Friday Freakout: Eerie on Etsy

It's Friday. I'm ready to blow up. So it's time to calm things down and frolic around Etsy, especially since today is the Etsy Global Craft Party. I'll be attending the Houston party tonight. Of course, I'm always looking to have my imagination fired by creepy things. This is my OCTOBER Country.

But! It's not October yet. So I thought I'd explore some fun products that have all the requisite creepiness, with the whimsy of summer equally represented. Here we go:

Grichels leather deluxe bi-fold wallet

This is one boss wallet. It reminds me of being a kid in the summer, and spending all my time in the woods, swearing I saw faces in the bark. I picked this one since it's a tad less sinister than some of the other designs (though they are equally awesome). For me, this calls to mind all the watchfulness I experienced in the woods, and in a way, it's right out of a Disney fairytale. Ya know, the kind where the princess has reached that bad part of the woods where the trees grab at her and there are eyes in the shadows. Exactly the spot I hope to retire to!

Cemetery Raven box/ aged wood trinket box

RavenofSkys has the market cornered on creepy housewares, jewelry and lots of other goodies. I'm always impressed by her work. This one felt appropriate since I love visiting cemeteries, even in hot weather (watch out for my report on Houston's Glenwood cemetery next week). I've got my eye on this little treasure, since I've got so many similar treasures to place in it.

Haunted House Antique Picture in Metal Frame

You might call it dilapidated, but we all know any house in extreme disrepair is that way because it's clearly haunted. I love this little vintage portrait, with a mix of emptiness and foreboding. It definitely needs to hang in the hallway.

Dark Sky Dock - 8x12 Fine Art Photograph

How many of us went to the lake in the summer as kids? Many of us probably, and those days were carefree, sunburned and full of memories. Some of us went to the ocean as well, but as I always say, that's an entirely different ghost story (which I'll get into another day). There are many fabulous tales of terror, or ghost yarns that center around the lake. I can think of one by Ray Bradbury that is chilling but heartbreaking and warm all at once. Water is always a place where we tend to dwell on eerie subjects, perhaps because we are always aware of how dangerous and powerful an element it is. I spent much time up in the foothills of New Hampshire's White Mountains as a child, at woodland cottage that my grandparents owned on the shores of a small lake. It was a beautiful and peaceful place, but when night came, I was always frightened unless my cousin Kim was with me. Together, we always turned the darkness on itself and used the night hours to spin our own creepy yarns and let our imaginations dance in the shadows. I find that hard to do as an adult. I take myself too seriously now, or maybe not seriously enough. But I remember the way the dock looked at night from the windows of the cottage, and how there were always strange lights on the water, and stranger noises coming through the trees.

Gulf Coast Graveyards

So I've barely had a day off since October of last year, when I took a birthday trip to the beautifully wicked city of New Orleans, LA. While there, I obviously soaked up the creepy, and spent my days rooting out the authentic from the tourist. There is plenty of both in this old city, and much of it remains despite the high waters of 2005. That being said, I sadly did not venture out from the quarter, and restricted my activities to investigations of old horrors, instead of recent ones. That is another pilgrimage all together. I managed to find the legit voodoo and occult shops, avoided the ghost tours, and sought out all the spots in the quarters known for macabre histories, and sometimes regaled bystanders on the grim history all around them. Never pay hard-earned cash for an official tour when a well chosen book on the area and a willingness to converse with strangers can get you an even better experience.

But I am veering off course.

There is no better place than NOLA to start an examination of Gulf Coast graveyards. The water table of this bowl-shaped berg on the edge of the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain (two bookends that proved devastating to the city) makes burial in the ground impossible. Thus we have the magnificent Necropoles of New Orleans. We visited one such as the last stop before piling into the car for the 5 hour ride back to Houston. It was a toss-up between Lafayette Cemetery and one of the St. Louis Cemeteries. Being close to the edge of the Quarter and one of (if not the) oldest cemeteries in NOLA, we chose St. Louis Cemetery #1. At 9am, the graveyard was open, serene and approachable. The sky was overcast, and the black cat that counts the necropolis as part of his territory, is friendly and affectionate. Many of these photos are available in my Etsy Shop.

There's plenty to appreciate in this cemetery, from founders of the city, voodoo queens with several rumored burial sites (you'll know these vaults because of the many markings and offerings from visitors), and entire families wiped out by Yellow Jack (yellow fever) that gripped the Gulf Coast port towns throughout the early settlements through the 19th century.

