due out in 2009. A second book is also planned, as well as some other, exciting projects after that.
Shawn and Lynne are also fine art artists. Lynne paints digitally, using Corel’s Painter program. She then has them printed to canvas, hand paints several coats of gel medium for surface texture, and has the work framed. Her work has been featured in numerous art shows around the country. Shawn’s work is more traditional, using pen and ink for illustrations, or hand painting old-style animation cells. He has many pieces in both commercial and private collections. View more of their artwork on their main website, www.rabbitholeproductions.com.
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