eldritchhobbit

Just in case your Monday needs a smile, here's my niece.

First, a quick FYI for you H.P. Lovecraft fans. The Lovecraftian Science blog is focusing on the extra spooky stuff this month, with delicious posts such as "The Science of Reanimation, Part I" (yes, more is coming!). Don't miss it.

Now, what could possibly be better than fun at a pumpkin patch in October? Yes, this is gratuitous niece picspam. Have some Kaitlyn goodness.



Three little ghostesses
Sitting on postesses,
Eating buttered toastesses,
Greasing their fistesses,
Up to their wristesses,
Oh, what beastesses,
To make such feastesses!

- Anonymous, quoted in Trick or Treat
by Emily Gwathmey and Suzanne Slesin

To put a smile in your day (I hope), here's Kaitlyn on her swing.



( Under the cut is a photo taken last month of my sweetheart, our four-legged gal, and yours truly. )

Every year, my parents send their granddog, the fabulous Virginia, a Halloween costume for her to wear (as well as treats to bribe her to model for pictures).

This year, my brilliant parents outdid themselves, sewing and accessorizing a most remarkable costume. I invite you to behold Virginia as one of our favorite contemporary characters, Sheriff Longmire of the award-winning Walt Longmire book series by Craig Johnson and the television show it inspired.





“I don't trust people who don't like animals. Hell, animals are the finest people I know.”
― The Dark Horse (Walt Longmire #5) by Craig Johnson


( Under this cut are pictures of some of her previous costumes from recent Halloweens. )

As always, you can see many more pictures of Virginia here.

I had quite a bit of archive-y, research-y, rambly fun before Worldcon. As for London, beyond the Sherlock Holmes Museum, I managed to drop by the Museum of London (my photos are here) and several Holmesian spots, such as Arthur Conan Doyle's home on Upper Wimpole Street (where he wrote the first five Sherlock Holmes short stories), St. Bart's Hospital (where Holmes and Watson first met and, in the BBC's Sherlock, where Sherlock fell), etc.



In one of the most amazing experiences of my trip, I was privileged to get to spend an afternoon one-on-one in Whitechapel with noted Ripperologist Richard Jones. I've annotated my photos to try to explain where we went and why. (Alas, I didn't take photos inside the Royal London Hospital Museum and Archives, which was utterly fascinating.) Even if you're not specifically interested in the subject of Jack the Ripper and the Autumn of Terror, you may find the historical architecture worth a look.

Here is the "virtual tour" of Whitechapel I've constructed with my photos and explanations.

I'll leave you with a teaser: this is the beautiful tile work inside The Ten Bells Pub, which has been standing since 1752 and remains largely unchanged on the inside from its condition in 1888, when it reportedly served at least two victims traditionally attributed to Jack the Ripper, Annie Chapman and Mary Jane Kelly.



I'll be posting very soon about Worldcon/Loncon 3 itself. Thanks for letting me share! :)

This week's StarShipSofa includes the second installment of my three-part "History of the Genre" special about reading Harry Potter in a Native American context. If you listen, I hope you enjoy!
Part 1 is here on Episode 340
Part 2 is here on Episode 345
A complete list of links for my podcasting work to date is available here.

In other news, I have a newsprint manicure and a book, and I took a photo of them. So there.

Every year, my parents send their granddog, the fabulous Virginia, a Halloween costume for her to wear (as well as treats to bribe her to model for pictures). This year, my brilliant mother outdid herself, sewing a most remarkable costume indeed. I invite you to behold Virginia as the Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes.

Her creed is this: Once you have eliminated the inedible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be a treat.






To see Virginia in Dr. Watson attire, check out this Sherlockian post.

( Under this cut are pictures of some of her previous costumes from recent Halloweens. )

As always, you can see many more pictures of Virginia here.

