The Haunted House Game

As Halloween is getting closer and closer, I am getting into a spooky mood and I have been reading scary stories, some I have never read, some personal classics that I want to revisit. As I do every year, I have already (re)read All About Ghosts, the old Usborne book which inspired many of our childhood make belief games and inspire my writing to this day (because yes, I do try to write horror from time to time). As I mentioned before, one of the differences between the original English and the translated French version was the presence in the latter of a game, a sort of board game on the last page. It was called "The Great Ghost Game". My brothers and I never properly played it, as the rules were unclear. But we liked the setting, even though the house looked a tad modern for a haunted house. The setting and the ghosts doing the haunting inspired our make-belief games.

Ghost Reading

For today's (first?) countdown to Halloween post, I will talk about ghosts. Again. Because ghosts are central to Halloween. In fact, of all creatures that the season brings, it might be the most central. Vampires, werewolves, even witches, they are late additions. Halloween is originally all about spirits. So every year round Halloween, I read ghost stories. I also never miss to read  All About Ghosts, in full or in part. It was the very first spooky book I read when I was a child, the only thing resembling horror and supernatural my parents had allowed me to read. It was my first dabble into horror and supernatural. So anyway, this year it struck me that its last page has a "further reading" section, with a suggestion of books about the paranormal. They are all kind of old and in the "true haunting" category, but I am curious about them. Not because I believe in ghots: I don't. But because I could use it as inspiration to write my own ghost stories. I have been trying to dabble in the horror genre, so far I have been struggling. Ghost stories are tricky, so getting some inspiration would be useful. Oh yes, and this cloaked ghost is from that las section of the book. It looks si deliciously sinister, I had to share him.

The Ideal Haunted House

For today's countdown to Halloween post, another trip down memory lane and another post about Usborne classic All About Ghosts, a chilchood favourite of mine. There is a whole section on haunted houses, two pages back to back, with lots of phenomenons one could expect in such places. This is, in essence, an ideal haunted house, with enough ghosts or manifestations to fill a whole neighbourhood. The house has an uncanny resemblance with the Victorian house I lived in during my time in Liverpool. The surroundings are a bit different, but the basic architecture is similar. But anyway, when I was a child, this haunted house because the haunted house of our games. I once said that the problem with haunted houses in horror stories was that one could just leave the darn place. That said, I wonder if one would just live there just experiencing paranormal activities. Maybe it is my spooky mind talking, but isn't this place a dream house, haunted or not? Be that as it may, this haunted house in All About Ghosts became the inspiration for many, many games and will one day I hope be the inspiration for one ghost story or two.

The First Ghost Hunter?

For today's Halloween post, I offer you another trip down memory lane. You know my love for All About Ghosts, the Usborne book that helped me grow a taste for the macabre when I was a young child. It fuelled my imagination and my desire to read horror stories, it also gave my brothers and I some inspiration for our own make-belief games. As we needed heroes as well as villains, we were happy to discover that British folklore had provided one as a model: the Reverend Dodge. Details on the picture. Dodge may have been one of the earliest ghost hunters, the spiritual ancestor of Abraham Van Helsing, Martin Hesselius, the lesser known (and personal favourite) Baron Vordenburg and so many others. I found fairly little on the Reverend online, but I have not searched much yet. Pretty much all I know about him comes from that small section in All About Ghosts. Still, I always thought he was a badass. I think he became the inspiration for many "player characters" of our games, particularly this one. I promise myself that I will learn more about him for next year's countdown to Halloween. I wonder if there are horror stories written about him. If there are none, someone should write one. Or many more.

How to spot a ghost?

You know my love and my fascination for All About Ghosts, the book of paranormal that fired up my imagination when I was a child. And made me a very superstitious and gullible child as well. But if I ever write horror stories, this book will be one of my main sources of inspiration. It also has lots of useful tips, such as how to spot a ghost, as you can see above. The last two points are rather obvious, but the first two are rather interesting, for whoever keeps in mind that ghosts are not only wearing white sheets.

