October Frights Blog Hop Day 5

H. H. Holmes

One of America's well known serial killers was a man born Herman Webster Medgett but went by the name of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, or more commonly known as H. H. Holmes.

Born in 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, H. H. Holmes  took over a Chicago pharmacy, after the owner mysteriously disappeared, and built it into an elaborate maze of death traps to which he lured numerous victims during the 1893 Columbian Expedition.

The upper floors contained his living quarters and many small rooms where he tortured and killed his victims. Some of these rooms had gas jets so that Holmes could asphyxiate his victims. There were also trapdoors and chutes so that he could move the bodies down to the basement where he could burn his victims’ remains in a kiln there or dispose of them in other ways.

During this time Holmes was involved in a lot of insurance scams and it was one of these scams that led to his undoing. He joined forces with Benjamin Pitezel to collect $10,000 from a life insurance company. The two traveled around for a time committing other frauds. Landing in jail in Texas, Holmes brought fellow inmate Marion Hedgepeth—who knew Holmes as H.M. Howard—in on the life insurance scheme with Pitezel. When Holmes failed to deliver Hedgepeth's share of the deal, Hedgepeth tipped off the authorities.

While they eventually identified Howard as Holmes, the authorities did not catch on to Holmes soon enough to stop his final murders. He killed Pitezel and then convinced Pitezel’s widow that her husband was still alive. Becoming concerned that the five Pitezel children might expose him, he went away with three of the children, eventually killing them

At first, Holmes was charged with insurance fraud. He later stood trial for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. During his time in custody, Holmes gave numerous stories to police, once admitting to killing 27 people. Estimates range from 20 to 100 victims, with some going as high as 200 victims. If Holmes even did half of the crimes associated with him, he clearly surpassed later American serial killers such as Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy in his depravity.

After his conviction, Holmes appealed his case, but lost. He met his end on May 7, 1896, when he was hanged for the Pitezel murder in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His life as one of America's first serial killers has been the subject of many books and documentaries, including The Devil in the White City (2003), written by Erik Larson.

Now, initially when I began my search I was looking for the world's first serial killer and H. H. Holmes kept coming up. After digging further I can now say that the first documented serial killers were two women, dating back to 331 BC. 

It is said that several Roman men died in what was thought to be the plague until a servant woman revealed that they had in fact been poisoned by two matrons. 

The women admitted to preparing the concoction and but said it was medicinal and they would prove it by drinking it. They died immediately.

Do you think they were guilty and they drank the 'medicine' to not get the death penalty? Or was it a genuine mistake and they believed what they were doing was helping?

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October Frights Blog Hop Day 4

Friday 13th

Superstition leads us to believe that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day. So many people refuse to do anything on this day, scared that something may happen to them.

We all know that the number 13 is consider to be unlucky but why is it when placed on a Friday it makes people so fearful?

The superstition surrounding this day may have arisen in the Middle Ages, "originating from the story of Jesus' last supper and crucifixion in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday. While there is evidence of both Friday and the number 13 being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items being referred to as especially unlucky in conjunction before the 19th century.

Also, events including the great flood during the time of Noah, Eve tempting Adam with the forbidden fruit and Jesus' death all apparently happened on Fridays.

Others believe it's linked to Norse mythology, which tells how Loke, the demigod of mischief turned up uninvited, joining 12 others and taking their number to 13.

In some Spanish speaking countries it is Tuesday 13th that is considered unlucky and in Italy it is Friday the 17th.

Those who fear the number 13 itself are said to suffer from triskaidekaphobia.

The fear of Friday 13th even has a name - friggatriskaidekaphobia, which combines a fear of Fridays with the perception that number 13 is seriously unlucky.