In honor of Virginia's costume, I offer a Halloween-appropriate excerpt from one of my favorite Holmesian stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" (1910):

I had hardly settled in my chair before I was conscious of a thick, musky odour, subtle and nauseous. At the very first whiff of it my brain and my imagination were beyond all control. A thick, black cloud swirled before my eyes, and my mind told me that in this cloud, unseen as yet, but about to spring out upon my appalled senses, lurked all that was vaguely horrible, all that was monstrous and inconceivably wicked in the universe. Vague shapes swirled and swam amid the dark cloud-bank, each a menace and a warning of something coming, the advent of some unspeakable dweller upon the threshold, whose very shadow would blast my soul. A freezing horror took possession of me. I felt that my hair was rising, that my eyes were protruding, that my mouth was opened, and my tongue like leather. The turmoil within my brain was such that something must surely snap. I tried to scream and was vaguely aware of some hoarse croak which was my own voice, but distant and detached from myself. At the same moment, in some effort of escape, I broke through that cloud of despair and had a glimpse of Holmes’s face, white, rigid, and drawn with horror—the very look which I had seen upon the features of the dead.

* Read the complete story of "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" here.
* Listen to an unabridged audio reading of the story here.

I can't help myself.

May you and yours enjoy the blessings of the season!



Heartfelt gratitude to those of you who have sent snailmail and e-messages my way. And thanks to all of you for the lasting gift of your friendship!

And we're off! Tomorrow begins the 2012 Countdown to Halloween. I hope you'll join me every day. If you have friends who might be interested in this countdown, please invite them to join us!

Be sure to check out other blogs that likewise are celebrating Halloween all October long. The wonderful Countdown to Halloween 2012 is a clearinghouse site that links to this and other blogs with similar month-long posts.




Happy early birthday wishes to fenice_fu, saladinahmed, coalitiongirl, fory_san, seren_ccd, boojumlol, grisemalkin, shadowkittykat_, marill_chan, vulpine137, witchcat07, aota, wallhaditcoming, bookwoman2009, jinjifore, edroxy, gracious_anne, lindajsingleton, and xtrustisyoursx. May all of you enjoy many happy returns of the day and a fabulous year to come!


Now, because this isn't exactly new content, I wanted to post this the day before my proper Halloween Countdown begins. I do hope it helps get you into the mood!

I created the following virtual campus ghost tour for my countdown in 2008. Many of my readers are new, and I hope you will find this to be fun; for those of you who read my post previously, I hope you will enjoy revisiting the spooky haunts of Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Ghost Tour: There is a Halloween tradition at my husband's school, Lenoir-Rhyne University, of a "campus ghost tour" during which the guides share local folklore, campus legends, and creepy stories. Thanks to the generosity of the good people at Lenoir-Rhyne, I now have all of those spooky tales to share with you. I have taken pictures around the campus to illustrate the stories, so that I may lead you through the tour virtually.

Without further ado, I would like to invite you to join me for a virtual "campus ghost tour" of Lenoir-Rhyne.

Ghost Tour Introduction: Most of the buildings on the Lenoir-Rhyne campus have acquired a ghost, gremlin, spirit, or legend that has lingered from year to year. Some of the legends have been exaggerated or miscommunicated through the years. The ghosts and spirits that you’ll learn about now are as official, as documented, as close to recollection as possible. Most of the ghosts that you'll read about have been witnessed either by security officers, students, alumni, or others who visit the university. The older spirits, say from 1979 or before, have been included in the oral history of Lenoir-Rhyne College, Traces, which is available by special permission from the archives in the university library. Throughout the years, several articles in the college paper have accounted for the ghosts in our buildings, and the local newspapers have even run stories about them.



( I'm brave! Take me on the ghost tour! )

Let's conclude with Emily Dickinson:

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.

Far safer, of a midnight meeting
External ghost,
Than an interior confronting
That whiter host.

Far safer through an Abbey gallop,
The stones achase,
Than, moonless, one's own self encounter
In lonesome place.

Ourself, behind ourself concealed,
Should startle most;
Assassin, hid in our apartment,
Be horror's least.

The prudent carries a revolver,
He bolts the door,
O'erlooking a superior spectre
More near.