All About Ghosts

For today's countdown to Halloween's reading suggestion: All About Ghosts, a book I often blogged about and which I revisited this year. Although Usborne's books series on paranormal was aimed at a young readership, its images remain pretty dark and sometimes even gruesome for its targeted readers. I don't know how we managed to convince my parents to buy us this one, given my mother's dislike of violence, horror and anything that was potentially nightmare inducing. Maybe she was not payign attention, maybe our pleas were very convincing. Be that as it may, All About Ghosts was THE spooky book of our childhood, telling us about folklore, legends, "real life" hauntings and... a great deal of questionable information. The book is not without its flaws: it is heavy in pseudo-science, it does not teach skepticism or critical thinking one bit. (although there is a section about hoaxes and debunked claims of hauntings) Reports of hauntings are presented as quasi proven and basically it blatantly encourages its readers to be believers in the supernatural. That said, I am easily forgiving because of how well done it is as entertainment: the atmospheric and absolutely gorgeous images and the pseudo-documentary approach should give any reader, young or old, a few pleasant shivers. I don't believe in ghosts, but when I open this book, I play along. Reedited recently with a foreword of Reece Shearsmith, because nostalgia sells. (NB/PS: This is a repasted/reposted version of the original post, which disappeared on the 14th of May 202, for reasons I still don't understand).

All About Ghosts

For today's countdown to Halloween's reading suggestion: All About Ghosts, a book I often blogged about and which I revisited this year. Although Usborne's books series on paranormal was aimed at a young readership, its images remain pretty dark and sometimes even gruesome for its targeted readers. I don't know how we managed to convince my parents to buy us this one, given my mother's dislike of violence, horror and anything that was potentially nightmare inducing. Maybe she was not payign attention, maybe our pleas were very convincing. Be that as it may, All About Ghosts was THE spooky book of our childhood, telling us about folklore, legends, "real life" hauntings and... a great deal of questionable information. The book is not without its flaws: it is heavy in pseudo-science, it does not teach skepticism or critical thinking one bit. (although there is a section about hoaxes and debunked claims of hauntings) Reports of hauntings are presented as quasi proven and basically it blatantly encourages its readers to be believers in the supernatural. That said, I am easily forgiving because of how well done it is as entertainment: the atmospheric and absolutely gorgeous images and the pseudo-documentary approach should give any reader, young or old, a few pleasant shivers. I don't believe in ghosts, but when I open this book, I play along. Reedited recently with a foreword of Reece Shearsmith, because nostalgia sells.

All About Ghosts

For today's countdown to Halloween's reading suggestion: All About Ghosts, a book I often blogged about and which I revisited this year. Although Usborne's books series on paranormal was aimed at a young readership, its images remain pretty dark and sometimes even gruesome for its targeted readers. I don't know how we managed to convince my parents to buy us this one, given my mother's dislike of violence, horror and anything that was potentially nightmare inducing. Maybe she was not payign attention, maybe our pleas were very convincing. Be that as it may, All About Ghosts was THE spooky book of our childhood, telling us about folklore, legends, "real life" hauntings and... a great deal of questionable information. The book is not without its flaws: it is heavy in pseudo-science, it does not teach skepticism or critical thinking one bit. (although there is a section about hoaxes and debunked claims of hauntings) Reports of hauntings are presented as quasi proven and basically it blatantly encourages its readers to be believers in the supernatural. That said, I am easily forgiving because of how well done it is as entertainment: the atmospheric and absolutely gorgeous images and the pseudo-documentary approach should give any reader, young or old, a few pleasant shivers. I don't believe in ghosts, but when I open this book, I play along. Reedited recently with a foreword of Reece Shearsmith, because nostalgia sells.