Here is a list of things that have happened on Friday 13th:

1. On Friday the 13th, 1969, a black cat darted onto the field during a decisive late season matchup between the Cubs and the Mets, both jockeying to lead their division. As the story goes, the cat ignored the Mets and stared into the Cubs dugout for 10 seconds before disappearing. The Cubs crumbled after that game, losing 18 of their next 27 games and toppling from first place in the division. They didn't really shake that curse until last season—and then lost to the Mets in the playoffs.
2. At 13:13 military time on Friday the 13th in 2010, a 13-year-old boy was allegedly struck by lightning in Suffolk, England. He survived with only a minor burn. And from that moment on, he had, hands down, the best party story of all time.
3. In September of 1996, Tupac Shakur died on Friday the 13th, almost a week after he was shot four times in a drive-by. Of course, scores of conspiracy theorists maintain that he's not actually dead. 
4. On Friday, October 13, 1972, a plane full of Uruguayan rugby players crashed into the snowy Chilean mountains. Only 27 of the original 45 passengers survived. The bad luck continued: without supplies, the survivors had to eat their dead teammates. A few weeks later, an avalanche killed eight more. And the 16 remaining survivors were not rescued until the end of December. Horrifying. 
5. In 1923, the Hollywood sign was unveiled on July 13. Originally, it said "Hollywoodland," and it advertised a new housing development. So you could say the entire movie industry, symbolized by this sign and symbolizing vanity, commercialism, sell-outs, etc., etc., has its origins on Friday the 13th. Makes sense.
6. Friday 13th August, 1976, was particularly unlucky for New York man Daz Baxter. Having elected to stay in bed to ward off bad luck, the floor of his apartment block collapsed and he fell six storeys to his death.
7. A full moon on Friday February 13th, 1987, drove troubled Robert Bullard, 21, to attempt suicide by putting his head in a gas oven.
   Not only was his methodology flawed – suicide by natural gassing is virtually impossible since Britain moved from lethal coke gas to less dangerous natural gas – but a flicked light switch caused an explosion which injured his mother and a policeman and caused £35,000.
   Robert was unharmed.
8. Friday 13 February 1998 was simply business as usual for Mancunian John Sheridan, dubbed Britain’s unluckiest man after once having his car stolen five times in one day, making 16 trips to casualty in two years, seeing eight TVs explode in six months and losing out on a £4000 lottery win when he put the ticket in the washing machine with his jeans.
9. On Friday 13th October 13, 2006, 36 inches of snow fell on upstate New York. The ensuing chaos claimed three lives and incurred $130 million of damage.

I could be here all day listing all the different things that have happened on Friday the 13th. So many will put it down to that day being bad luck, but what would happen if we compared it to other days?

I personally do not believe in this superstition. My Nan often celebrates her birthday on Friday 13th and she is very lucky... she has me as a granddaughter :)

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October Frights Blog Hop Day 3

Clowns

The word Clown comes from Low German, and originally described the peasant through uncomplimentary association with the soil that he tilled. ‘Clown’ meant ‘clod, clot, lump’, with more acerbic overtones of ‘clumsy, loutish, lumpish fellow’ and a female ‘hoyden or lusty bouncing girl’. A clown was someone with rude manners, undisciplined physicality, and an inability to control appetites or impulses.

Coulrophobia - is the extreme fear of clowns.

The most ancient "clowns" have been found in the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, around 2400 BC.

There is a Clown Motel in Nevada, which is next to a graveyard, that is currently for sale.

Newspaper article

Would you stay there? And if you had the money, would you buy it?

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October Frights Blog Hop Day 2

Faeries

Fairies are a species of supernatural beings or nature spirits, one of the most beautiful and important of mythological concepts. Belief in fairies is ancient and widespread, and similar ideas concerning them are found in primitive as well as civilized societies. Fairies have been celebrated in folklore, stories, songs, and poems.

Fairies were often said to be invisible, usually of smaller stature than humans. It was believed they could be helpful to humans, but might be dangerous and evil if offended. They were often considered just mischievous and whimsical in a childlike manner, but were believed to have magical powers.

There are scores of characteristic fairies in the European tradition, but the main types include the trooping fairies, who are the aristocrats of the fairy world, living in palaces or dancing and feasting underground; the hobgoblin fairies of a rougher, workman type; nature spirits of rivers, gardens, and woods; and deformed monsters, like hags and giants.

Fairyland was usually underground or in some magical other dimension. Here time became mystically changed—one night in fairyland might equal a lifetime in the human world. Some of the most romantic and poignant folktales concern mortals who fall in love with a fairy queen and are transported to the magical world of fairyland where all wishes come true, but through breaking some taboo or indulging in homesickness for earthly existence, the mortal is suddenly returned to his world, in which scores of years have passed.

