Friday, November 11, 2011

Undead couple make local news paper... Zombie Apocalypse on the horizon..


   My dad used to have a running joke around the house. He said he would get up every morning and grab the newspaper. He would turn to the obituaries and if he was not listed in them, dad would have breakfast. I wonder what advise my dad would give me today if he knew I was in the newspaper, but listed as undead.
   The Wicked Woods Cemetery made the local paper! It only comes out once a week so it was a bit late on reporting some of the Halloween happening in our town. It was a really great article and I was not expecting that kind of coverage or the in depth look at what I do. I am actually humbled by the kind words from the writer. This will certainly help out with my future plans for having our first Zombie Walk for breast cancer and with a little luck, we may have some more TOTs next year. I plan on reaching out to the same writer next year to see if we can get some publicity for the yard haunt BEFORE Halloween.
   Here is the entire page from THE POST as it was printed in the paper :


Zombies and haints ...
for the love of it

"Kedric Meade II has loved Halloween 
for as long as he can recall. 
The Southern section resident annually 
turns his property into a “yard haunt.” But 
Meade’s skills have taken him beyond 
decorating for the neighborhood children: 
he said he has assisted as an advisory 
member for two national haunted house 
chains and recently was a subject matter 
expert for a national syndicated talk show. 
“My great grandmother’s birthday was 
on Halloween, so the family always had a 
huge costume party for her every year,” 
Meade said. “After her passing, we continued 
to honor her memory by celebrating 
Halloween to the fullest.” 
“I had my first experience with a haunted 
house when I was 13,” said Meade. “A 
group of friends and I put on a haunted 
house for Powell Valley Primary on the 
stage during the fall carnival. That same 
year I had my first yard haunt with those 
same friends at my great aunt’s house. I 
have been doing yard haunts for trick or 
treaters ever since.” 
Meade also worked in the Big Stone 
Gap Fire Department’s haunted house several 
times two decades ago and ran a charity 
haunted house for a company he 
worked for. 
“This makes the sixth year in a row at 
my current location that I have put on a 
yard haunt,” Meade said. “We give away 
the best treats because any child — or parent 
— brave enough to run the gauntlet 
deserves something good. As a child, I 
would have loved to find a home haunt 
like this, so I do it to pass down the love of 
the holiday to the new generations.” 
Almost all of the props in Meade’s yard 
haunt were hand-made or heavily modified 
by Meade and Miranda Kiser. He also 
has a blog, 
wickedwaysproductions.blogspot.com, 
that has “everything you need to know 
about Halloween, ghost stories, and haunted 
places in Wise County.” 
Meade said that, for next year, he hopes 
to have at least one book published, and he 
is also working on a Halloween game. “I 
also plan to work with the town of Big 
Stone Gap to have our first Zombie Walk 
for breast cancer next year,” he said."

   I hope I am not infringing on the paper by doing this, we did buy about 6 copies of the hard print ;). You will notice the Mourning Skeleton is one of the pictures selected by the writer. It was a happy accident indeed.
   I also have to laugh at the picture of that baby right next to me. As well as the advertisement for Dermatology (looking at our peeling grey faces).
   I feel this article will help to bring some well deserved fame for Halloween in our tiny town. The more people I can reach with the true joy that Halloween can bring, the better. Hopefully more people will see what fun it can be and join in next year.

   I also realize that none of the Halloween fun would ever be possible without the constant efforts of our armed forces. I wanted to take a moment to thank all our Veterans and active service men and woman (as well as their families) for the sacrifices that they have given to keep this county safe and free. That freedom that allows us to worship, celebrate, and live the way we choose.

   A special thank you going out to my stepfather Frank who served many years to keep our great country free!

Thank you one and all.
Happy Veterans' Day!

12 comments:

  1. SA-weet! Congrats on the newspaper article! Although, the link to see the newspaper post took me somewhere else, and I couldn't find it! Maybe I'm not looking hard enough... I will look some more.

    As for freedom... I am grateful.

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  2. Congratulations! That is so awesome. You guys should frame one of those newspapers you bought! Haha, yeah an ad for a dermatologist is such a funny thing to have next to your pictures.

    So, I just had to google "Haints" to see what that meant. That's clearly a Southern word! I just learned something. It's been a week for learning about colloquialisms!

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  3. That is awesome! Congrats!

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  4. Congratulations, all your hard work deserves to be chronicled in this way! Great job!

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  5. Your Dad sounds adorable! The article is awesome, and it's great that you have a contact at the paper now, for future haunts and events. Good luck with your plans for the zombie walk!

    You and Miranda make a handsome zombie couple! And, that dermatologist must be happy about the ad placement. It's like having free "before" pictures thanks to your lovely decaying complexions!

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  6. Nicely done Wicked, you deserve the press. Keep up the good work... your serving many with your talent

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  7. Ked, you're big time now! Eight years and I'm STILL not in my paper!!

    And yes, I think people "know you're here" now :)

    Congrats!!

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  8. That is so awesome. Way to go getting other interested in Halloween. Hope the Zombie Walk for cancer goes as planned. Nice pics in the paper by the way!!!

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  9. wow! what a fantastic write-up--how cool is this????!!! congrats and well deserved.

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  10. Annie - I copied the text and put it in the post for you. Thanks!

    Justine - We plan on doing just that! Haint is an old word that I grew up hearing. Glad I could pass that one on to you.

    It Came from the Man Cave - Thank buddy!

    Megan - Thank you! I appreciate that.

    art bliss - Thank you for that. I am glad you feel like that.

    Little Gothic - Thank you for the kind words. I think we should contact the doctors for some before and after shots!

    BeWitchy - Thank you very much!

    The October Boy - Thank a bunch! That is lofty praise coming from somebody like you!

    highbury - Hope 2012 is your year of recognition. I am not sure if "knowing I am here" is a good thing yet ;)

    Vivienne - Thank you so much. I hope it goes well also. I plan to start discussing it around February with the town council.

    Pam - Thank you so much Pam! :)

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  11. Congrats, that's so cool! Nice article, you should definitely frame that!

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