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The day is here, my friends! We made it!

Happy Halloween, Happy Samhain, and Happy Día de los Muertos!

Thank you for joining me in my month-long holiday celebration. I truly hope you’ve enjoyed it. I have!

Everyone, please stop by, grab a virtual latte or cider or hot cocoa, a candied apple or some roasted pumpkin seeds, or even a goblet of blood and a plate of brains, and say hello!

(The artwork above is “WIP 8/26/18″ by Chobek.)

Now for the grand finale. What can I say? This is my favorite for every Halloween. I hope you enjoy “Hallowe'en in a Suburb” by H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937).

The steeples are white in the wild moonlight,
And the trees have a silver glare;
Past the chimneys high see the vampires fly,
And the harpies of upper air,
That flutter and laugh and stare.

For the village dead to the moon outspread
Never shone in the sunset’s gleam,
But grew out of the deep that the dead years keep
Where the rivers of madness stream
Down the gulfs to a pit of dream.

A chill wind weaves through the rows of sheaves
In the meadows that shimmer pale,
And comes to twine where the headstones shine
And the ghouls of the churchyard wail
For harvests that fly and fail.

Not a breath of the strange grey gods of change
That tore from the past its own
Can quicken this hour, when a spectral power
Spreads sleep o'er the cosmic throne,
And looses the vast unknown.

So here again stretch the vale and plain
That moons long-forgotten saw,
And the dead leap gay in the pallid ray,
Sprung out of the tomb’s black maw
To shake all the world with awe.

And all that the morn shall greet forlorn,
The ugliness and the pest
Of rows where thick rise the stones and brick,
Shall some day be with the rest,
And brood with the shades unblest.

Then wild in the dark let the lemurs bark,
And the leprous spires ascend;
For new and old alike in the fold
Of horror and death are penned,
For the hounds of Time to rend.

(The artwork above is “Inktober 15 Legend” by stardust-palace.) 

(Photo by AHS. From the Richmond Cemetery.)

“For my own part, I never saw a ghost except once in a dream. I feared it in my sleep; I awoke trembling, and lights and the speech of others could hardly dissipate my fear. Some years ago I lost a friend, and a few months afterwards visited the house where I had last seen him. It was deserted, and though in the midst of a city, its vast halls and spacious apartments occasioned the same sense of loneliness as if it had been situated on an uninhabited heath. I walked through the vacant chambers by twilight, and none save I awakened the echoes of their pavement. The far mountains (visible from the upper windows) had lost their tinge of sunset; the tranquil atmosphere grew leaden coloured as the golden stars appeared in the firmament; no wind ruffled the shrunk-up river which crawled lazily through the deepest channel of its wide and empty bed; the chimes of the Ave Maria had ceased, and the bell hung moveless in the open belfry: beauty invested a reposing world, and awe was inspired by beauty only. I walked through the rooms filled with sensations of the most poignant grief. He had been there; his living frame had been caged by those walls, his breath had mingled with that atmosphere, his step had been on those stones, I thought:–the earth is a tomb, the gaudy sky a vault, we but walking corpses.”

– Mary Shelley, “On Ghosts”

(Photo by AHS. This little headstone is quite different from all the rest in the Richmond Cemetery. It seems to tell its own story. I had to retrace my steps and take a picture.)

Would you like a classic piece of Halloween to enjoy? You can download for free the now-in-public-domain Dennison’s Bogie Book (1920) here. Here’s a description of the book from Public Domain Review:

“Decoration, costume and party suggestions from 1920 for the night of Halloween, that one time (according to the book) ‘of all the year when an opportunity is supposed to be given for looking into the future and having one’s fate settled for the coming twelve months.’ Full of lots of handicraft tips on making that perfect spooky zone, as well as various party games (mostly involving blindfolds and choosing future loves) and a couple of ghost stories to read when midnight strikes. So.. ‘Why not invite your friends to a Hallowe’en party and join in the fun of trying some of the time-honored ways of finding out what the future holds in store?’”

