The only troubling sound I heard the night I spent in the Jailer’s Inn in Bardstown, Kentucky was the sound of a cell door closing. There are two reasons I found that disturbing. First, the jail was shut down late in the twentieth century, so there are no inmates, and it’s unlikely the staff was […]
Cemetery Symbolism: The Meaning of Memento Mori and a Puritan reminder of your mortality
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” William Shakespeare, Macbeth “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou […]
A Traditional Halloween: If it’s Samhain you’re looking for, ditch October 31
Pagans and Christians don’t agree on a lot. Pagans complain that Christianity is all show and no substance. One point of contention often leveled at Christians is that their holidays are frequently, if not always chosen in order to Christianize existing pagan celebrations. Let’s face it, that’s absolutely true. But when it comes to Christian […]
Haunted Graveyards: The ghosts of Williamsburg, Illinois and Ridge Cemetery
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”– Genesis 3:19 “Oh my name it means nothing, and my age it means less.For the country I come from, is called the […]
Hoppy Rebstock, the heartbeat in the tombstone and the joys of school picnics
“I foamed — I raved — I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder — louder — louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly , and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? […]
A warlock’s curse? The ghosts of Salem’s Howard Street Burying Ground
Has the 17th century curse placed on the town and sheriff by Giles Corey, pressed to death in Salem in 1693, been wreaking havoc ever since?