Thursday, May 21, 2009

Harper's Island

Page-a-Day WC - 192 words

The announcement was made. There will be no second season of Harper's Island. My question is how would they make a second season of this show? I thought it was a one time TV event kind of thing. After they kill a bunch of people off and reveal the killer, what comes next? A copycat?

The funny thing is all these people are dying and the remaining wedding guests are going on like nothing has happened. How do you do that? Personally, I wouldn't want to get married if half the wedding party are in the morgue. And, of course, they had to have a creepy ghost whisperer kid in there somewhere. Sometimes, I think they just tried a little too hard with this show.

And you know the killer is either someone associated with John Wakefield. John Wakefield himself or someone obsessed with the guy. It'll mostly likely be someone who seems completely normal but has underlining problems no one knows about. Probably someone close to Abby. I'll be totally surprised if the killer is none of that.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Spell Check Please

Page-a-Day WC - 237 words

I think I got ahead of myself on my thoughts about Stalkers. The stories are pretty good. It's the spelling mistakes that are starting to frustrate me. I can understand one or two, but I'm barely passed the halfway mark and the count is up to like six. Spell check, anyone? Wait....did they have spell check in 1989?

What's worse is the book's previous owner decided it was a good idea to go through it and mark out every swear word. Ok...not every one of them but most of them. I'm not talking about drawing a line through it. Scribble it completely out with a blue pen. I feel like I'm playing Mad Libs: obscenity version. Fill in the blanks with curse words.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The McDow Hole

In the 1860s, Charlie and Jenny Papworth with their infant son Temple made a treacherous journey to what is now known as Alexandra, Texas. Purchasing a spread next to Charlie's cousin Jim McDow's, they built a cabin 200 yards from Green Creek a.k.a. McDow's Hole and got settled. About five years later, Charlie and Jenny welcomed their second son. Unfortunately, not long after the blessed event, Charlie received word his parents had died. In their will, he received all of their furniture. The only way it could be transported was by train and Texarkana was the end of the line out west, 200 miles away.

Charlie made arrangements for the furniture to be shipped and set off with his wagon to pick it up. A decision he would come to regret. Increasing danger of cattle rustlers, worried him. He insisted Jenny and the kids not sleep at home; therefore, a routine was established. Jenny stayed in their cabin by day, preparing for winter and caring for their children. At night, she would bundled up the children and ride to either the McDow's or Keith's place. About a month after Charlie's departure, Jenny and the children didn't show up at the McDow's. Mrs. McDow checked with Mrs. Keith the next day and discovered they had not slept their either. The two women rode to the Papworth's cabin.

Upon their arrival, nothing seemed out of place. However, no one answered the door. The two entered the cabin, finding no sign of Jenny or the children, but all was not right. A scuffle had taken place leaving two overturned chairs and a small spot of blood on the floor. They feared the worst. The sound of a sob from under a bed brought them some hope. They found five year old Temple hidden and scared to death. The child attempted to talk but was never able to give a coherent account of what happened to his mother and brother. A search party was quickly formed.

A large, obnoxious man named Brownlow soon pointed the finger at the Comanche despite there not being any reports of them in the county. It was because of his insistence on their guilt that made him the suspect in some eyes. His quirt or whip was also found near the Papworth cabin. He claimed to have been by the day before to talk to Jenny and there was no way to disprove his statement. Therefore, the search party pursued the Comanche which led to no sign of Indians or the missing Papworth family members. Charlie returned two weeks later only to discover his world destroyed. He was told Indians were responsible but he grew to suspect Brownlow as well.

Back then, many took the law in to their own hands. Brownlow took advantage of this fact when he sensed he was under suspicion. He stirred up rumors about Charlie, calling him a horse their and rustler. Many refused to believe him but the damage had been done. In 1867, one vigilante group, led by Brownlow, raided the area, dragging men from their beds. They forced Charlie out of his bed, tied his hands behind his back and made him mount a horse. He and six other men were strung up on the Papworth's big pecan tree next to McDow's Hole. The group fled at daybreak in fear of being discovered. Charlie Papworth, thanks to his son Temple, was the only one to have survived. The next day, Charlie and Temple road off to the Oklahoma territory, never to return again. Later, on his deathbed, Brownlow confessed to killing Jenny Papworth and her infant son because she had witnessed him associating with known cattle rustlers.

Many who have stayed or lived in the abandoned Papworth cabin have witnessed Jenny walking in to a wall, scratching at the door, and the air becoming chilled. A woman has also been seen at McDow's hole floating above the water sometimes holding a baby. Is it really the ghost of Jenny Papworth or the ghost of some other unfortunate person killed on the land? Today, trespassers are not allowed in the area.

Page-a-Day WC -
Repost from Ghost Stories

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Stalkers Anthology

Page-a-Day WC - 230 words

Has anyone read this anthology? It's kind of old, published in 1989. It contains novellas by Dean Koontz, John Coyne and F. Paul Wilson and stories by Rex Miller, Ed Gorman (who also edited it) and Robert R. McCammon.

So far it's pretty good. I liked the novella by Dean Koontz called "Trapped". It's similar to his book Watchers which I loved. I live in the country. So, mice don't really bother me but smart rats who put rat poison pellets in your breakfast cereal would terrify anyone.

