Now this is a dollhouse!

I don't know if I have the kind of patience to do something like this but I'd love to have one! What a fantastic training tool and resource for anyone interested in what a house in the 40s / 50s looked like. Oh, and how to investigate a crime scene...

Picnic at Hanging Rock

This classic is getting a remake apparently.

I was obsessed with the original Peter Weir film (more at this previous post) after seeing it a rep house theatre back in the early 80s. I tried to find out if the story was based on actual events. I even ordered the book through a local book store.

Every few years I revisit the story and see what new developments there have been. Like when, following the author's death, a concluding but left out chapter, made its reappearance!

So much has happened since I last looked at this particular story including a movement to take references to the story and Miranda (one of the two girls who disappear) out of the interpretation for the actual Hanging Rock site. You can read more about that and other things here on Wikipedia.

And here now, is the latest development...a tv series....

Wilkie Collins

Back to the topic of books and stories...

I can't remember when I first came across Wilkie Collins; another author considered to be the founder of the detective / mystery genre. I'm not even sure how old I was when I read The Moonstone. Maybe I came across it amongst my father's old books? Or the old books that used to kick around the summer camp I went to?

It's also possible I read a short story by Collins in one of those horror anthologies and then went searching at the library for more. I used to read so voraciously...

...and I see that, yes indeed, a story by Collins did appear in the 4th Fontana anthology. Just have a look through its contents, or any of the others (here and here) to see how many you may have read. And while it's true, I have NOT got round to re-reading anything but the Introduction from the 8th edition of Fontana Book of Ghost Stories, it's also true that winter is long and dark here. We had snowflakes just the other morning! So, there will be plenty of time to snuggle up with it.

Now, I recall preferring The Moonstone to Wilkie's other novel, The Woman in White. The former is more exciting involving a legend and a mysterious gem from India. Ah, India; that place where the very creepy monkey's paw (W.W. Jacobs, 1902) came from. Of course!

In Wilkie's story...

Colonel Herncastle, an unpleasant former soldier, brings the Moonstone back with him from India where he acquired it by theft and murder during the Siege of Seringapatam. Angry at his family, who shun him, he leaves it in his will as a birthday gift to his niece Rachel, thus exposing her to attack by the stone's hereditary guardians, who, legend says, will stop at nothing to retrieve it... - Source

And in The Monkey's Paw...(which I know I read in one of those anthologies!)

The short story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son, Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend who served with the British Army in India, introduces them to a mummified monkey's paw. An old fakir placed a spell on the paw, that it would grant three wishes. The wishes are granted but always with hellish consequences as punishment for tampering with fate. Morris, having had a horrific experience using the paw, throws the monkey's paw into the fire but Mr. White retrieves it. Before leaving, Morris warns Mr. White that if he does use the paw, then it will be on his own head. - Source

Of course, the UK's connection to India is long and...eventful. Like many other colonizing forces throughout history, an unfamiliar society and its cultural practices can become both a source of intrigue and fear for the colonizer. Maybe that's why India features so frequently in 19th C British literature. Especially when there is something mysterious or supernatural that is integral to the plot.

The 100 best novels: No 19 – The Moonstone

Christopher Lee reads The Monkey's Paw

More books

These are from my husband's collection. But he is getting rid of them! His Dad gave them to him when he was a kid but he didn't really get into the whole boy mystery thing. Whereas I definitely went through a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys phase when I was young. So, I'm going to hang on to them...for now.

Read and listen more re: the Hardy Boys (there's a drinking game apparently) & Nancy Drew.

- The Hardy Boys Drinkbook podcast
- Noir Factory Podcast #24 – The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew
- 9 Things a Grown Man Can Learn From the Hardy Boys (all are very applicable to women too!)

Blogroll disappearance!

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!   

Have no idea how that happened but I've lost my blogroll....

....attempting to reconstruct...

The Body on the Moor

Read and listen to more here and here

Space Music?

So, I've caught a few episodes of Nasa's Unexplained Files. It's a fun watch. Not only do you get caught up in the mysteries but most of the time they have a satisfying explanation.

This one tho, the 'space music' heard by Apollo 10 astronauts on the dark side of the moon, well, there was something about it. Although it's been explained away as VHF or radio interference I was intrigued. This does not sound like radio interference to me...



Something did not add up. I went online, as you do, and discovered the original audio. What you hear in the clip above is not what you hear in the audio released by NASA. In fact, the noise heard in the NASA audio is so clearly interference that, well, it's hard to understand why the astronauts would have thought otherwise.

