Spooktacular ending Tamaqua's Living Dead Cemetery to close after 10 years

A spine-tingling burial ground that appears in Tamaqua’s east end every October and has haunted thousands will come to an end in a few days.

Living Dead Cemetery, a panoramic feast of fright that stretches along front lawns of three houses of upper Arlington Street, has grown too large to manage, according to owners Janene Holter-Solarczyk and husband Joe.

So after Halloween this year, the amazing display will be donated to Clamtown Boy Scout Troop 755, a group that typically operates a haunted house in West Penn Township.

However, there are still a few days left to catch a glimpse of the showcase of horror, which, once again, required special effort to assemble and stage.

All original

“Every year we’d start in August and September,” said Joe, who designed and hand-built the infrastructure using his own resourcefulness. For instance, he used scrap wood to create a full-size guillotine that actually works. The couple tested it by using a watermelon.

The guillotine isn’t the only full-size prop. Everything else is life-size, too. And that’s what makes the cemetery unique. There’s also an antique hearse, a phantom of the opera playing a real pipe organ, and a large torture stretch rack that’ll make your bones ache simply by looking at it.

Other outrageous sights include an unlucky man wearing prisoner orange, strapped to an electric chair awaiting the shock of his life.

Then there’s a skeletized woman sitting in a wheelchair and grasping a meat clever. She probably won’t hurt anybody because it appears she has a dagger thrust into her sternum. Still, it’s best to play it safe and stand far away — not a bad idea as the grim reaper, looming 18 feet high, is lurking directly behind and appears ready to grab anyone who saunters past.

There’s a creepy crypt, a skeleton emerging from the tomb and another being boiled alive in an oversized cast-iron kettle.

It’s like a Disney-type visit to the land of gloom and doom, and it doesn’t happen without a lot of hard work.

“It takes three days to put it up,” Janene said.

Modest start

Janene and Joe drew from their innate creativity to build the sight-and-sound spectacle, a marvelously macabre display which had humble beginnings.

“We started with an 8-foot blow-up spider,” Joe said. “And we got about 50 kids.”

But it expanded quickly as enthusiasm in the neighborhood grew.

“We did it for the benefit of the people of the community,” said Janene, explaining that some children don’t necessarily have the same advantages as others. For that reason, she and Joe decided to use their skills to treat all youngsters to a quality spectacle regardless of their circumstances.

After their cemetery outgrew the lawn of the Holter-Solarczyk house at 707 Arlington, it spilled over to neighbors at 703 Arlington, Bob and Bernita Miller, who graciously donated use of their property, as did the neighbor at 711, Janene’s sister Kathy Holter.

“We’re so grateful to them for letting this happen,” Janene said.

Janene and Joe said it’s that kind of community spirit and cooperation that allowed them to do the impossible for 10 years, allowing Living Dead Cemetery to pop up every October at just the right time.

Other friends and neighbors have pitched in to lend a hand, as well.

“We’re thankful to East End Fire Co. and American Hose Co. for helping us to move the stagecoach over the years,” Joe said.

Last year, 510 children visited the cemetery, spooked by the ghastly sights, eerie lighting and scary music, topped off by the antics of Joe and Janene, dressed in costume.

In 2015, a special gelatin mold allowed some lucky guests to dip their hands into a brain made of Jell-O, which they licked off their hands if they dared.

“And they did it,” said Joe.

There is no admission fee, but a donation box incorporated into the entrance pillars allows visitors to support Tamaqua Area Animal Rescue, a tradition taking place for the next few nights. It’s set to end at Halloween.

Joe and Janene said they’re happy their custom props will be put to use by Boy Scouts in the years ahead and will continue to give a bit of friendly fright to local children.

But what about all of those spirits buried in Living Dead Cemetery? What will happen once their home is gone?

Will restless spooks cause a zombie apocalypse next October?

We’ll just have to wait until next year to find out.