Though the cemetery is kept in good repair by the a city-based organization, many of the tombs are in disrepair, cracked or in pieces. But I doubt even the highest of human effort to keep up with nature could stop the decay of a place like St Louis #1, especially with the kind of nature New Orleans experiences. It's also fairly standard for vegetation to grow anywhere it can in the subtropical climate of the Gulf Coast. Above you'll see I took a shoot of a wildflower vining out of a crack in one of the tombs, a good four feet above the nearest bit of soil.

I had hoped this photo would have a good story behind it, but I've not been able to find out where this statue's head has gone off to, or when it took a hike, or why, or how. This is part of the large Italian monument and vault. A similar alcove on the other side of the rounded vault has a statue made famous in scenes from Easy Rider.

In some cases, age adds a lot of charm. This intricate wrought iron fencing around a family plot has rusted over so completely that there is new dimension to the design. I was immediately drawn to it, and, if monuments and decoration on graves are intended to draw attention as much as to pay tribute to the dead, this gate served better than the vault itself.

Higher up, there are fewer signs of rust, but wrought iron, so often identified with Louisiana and French architecture, was found throughout the cemetery. I imagine some of these lighter pieces may be restored or replaced as nature attacks over the years.

The signs of wear also add interesting dimensions of color to the older tombs and vaults. I did notice that there were some newer graves (they definitely stand out among the ancient ones). Some of the newer burials have been in the 21 century even, and being a popular cemetery that takes up a mere city block and has been in use since the 18th century, I can't help but wonder if bodies are displaced to make room for the new. And of so, who is chosen to go, and how much does a family pay to stay?

Though all in all, the cemetery is peaceful and well-respected, I will leave you with one small note of disquiet, as my mother pointed out when we turned the corner to see the line of poorer vaults lining the western end of the cemetery. Strangely, very little about St. Louis reminded me of death. Though sometimes austere, and ornate, it always seemed a celebration of life (which seems in keeping with the spirit of the city itself). But this last row took me far away from New Orleans, and to a much darker past than this city, post Katrina or Pre, can conjure.

Are you not also reminded of crematory ovens?

Back from the Dead!

Yes, I'm Back! It's been a crazy busy eight months, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you that running your own business and working full time at the same time leaves little time for extracurriculars. But, I've so missed my little blog project, and I've got some material with which to jump back into the fold.

I'll also be changing the scope of this blog a tad to focus on artisans, crafters and designers that I admire. Many will be right in line with the online graveyard I like to explore, but others will deviate into new territory. I'll also be showcasing my own art projects from time to time.

So, we've got some lost time to make up for. Shall we dance?

Keeping Up With October

The dark month is flying by, and the world has kept me too busy to enjoy it. I admit that I feel like I'm missing my favorite time of year. So I'm back here to remind myself what I love about October, and why I try to inhabit its country all-year-round.

When we look at October, and especially Halloween, those of us in the United States realize that we are celebrating a time that has been considered sacred for over one thousand years. But do we realize how modern we've made Halloween? This is not a bad thing, of course. But many of our traditions are very American, and some are less than 100 years old. Let's look at the old and the new of October, and see if we can't capture a little of the American October essence.

Things to do in the October Country

1. Catch the Leaves

This is probably the oldest October activity in history (at least in places where October brings fall foliage). Growing up in rural Massachusetts, this was one of my favorite activities. The changing season brings a lot of blustery weather in the midst of startlingly beautiful colors of gold, red, orange, brown, green and mixes of each. The wind knocks the dying leaves loose and they literally rain down over children screaming with joy, and they are tough buggers to catch!



This is something fairly pastoral, and perhaps is only still done in the country, where trees are abundant. But if you have a park you can visit, take your dog, take your kids, take your loved one, and take yourself on a windy day and try to catch some color. If you do, catch one for me, as Houston Texas does not have an Autumn.

2. Pumpkin Carving
One of the most ubiquitous tradition in North America, but a fairly recent one as well. The Jack-O-Lantern tradition came to us from Ireland. The legend usually entails a wicked man, who is too wicked even for hell, being given a ever-burning ember by the devil to light his way through eternity on earth. The man, "Jack", carves a turnip to serve as his lantern. Immigrating to the U.S., the Irish retained their tradition. But substituted turnips, which are hard to carve, for the yielding flesh of the pumpkin (which did not grow in Ireland at the time). Today, pumpkin carving is elaborate and sometimes lucrative, with carving contests awarding prizes in excess of $25,000 for winners and a profitable kit and pattern industry in the market.


