Monday Morning Poem: Haunted House

by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Here was a place where none would ever come
For shelter, save as we did from the rain.
We saw no ghost, yet once outside again
Each wondered why the other should be so dumb;
And ruin, and to our vision it was plain
Where thrift, outshivering fear, had let remain
Some chairs that were like skeletons of [...]

It’s Halloween Again: What is an angel but a ghost in drag?

Stan Rice asked the title question, and got me wondering about that myself. We’ve all told scary stories around the old camp fire, dressed as ghosts at Halloween, and laughed at “Ghost Busters”. Many of us believe we have had ghostly encounters of various kinds, close or otherwise. But what exactly IS a ghost? [...]

Almost Halloween: Superstitions

Superstitions are usually based partly upon fear and partly upon fact. Which of the following beliefs is true? You never know……..
Put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards on Halloween night to meet a witch.
A person born on Halloween can both see and talk to spirits.
If you see a spider on Halloween, it’s the [...]

Monday Morning Poem: The Old Stone House

by Walter de la Mare

Nothing on the grey roof, nothing on the brown,
Only a little greening where the rain drips down;
Nobody at the window, nobody at the door,
Only a little hollow which a foot once wore;
But still I tread on tiptoe, still tiptoe on I go,
Past nettles, porch, and weedy well, for oh, I know
A [...]

The True, Lost Meaning of Halloween

Hallow’s Eve, Hallow E’en, Halloween, Day of the Dead, Samhain. By whatever name it has been called, this special night preceding All Hallows day (November 1st) has been considered for centuries as one of the most magical nights of the year. A night of power, when the veil that separates our world from the Otherworld [...]

Grave Matters: Nathan Hale Cemetery Tours

Every Columbus Day weekend, and also by reservation during the rest of the year, I have the pleasure of leading a special tour at the Nathan Hale Cemetery in Coventry, CT. Graveyards, especially ancient ones, are full to bursting with stories of ghosts, accidents and incidents, history, catastrophic illness, derring do, and other anomalies [...]

It’s Fall! A Little Halloween Reading

A list of my favorite books for getting into the mood of the holiday.
Vampire Legends of Rhode Island, by Christopher Rondini
Vampires are not just the stuff of legends and fantastic literature. In the 19th century, an outbreak of belief spread throughout New England and resulted in many bizarre incidents aimed at preventing vampires from preying [...]