Saturday, November 13, 2010

Photographs Taken at Fort Howard Park in Baltimore County, Maryland









Photography by David Robert Crews
{a.k.a. ursusdave}


I have begun a set of photographs taken at Fort Howard Park, in Baltimore County, Maryland. The park is right where waters of the Chesapeake Bay merge with those of the Patapsco River. The park was a US Army coastal artillery installation, from 1896 to 1939, and most of the army structures still stand. From the park, you can look straight down the bay to see the Bay Bridge, and up the Patapsco River to see the Key Bridge. Here's a link to my Fort Howard Park photo set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ursusdave/sets/72157625132535377/

Monday, November 01, 2010

Maryland's Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons


Photography by David Robert Crews
{a.k.a. ursusdave}


Every October, on Friday and Saturday evenings, Maryland's Fort Howard Park is turned into the very scary, ever-thrilling-chilling and fright-fan fulfilling Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons.

Ft. Howard Park is a Baltimore County park that sets on the shoreline where the Chesapeake Bay merges with the Patapsco River. The park is heavily wooded, and is a former US Army coastal battery - it once had massive cannons and mortars that protected Baltimore City from attack by enemy naval vessels. From the park, you can look down the Bay to see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and up the Patapsco River to see the Key Bridge. So, any ships coming up the Bay, to attack Baltimore, could be fired upon from Ft. Howard. Hence, Ft. Howard used to be "the Bulldog at Baltimore's gate."


In Ft. Howard Park, there are large, concrete, thick walled structures that once had huge cannons and mortars mounted upon them and cannon ammunition stored down inside the heavily fortified bowels of them. The "dungeons" were never actually dungeon cells where prisoners were kept, those were rooms for targeting equipment, electric generators and other military equipment plus cannon and mortar ammo that all needed protection from bombardment by enemy watercraft. Those structures and the wooded parkland around them are perfect for use as the Halloween style, scary, thrilling, chilling, but family friendly, Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons.

Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons is a series of short, scary skits - some have a slightly 'twisted' punch line and all are delivered with a good dose of horror movie humor. It is great performance art. Art performed by dedicated volunteers. Proceeds from the event go the Edgemere-Sparrows Point Rec Council.

I have created a set of photographs that I took at the 2010 Ft. Howard Haunted Dungeons. The photo set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ursusdave/sets/72157625070703149/with/5095457623/

Photography by David Robert Crews
{a.k.a. ursusdave}

Below is a slideshow of my set of Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons photographs. If you view this photo set in slide show format using full screen mode, it gives you a good idea of what it is like to take a tour of the Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons; but without the scary sound effects and experiencing the well conceived and presented performances of the volunteer actors all along the way. All together, the folks - of all ages - who make those haunted dungeons happen create a great piece of performance art, in Baltimore County, Md.'s Fort Howard Park.

Photography by David Robert Crews
{a.k.a. ursusdave}

I also have made some videos of Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons, and they are on my Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/ursusdave#!/profile.php?id=1053787981&v=app_2392950137

If you dare to wanna go to next year's Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons, get y'ur info at: http://haunteddungeons.com/forthoward.htm

Photographs, titles and descriptions are Copyright © David Robert Crews{a.k.a. ursusdave}, but are free for non-commercial, non-profit, use by the anyone connected to the Fort Howard Haunted Dungeons. That includes every volunteer who has ever worked there and any person who has toured the dungeons or any who want to share good information about the Haunted Dungeons.