Remember not to waste the pumpkin seeds! Highly nutritious and often delicious, the pumpkin seed is considered by nutritionist to be a super food, with numerous vitamins, amino acids, iron, calcium and other benefits. The pumpkin seed can be helpful in everything from dental issues, to depression to cancer. Plus, they are extremely yummy!

Garlic spiced Pumpkin Seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
Directions

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
Combine the margarine, salt, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce and pumpkin seeds. Mix thoroughly and place in shallow baking dish.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.





3. Apples and Apples and APPLES


For me, nothing embodies Autumn like the crisp, tangy taste of a freshly picked Macintosh apple. For many, Apple picking is the high watermark of the Harvest season. For those in the south and out of reach of those cooler-weather-loving apples orchards, it means lower prices and a more plentiful selection of apples at the super market. For nearly everone, it means the joys of apple cider. Different from your juice box variety apple drink, Cider is made from crushed apples, whereas apple juice is made from boiled peels and cores. So, in reality, apple cider has more apple juice . . . than apple juice. Sorry Motts. Cider is truly heavenly when spices such as cloves, allspice, orange peels and cinnamon sticks are added to the liquid as it's slowly heated. This is the essence of hot apple cider on brisque Autumn days.




Historically, Apples have also been used in Autumn for divination. Bobbing for apples is a treasured pastime using both marked(european) and unmarked(American) apples to divine who would be the first to marry in the new year, and to whom. Irish traditions of snapping an apple (biting an apple on a string without using hands) is still an observed Halloween tradition.

4. Scrying and Divination

And more from the divination chapter, Halloween and October have always been considered prime times for seeking hidden knowledge. Halloween, as the Pagan New Year, is the time where the veil between the living and the dead is purported to be very thin, and an excellent time for spells and divination. Practioners cast lots, stones, and scry with crystals, mirrors, water, ashes or nuts. Pumpkin seeds can be used for divination by inscribing them with nordic runes and casting them. Others may opt for a classic black mirror for their All Hallow's Eve scrying.




Easy scrying mirror

Use an existing tabletop mirror, remove the glass.Take the flat black spray paint and begin to coat 1 side of the glass with even, light strokes. Apply 1 thin coat and allow to dry. Apply following coats, drying completely in between coats, until no light shows through the glass. Insert the glass back into the mirror frame. Be sure to bless the mirror according to your own traditions to prevent inviting anything unwanted. Scry away!


5. Cemeteries

Strangely, I find that cemeteries are largerly avoided in much of the United States during October and the Hallween season. Many cemeteries even discourage visits, as seasonally-inspired visits often result in vandalism and destruction of property. But I heartily recommend spending a little time with the dead during the dark month, whether you know them or not. Besides being a place of excellent atmosphere, cemeteries are beauitful, peaceful and full of history. Whether you explore tombstones, do rubbings (if allowed), leave some flowers on a random grave or just ponder what the lives of the deceased might have been like, it is time well spent, and, I like to think, does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.


Observing the Mexican El Dia De Los Muertos tradition, place a candle on the grave of a loved one. This doesn't HAVE to be done on Halloween or the day of the dead, but should be done at night. Unfortunately, many people are nervous about visiting graveyards at night, and some don't permit visits after dark. Still, if the opportunity arises, go ahead. You'll be glad you shared a little bit of life with the dead.


6. Tell a Ghost Story
There is no better way to get close to the dead then to speak about them. Everyone knows a ghost story, some sad, some frightening, some strange and outrageous. My favorite ghost stories are the ones thought to be true, or who at least have their roots in history or folklore. The library, bookstore, and probably your great uncle or grandfather are full of such stories. So browse the shelves and pick a brain or two. You never know what spirits are haunting the places, and the people right next to you.




Now, I'm off to New Orleans to do some of my own investigations of mysterious and creepy history. Many photos and memories of the haunted big easy are right around the corner. I'll see you soon!

~E.

Raising the Dead - PMBP

For the Practical Magic Blog party, I thought I’d dabble on a subject raised in the film. I always really loved the part when Jillian and Sally try to raise Jimmy, Jillian’s psychotic boyfriend, from the dead after poisoning him with Deadly Nightshade (classiest of the poisoning substances). Besides being an absurdly bad decision to resurrect someone trying to murder you, the spell looked rather easy, and I've always longed for a Zombie of my very own!


Skip to the 4:00 mark to get to the good stuff.

A closer look at the ingredients that the producers/scriptwriters felt would, in combination, bring life to the dead reveal some pretty standard deep magic materials. Blue sage, Madagoria (Mandrake root), Henbane (another poisonous herb) and lots of beeswax candles are among the decipherable ingredients. Then there is a lot of gesturing, tricks with the tongue and whip cream, and the delightful sticking of needles in the eyes of the dead.

