Tag: ghosts

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The New Wife

Publisher’s Description

Bluebeard’s seventh wife is the first to survive his wrath, courtesy of ghostly warnings and the timely intervention of her brothers. The village burns her murderous husband, his crimes laid bare and his wealth passed on to her… but even after his death, Bluebeard’s house won’t allow anyone to leave. All wives—living and dead—remain trapped in their husband’s manor, even as the man who terrorised them proves to be less dead than they had hoped.

Haunted by his vengeful ghost, can the wives find a way to break the curse that would bind them in darkness and torment forever?

Summary

I recently read the novella The New Wife (Never Afters Tales) by Australian dark fiction author Kirstyn McDermott.

The protagonist (following the Blue Beard tales) is a young woman who marries a very rich older man. When he leaves the house for a business affair, he tells her she can go anywhere in the house except his private room in the tower. Driven by curiosity about her new husband, she eventually unlocks the door to his tower room. Inside, she finds the corpses of his previous wives. She also is accosted by their ghosts – each bearing the brutal marks of how their husband killed them.

The key to the husband’s tower, now stained with blood, cannot be cleaned. On the husband’s unpredicted return, the new wife gains the assistance of the other wives’ ghosts and the housemaid skilled in witchcraft to finally end the bloody reign of the husband.

Review

The New Wife has strong characters and supernatural elements in a fascinating new re-imagining of the ‘Blue Beard’ fairytale tropes which is masterfully executed by McDermott. A dark fantasy tale that moves at the pace of a supernatural thriller while staying true to the fairytale foundations. An exciting new addition by McDermott to the fairytale retellings that should be highly prized.

Conclusion

A perfect novella for fans of Angela Carter, fairytale retellings, dark fiction and ghost stories. A fabulous blend of fairytale retelling, supernatural thriller and dark fantasy. A highly recommended read!

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Voodoo Folklore: Baron Samedi

Baron Samedi is the leader of the Barons and possibly the Gedés. He presides over a sprawling, confusing, complex clan of spirits. Baron Samedi literally means Baron Saturday, which may sound innocuous compared to Baron Cemetery but a connection through Christianity is Saturday was between the crucifixion on Friday and resurrection on the Sunday. Thus, the Saturday, belongs to Baron Samedi, Lord of the Dead. Or another possible explanation for the name is that Samedi is related to ‘Simbi’ or zombie in Haitian and there is only a coincidental resemblance to the French word for Saturday.

Baron Samedi spends is mostly in the invisible realm of the Haitian voodoo spirits. He is known to be outrageous – drinking rum and smoking cigars, swearing profusely, and making filthy jokes. The other spirits in the Guede family behave similarly but lacking the suaveness of Baron Samedi.

Despite being married to the loa, Maman Brigitte, the Baron chases after mortal women and lingers at the crossroads of life and death in the human world.

When someone dies, the Baron is said to dig their grave and meet their soul as it rises from that grave. He guides them into the underworld and only Baron Samedi has the power to accept an individual into the world of the dead. He also makes certain those who have died rot in the ground as they should, and no soul can return as a brainless zombie. For this act, he will demand payment which varies upon his mood at the time. On many occasions, he accepts gifts of cigars, rum, black coffee, or grilled peanuts but he may ask others to continue wearing black, white or purple.

Baron Samedi, is the head of the Guede family, the group of loas that control life and death. This powerful family of spirits possesses numerous abilities. The Baron is also a giver of life and can cure any mortal of a disease or wound provided he believes it is a worthwhile act to save the individual. The Baron even has the power to overcome voodoo hexes and curses. An individual who is cursed by a hex or other black magic is not guaranteed death if the Baron refuses to dig their grave. As the Master of the Dead and Guardian of Cemeteries, no one can enter the underworld without his permission. In this way, he can prevent death.

He a powerful healer and is especially sympathetic to terminally ill children. He can be just and kind. The Baron prefers children live full lives before joining him in the cemetery and underworld.

Baron Samedi is the crossroads where sex and death meet. The Spirit of an undying life-force and he may be petitioned for fertility. He is the guardian of ancestral knowledge and the link to ancestral spirits.

