Annie lost her children in a fire on the north side of Carmi, Illinois quite some time ago. Ever since she wandered the dark alleys at night, looking for her lost children. She wore black, still in mourning, her face beyond pale and ghastly blue in the moonlight. Sometimes you could hear her shuffling along, […]
Growing up gothic; Of devil worshippers, Satanists and the Dark Secret of Harvest Home
Urban legends often have very rural roots. Read of devil worshippers, Satanists and rock and roll in this drawer of the Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries
Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg
The North Carolina Memorial at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania.On the afternoon of July 3, 1863, approximately 13,000 Confederate soldiers, in a line a mile long, stepped out from the woods, marching side by side, all looking to converge less than a mile away, and in the process, crush the Union army. In […]
To believe or not to believe, the power of myth and childhood
The Ghost of Christmas Past is alive and well, and making his usual rounds this Christmas. My own Yes Virginia moment in the Gothic Cabinet of Curiosities and Mysteries
Spirit of Vincennes Rendezvous 2011 & memories from the gutter
Musicoligists disagree on what was the first musical device. They generally agree that the first musical instrument was the voice. So it’s a simple leap to believe our ancient ancestors figured out whistling, and from there, the flute. The whistle imitated birds, the flute imitated the whistle and thus, music was born. But it’s always […]
What makes a church a church? Carmi’s Emmanuel United Methodist church looks to leave history behind for greener pastures
There’s a controversy brewing in my hometown which I’ve been watching as it deals with issues of local history and historic preservation, as well as a bigger question. What constitutes a church, the building or the people? I don’t attend the church in question, or any church on a regular basis, so I don’t have […]