So, I decided to see how much this little song and dance that ends badly for all involved has in common with other methods of raising the dead. In order to do that, I needed to actually find other methods of raising the dead. Luckily for me and every other seeker of the obscure, there is Google.

E-How Method: How to Raise the Dead

Ah! There truly is an E-How for everything. This helpful little gem suggested many paths to follow for emptying out the grave, and with very little overhead needed. For its voodoo method, all that is needed is a puffer fish (the really poisonous fugu) ground up into powder and tested on someone who may or may not die from ingestion (if they do, you can resurrect them next). E-how also suggests you try your psychic abilities after dousing the corpse with animal blood, or perform your own free-style incantation in the garden of good and evil. Loud music and consistent shocking with electrical currents are also viable options. Warnings consist of brain-eating Zombies and making sure the subject is actually dead before you perform any resurrection work on them, as you may just end up killing them and creating more work for yourself.





Randy Demain - Crazy Christian Method

According to evangelist and Youtube-proclaimed whack job Randy Demain, westerners have made this Jesus-commanded act of resurrecting the dead too difficult. Randy proclaims that he raised aUgandan folks from the dead. After being rudely interrupted while in the middle delivering “The Message” to a congregation, Randy was shown to the stiff body of a woman in the tall grass. In his vexation over being interrupted just to be shown some dead woman, he commanded the woman to live in the name of the Lord, because he needed to get back to his congregation. The dead woman abided, was brought back to the compound where she stole money and ran off before being converted.



Witchcraft method:

Surprisingly (or not, if you are at all familiar with Witchcraft), there are no methods for raising the dead that Google can reveal. Wiccans and Pagans almost categorically condemn the idea of violating nature in such a way. But then there is that little thing called Necromancy. Sure, most modern witches don’t touch the stuff, and the very root of the world means black magic. But it’s still a category and perhaps my last best hope for getting that Pet Zombie I’ve kinda always wanted.




Practiced all the way back to antiquity, Necromancy can be found throughout ancient Europe, notably in Greek mythology. The ancient Necromancer was pretty hardcore about his craft, wearing dead people’s clothing and even engaging in a little cannibalism (hopefully only of those they weren’t bringing back to life). They also had strict scheduling policies: bodies could be raised up to 12 months after death. Afterwards only the spirit could be summoned. A classic afterlife warranty program.




In medieval Europe, resurrection was linked with Demonology and Astrology (via Arabic influences), and was practiced by highly-educated members of the lower Christian clergy, not Witches. Offering sacrifices and invoing various demons, these necromantic rites mingled the occult with Christian and Jewish tradition and were considered prayers as opposed to witchcraft by ecclesiastical authorities. The Munich Manual is a Bavarian grimiore of the 15th century that outlines rites and general information on demonology and prayer. It has not been published in modern English.

Burn.

Well, so much for the fantasies inspired by Practical Magic. As far as the Google Gods can say, I will never really be able to get my pet zombie or raise my childhood dog from the grave. So I’ll stick to watching Jimmy Angelov be resurrected only to choke out Nicole Kidman and be buried under the rosebushes. Or I’ll just keep killing and resuscitating house flies. That’s a start, right?




As part of the Practical Magic Blog Party, I'm giving all readers 20% off any purchase through Monday at My October Country's Etsy Store. Just convo me on Etsy with "Raising the Dead" after purchasing to be refunded the 20%!

Scoring the Dead – Three Film Composers to Start October

A sudden noise in the silence may be a more realistic soundtrack to things that make us dread and jump, but we’ve had plenty of great modern film composers tighten the tension of horror movies and ghostly films. Some of them make their career on haunting the films released around October (obvious geniuses like John Carpenter's theme to Halloween or Titular Bells from The Exorcist; others have dabbled occasionally and gotten it oh-so-right.

John Debney

The Halloween Tree 1993 – This isn’t a terror tale, but any story brought to you by the immaculate Ray Bradbury (Hanna Barbera or not), is sure to please. I watch this film every year as a great romp through the Halloween atmosphere of my past, and of the world’s past. Getting by the films kitsch and just loving it for what it is, great storytelling mixed with decent animation backgrounds and a beautiful score my John Debney makes this an October must. If you like that, dance on through the cemetery to Hocus Pocus, Disney’s 1993 Salem Witch fantasy, which again is pure candy with a whimsical score.



