Horror/Scary
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading More Newsletters By This Editor
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Welcome to this week's WDC Horror/Scary Newsletter ~ where the mundane takes a back seat to the realm of the unknown, a realm of limitless possibilities. When I listen, sometimes I even hear.
All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream
...quoth the Raven, nevermore
Edgar Alan Poe
Foremost in a work of horror, I believe, is the writer's ability to provoke fear or terror in readers - a sense of dread or anxiety from a given image - tangible or envisioned - a foreshadowing of impending doom. Let's explore some items which may give us a head start along the way.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Thomas Edison |
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Greetings, I’m glad to be here with you. Really, I’m relieved to be anywhere but there. Don’t know why I ever rang the doorbell after the wind near blew me on my butt. I disregarded, to my subsequent dismay, this obvious elemental warning not to go in, but turn around and go anywhere else, despite my promise to check in on my vacationing friend’s nana. The spry nonagenarian received me with a smile and a hug at the front door, beckoning I enter her abode redolent of pinesol and gingerbread. She then escorted me to the parlor, as she called the room with inset leaded glass cabinets and scrolled moldings just inside the front entrance. She declined my offer to help, bidding me sit on a tufted high-backed chair across from the silent fireplace while she walked with quick but mincing steps to the kitchen for the tea things. With no television or radio going in the room, I had nothing to do but study the curios and pictures that graced the walls and inset leaded glass cabinets.
The wind raised its voice to a steady keening as it worked its way down the fireplace across from me. The chattering bones of the house itself grew more insistent, forecasting the oncoming storm. But it was the eyes that made me shiver. They followed my every movement, from my hand tucking stray hairs behind my ear to my eyes rolling left towards the kitchen, as I listened to the convivial rattle of metal greeting crystal and china.
”Oh, I see you also are drawn to her,” Nana said, her voice heralding the approach of the rolling teacart dispelling somewhat the wind’s persistent call, but not the eyes’ insistence. “You know, of all the dolls I’ve collected over thirty years since my retirement, she’s my favorite. I bought her at an estate sale for a mere pittance, the owner’s heirs claiming she was hand-made for a child’s birthday about a century ago in some outlying town in a Royal colony. I thought there must be something wrong with it to go at such a low price, but the face was arresting; I sensed it reaching out to me, and I gave it a home on my mantel in the company of other vintage dolls. Or do I call old things classic now? Have some tea, and some gingersnaps I just made. Don’t they look like dollhouse cookies?” she ended in a long breath, pouring tea in the delicate china cups.
Yes, like a dollhouse, and I was but another doll playing at tea. That’s what the eyes would have me see. That’s what the doll would have me be, another playmate, and nothing but. I could hear the wind rise again, or perhaps it never abated, just waited for me to learn its tongue, and accept its invitation, to tea; yes, just tea.
”I really have to get going, beat the storm out of the city,” I stammered, and reached the doorway before she could even rise, which she did, tea cup in hand. As I let myself out, I could see the dark eyes above the mantel following me and, I’m near sure of it, a smirk followed in their wake along with the fickle wind now trying to push me back in as I ran doubled forward towards the safety of my car and escape.
Okay, that was an exaggeration, or let’s call it poetic license perhaps?
Think about it, though, haven’t you been in a house, or any place, where you just wanted to leave, where you just didn’t feel welcome; it somehow felt ‘wrong.’ Perhaps you could pinpoint an item, or maybe it was just something you felt was off about/in the house. What you’ve encountered may very well have been a true haunted house or possessed item/token.
Sometimes the feeling is one of welcome, but most often when it’s strong enough for mere mortals to hear or see or feel, it’s one of dread or threat or sadness. We’re encountering a house or token possessed.
Possession is not the dramatic elemental or extra-terrestrial infestation I wish to explore here, but the imprint of a former inhabitant or keeper of the object or place. Think about it, not only the microscopic skin cells, but the builder’s or craftsperson’s hopes, dreams, wishes are imbued in a hand-wrought item. In our civilized prefab plastic urban or suburban lives, there are few handcrafted items of vintage years for us to encounter. But when we do meet up with such a place or item, we sometimes find that a former ‘owner’ has something of himself/herself to greet us, if we open our eyes and listen for the message or, perhaps, the messenger.
Think about it, our thoughts and emotions harness energy from our encounters, our lives manipulate energy through contact with things tangible and envisioned. If this energy cannot be destroyed, as Mr. Edison postulated, then is it a far reach to believe it's stored in a house or objects. The stronger the emotional energy, the more likely it is to affect the items towards which it was directed, and emit vibrations, display paranormal behavior, engage others.
Now, houses often have a presence about them, if they’ve lived a generation or two. The interaction among residents and the wear of the elements of this earth and beyond leave their marks, like the smile lines alongside our eyes or the frown lines across our foreheads.
Other items that often ‘speak’ their stories are dolls (either well-worn by a child’s use or hand-crafted); antique handcrafted toys, like hobbyhorses, wagons; furniture, like tufted chairs, bureaus, beds (those carved four-posters can speak volumes); and jewelry (what more personal than the ring or necklace worn by someone generations ago).
Most often, there is but a feeling that one gets from holding or viewing a ‘possessed’ item, but sometimes they do communicate more distinctly. A chair may refuse to move, heavier than its frame would indicate or, when placed a few inches away, return to its familiar surroundings when one is not looking, or sometimes in plain sight. A doll may follow you with its eyes or its arms may move to protect its space. A mirror may reflect more than what one knows is physically present. A painting may be more lifelike than the person standing next to you. A child’s toy may roll to the top of the attic steps and ‘trip you up’ so you don’t have a chance to place it in a goodwill box.
In our plastic, prefab society, these vintage toys and items will most likely come into your possession (I know, bad pun) at an estate sale or flea market. Think with your head when purchasing such an item. Do you really want to invite it to your home? Do you have the time to spend learning its story, if it desires that you do so? An intriguing proposition for you and your readers, whether you seek these items from your own family’s past or elsewhere either tangible or in the realm of your muse creative. And, they're not always 'vintage,' unless you consider a computer obsolete as soon as you buy it (yes, another potential source of paranormal activity).
Remember, also, that what you create in your journey this lifetime retains a bit of yourself – your hopes and dreams, your passion, your fears – that someone someday will find and may choose to engage.
So, Keep Writing ~ that your words design what your muse evokes,
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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While you're here, I hope you share some encounters in both the physical and non-material realm envisioned by members of our Community.{/indent}
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Want to join others seeking 'vintage' items to inspire your work, or life, perhaps?
Or, if you have an encounter, real or envisioned, to share in prose or verse, consider the following challenges.
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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ASIN: 0996254145 |
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I'd like to share a couple of comments on ghosts from fellow writers, and invite you to peruse their portfolios on one of your creative ventures.
Submitted To: Horror/Scary
Submitted By: mw1993
Wonderful newsletter once again, Kate! I love ghosts. Thank you very much for plugging Unshakeable!
Ceri
Thanks for writing, and for hosting a challenge for the muse creative to explore other realms tangible and inspired
Submitted To: Horror/Scary
Submitted By: Elaine's Beary Limited*~
Good information in this newsletter. I enjoyed this and read it all saving notes that I might use later. Good work. thank you for the help.
I'm glad you found the exploration beneficial ~ happy 'haunting'
Until we next meet, may your encounters with the past be beneficent.
Keep Writing!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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ASIN: 0996254145 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.95
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