BTW: The Barnes & Nobles website is offering 9 free audiobook MP3 downloads until May 16th. Here's the short stories up for grabs:

"The Babysitters Code" By: Laura Lippman
"Super Goat Man" By: Jonathan Lethem
"Best New Horror" By: Joe Hill
"Great Day" By: Kurt Vonnegut
"Fathers" By: Alice Munro
"Truth or Dare" By: Elizabeth Berg
"Ysrael" By: Junot Diaz
"Merrano of the Dry Country" By: Louis L'Amour
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" By: Mark Twain

Monday, May 11, 2009

Sunday, May 10, 2009

History of Mother's Day

Page-a-Day WC - 174 words

Mother's Day celebrations date back to a Greek spring festival dedicated to the goddess Rhea, the mother of many deities. In ancient Rome, offerings were made to the Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Celtic Pagans celebrated the mother goddess Brigid. Here in the United States, we have Anna Jarvis and her daughter Anna for our celebrations.

The first celebration of Mother's Day here in the United States took place in 1858. Of course, it wasn't exactly called "Mother's Day". Jarvis organized Mother's Work Day to raise awareness of the poor health conditions in her community. Jarvis died in 1905. Her daughter, also named Anna, began campaigning to memorialize her mother's life work. She lobbied for a special day just for mothers. In 1908, a service was held at her West Virginia church in honor of Anna's mother. White Carnations, Jarvis' favorite flower, were handed out to those that attended.

Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution for all federal officials to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. However, it wasn't until 1914 that President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill making it an official national holiday. Unfortunately, Anna was not pleased with the gift-giving tradition that became associated with the holiday. She was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Anna died in 1948 in West Chester, Pennsylvania poor having spent her inheritance campaigning against the commercialization of the holiday.

Today, don't just send a simple card. Write your mother a letter or show her how much you appreciate everything she has done. Happy Mother's Day!

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Book Borrowing Etiquette

Page-a-Day WC - 150 words

One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone borrows something from me and returns it damaged in some way. It may be the control freak in me. I have this problem mostly with books.

I don't care if someone borrows a book from me but I expect it to be returned in the same condition it left in. A lot of times people fold down the corner of a page rather than use a bookmark. Or they messed up the spine so badly that pages are falling out. Or they loose the book jacket. Or it gets wet somehow. I understand accidents happen, but I don't like having to replace my favorite books because someone didn't care to respect my property.

I just think that if you borrow something it should be returned undamaged. If it does get broke, you should at the very least offer to pay for the damages, depending on what the item is. It's just common courtesy.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Ghost Stories Carnival May Edition

Halloween Text Generator - http://www.halloweentext.com

Welcome to the May 2009 edition of Ghost Stories Carnival.

The purpose of this carnival is to gather articles about the paranormal from around the blog-o-sphere. If you would like to submit an article for the next Ghost Stories Carnival, please read the guidelines.

So, without further ado, sit back and start clicking away.

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Article

NAOMI presents SPOOKY CASTLE GHOST CAUSES STIR posted at Diary From England.

floslib presents The Paranormal, Belief, and Skepticism posted at Spirited Script.

Ghost Stories presents The Seven Sisters Inn posted at Ghost Stories.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents 10 Facts About Buying and Selling A House of Horrors posted at The Digerati Life


Essay

Vanessa Wolf presents Save me from myself posted at Wide Awake in Wonderland, saying, "This is largely humorous (as is my blog), but it does cover my (former) very real fear of aliens + some related stuff. No hard feelings if it's not appropriate!

Thanks! Vanessa"

Romeo Vitelli presents Hunting The Wendigo (Part 1) posted at Providentia, saying, "A two-part essay on Wendigo folklore and the actual cases that it inspired."

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This concludes the May 2009 edition of the Ghost Stories Carnival. THANK YOU for submitting your links! If you would like to see your work showcased in the June 2009 edition, please submit your links here.

If you submitted your link and don’t see it here, that probably means I received it after the deadline.

Thanks for visiting the carnival participants and don’t forget to check back June 2nd for the next Creative Carnival. Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Page-a-Day WC - 203 words
Repost from Ghost Stories

Monday, May 04, 2009

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Managing Time

Page-a-Day WC - 229 words

I decided to monitor my internet time for the next couple of weeks if not during the entire month. I've noticed I spend about three to four hours a day on the net. I guess that may not be a lot compared to some people.

Majority of that time goes to maintaining blogs or checking social networks. I hardly do any chatting anymore. I don't even bring up my yahoo messenger upon signing on. May or may not be a good thing. I haven't decided yet.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Tweet Story

Page-a-Day WC - 168 words

This is my attempt at a tweet story. I don't know. Does it make sense to you?


Footsteps paced outside her room. “Who’s there?” The air grew cold. She pulled the sheets over her head. “Why did you abandon her?” he said.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Drabble This, Tweet That

Page-a-day WC - 164 words
Repost from Write Anything

After publishing last week’s post, I came across a new market. Tweet the Meat is a Twitter-based horrorzine. You have 140 characters to write something scary. How can anyone bring on the fear in 140 characters or less? I didn’t think it could be possible but after reading a few tweets, I guess it is.

I’ve had a few people on occasion tell me the idea of writing short stories is considerably challenging for them. I find myself in the same boat with drabbles and now tweetzines. How can you get your message across with such restrictions? Can a reader be truly entertained with less details rather than more? In English, we may see it as confining. However, with languages exhibiting polysynthesis (one word meaning an entire sentence in English), it’s less restraining.

With the invention of Twitter, tweetzines were sure to pop up sooner or later but where did the concept of drabbles originate from? The idea began in the 1980s with the UK science fiction fandom. The actual 100-word format was established by the Birmingham University SF Society. The word “drabble” comes from the Monty Python’s 1971 Big Red Book, applying to a game where the first person to complete a novel wins. The term now is used a little looser. Some consider drabble as short stories of 1,000 words or 500 words. Personally, I think it should only apply to the 100 word limit. Then there’s half-drabble (50 words) and double-drabble (200 words).

Can it be done? If it weren’t possible, no one would be doing it. I challenge you to tweet a story today.