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 Buying
and/or making your Halloween tombstones is only
the first step in creating the ultimate atmosphere for your yard
haunt or haunted graveyard. But there are many more things you
can do to add realism and heighten the effect
your tombstones and graveyard will have on your visitors on Halloween night.
The placement and securing of the tombstones is very
important, both for appearance and to keep them from falling
over. We like to keep our cemetery looking old and foreboding. Use as
many different styles of tombstones as you can and place them
unevenly throughout your graveyard. Be sure to set some of them
crooked or misaligned to give it that unkempt look.
When arraigning
your tombstones remember that graves in a "real" cemetery
are usually spaced about seven feet from row to row, but you can
take a few liberties with distances. While you don't have to
space them out just right, you do want to give the illusion
of there really being graves there, so you want to space out
your tombstones. Leave at least a foot or two between the
stones side to side, and four feet or more from row to row. We
like to tilt some of the tombstones so that the graveyard
looks old and dilapidated.
Try to use a
larger amount of classic style tombstones with some
elaborate ones mixed in. We mixed one extra fancy tombstone
in with every three classic style tombstones, so as not to
over do it.
Securing the
Tombstones
We have used several different methods to secure our tombstones
to the ground that work very well.
Method #1
First carefully drill
two 3/8" holes into the bottom of
the tombstone, a couple of inches from each end. Now take two 16"
pieces of 3/8" dowel (sharpened at both ends) and carefully
drive one end half way up into the bottom of the Tombstone.
Lightly set the tombstone with it's spikes onto the ground to
make an impression of where the spike holes will go. Using an
extra sharpened dowel, drive it eight inches into the ground
where your spike markings are and remove. You can now push the
tombstone with spikes into the holes.
Method #2
At most hardware stores you can buy large
steel spikes
(they look like giant nails). Measure and cut a piece of 1/2"x 6"
board so that it is four inches longer than the width of the
tombstone, two inches on each side. Drill a centered hole four to six inches from each
end one drill bit size smaller than the diameter of the spike. Hammer
the two spikes through the holes. Set the bottom of the
tombstone over the top of the spikes just hard enough to make
indentations for drilling. Drill the two spike holes into the
tombstone. Apply white glue (Elmer's) to the spikes and inside of
the spike holes, and push the spikes into the tombstone holes
all the way. To setup, dig a trench the same size as the wooden
based and sit the base and tombstone into it. Cover the base with dirt just above the
edge of the tombstone.
Continued on page 2
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