James Newton Howard

This guy cut his teeth early on nail-biters like Flatliners and Alive (a movie I still can’t watch). But it wasn’t until 1999 when he scored The Sixth Sense that he showed up on my radar. His music is utterly haunting, but unlike Debney or Elfman, Howard really utilizes atmospherics more than catchy themes to place the audience in the right frame of mind. His music is streamlined, with just the hint of a theme that asserts itself when ever the supernatural is confronted. The melody is mysterious (which it must be), and just a little sad around the edges, just a touch of grief.



Danny Elfman

Really couldn’t do this list without him. He is Hollywood’s master of macabre melodies, and permanently attached to the hip with Tim Burton. Early works like Batman, A Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands are fun romps that suggest fairytale more than supernatural (and rightly so!). But Elfman didn’t really show up on my radar until 1998’s Sleepy Hollow. Perhaps it’s the combination of Burton’s interpretation of a colonial haunting and Elfman’s atmospheric tension, but this hits all notes for me. Much like Jerry Goldsmith in Poltergeist, Elfman uses innocent sounding melodies and children’s choirs to underscore the sinister. And all the while, he keeps a murkiness to the mood. It’s a score as overcast and foggy as the scenery.



I also give Elfman Kudos for composing the original opening theme to the Simpsons. Here’s a little Halloween rendition he contributed to a later season.


Also, if you are craving something a little less Hollywood, but still fun and atmospheric, Try Nox Arcana. Deliciously atmospheric in the vein of each of the above composers, but their music is open-ended. Warning, you might be accused of listening to a Halloween sound effects album… No shame it that!




Cheers!

~E.

The Haunting of History

Ghost stories and urban legends sometimes mix and become interchangeable, but they’re general makeup is decidedly different. Urban legends often dance around a fantastic but possible situation, usually encompassing a warning for society (ie don’t pick up strangers in your car, don’t be a slut with your boyfriend in the woods, don’t pee in the sink at rich person’s house, ect.). But ghost stories, I feel, are more complex, and tap into something deeper than you garden variety fairy tale or urban legend. More than anything, ghosts are the manifestations of history. Whether real or imagined, the phantom represents something bygone and out of place, a reminder of our history that exists outside the books.

This was brought home to me this week when reading about the discovery at Duffy’s Cut, an area of tracks laid down in 1832 for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. An ongoing project to excavate and investigate the construction and subsequent massacre in this small stretch of woodland Malvern, Pennsylvania has yielded significant and sinister finds. Fifty-seven Irish immigrant laborers were hired to work on the railroad, and all perished within two months, allegedly victims of the cholera pandemic that was sweeping through the area in 1832. Pieces of a mass grave have been uncovered in recent years, with evidence that the dead were killed violently instead of virulently.


The site’s investigators, twin brothers Frank and William Watson, encountered the incident at Duffy’s Cut first as ghost story. Their grandfather, who worked for the railroad, spun yarns about ghosts dancing over the Irishmen graves. Other portions of the event reemerged with inaccurate faces in Malvern’s local folklore, but the ghost stories stayed with the brothers. After their grandfather’s death, the brother’s inherited his papers and began their investigation with the backing of Imaculata University, discovering bones and more evidence of murder than cholera.

What grabs me is how the ghost story operated as a marker for history. Where other portions of the story dissolved into inaccurate legend, the ghost story served as a historical marker which may in the end bring the closest interpretation of what really happened at Duffy’s Cut.

We see other cases of this in places like Gettysburg, and the plantations of the Old South. The Myrtles Plantation where the slave Chloe, accidental murderess, is said to have poisoned her master’s wife and children before being lynched by her own people. While historians can find so record of such a slave at the Myrtles plantation, the story serves to point out the valid and violent history of the antebellum south, and the realities of plantation life. We see it again at the Joshua Ward House in Salem, MA, where an alleged haunting marks the true history of execution, torture and corruption carried out by a town that turned on its own people.


Even more telling for me is where ghost stories do not appear, the very best example being the Holocaust. While there are vague reports of cold spots, feelings of overwhelming sorrow and fear for visitors of the Nazi death camps (who would not feel overwhelming sorrow there?), there are no popular stories of hauntings and no investigations are conducted there. This is mostly due out of respect for the dead and the sanctity of these memorials. Ghost stories, as well as being markers of history, are entertainment, and we don’t want to trivialize the holocaust by making it a source of amusement. But perhaps there is something deeper. Where such history is remembered and marked, no ghost story is needed. We don’t require a phantom appearance to remind us what happened at the camps and elsewhere to millions of Europeans. We remember well enough already. So perhaps, no matter what you believe about ghosts, their sightings and stories are representations of what we’ve left behind and, from time to time, need to remember.