I didn’t expect this Belladonna plant to make it. Last year I found myself without any Belladonna, so ordered a plant. I planted it in a spot shadier than usual, and it put off a few blooms and promptly died back, till eventually the weeds took it over. But surprisingly it’s back this year, and […]
Delphiniums blooming in The Witch’s Garden, May 3, 2020
The origin of the name Delphinium appears to be Greek, either named after Ajax, Apollo or dolphins, depending on which source you use. A stunning cottage garden plant in the witch’s garden for its color and vertical height, it also figures in the folklore of various eras. It’s believed to aid with vision and divination, […]
Black Tulips opening on April 27 sets a funereal mood for the front sidewalk
There’s a buried treasure in the front lawn which I’m slowly digging up. It’s a brick sidewalk, lain God only knows when, which has over time been covered over by dirt and grass. It used to stretch the length of the block and I’m sure in most cases it’s still there. I remember it as […]
A Christmas ghost story … how a memory and a dream led me to the enchantment of “The Curse of The Cat People”
The Curse of the Cat People, my favorite Christmas movie, is a Christmas ghost story where the ghost is the least frightening character of the film. Instead of horror, the aim of the film is enchantment, though it’s loaded with suspense as well. I must have been ten or eleven, it was Christmas eve and […]
Rue comes back in the witch’s garden, April 20
In the medieval era, Rue was believed to ward off plague and pestilence, which would come in handy of late. Shakespeare refers to it being effective for the memory, whilst Michelangelo and DaVinci used it to improve eyesight. It was also believed to keep witch’s away when planted near the door. Obviously not so effective […]
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 […]
Small towns and the Coronavirus: Before we become ghosts … lessons on dying learned from a country graveyard
People in rural areas, small towns in the middle of nowhere often get a false sense of security from outside horrors like the Coronavirus. I spend a lot of time in old graveyards, the ones in the middle of nowhere and forgotten by most. I live in a rural area … the nearest city is […]