There are many folklore stories of fairies assisting humans, mainly in a bucolic setting. Household fairies were said to assist in everyday tasks like washing dishes, laying the fire, sweeping the floor, making bread bake properly, and so on but asked to be treated respectfully and given a cup of milk for their trouble.

Other fairies played mischievous pranks of a poltergeist nature, pelting mortals with stones, preventing bread from rising, blowing out candles, knocking pans off shelves, sending gusts of smoke, or annoying horses and cattle. Often this was deemed a punishment for lack of respectful treatment. In rural areas, fairies were often referred to in flattering terms as "the good people" to avoid offending them.

According to superstition, the fairies would sometimes steal a human baby and put a changeling fairy child in its place, often ugly and bad-tempered. The changeling might be tricked into a sudden admission of its fairy origin, but there was also a folk superstition that it should be set on fire for this purpose. Undoubtedly some temperamental babies were fatally burned because of this belief, which persisted until some two centuries ago in isolated peasant districts.

"Fairy rings" are small dark green circles in the grass of meadows, fields, or lawns caused by a certain fungus. These rings were once said to be the dancing places of the fairies. In Ireland, mound burials were believed to be the haunts of fairies.

Good place to visit

There is a beautiful and magical place called Fairy Pools of Skye.

I have been here more than once and it was a great inspiration for part of my Erin the Fire Goddess series. On one of these visits I camped out overnight with my family. From where we were we had the perfect view of the entire Fairy Pools that twinkled in the darkness.

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October Frights Blog Hop Day 1

Phobias

It is said that every single person in the world has at least one phobia. All except those people who suffer from an unusual genetic disorder called Urbach-Wiethe disease, which is where the disease destroys the amygdala part of the brain. This disease causes the sufferers to have no fear of anything.

It is healthy to have a fear of something but a phobia is an irrational fear. I have to say that I have quite a few and not all are in the list below.

For example I have no problem with spiders unless they are huge then I squeal so loudly that only dogs can hear me ;) 

This list is the top ten phobias of 2017. How many of these do you have? Is it wrong that I have 6 of these? lol.

1.  Arachnophobia – The fear of spiders

2. Ophidiophobia – The fear of snakes

3. Acrophobia – The fear of heights

4. Agoraphobia – The fear of open or crowded spaces

5. Cynophobia – The fear of dogs

6. Astraphobia – The fear of thunder and lightning

7. Claustrophobia – The fear of small spaces

8. Mysophobia – The fear of germs

9. Aerophobia – The fear of flying

10. Trypophobia – The fear of holes

My biggest phobia isn't listed on here and that is thanatophobia . Is your biggest listed?

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October Fright Nights Blog Hop

This is my first year being part of this blog hop but it was highly recommended so I thought 'why not?'

The event runs from the 10th - 15th October and the theme is Paranormal and Horror.

Each blog will post a various things from short stories, poems, book excerpts and much more.

If you are an author of Horror & Paranormal then why not sign up.

Inlinkz

Signup Has Begun!

I believe participants will have to join the site to use the signup, but they don’t bite.

You can find the Inlinkz site here: http://www.inlinkz.com/new/

Where to find the signup form:

http://afstewartblog.blogspot.ca/2017/09/join-october-frights-blog-hop.html

Or: http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=735017

A little update

A made a little update on my Facebook author page the other day and I thought I would write a little post here for those who have missed it.

I have had a lot of people wonder why I have not released a book in awhile and for a long time I was keeping it under wraps but then I decided to arrange a charity event and knew that it would eventually get out so I thought 'what the heck?'

Earlier on in the year I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Not only that, it is metastatic which means that it isn't curable but it is treatable. This means that I can kick it into to remission and fingers, toes, legs, arms, breasts, etc ,and whatever else can be, crossed it doesn't come back.

So as you can imagine, my head has been elsewhere. I have been trying to write a bit here and there as well as making diary entries for everything that is going.

For everyone who reads my books and is waiting for another I want to thank you for your patience and I hope that you are understanding.

I also have a Just Giving page, to help raise money for Breast Cancer Care. All money donated goes straight to the charity. Feel free to donate as little as you can because every penny helps.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lavinia-urban