A year to the day from this morning, I awoke at sunrise to find Avebury blanketed in snow. I hadn’t been that excited to see snow since I was a little kid, realizing there would be no school today. I had dreamt of photographing Avebury in the snow. H had warned me not to get […]
The Secret Life of Photographers and Trees
I live in southern Illinois. The middle of nowhere. There’s not much in the way of dramatic subject matter to shoot around here. Once spot looks pretty much like the rest. The difference is in the small details. And in the weather. There’s not a lot to recommend this place, but we do have four […]
Why a moon garden?
A love letter to my witch and to the night. A moon garden is a haven for those of us who are nocturnal, for those who shy from the sun and beam with the moon. What makes a moon garden so intriguing?
The Kit Bag by Algernon Blackwood
Algernon Blackwood (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) wrote more ghost stories than about anyone else, and more great ones as well. A novelist known just as much for his horrific short stories, this Londoner had the heart of a mystic. He wrote in a letter to a friend “My fundamental interest, I suppose, […]
A True Ghost Story for Christmas: Abigail of Montauk Point Lighthouse
Montauk Point Lighthouse, c. 1796, Montauk, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York It’s a curious phenomenon that people who live far from the ocean are obsessed with lighthouses. Here in southern Illinois, my mother collected lighthouses. At an art fair a while back where I sold my wares, the only prints I sold were two […]
Between The Lights by E.F. Benson
An unusual gothic horror story, written in 1912 and set in the sunlight rather than the dark and taking place on the day before Christmas. A tale of looking back and the healing power of Christmas. A prime example of the British tradition of Christmas ghost stories. +++ The day had been one unceasing fall […]
Roaming the night in Mt. Vernon, Indiana on the trail of Black Annie and a haunting ghost story from my childhood
MT. VERNON, INDIANA IS A RIVER TOWN. Set on the Ohio river near the place where it is fed by the Big Wabash River, its past and present depends heavily on river traffic. It’s a warm autumn night, but the breeze from the river puts a chill in the air as I get out of the pickup […]
Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe
“The death… of a beautiful woman” is “unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world” Edgar Allan Poe Ligeia is a curious one in the Poe canon. Published in 1838, scholars are still debating how to take it. Some see it as a tale reminiscent of reincarnation, others a supernatural tale and quite possibly the […]