(This is “Spirit of the Swamp” by GhastlyGhast.)

“To love a swamp, however, is to love what is muted and marginal, what exists in the shadows, what shoulders its way out of mud and scurries along the damp edges of what is most commonly praised. And sometimes its invisibility is a blessing. Swamps and bogs are places of transition and wild growth, breeding grounds, experimental labs where organisms and ideas have the luxury of being out of the spotlight, where the imagination can mutate and mate, send tendrils into and out of the
water.”  
- Barbara Hurd, Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination

I have read several books this year that are perfect for the Halloween season. One of these is Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places, which I recommend. (Thanks, Abbie, for suggesting it!) In Ghostland, Colin Dickey interrogates U.S. history through an in-depth analysis of key sites that have gained a reputation for ghosts. In the process, Dickey considers what issues of the country’s past (genocide, slavery, etc.) continue to haunt us in more ways than one. This is a thoughtful and fascinating read, painful at times (as it should be), and my main complaint (which is also a compliment) is that it left me wanting more.

A second noteworthy (and relevant!) book is Paperbacks From Hell: The Twisted History of ‘70s and '80s Horror Fiction. This book has inspired Valancourt Books to reissue some hard-to-find ‘70s and ‘80s paperback cult classics with new introductions. You can hear my extended review of both Paperbacks from Hell and Valancourt Books’ related project here in my “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the Hugo Award-winning podcast StarShipsofa.

Another terrific book that I reviewed in my “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on StarShipSofa this year – which you can listen to here – is The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara.

Why would anyone go out of the way to visit a graveyard intentionally? In addition to the fascinating stories they contain, cemeteries can be open-air sculpture parks full of one-of-a-kind artwork. They provide habitats for birds and wildlife, as well as arboretums and gardens of surprising beauty. Cemeteries appeal to art lovers, amateur sociologists, birdwatchers, master gardeners, historians, hikers, genealogists, picnickers, and anyone who just wants to stop and smell the roses. Our relationships with the places we visit can be deepened and enriched by learning the stories of those who came – and stayed – before us. 

– 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, Loren Rhoads

I’m thoroughly enjoying (and planning trips around the suggestions in) 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, which covers sites around the world. I’ve visited many cemeteries in my day, but only nine of them are listed in the book as worthy of the “must see” title. I need to get moving!

(Photo by AHS, blood-splatter nerd manicure “Killer” by Espionage Cosmetics.)

Do you have any favorite cemeteries?

If so, what (and where) are they?

From The Sociable Ghost by Olive Harper (1903), published in An Obscurity of Ghosts: Further Tales of the Supernatural by Women, 1876-1903, edited by J.A. Mains:

“Young gentleman, you are having the most remarkable experience of your life. You want to see all can, for probably never before did man come down and see the dead as they really are – before they get their passports. Certainly some live persons do come down here occasionally, but they do not count, for they are only those who are buried alive, and they do not get out, as they do not as a rule live long.”

Also from The Sociable Ghost:

“Will you excuse me if I ask you a question? I have always been led to think that those who are dead dislike to hear the word dead. They are supposed to prefer to hear, ‘passed into spirit life’ and ‘gone to Summer-land’ instead. All the mediums use that word, in palliation and instead of the harsher one. Dead, gives one a shock to hear,” asked the young man in a laudable desire to learn all he could.

