Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Now Playing: Cruisin' With Mr. Scratch

Wonderful new single from John Carpenter and crew.


Click below...



Saturday, January 25, 2025

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Now Playing: Everything Fades

By Ostel.


Click below...



Old School Halloween

Long live those Haunts with guillotines.  With their soft cardboard blades and their bright red blood.  








Monday, January 20, 2025

Hexeglaawe: Bloody Mary

There is much debate on the origins of the folklore ritual which attempts to invoke the appearance of Bloody Mary.  While staring into a mirror in a dark, candle-lit room, say her name three times and she will appear.  Descriptions vary, though typically she is described as being a corpse, a witch, or a ghostly form - often covered in blood.  

A number of historical figures have been cited as the possible source, including Mary I of England, who put to death over 300 Protestant dissenters during her reign in the 1500's.  In the 17th century, Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian countess, allegedly tortured and killed over 600 young women, bathing in their blood to keep herself young. On American soil, Mary Worth is a strong contender for the legend.  She was rumored to have killed slaves escaping the South via the Underground Railroad.  

Pennsylvania has its own tale, offering another origin for Bloody Mary.  Her name was Mary Gansmueller.  In the late 1700's, in a village in Lancaster County, children began to disappear.  An investigation led to Mary's small cottage in a wooded area nearby.  Mary was an elderly woman who sold herbal remedies to the surrounding villages.  During the search, townspeople noticed her appearance had changed - she was now much younger.  Unmarked graves were discovered in the surrounding woods.  She had murdered the children and used their blood to regain her youth.  

She was dragged from her home and burned at the stake.  Before her death, she screamed a curse from the flames.  If anyone mentioned her name before a mirror, she would avenge herself upon them.


Despite the nebulous origins of the urban legend, it's a genuinely spooky concept.  Once, when I was very young, my sister must have learned of Bloody Mary and wanted to see if she was the real deal.  With a keen sense of self preservation, she placed ME into our family's upstairs bathroom, lit a candle, turned out the lights, and forced me to call to Miss Bloody Mary.  I was horrified and truly believed I was about to see some horrid ghost in the mirror.  I said her name three times. 
Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary 

Thankfully, no one showed up.  

My sister was extremely disappointed.  



Sunday, January 19, 2025

Friday, January 17, 2025

Witch Hollow







More images here.

HAXAN Leftovers

Up o'er the hill and broken wall
There stole a weird form, bent but tall;
And softly through our unlatched door
She crept unbidden, and before
The hearth-fire crouching, gazed upon us all.

George Houghton 









B&W Halloween





Images by Dallis Willard.

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Hexeglaawe Review

Some photos from our Pennsylvania Folklore series.  
















Trailer: Oddity

My highest recommendation for this gem currently streaming on Shudder.  Oddity is everything I needed a modern horror movie to be.  We watched it last night and it was delightfully terrifying. 


Click below for the trailer (thankfully, it doesn't give away the entire film)... 


Saturday, January 4, 2025

The Witch

I have walked a great while over the snow,
And I am not tall nor strong.
My clothes are wet, and my teeth are set,
And the way was hard and long.
I have wandered over the fruitful earth,
But I never came here before.
Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door!

The cutting wind is a cruel foe.
I dare not stand in the blast.
My hands are stone, and my voice a groan,
And the worst of death is past.
I am but a little maiden still,
My little white feet are sore.
Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door!

Her voice was the voice that women have,
Who plead for their heart's desire.
She came—she came—and the quivering flame
Sunk and died in the fire.
It never was lit again on my hearth
Since I hurried across the floor,
To lift her over the threshold, and let her in at the door.

- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge




Image by Jeff Bradley.

Motion



Image by Gerrit-Jan Visser.

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Happy New Year

Hoping everyone's 2025 is better than their 2024, loaded with health and happiness.  And packed with creepy things - the good kind.