Bushmills for Saint Paddy's?

 "McNulty: Can I get a Jameson?
Bartender: Bushmills OK?
McNulty: That’s Protestant whiskey.
Bartender: Price is right, ain’t it?
McNulty: Make it neat."

Well, first thing first: happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all. I will make time to drink today and, at some point, I might even accompany my usual pint with a shot of some Irish spirit. It might be Bushmills, even though it would be ironic to drink a Protestant whiskey on the day of a Catholic saint. But when we went to Belfast, we visited their distillery briefly. Could be a nice way to remember the trip. Oh and for those who don't know where the exchange above is from, it's from The Wire. You can watch the scene here. I've been wanting to say the reply next time they offer me some in a pub. Haven't had the chance since the local Irish pub shut down, but maybe today is my lucky day. Luck of the Irish, as they say.

Monstrum on slasher movies

Quick countdown to Halloween post as I really wanted to blog about it: Monstrum made a video recently about slashers. It is very good and I had to share it. To be honest, I only ever truly love one slasher movie. While I love horror, I prefer old Gothic stories with ghosts and vampires, but I digress. All the same, as always, it's fascinating.

The crocodile of Cholesbury

A little bit of creepy local news which caught my attention today: the police was asked to capture a crocodile that had been sighted in the village of Cholesbury. Fortunately, or disappointingly, the crocodile turned out to be a plastic toy. So it was an hoax. All the same, this is the stuff that urban legend are made of. Or village legends. I did not dare to hope that someone had brought illegally a crocodile in this country (it happens), kept it as a pet, then released him. Oh well. I think I might come off with some interesting story out of it. On a side note, my remembers might remember that I blogged about Cholesbury before, in August 2023. It's the second time this village catches my attention. I think fate is telling me to visit it.

"The Vampire of Croglin Grange"

Sometimes I wish I could have seen something. A few days ago, a nearby associations of skeptics held a conference about the Vampire of Croglin Grange. An alleged real-life horror story that happened in Cumberland. I have heard of real life accounts of vampirism set in this country, so I may or may not have heard of that legend (can we say an urban legend?) before I have seen the announcement of the conference. I am gutted that I could not attend. I am of course skeptical of the whole story, but I love these bits of local legends about evil creatures, they make for great source material for scary stories. And if you cannot write one, you can imagine one reading the accounts and get a few pleasant chills. I hope to be able to blog about it in the next countdown to Halloween.

Monstrum on Bloody Mary

YouTube/PBS series Monstrum has released a new video recently, about the folkloric character of Bloody Mary. I really loved it (as always) and I decided to share it tonight. Bloody Mary and divination in front of a mirror used to be a staple of Halloween, so all the more reason for us to enjoy this video.

Monstrum of Grays and UFOs

For the amateur of modern folklore among you, Monstrum released a video recently about UFOs and Grey aliens, also called Grays. As always, it is fascinating. I have never been as much into aliens as other "paranormal" phenomenons, even as a child, but this is great fun all the same. I love their animated dramatisations of accounts of alien encounters. It's worth a watch just for them.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

For tonight's countdown to Halloween's reading suggestion: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, by Alvin Schwartz, illustrations by Stephen Gammell. I know it's a trilogy, but I only read so far the first book. It's a short and easy read, of horror stories for children (older children), based on folk tales, urban legends and the like. Some I knew already, some I didn't. I have yet to tell any of them in the dark (due to a lack of a willing audience in this household). The stories themselves were good enough, but I have a confession to make: I bought the book for the images and I think they are in themselves worth the purchase. Eerie, elegant, beautiful, deliciously macabre. Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, because the cover is what makes the book. Apparently, it has been turned into a film. I don't care about watching it. I think I would be disappointed.

Des lunes et des hommes

C'est la pleine lune ce soir, ce que je souligne parfois. Si la lune est la compagne du poète peu importe son quartier, lorsqu'elle est pleine elle est l'objet de beaucoup de superstitions, mais aussi de légendes urbaines. Voir cet article du Journal de Montréal pour un survol. Je n'ai jamais prêté foi à ce qu'on dit sur les effets de la pleine lune, même quand j'étais un enfant superstitieux et à l'imagination fertile, mais j'avoue que l'idée de la pleine lune ayant des effets réels sur nos comportements est amusante, à défaut d'être plausible.

Un saurien dans une animalerie?