“Poppycock and moonshine!” was the unexpected response. “There is no such thing as a medium…. You are soon to enter the very doors of ghostdom, but not through the efforts of any medium. No, sir; they trade upon your sense of loss and sorrow when any one of yours dies, and they foster and encourage your desire to penetrate the mystery of future life. They get your money by fraud, working upon your best sentiments. They ought to be keelhauled, and should be if I had my way. I’d string them to the yard arm and whack them with a rope’s end. If the tie that bound you to any one you loved is broken by death there is no third party that can come and for a certain sum in cash become the medium of communication between you, and I say, lick the man that tells you different. You are getting this straight from a real ghost. In my warmth I had almost forgotten that you asked if we who are dead dislike to hear anyone say the word dead. Quite the contrary, for we are dead and it would be very silly to try to disguise the fact, and we do not try to down here. Fact is truth and truth governs down here. Dead we are and dead we stay, and after all I am not sure that we are not quite as well, and sometimes better off, than when alive. If we miss some things we escape others.”

This year is the 50th anniversary of Scooby-Doo! The anniversary seems relevant to our Halloween interests.

Fifty years ago, on September 13, 1969, Scooby Doo, Where Are You! premiered on CBS. The premise of the show was always the same: whether it was a ghost, a phantom, a ghoul, or a poltergeist, it was back from the dead and it was out a’haunting. “Meddling kids” Fred, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and their talking great dane Scooby Doo tackled the supernatural, followed clues, and uncovered the culprit. The mood of the show made up for its predictability; the mysteries were set in haunted houses, dark forests on full-moon nights, dilapidated ghost towns or deserted museums and circus grounds. Rife with suspense and tinged with horror that was watered down with slapstick comedy, Scooby Doo masqueraded as a cartoon mystery but really was surprisingly gothic….

Most of Scooby Doo’s episodes hinge on imagery of death. When the gang is in an urban environment, the buildings are overwhelmingly on the verge of collapse (e.g., “Mine Your Own Business”). Inside, the rooms are steeped in darkness, covered in cobwebs and, we imagine, the walls and floorboards are overrun with rot much like the houses found in the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. Dark corners where the eye can’t penetrate, spiraling staircases, and endless hallways traditionally, in gothic literature, are terrifying because they alert the imagination, awakening its fears. Meanwhile the mind is suspended between knowing and not knowing: There could be someone hiding behind the curtain or in the corner, but in this darkness it’s hard to know for sure. Encountering a place that was once inhabited and now is in decay is undeniably uncanny—strangely familiar and for that reason, eerie—because it is witnessing a life that’s been extinguished.

- “How Scooby Doo Revived Gothic Storytelling for Generations of Kids: In a tumultuous era, a kids mystery show stirred up the old questions—and the atmosphere—of gothic storytelling” by Eleni Theodoropoulos

Here’s another relevant article: “50 Years Ago, Scooby Doo Was the Perfect, Weird, Hopeful Mystery Series 1969 Needed An unlikely gang of mystery-solvers set out to change the world” by Olivia Rutigliano

And here’s a compilation of Scooby-Doo’s spookiest moments!

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of making a pilgrimage to the shrine of the King of October Country himself, The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at IUPUI (Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis). My amazing experience there is the focus of my “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on Episode 593 of the StarShipSofa podcast, which you can listen to here.

In the Center’s recreation of Ray Bradbury’s basement office, I found this beauty, Ray Bradbury’s own depiction of the Halloween Tree. Breathtaking!

(Photos by AHS.)

At the edge of the deep dark night ravine he pointed over the rim of the hills and the earth, away from the light of the moon, under the dim light of strange stars. The wind fluttered his black cloak and the hood that half shadowed and now half revealed his almost fleshless face.

“There, do you see it, lads?”

“What?”

“The Undiscovered Country. Out there. Look long, look deep, make a feast. The Past, boys, the Past. Oh, it’s dark, yes, and full of nightmare. Everything that Halloween ever was lies buried there. Will you dig for bones, boys? Do you have the stuff?”

He burned his gaze at them.

“What is Halloween? How did it start? Where? Why? What for? Witches, cats, mummy dusts, haunts. It’s all there in that country from which no one returns. Will you dive into the dark ocean, boys? Will you fly in the dark sky?”

- Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

Speaking of reputedly haunted hotels, since last year’s Halloween Countdown we stayed several nights at one, namely the historic Lafayette Hotel in Marietta, Ohio.

We did not experience anything unexpected, despite the fact I made sure to park myself in front of the infamous mirror that, rumor has it, had to be removed from the third floor hall because guests repeatedly saw ghostly apparitions in its reflection. (Veee - Swoosh Surfing:veee加速器, veee+, veee, veee 官网, veee+ 官网.) That said, the place is wonderfully atmospheric!

(Source.)

Here is a description of the Lafayette Hotel from HiddenMarietta.com:

The Lafayette Hotel claims the title of the most paranormally active spot in town, no small feat given the amount of unexplained activity that bubbles up in and around Marietta. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending your point of view, you don’t have to be a registered guest to have a brush with the supernatural in the Lafayette. Ghostly encounters occur in the lobby, the Gun Room Restaurant, the Riverview Lounge, the ballrooms and public restrooms throughout the building.​

Staff and patrons have seen the hotel’s former owner enjoying an early morning cup of coffee in the Gun Room, which is a little disturbing. He died in 1981. An elegantly dressed Victorian lady occasionally wanders through the lounge then vanishes through the back wall. And there’s the little boy, no more than four-years-old, waiting patiently outside the ladies’ restroom in the basement.

The paranormal activity at the Lafayette is ongoing. New reports come in almost every month. Some describe minor, low level incidents; others are more significant. All are stunningly peculiar. An entire chapter of Haunted Marietta: History and Mystery in Ohio’s Oldest City is devoted to the Lafayette. The hotel is also one of the main stops on Ghost Trek.

And check out this article from Only in Your State: “One Of The Oldest Hotels In Ohio Is Also One Of The Most Haunted Places You’ll Ever Sleep.”

There’s even a video: “Haunted Hotel in Historical Marietta Ohio”!

Here is a first-hand report from Sand and Snow:

Originally called the Bellevue Hotel when built in 1892, it’s had its history of tragedy. The property was destroyed by fire in 1916 and the walls have flood markers where it’s been deeply under water compliments of its pretty location near the river. The Hoag Edition is what I’d like to chat about, though. Built between 1937-38, Mr. Hoag is considered to still be the protector of the property. As the hotel’s owner for well over 50 years, his pride in the property has many believing that he makes his presence known by being a prankster: moving papers, whispering in ears, and good, clean fun.

I had the pleasure of staying in the Hoag Edition during my visit and the first night made me a teeny bit uneasy. My room door rattled even though it’s an inside door. Let’s just say I didn’t get a lot of sleep.

And here is one of my favorite reports of a visit (from Ohio Haunted Houses):

Being Nice To The Spirits Got Us A Upgrade

We stayed at the hotel last year for our anniversary. We read it was Haunted, so when we got to our room we told the spirits we were there to have fun and we welcome them in our room. Well play started and so did the rain. It came down by the buckets. We didn’t care. Until the Lightning strike. It hit somewhere very close knocking out the power to the air conditioning and elevator. Our air conditioning was the only one affected in the whole building. Hotel management upgraded us to the PENTHOUSE. We thanked the Management and the Spirits. The View from the PENTHOUSE is really nice. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. All I can say is it pays to be nice. THANK YOU Lafayette Hotel.

You can read more first-hand accounts of staying in the spooky Lafayette Hotel here.

(”Wander” by CapnDusty.)

From “Ode to Terror” (1792) by Stephen Hole:

Illusions fly! the peaceful power

Of silence reigns o’er hills, o’er dale, and bower:

An awful stillness that my soul affrights -

For now on yon drear heath,

Hags profane, and hell-born sprites,

Plan schemes of future woe, and scenes of death.

Muttering slowly spells profound,

In mystic circle round and round

The necromantic fire they go,

Kindled from the flames below.

Now dusky flames ascend the skies,

As ‘mid the blaze they charms unhallow’d throw.