M.R. James’ ghost stories have been making people wary of the dark for well over a century now. James helped usher in a new era of horror, taking literature beyond the gothic ghost stories which came before, and in a real sense, brought contemporary situations to horror. Even if his protagonists led lives not shared by most […]
Halloween on Cape Cod, digging into the history for stories of Barnstable ghosts, witches and other curiosities
On Barnstable ghosts, witches and dark history, gathered on a dark, windswept Halloween visit to one of the oldest villages on Cape Cod. The day the sun disappeared It was May 19, 1780. The American revolution was raging, and in Barnstable, Massachusetts, a small, New England village on Cape Cod and a loyalist stronghold, something […]
The Black Flash of Provincetown, MA: Folk horror and hysteria from New England echoes in the midwestern countryside
The Black Flash of Provincetown, Massachusetts terrorized the seaside New England town in the early twentieth century. Was there something there, prowling the dunes and streets, or was it a mommy lie which got out of hand? The Provincetown Advocate, October, 26, 1939: Fall Brings Out the Black Flash. Hard Winter Certain As Cabin Fever […]
The roots of American folk horror stretch way back … Fine art prints from Haunted Travels in the Hudson River Valley of Washington Irving
American folk horror stretches back to the colonial era and beyond. Native American folklore blended with the tales brought by the colonists, which Washington Irving blended into two tales which destined him, and our early mythology immortality. Haunting and beguiling landscapes from one of the most beautiful regions of the world, available as fine art […]
Exploring the imagination of Washington Irving and early American folklore along the Rip Van Winkle Trail in the Catskills … a photo essay
WHOEVER has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, […]
Primrose flowers in a witch’s garden: A gift to, and protection from fairies, tokens for the dead and Evening Primrose for a moon garden
Top: Evening Primrose flowers growing in the fairy section of a witch’s garden Thinking of you while out for a rambleDown by a cold frosty streamSet down on a bed of hemlocks and primrosesAnd gently I fell into a dreamI dreamed I saw a pretty fair maidenSuch beauty I’d never saw beforeHer dress was bound […]