Unless, of course, this audio is not what they heard.

And what exactly was in those brownies?

Coffin Dolls of Arthur's Seat

Coffin dolls - Scotland's National Museum, Edinburgh
Click here for more images

"Seventeen miniature coffins were found in 1836 on Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, each containing a clothed figure. No one knows what they were, why they were buried or who buried them, but people have been trying to solve the mystery ever since.

At the time of their discovery The Scotsman newspaper suggested they were used by witches casting death spells on specific individuals. Another theory is that they were kept by sailors to protect against death.

They may even represent a mock burial, possibly for the 17 known victims of Burke and Hare. In 1827-8 Burke and Hare, working in Edinburgh, sold the bodies of people they had murdered for dissection in the city's anatomy classes. This horrified many Scots who feared that a dissected body would not rise to life at the Last Judgement. William Burke was caught and executed for his crimes in 1829. Ironically, his body was legally given to an antaomy class for dissection. Look at the mortsafe for more about Burke and Hare. 

We are unlikely ever to be sure of the meaning of the coffins. It remains with the hidden aspects of death and belief in Scotland."

Houdini and Doyle - family fare

Ok, today I'm giving you  a little break from the Edinburgh visit ;)

So, over the last few weeks I've managed to catch a few episodes of the new ITV Victorian detective show, Houdini and Doyle. And yes indeed, Houdini is the escape artist extraordinaire we've all heard and read so much about while Doyle, portrayed oh so charmingly by Stephen Mangan (*blush), is Sherlock author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Houdini and Doyle is definitely NOT Penny Dreadful or Ripper Street. And within a few minutes of watching the first episode I was sure a Canadian production company had to be involved. And sure enough I was right. One thing we Canadians seem to be getting fairly good at is family friendly period television fare eg) Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea, Murdoch Mysteries. This one adds just a pinch of Victorian spookiness to the otherwise wholesome mix.



Interestingly, Houdini and Doyle did actually know one another. And both had an interest in the spiritualist / medium movements of their time. They came at it from opposite ends however with Doyle the believer and Houdini the skeptic.

Houdini, in fact, dedicated quite a bit of time to exposing spiritualists as charlatans whereas Doyle, well, he would not be shaken in his supernatural beliefs. So much so that he had a falling out with Houdini because Doyle was convinced the escape artist had powers he would not admit to! Read more on the Victorian web here.

Interestingly, there is a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre in Edinburgh. And it is now home of the Edinburgh Association of Spiritualists.

Tales for the campfire

Recently I ran across a storyteller on YouTube that I really enjoy listening to. I'm not sure what the magic ingredient in his voice is or why I prefer listening to him vs. many of the voices on YouTube. I think part of it is that he genuinely sounds like he is telling you these things firsthand. He's probably reading these stories unless he has a photographic memory but they're told in a way that sounds like a friend is talking to you. He gets the emotions and the timing right.

The storyteller is Otis Jiry and he reads stories that are anywhere from a few minutes to an hour long as well as some dark poetry. A lot of the stories he reads are those "Creepypasta" stories. For those who don't know, Creepypastas are short scary/shocking stories posted online. They're usually written in way that sounds like they really happened, even if what's being described is pretty wacky.

So I thought I'd post a few of my favorite readings from Otis Jiry. Those of you who get my blog by email will probably have to come read my actual blog because I know these videos don't generally show up for you.

The first one is called "Ash Hollow: The Odd Little Well" and was written by R.J. Wills. This story isn't too scary, it's more mystifying. It would be good for a discussion group where everyone could share what they think it means. I thought it was descriptive in the way where there are just enough personal details to make it sound real.

This next story "Birthday at Freddy's" will seem extra spooky and familiar for people who remember Chuck E. Cheese's. It's a little scarier than the last story.

I always thought those animatronic critters were creepy!

If you'd like to listen to more of Otis Jiry's storytelling, here is his YouTube channel:

Otis Jiry's Creepypasta Crypt

There are a variety of different types of stories on his channel. Some are pretty morbid.

While listening to Otis' channel, I saw a recommended video on the side of my screen. I clicked on it and really enjoyed what I heard. Listen to this one in a dark, quiet room. The lady who reads this has a whispery, haunted tone to her voice. It's a story from the point of view of a babysitter but it's different from most scary babysitter stories. This is another one worth discussing, because there would probably be a lot of different opinions about what happened. "My Last Night Babysitting" by Jeanna Saccomano: