It’s the most wonderful time of the year… There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. Christmas ghost stories were a big part of the Victorian Christmas tradition. With that in mind, I thought that for this week’s Freaky Friday, I would share a Victorian ghost story that…
Ghost Stories
It’s officially the day after Halloween – but I think every day is a good day to hear a ghost story. These first few are from Moneymade.com. “I got called to persistent fire alarms being set off in a block that used to be a poor house in the 1800s. The alarms would go off…
Warning Signs
The idea for this Freaky Friday came this morning as I was watching a Facebook reel about two young girls who were trick-or-treating on their own. They were probably about ten years old, and they knocked on the door of a nice house in a nice neighborhood. A friendly man came to the door and…
The Nisse/Tomte
A friend of mine is walking (virtually) from the Freeport area to Disneyland in California. She posts her updates regularly and includes fun facts about the towns she is virtually walking through. The other day, while she was “in” Iowa, she was walking through an area that had strong Danish roots. Part of the Danish…
The Haunting of Park Jr. High School
Since it’s the beginning of the new school year, I thought, what better things to write about than haunted schools? That’ll start the new semester off with a bang…or maybe a boo! Also, I love it when people challenge ghosts, and then the ghosts respond, and the people freak out. I mean, you asked for…
Frau Perchta
Christmas in August? Well, yes, but it’s all because of a parade and a cookout. Today, we are going to be talking about an ancient winter goddess that is normally associated with Christmastime because, on Wednesday night, I was invited to a cookout to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of two dear friends. During the…
The Moberly-Jourdain Incident
Since this week is the Paris Olympics, I thought I ought to do something with a Paris theme. And, since we were all treated to the gruesome sight of a decapitated Marie Antionette during the opening ceremonies, I started searching for sightings of the ghost of the infamous queen. I was surprised when I came…
A Ghostly Response
I LOVE hearing ghost stories from people you don’t expect to hear ghost stories from. My favorite group of “non-expectant” storytellers are first responders. These folks are trained observers, and they take their jobs very seriously. So, when they share something that happened to them, well, it gives it a whole other layer of believability….
The Land Between the Lakes
I live in northwest Illinois, and my eldest daughter lives near Atlanta, Georgia. So, when I drive down to see her, I generally go through Illinois (which is a L-O-N-G state), through Paducah, Kentucky (isn’t that the greatest name?), and then along Highway 24, skirting the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. I’d never…
Burial Stones
One of the big stories this week is the vandalism of Stonehenge. If you haven’t heard, two protestors thought it was a good idea to spray orange paint on the historic site. They were both arrested, and the authorities will decide what their civil punishment will be. But I wonder if the protestors thought of…