Final firing from Vernon’s kiln • In 19 active carts • 26 pieces left
Vernon's Handmade Halloween Lanterns
Vernon's Handmade Halloween Lanterns
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Vernon's Handmade Halloween Lanterns
Fired in Zanesville, Ohio — the Clay City
Vernon Kesler, 71, has been firing monster lanterns in a kiln he built himself in 1981. In March the arch cracked. What came out of the last firing is all there will ever be: 194 pieces.
“I didn’t make these to scare anybody. I made them so there’d be something warm on the rail at nine o’clock, when the last little ones come through.”
— Vernon Kesler, potter, Zanesville, Ohio · 43 Octobers at the same bench
What arrives at your door
One Lantern
Hand-pressed stoneware, your choice of face
The Chimney Lid
Lifts off by the stem, vents the flame
Standard Tealight Fit
Takes any ordinary tealight you already own
Vernon’s Card
The story of the kiln, in the box
Six things that go into every piece
The Zanesville Clay Body
Stoneware cut with grog — ground fired clay mixed back in. It lets the wall move with the heat instead of splitting, which is why a live flame can burn inside on a cold night.
The Cone-6 Fire
Fired to 2,232 °F, hot enough to vitrify. That is the line between stoneware and ordinary decor pottery: the clay closes up, stops drinking water, and frost has nothing to get into.
The Chimney Lid
Not a decoration. Heat leaves through the stem opening and pulls fresh air in through the eyes — so the wick burns clean and steady for hours instead of smoking itself out.
The Two-Cone Cut
The eyes are cut on an angle from the inside out, so the light leaves as two soft cones and lands on the wall behind. A straight-drilled hole throws a flat dot.
The Thumb-Pressed Face
No molds, no casting slip, no seam lines down the cheeks. Every face is pressed and cut by hand in soft clay — which is why no two in the crowd are alike.
The Iron Speckle
The freckling in the glaze is iron in the raw clay coming up through the fire. It cannot chip off, because it is not sitting on the surface — it is the surface.
An outside opinion
“Most seasonal ceramic you find in a store is low-fired earthenware with a decorative glaze over it — porous, and genuinely not built for an open flame or an outdoor night. What Vernon is doing is different in a way you can measure: a grogged stoneware body taken to cone 6, with a vent path designed into the lid. That is a functional lantern that happens to be beautiful, not a beautiful object that tolerates a candle. I would expect one of his to outlive the person who buys it.”
— Marianne Osgood, ceramics instructor, Muskingum Valley Clay Guild
The crowd — seven faces
Perfect for
How you can tell it is one of Vernon’s
- No seam lines. Cast pieces have a ridge down both cheeks. Hand-pressed ones do not.
- It has weight. Vitrified stoneware sits heavy in the hand and rings when you tap the rim.
- The lid lifts off. A working chimney, not a molded-on cap.
- The speckles are in the glaze, not on it. Run a thumb over them — they are perfectly smooth.
- Yours is not quite like anyone else’s. Same face, different expression. That is the hand, not a defect.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Put a candle in it. If it is not what you hoped for, send it back within 30 days for a full refund — one email is all it takes. Vernon would rather have it back than have it sit in a cupboard.
Handmade, so expect variation. Every face is pressed by hand and every glaze runs a little differently in the fire. Small differences in expression, speckle and tone are the point of it, not a flaw.
Candle sense. Made for a standard tealight in its metal cup. Set it on a heat-tolerant surface, keep it clear of curtains and dry leaves, and never leave an open flame unattended. For an unattended porch, a battery tealight works in it too.
Product details
| Material | Grogged stoneware, fired to cone 6 (2,232 °F) |
| Finish | Food-safe glaze with natural iron speckle |
| Included | 1 lantern, removable chimney lid, story card |
| Size | Roughly the height of a coffee mug — tabletop and rail scale |
| Faces | 7 — Jack-o’-Lantern, Wicked Pumpkin, Witch’s Hat Pumpkin, Black Cat, Mummy, Ghost, Skull |
| Candle | Standard tealight (not included); battery tealights fit too |
| Placement | Porch, mantel, shelf, table — frost-safe outdoors, covered spots preferred |
| Care | Wipe clean; lift the lid and brush out the wax cup between candles |
| Made in | Zanesville, Ohio — hand-pressed and single-fired by Vernon Kesler |
| Remaining | 194 pieces from the final firing. The kiln cannot be fired again. |
The Last Firing
The Last Firing
A note from the workshop:
Vernon Kesler built his gas kiln in 1981 out of hard firebrick he pulled from the old Mosaic Tile works in Zanesville, Ohio — a wagonload at a time, brick by brick, on his own. He has fired it more than nine hundred times, and every late summer since 1983 he has filled it with small Halloween lanterns, so there would be something warm on his porch rail at nine o’clock on the thirty-first. In March the arch of the firing chamber cracked, where forty-five years of heat had arrived first. He mortared it, strapped it, and got one last fourteen-hour firing out of it in August. One hundred and ninety-four pieces came out of that kiln. Laying up a new one takes a summer and a back he no longer has, so that is the entire remaining supply — there is no next firing and no next season.
Free US Shipping
Free US Shipping
Free shipping across the United States
- Delivery time: 3–5 business days
- Double-walled box with moulded inserts — built for fired stoneware
- About the height of a coffee mug; chimney lid packed separately, takes any standard tealight
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email info@backroadgoods.com
211 Verified Buyers
Excellent 4.8
What people say after they put a candle in one
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at info@backroadgoods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (ET). Whether it’s about your order, which face is still in stock, or just to say hello — a real person writes back.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Put a candle in it, set it where you meant to, live with it a week. If it isn’t right, email info@backroadgoods.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions, and US shipping is free.
How is it made?
How is it made?
Stoneware clay cut with grog — ground fired clay mixed back into the raw clay — so the wall can expand and contract with a live flame inside without splitting. Each face is pressed and cut by hand in soft clay rather than cast in a mould, which is why there are no seam lines and no two are quite alike. The eye openings are cut on an angle from the inside out, so the light leaves as two soft cones. Everything is fired to cone 6, 2,232 °F, hot enough to vitrify: the clay closes up, stops drinking water, and can live outdoors through frost. The speckling in the glaze is iron in the raw clay coming up through the fire, not a printed pattern. About the height of a coffee mug; takes any standard tealight.