It’s been almost 25 years since I visited the haunted Ballygally Castle Hotel, in Ballygally, Northern Ireland. Often named when listing the most haunted sites in the north, and occasionally at the top of the list, I can vouch for that I think. I experienced the most reported aspect of the haunting, though it had […]
Harvest Moon: The Magic of the Home, Hearth and Hard Work
The tradition of Donegal fiddle is populated with giants, those who kept the tradition alive at any given time over the past century or so, and today it could be argued that the most recent patriarchs of Donegal fiddle are the Campbell brothers, Jimmy and Vincent. They related to Caoimhin Mac Aoidh in his history […]
The death, resurrection and retribution of Zona Heaster Shue, The Greenbrier Ghost
Back in 1897, when Trout Shue snapped the neck of his wife, Zona Heaster Shue, the Greenbrier Ghost, he believed his troubles were over. He didn’t know it at the time, but the ghost of his murdered wife had two accomplices – his mother in law and his ex wife – who ensured he remained […]
The Legends and Myths of Sweet Hollow and Mount Misery: Part One, On Mary Hatchet and Sweet Hollow Road
It’s approaching Halloween and we have another film based on the legend of Mary Hatchet of Sweet Hollow Road and Mount Misery. Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet is a hatchet job on the legends, which we look at in detail in this look at one of Long Island’s most popular Urban Legends in the Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries.
Return to Sleepy Hollow, from an essay by Washington Irving
Sleepy Hollow, a remembrance by Washington Irving is a short article which first appeared in the Knickerbocker Magazine in 1839. Unlike Irving’s more well-known short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Sleepy Hollow is autobiographical in tone. He explored the area as a teenager – a valley of the Pocantico River near Tarrytown, New York, […]
Gothic Horror Stories: The Death of Halpin Frayser by Ambrose Bierce
When we say Ambrose Bierce was a western writer, we aren’t referring to western civilization. Rather, Bierce lived and wrote in the western United States, based in San Francisco for much of his career. A journalist by trade, Bierce left his indelible stamp on the short story with the twist at the end, and found […]