All About Ghosts is back

I blogged before (and often) on a book that was a big part of my childhood and influenced greatly the development of my spooky mind. I am talking of All About Ghosts. First published in 1977, I learned last year that it has been released again for the Halloween season. It is, in effect, back from the dead. I had already plenty to read, so did not buy it then, but a few days ago I ordered it and it arrived today. Wolfie got very curious, but I did not want to show him too much, as some images can be very upsetting for a young mind. Still, nice to see that he has the same interest as his dad. I know Halloween is eight months away, but I like to plan my scary reads for when it comes.

The Guardian in the Graveyard

For tonight's countdown to Halloween, I present you another ghost, but a specific type. This image can be found in All About Ghosts, the schlocky paranormal book that haunted (literally) my childhood and fired up my imagination. You can read more about it here. I found this image particularly haunting (excuse the pun). This cloaked phantom is a graveyard guardian. According to the book, unlike what many think, you will not find many ghosts in a cemetery because ghosts haunt the place of their death, not their burial. Only one ghost exists in the graveyard: the graveyard guardian, the spirit of the first person to have been buried in it. So he protects the place against troublemakers and evil spirits (who should have been haunting their place of death anyway, right?). And the book added that in ancient Europe, they sometimes sacrificed a living person to make sure the graveyard had a guardian.

Now what I wonder as an adult is: where the heck did they take their info from? I am to say the least very skeptical about this claim. That said, as a child and even now, I found and find the idea fascinating. I once blogged that the issue with ghosts in scary stories is that they are all appearance and represent no physical menace. They may induce terror, but have no claws to shred with or fangs to bite with. While this is not quite true and many stories managed to have ghosts that represent at least partially a concrete menace, often the ghost is an appearance. But this one, well, he is a guardian. He must have coercive powers to guard. And he must be committed to his mission, if not fanatical about it. That he might have been sacrificed to fulfill his duty makes it all the more sinister. And there is the image itself. Since I saw it, I think about it every time I walk by or through a graveyard. I would love to read a scary story about such ghost. Or write one, if I can.

Black Shuck

This is my new countdown to Halloween post, it is about an old British folkloric creature: Black Shuck. I have learned about him first on All About Ghosts, a book I blogged about recently. The image you see on your left is from the book. As you can see, he is sometimes depicted as having one eye, which makes him all the more sinister. You can read more about Black Shuck here. He is a ghostly hound that often appears in British folklore and is one of the most famous. I find ghostly or devilish hounds the lost children of eerie folklore and horror stories. Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, heck even witches to some degree have showed up in modern horror fiction. Devilish hounds like Black Shuck? Well, The Hound of the Baskerville is famous, but he was rationalized in a crime fiction story and in the end he is nothing but a trained killing dog. But supernatural hounds in horror fiction, there are very little that I know of. Maybe ghostly hounds are too beastly to relate to (I mean you cannot have a conversation with them, unlike a lycanthrope in human form or a vampire), maybe they limit the narrative and plot possibilities. All the same, I'd like to have a crack at one of them, maybe Black Shuck himself.

All About Ghosts

This is my countdown to Halloween post. I am pluging here a rather bad book, All About Ghosts. I bought it in a French translation back in the 80s. I said it is a bad one and I am even tempted to say that it has no education value whatsoever. Which is why it is a bad book: it is basically is a children's guide to the paranormal. There was some chapters about how people faked hauntings, but overall it was a pure embrace of supernatural explanations for unexplained phenomenons. I didn't develop my critical thinking reading it. That said, I can't help loving it and I still enjoy reading it.

There are two reasons for this: 1)the images. Oh gosh the images! Beautiful, eerie, scary, they were a source of inspiration for many games of our childhood. 2)with all its flaws, it still taught me a few things about ghostly folklore, superstitions, legends and more particularly British folklore, superstitions and legends. You can find more art and more about the book on this blog. If you want to write horror fiction (say someone invites you to write one), I would actually recommend to have this work on your bookshelves.