Baron Samedi is syncretized to Jesus because they both share the symbol of the cross. Baron Samedi’s associations with the cross may pre-date Christianity. In Congolese cosmology, the cross is the symbol of the life cycle: birth-death-rebirth.

Also known as: Bawon Samdi (Creole); Baron Sandi (Spanish); Baron Saturday

Classification: Lwa

Favored people: Children; women seeking to conceive; funeral workers; grave diggers; any whose work brings them into contact with death

Manifestation: an older, dark-skinned man in formal attire, dressed completely in black. He wears a black top hat, black suit, and may be smoking one of his beloved cigars. He wears impenetrable black sunglasses (one lens may be missing because he simultaneously sees the realms of the living and the dead.

Iconography: A chair chained to a cross.

Attributes: Coffin; phallus; skull and cross-bones; shovel; grave; black sunglasses; cross.

Offerings: Black coffee, plain bread, dry toast, roasted peanuts. He drinks rum in which twenty-one very hot peppers have been steeped. Cigars, cigarettes, dark sunglasses, Day of the Dead toys (the sexier and more macabre the better); A skull and crossbones pirate flag; beautiful wrought-iron crosses are crafted in his honor.

Colours: Black but also red or purple

Day: Saturday

Feasts: 2 November, Day of the Dead.

Time: Twilight tends to be a good time to invoke him or make requests.

Consort: Madame Brigitte. They may both be petitioned together for fertility, protection, or to save sick children.

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Staying Dead

Publisher’s Description

Welcome to the world of the Cosa Nostradamus, where magic crackles on every corner, and not every person you meet is human….

If you’ve lost something of value, and you can’t go to the police, you need a Retriever. And if that item is magical?

You need Wren Valere. An exceptional thief – with exceptional Talent.

Normally, Wren loves her job. But some clients are worse than others, and some jobs just scream trouble from the start. And with this one, involving a real estate mogul and a stolen spell, she and her business partner Sergei may have gotten into more than can handle alone…

But some secrets shouldn’t stay buried. No matter the cost.

Summary

I read Staying Dead (The Retrievers, #1) by US urban fantasy author Laura Anne Gilman.

Wren – a self-proclaimed thief with a high level of magical abilities and a distrust of the Mage Council, the organisation she rightfully belongs because of her unique and strong Talent. Wren prefers to work with her partner Sergei who negotiates jobs that require Wren’s particular level of skill and keeps the distance between Wren and her clients.

When a magical-infused protection stone is stolen from a wealthy and commanding businessman, Sergei and Wren take the job to determine how the stone was stolen and steal it back. To this end, Wren and Sergei quickly become embroiled in the dealings of the Mage Council and the mysterious group known as the Silence.

Wren successfully finds and steals back the protection stone but finds a darker side to the magic, how it serves to protect the building and the businessman which makes her question her own morality.

Review

Staying Dead was an intriguing urban fantasy with a mystery at its heart. Gillman creates unique and strong characters which are human and engaging. A solid first novel to a series.

Conclusion

A unique urban fantasy that’s sure to please fans of paranormal, supernatural urban fantasies and dark fantasy. Highly recommended!

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Breton Folklore: The Ankou

The Ankou (Breton), Ankow (Cornish) or Angau (Welsh) from Celtic legend most commonly occurs in Brittany. Here you can still spot the Ankou haunting many of the churches and cathedrals. What is the Ankou? It’s defiant remnant of Pagan influence that had survived hidden among the stone-work of Christian buildings.

The Ankou haunts the graveyard and he is the last soul to die in the village before the stroke of midnight that year. Doomed to stay another year on earth – he acts as guardian of the graveyard – until another soul takes his place the following year.

The Ankou is described as a tall man dressed in black who is very thin or skeletal looking and has white hair kept under a wide brimmed hat. He is carries a scythe and he either pushes a wheelbarrow or rides a rickety cart that squeaks when it moves. The horse-drawn cart may be drawn by two horse – one is emaciated while the other is fat.

The Ankou is both the harbinger of death and also the collector of souls.

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Black Cranes

*** I received a free copy in return for an honest review ****

Publisher’s Description

Almond-eyed celestial, the filial daughter, the perfect wife.

