It's autumn — the season of crispy leaves, trick-or-treating, and scary movies. But before you could visit Netflix and put on a variety of shows to thrill and scare you, there was theater. One theater in specific specialized in horror and frights, and became known around the world for the shows and the posters that accompanied them. Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, better known as the Grand Guignol, was a theater in the Pigalle district of Paris. You probably know its nearby neighbor, the Moulin Rouge. The location (20 Bis, Rue Chaptal) was once an old chur[...]
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Creepy Places
0 Hello, my loves! Man, it has been a minute. Life, kids, divorce, blah blah blah you know the drill. But I'm trying to get ahead of all the resolution making and kick things off a couple months early. Hence, my glorious return to this twisted little corner of the interweb. Let's dive right in, shall we? Nearly 44 years ago to this very day, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald left port in Superior, Wisconsin. She carried a crew of 29 and a shipment of ore pellets, their path set to Detroit via Lake Superior. Now let's give you a little lake breakdown. Lake Superior is the l[...]
The Davis Girl (TDG): I am joined today via Google Hangouts by illustrator Shannon Stamey. He draws things. Welcome Shannon. Shannon Stamey (SS): Thanks for having me! TDG: You draw some pretty awesome things, Shannon. SS: Thanks! Sometimes I draw total crap. TDG: What do you do with the crap drawings? SS: There's a furnace in the basement of my apartment building. TDG: Oooooooh. SS: Other times, I keep them to remind myself where I've screwed up. TDG: I like to burn things, too. SS: I usually just throw them away. TDG: What is the the last thing[...]
I grew up celebrating Thanksgiving on the edge of a Florida swamp. Our cabin was perched in the crook of a bend of the Little Withlacoochee River. It stood on eight-foot posts because sometimes the blackwater river would come out of its banks and spread through the swamp. You’d have to wade to the cabin then, shuffling to find the hidden logs, your legs lost in the dark water. It was pretty great. Thanksgiving Day was spent fishing, exploring the woods and making holiday crafts my mother devised. One year, we traced each other’s outlines on butcher paper. E[...]
It sounds like some scary movie or some spooky urban legend (perfect for urban legend month this month), but sometimes real life is all the scarier. The Watcher house is very real. And very scary. Before we begin, I ask you to not disturb, visit, or bother this house or its owners in any way... let's continue. According to the news, the address is 657 Boulevard,Westfield, NJ 07090. You can view it on Zillow here or Realtor.com here. It's described as a "stately colonial designed with all the character & charm of the early 1900's." It wa[...]
I got home from vacation and wanted to share a little day trip we took to Salem. Yes, Salem, Massachusetts...yup, the place of the horrific witch trials. A city dripping with history. The old buildings still stand, making it a neat place to visit. Because of time, I didn't get to see everything. Dude, I didn't even know about the everything there was to see. Note: Give yourself an entire day to see Salem. I thought it would be a cool place to see, but more than that, a fascinating place to just be. I wanted to walk the streets, to set foot where such terrible an[...]
In keeping with our Horror House theme for March, here is some of my research for my manuscript concerning obscure horror house things because this world is a big beautiful bag of weird (all images courtesy of interwebs). Z is for ZARF Y is for YEW X is for XANTHIPPE W is for WIDOW'S WALK V is for VOMITORIUM U is for UCALEGON T is for TILBURY S is for SOLARIUM R is for RUINS Q is for QUARTREFOIL P is for PORTICULLIS O is for OCCULUS N is for NATATORIUM M is for MOTHERHOOD HELPER L is for LANTERN K is for KEWPIE DOLL J is for JIGGUMBOB I[...]
Since I was twelve years old and I put down the The Witching Hour by Anne Rice for the first time, I've had a love for the South. The swamps with cypress trees draped in Spanish moss, the balconies jutting over the narrow streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, the slow dirge of jazz music played on the way to a funeral. The above-ground cemeteries. Sweet tea and humidity and a clean sweat on a spring morning. Gas light and the perfume of magnolia trees on a slow evening stroll through the Garden District. If I lived a past life or three, I'm sure one was[...]
Hi everyone. I'm back to Real Life Creepy Places, after having two papers due today that I just sent off (talk about real life horror). Ladies and gentlemen, good news! Today's Real Life Creepy Place is for sale! Everyone get their credit cards ready, the starting bid is just under $500, 000 US (or the price of a modest duplex in a moderately crappy Montreal neighborhood.) And this is no duplex, this is a paradisaical island in Italy. Check out this view! So what gives? Well, it might be the thousands and thousands of dead bodies that make up half the island[...]
Last year I happened upon a few pictures on Instagram. I was in love. I was confused. Where was this glorious thing? Where could I find a Merry-Go-Round made of skulls?! Turns out, all this and more can be found at the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. What is it you ask? The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is put on at Griffith Park (at the old zoo). It runs the month of October. You can find the schedule here. If you've ever been to any of the Halloween events that theme parks put on, such as Knott's Scary Farm or Universal Studio's Haunt, I assume this will be[...]