J'ai fait une promenade digestive aujourd'hui dans les environs et je me suis arrêté à l'animalerie du quartier. Je m'arrête souvent dans les animaleries pour voir les chats, je suis bête comme ça. Assez étrangement, il n'y avait qu'un chat dans toute l'animalerie, mais un animal exotique, celui que vous voyez sur la photo. Est-ce un alligator ou un crocodile? J'en saurien (nouveau calembour atroce ici, mon deuxième de la journée). Peu importe, c'est une bête qui ne devrait pas être un animal de compagnie, je pense. Pas que je prête foi à la légende urbaine des crocodiles dans les égoûts, mais je connais au moins une histoire vraie d'alligator en cavale, sur laquelle j'ai d'ailleurs blogué. Et je ne trouve pas ça très éthique au demeurant, un gros reptile dans une petite cage comme animal de compagnie.

Un loup-garou québécois moderne

Je blogue parfois sur les loups-garous québécois, parce que c'est une créature qui est l'une des plus présentes dans notre folklore, avec une personnalité bien distincte des loups-garous des autres pays (voir notamment mon billet du Vendredi saint de cette année). Comme l'Halloween s'en vient, je voulais revenir sur le loup-garou québécois et plus précisément sur une vidéo à son sujet trouvée sur YouTube. Tirée d'une émission de Canal D, quand celui-ci a commencé à faire dans le sensationalisme et la cryptozoologie. Le loup-garou québécois n'est pas qu'une légende, c'est aussi une légende urbaine. On en aurait donc vu un dans la région de Gatineau... Rien que ça. Vous devinerez que je suis sceptique. Cela dit, il y a bien des choses à aimer dans cet extrait: la narration de Michel Dumont (juste parce que c'est Michel Dumont), les images, le loup-garou qui semble tout droit sorti de la Hammer, le côté mauvais film d'horreur qui a quand même de l'atmosphère. Pour commencer ta journée ou ta soirée, je trouve que "ça rentre au poste," comme on dit chez nous.

Un alligator à Montréal

Parfois la réalité rattrape la légende urbaine la plus tirée par les cheveux. Nous en avons eu un exemple aujourd'hui à Montréal: Le SPVM a capturé un alligator en cavale. Un saurien. En cavale. À Montréal. Bon, on a déjà eu des cas de boas, mais un alligator, je crois que c'est une première. Bon, je n'ai rien d'autre à dire sauf que ça a fait ma journée, parce que bien que ce soit un fait divers très divers, il est en même temps vraiment inusité.

Scheming Salieri

My brother PJ is in Prague, to see a performance of Don Giovanni. So he is in a musical mood. So am I, as well as in an envious mood, this being my favorite opera, bare none. Anyway, he also made me aware today of a very special anniversary for people into musical history: today is the 265th anniversary of Antonio Salieri. Contemporary of Mozart, an urban legend makes him his murderer. And various works of fiction, among them the movie (and the play which inspired it) Amadeus, which used this urban legend to great effects. But Salieri was apparently in conflict with Mozart and scheming against him, which is enough to be disliked nowadays by people like me. I am merciless aren't I? Still, it is very ironic that he is now famous for a crime he probably never committed. And that his rival his now renown as the greatest composer of all time. So in "honour" (hum, hum) of Salieri, I uploaded this introductory scene from Amadeus, which pretty much sums up his stature now in our memory.

That's Protestant Whiskey

"McNulty: Can I get a Jameson?
Bartender: Bushmills OK?
McNulty: That’s Protestant whiskey.
Bartender: Price is right, ain’t it?
McNulty: Make it neat."

I blogged before about the urban legend regarding Bushmills. I learned about it because of this scene in The Wire. This anecdotal exchange between McNulty and the barman is one of many scenes in the series, scenes that are seemingly unimportant, but give character to the show. One of many reasons why I love it so much. I took this picture in the duty free boutiques of Southampton Airport. Looking at the bottles, I could only think of the scene in my favorite TV drama. Next time I go out for a drink, I want to order a whiskey just for the sake of being offered Bushmills. So I can say the immortal line. Not that I know much about whiskey, to be honest. I enjoy it from time to time, but cannot make the difference between a decent one and a great one. Or even a bad one, come to think of it. But I do want to say this once in my lifetime.

The Bushmills controversy

I blogged about it before. I discovered this controversy in The Wire. My favorite TV series. Apparently, Bushmills is Protestant whiskey, according to Jimmy McNulty. Who, as a good Irish-American Catholic, has Jameson as his poison of choice. Apparently, the association between Jameson and Catholics and Bushmills and Protestants is more or less a urban legend. You can find out more about it here. For all its urbane legendary nature, it still makes for a great scene that reveals a lot about McNulty. He is outside his element, he stands out in this crowd, even when it comes to drinks.

