The Odor of Burnt Pumpkin Makes Me Scream Halloween!
Halloween wraps fear in innocence,
As though it were a slightly sour sweet.
Let terror, then, be turned into a treat...
~Nicholas Gordon, poemsforfree.com
As though it were a slightly sour sweet.
Let terror, then, be turned into a treat...
~Nicholas Gordon, poemsforfree.com
There has been a
chill in the air more often than not this year since autumn came. Perfect
Halloween weather. Pumpkins fight for space in jumbled disorder in
supermarkets. Haunted house attractions are popping up since October 1st.
Ghost tours are busy. People are talking even more about ghosts and ghostly
tales, even though TV shows like “Ghost Hunters” and others keep the paranormal
on their minds 24/7, 365 days of the year. SyFy has the “31 Days of Halloween,”
and AMC has their own version of horror films they been showing in October for
years. And as a published author of horror fiction and three nonfiction ghost
books, I am kept busy with signings all month long.
There’s something
about Halloween that hypes up those that the rest of the year they say, “Oh,
horror. Oh yeah, that stuff that Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, and Stephen
King wrote.” But when bags of candy scrambled for space on shelves at the
store, Halloween decorations are sold, and people search for costumes suddenly,
those same stories are devoured. Not just those written by authors, but myths
and legends of Halloween too.
Halloween began its
origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced
"sah-win"). This was a celebration of the end of the harvest season
in Gaelic culture, used by ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare
for winter. The ancient Gaels believed the boundaries between the worlds of the
living and the dead overlapped on the 31st of October and the deceased could
come back, creating havoc of sickness or damaged crops. They did bonfires,
because it was believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which
attracted bats to the area. Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic
the evil spirits or appease them. The practice of dressing up in costumes and
begging door to door for treats on holidays goes back to the Middle Ages, and
includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval
practice of "souling," when poor folk went door to door on Hallowmas
(November 1) to receive food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls
Day (November 2). This practice originated in Ireland and Britain, although
similar versions were found as far south as Italy.
The jack-o'-lantern is another symbol of
Halloween. In America, it is a pumpkin, with a monstrous face carved on the
outside surface and the insides scooped out, a lit candle placed in to
illuminate. But the practice of decorating “jack-o’-lanterns” originated in
Ireland, where large turnips and potatoes served as an early canvas instead. The
Irish even have a folktale concerning this tradition, about a man named Stingy
Jack. Kick back and relax, while I tell
you this tale of a trick gone wrong.
According to an old
Irish folk tale, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True
to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the
Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once
the Devil changed, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket
next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from morphing back into his
original form. Jack did set the Devil free, but only under the condition that
he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not
claim his soul. The next year, Jack outsmarted the Devil again, by having him
climb a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While Lucifer was up in the tree, Jack
carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that he could not come down
until giving the promise of not bothering Jack for ten more years.
When Jack died, it
was told that God would not allow such an unsavory figure into Heaven and of
course, the Devil, upset by the tricks Jack had played on him and keeping his
word not to claim his soul, wouldn’t allow Jack into Hell. Lucifer sent Jack
off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack dropped
the coal into a carved-out turnip and wanders the Earth carrying it in his
search for a final resting place, something the legend says he will never
achieve. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the
Lantern," or simply, "Jack O'Lantern."
Despite the colorful
legends, the term jack-o'-lantern originally meant a night watchman, or man
with a lantern, with the earliest known use in the mid-17th century; and later,
meaning an ignis fatuus or will-o'-the-wisp. In Labrador and Newfoundland, both
names "Jacky Lantern" and "Jack the Lantern" refer to the
will-o'-the-wisp concept rather than the pumpkin carving aspect.
When the 31st is here and you hear the doorbell ring and you grab that bowl of candy, open that door carefully. For instead of the treat of trick-or-treaters, you may be tricked into opening the door to things out of a demented mind.
When the 31st is here and you hear the doorbell ring and you grab that bowl of candy, open that door carefully. For instead of the treat of trick-or-treaters, you may be tricked into opening the door to things out of a demented mind.
Pamela K. Kinney is a published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Two of her nonfiction ghost books, Haunted
Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and a Epic Awards 2010 finalist. The sequel to Being Familiar With a Witch, A Familiar Tangle With Hell was released June 2011 from Phaze Books. Both eBooks were combined into one print book, The Witch and the Familiar, released April 24, 2012.
She also has done acting on stage and in films. And is a Master Costumer, costuming since 1972. She even does paranormal investigating.
She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cats sometimes suffer for it!
Find out more about Pamela K.
Kinney at http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com and
about Sapphire Phelan at http://www.SapphirePhelan.com.
Return once more to haunted Richmond, where no building is safe from supernatural happenings. Visit Stories Comics, which holds more than just comics within its walls. Step back in time at Henricus Historical Park where you'll be welcomed by dead colonists, Civil War soldiers, and other haunts. Discover that not only is the Richmond Vampire out for your blood, but the Werewolf of Henrico waits for you beneath the full moon. It seems that the War Between the States is still being fought between ghostly Confederate and Union soldiers at Cold Harbor, Sailor's Creek, Parker's Battery, and Petersburg Battlefield. All this… plus a sea serpent, a lost city, ghostly cats, Bigfoot, a UFO, and haunted churches, parks, and colleges. So be sure to plan your visit now to a very paranormal Richmond. The dead don't stay dead in this town!
Many things scare us. But the most fearful things are those that infect our nightmares and visitations. Monsters from the closet or from another planet. Ghosts that haunt more than houses. Werewolves are not the only shapeshifters to beware of. Children can be taken from more than the human kind of monsters. Even normal things can be the start of a heart-pounding terror. Prepare to step beyond the pages into Spectre Nightmares and Visitations. Just tell yourself that they're only stories.
Like every state in the Union, Virginia has unique myths, legends, and yes, even true stories that sound much like legends, but aren't. Learn about the urban legend of the Bunnyman and what happens to mortals at his Bunnyman Bridge in Clifton at midnight on Halloween. Prepare to discover the myths surrounding Edgar Allan Poe and other famous Virginians. See why Natural Bridge is actually a haunted tourist attraction. And what makes the Great Dismal Swamp so creepy: Is it the ghosts or Bigfoot? Meet the Witch of Pungo in Virginia Beach and find out that Mothman and the Jersey Devil actually visited Virginia. Read Virginian stories of witches, demons, monsters, ghosts, pirates, strange animals, and soldiers from the Civil War. Come visit a most amazing, frightening, and even intriguing Virginia that you never knew existed.
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