The Ouija board, in its current version, dates back to 1891 when three men decided to standardize the “talking board” and market it as a toy. But devices for communing with the spirits had been around for decades. The Fox sisters created their own contraptions for rapping and moaning. Spiritualists made tables float and made…
31 Days of Halloween – October 9
Edgar Allan Poe is a figure often association with the dark and the macabre. This week is the anniversary of his strange death and subsequent burial. While his death was noted in several regional newspapers, his funeral was barely attended. His cousin-in-law Reverend Clemm presided over the rainy ceremony, cut short by the weather and…
31 Days of Halloween – October 8
As early as we can tell in human history, people have been denoted the final resting place of loved ones with markers. From ornate pyramids to the simplest family plots, symbolism in the art has become a hallmark of cemeteries. Atlas Obscura put together a fantastic infographic on some of the common images seen on…
31 Days of Halloween – October 7
October 7, 1849 is the day Edgar Allan Poe died. He spent the last four days of his life incoherent in a Baltimore hospital, having been found insensible on October 3. A great deal has been made of the mystery of how he died. And even more rumor has been passed along as fact.
31 Days of Halloween – October 6
Who remembers this series of books? Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark were essential for slumber parties and campfires. The stories were not much more than urban legends updated for a middle school audience. They are typical tales of scary hitchhikers, weird neighbors and ghostly grandmothers. What was really frightening were the amazing black…