The return of the Bristol crocodile

The title of this post sounds very much like the title of a B movie. It may become one some day. Anyway, I blogged before about this urban legend when it first appeared in February this year. There had been sightings of a crocodile in Bristol. Well, England is full of legendary beasts and not so long ago, and even now, people believed that the countryside was full of unknown beasts. Anyway, the Bristol crock has been sighted again, and this time someone took a few snapshots... that don't show much. I am still very skeptical about it, as I was then. Four months down the line, the crocodile managed to remain off the radar and out of sight? I find it difficult to believe, especially in this day and age, when you can take pictures and videos so easily. I mean a video showing more than what looks like a log. Nevertheless, I find it a fascinating urban legend and new chapter of English cryptozoology. But until there is more evidence, I will remain skeptical. It can always become the inspiration for a good fictitious story.

A crocodile in Bristol?

Sometimes, the news take a turn to the bizarre and the improbable: a crocodile has been seen beneath a bridge in Bristol. There even has been a second sighting. I am, to say the least, skeptical. A snake, I would find this plausible, a small saurian, even. But a six foot crocodile? This sounds highly unlikely. So until there is proper evidence shown, I think we have here the beginning of an urban legend, like the one about the sewer alligators of New York, which fascinated me as a child. But this is one of those urban legends I wished was true, just because it is so darn outrageous and because a croc on the loose in England is kind of cool.

King George V and speedball

The things one learns sometimes. I was checking about speedball, which is the name of the cocaine and heroin mix, or cocaine and morphine, on Wikipedia. I then saw King George V among the list of famous people killed by it. I thought at first it was pure hogwash, something added by someone with a twisted sense of humour, or some urban legend that got through.It seems that it is in fact genuine: his doctor apparently did give him a mix of cocaine and morphine to treat his cancer, which may have hastened his death. Of course, in later slang terms, the mixture would be known as speedball. And, for the record, I know of the term from Eyes Wide Shut. Not from any personal experience.

Looking for scary stories

Halloween is coming so I am trying to place myself in that state of mind. I haven't watch any horror movie so far (except this short film), which is a shame, as I usually start as early as September or even August. And I did start watching this adaptation of Dracula, which is quite faithful to the novel but still not close enough (and there are a few miscasts and some questionable decisions). But I am mainly looking for books to read, stories to make me shiver pleasantly (here are a list of suggestions, which you can find online).

I have accumulated here a stash of scary stories: among them this book in particular, which I rediscover every year, re-reading old and forgotten classics (you can find here a list of the stories I particularly enjoy from it). I also borrowed another anthology from Oxford University Press, hopefully I will find time to blog about it this year. But I want to find something new, or at least new to me, some stories I never heard or read before. However great some scary stories are, however skillfully written they are, however you love them, they can never be as terrifying when you read them a second time. So I had an idea today: this year, I would try to extend my research to more local haunting and supernatural stories.

Now don't get me wrong: I do not believe in the supernatural, ghosts and creepy critters. Just like Lovecraft, so it's not an unknown trait among horror aficionados.That said, I have always been fascinated by folklore, and by local legends. I find it often just as scary, even more so, than what came from the imagination of famous writers. Of course, local legends often became the source material of great modern stories (I know something about it: as my francophone readers know, my cousin wrote his first book and bestseller based on local legends from the town where he grew up). Where I now live, there are plenty of small villages, local pubs, sinister looking places. There must be stories linked to them, stories that will give me shiver. I don't know if I can turn them into fiction like my cousin did, I don't know if I have the discipline or the patience, even though I have been thinking about it for quite a while now. But in any case, I will hopefully find something to make me shiver.

Coulées et peurs enfantines

Mon petit frère est présentement à Chicoutimi où il se promène dans le quartier de notre enfance et les coins où l'on se tenait était jeunes. C'est du moins le cas à en croire ce qu'il écrit sur Facebook. On est tous un peu nostalgiques dans la famille et Chicoutimi je crois s'apprécie plus quand on est nostalgique. Sinon c'est un peu gris et beige. Donc, j'apprends via Facebook qu'il est allé se promener dans les coulées près des polyvalentes chez nous, où il n'a "pas rencontré de maniaque".

Je ne sais pas si c'était la même chose partout au Québec, mais à Chicoutimi, les "maniaques" étaient les croquemitaines de notre enfance. En fait il y avait pleins de légendes urbaines qui couraient sur les maniaques. Je ne savais pas ce que le mot voulait dire, j'imaginais toujours un genre de grand homme émacié portant de vieux vêtements. Pour une raison quelconque, on croyait que "les maniaques" vivaient dans les coulées. L'ennui, c'est qu'il y en avait pleins et au moins une sur le chemin de l'école. Les coulées étaient donc des lieux mystérieux et terrifiants. Ils étaient aussi désespérément proches, ce qui me donnait un frisson d'unheimlich à chaque fois que j'en voyais une de loin. Si jamais j'écris une histoire d'horreur qui se passe à Chicoutimi, elle va se passer dans une coulée.