Quiet, submissive, demure.

In Black Cranes, Southeast Asian writers of horror both embrace and reject these traditional roles in a unique collection of stories which dissect their experiences of ‘otherness,’ be it in the colour of their skin, the angle of their cheekbones, the things they dare to write, or the places they have made for themselves in the world. Black Cranes is a dark and intimate exploration of what it is to be a perpetual outsider.

Review

I was thrilled to read and review Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women edited by Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn.

This is a beautiful and rare collection of speculative fiction tales from women of southeast Asian descent writing about the culture where women are supposed to be quiet, unheard and remain in the shadows. Black Cranes brings these voices, cultures, folklores and legends into the open and shines a light on the powerful women of Southeast Asia.

Final Thoughts

There are so many different and wonderful tales in Black Cranes that I found it difficult to choose my stand-out favourites.

Some of my favourite stories were “The Genetic Alchemist’s;s Daughter” by Elaine Cuyegkeng, , “Kapre: a love Story”, by Ron Cupeco, “Vanilla Rice”, and “Little Worm” by Geneve Flynn.

Conclusion

An absolutely stunning, beautiful and powerful collection of tales about women emerging from the shadows of their cultures. A simply stunning collection!

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The Dearg-Due

The Dearg-Due means “red” in Irish but wasn’t the name of this poor girl during her life. In life, over two thousand years ago, she was a legendary beauty, with blood-red lips and pale blonde hair. Her true name has been lost to the ages, overshadowed instead by the thing she became. Men travelled from far and wide, and even from rival clans across the land, to just to look upon her, but also to try to win her hand in marriage. Despite her outward loveliness, she was Godly and kind, and a blessing to all who knew her.

Fatefully, she fell in love with a local peasant. His name too, has been forgotten, swallowed by the legend. He was a true match for her in all things. He was handsome and kind-hearted but lacked what meant the most to her Father: money.

Without money, there and no no status in the community there would be no security for the family. That love match wouldn’t be allowed to happen.
Instead, the Father gave his child to a vastly older, much crueler man to secure a title and a fortune for their family. While the father revelled in his newly acquired riches, he gave no thought to his daughter. She suffered daily mental and physical abuse at the hands of her new husband.. His particular pleasure was drawing blood from her – watching as the crimson welled from her soft, porcelain skin. When not being abused, she was kept locked away in a tower cell so that only her husband could see her…touch her…bleed her. And she waited, in vain, for the day that her former peasant lover would rescue her. It was a hope that kept her going for many months.

One day, she realized there was no rescue to come, no hope and nothing but the daily cruelty. She would have to saved herself. In the only way possible to her and grimmest of ways, she committed suicide by a slow, painful starvation. It’s buried in a small churchyard, near “Strongbow’s Tree,” in the County of Waterford,m in Southeast Ireland.

In the last days of her life, when the abuse had broken and twisted her kind spirit, she renounced God and vowed terrible vengeance. For the devout, souls of those who commit suicide can never rest and are doomed to walk in torment forever.

Some folklore in Ireland said if you pile stones on the graves of the newly dead it prevents them from rising again. No one piled stones on the wretched girl’s grave.
Her husband married soon after and her father, intoxicated by his new fortune was too immersed in his own greed to be bothered by his daughter’s death and attending to the grave.

She rose from her grave, filled with rage and lusting for vengeance. She went first to her fathers home. She appeared in his bedroom while he slept and killed him. She moved next to her former husband and found him in a bed with a number of women, void of any sadness or regret – clearly without remorse or regret.

She attacked and killed him then proceeded to suck the blood from his body. After drinking the blood of her evil husband, she felt invigorated and alive. This gave her a hunger for more blood that couldn’t be quenched.

The legend of the Dearg-Due or “Red Blood Sucker’ was born. She used her great beauty to lure unsuspecting young men and sank her teeth deep into their necks drinking greedily.
With each new taste for blood, she grew hungrier – feasting on the blood of as many men under the darkness of night as she could with promises of love.

Then she disappeared. What happened to her? Where did she go? Is she still out there?
folklore says the grave of the young woman can be found at a place called the Tree of Strongbow (or Strongbow’s Tree) in Waterford, Ireland.

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Into the Forest

Publisher’s Description

Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the Baba Yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the Baba Yaga may find help, or hindrance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch – and these are her tales.

Review

I was determined to read Bram Stoker Preliminary ballot anthology edited by US author Lindy Ryan. Into the Forest is an anthology of stories and poetry about the fascinating figure of the Russian witch, Baba Yaga.

There were many brilliant stories in this anthology but to highlight a few favourites. “Last Tour into the Hungering Moonlight” by Gwendolyn Kiste , “Water like Broken Glass” by Carina Bissett, “Herald the Knight” by Mercedes M. Yardley and “Mama Yaga” by Christina Sng.

Final Thoughts

Into the Forest is a unique anthology drawing on the masterful skills of many authors and their interpretations of the multitude of Baba Yaga legends. A beautiful collection spanning time, history, cultures and styles.

Conclusion

Highly recommended for fans of folklore, fairy tales, fantasy and mythology. This anthology has it all and so much more. Definitely worth a read!

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Sallow Bend

Publisher’s Description

Something old and deadly has awoken.

When two teenagers go missing from the small, rural town of Sallow Bend, the residents come together to search for them. Little do they suspect that finding the wayward girls will be the start of their problems. An old evil is rising, and only one man seems to realize that everyone is in danger and this is not the first time it’s happened. With the carnival in town, people want to have a good time, but for many, this will be the worst time of their lives.

Review

I was keen to read Bram Stoker preliminary ballot folk horror novel by UK/Australian author Alan Baxter. It definitely delivered.

The protagonist of the novel is Caleb, school janitor who keeps himself isolated from people because of a unique talent to see through deceptions. An isolated lifestyle suits him fine. Everything seems to go well in the sleepy, backwater town of Sallow Bend. Everything until two girls go missing and the carnival arrives in town for the week.

When one the carnival workers joins the search party and unexpectedly finds the two girls in death-like sleep inside a cabin deep within the woods, he can’t shake the feeling something is very wrong. The girls awaken and – apparently unharmed- are taken back to their families at Sallow Bend township along with a third girl Hester, who the town remember also went missing, has always lived here. Things begin to unravel for Caleb when he has no memory of Hester or ever seeing her before.

It isn’t before long that men begin to die in strange and horrific circumstances and each time, Caleb has seen them moving after Hester like a marionette. Rumours that series of deaths have occurred before and go away in their own time don’t reassure Caleb.

Once Hester realises Caleb sees through her glamour to the shifting form within the body of a young girl, he knows she’ll come for him. He teams up with an unlikely grief-stricken mother fleeing her domestically abusive husband. Together, Caleb and Tricia devise a plan to stop the killings and put an end to Hester Black for good.

Final Thoughts

Sallow Bend is a well-written and fast-paced read. The characters are genuine and unique and the township itself recalls strongly the folk horror foundations of a haunted cabin in the woods near a sleepy town. Baxter has written a high quality work that keeps you reading well past midnight.

Conclusion

A highly recommended read for fans of folk horror, psychological horror and ghost stories. Magnificently drawn together for an addictive read!

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The Banshee

A Banshee is a fairy in Irish legend and her scream is believed to be an omen of death. The scream is also called ‘caoine’ which means ‘keening’ and is a warning that there will be an imminent death in the family. As the Irish families blended over time, it is said that each family has its own specific Banshee.

A Banshee is a disembodied spirit and appears in any of the following forms: a) A beautiful woman wearing a shroud b) A pale woman in a white dress with long red hair c) A woman with a long silver dress and silver hair d) A headless woman who is naked from the waist up and carrying a bowl of blood e) An old woman with long white hair wearing a green dress and frightening red eyes f) An old woman with long grey hair dressed all in black with a veil covering her face.

Historians traced the first banshee stories to the 8th century which were based on a tradition of women singing a sorrowful song to lament someone’s death. These women were known as ‘keeners’ and since they accepted alcohol as payment, they were thought sinners and punished as doomed to become Banshees.

According to the mythology of the Banshee, if she is seen, she vanishes into a cloud of mist with a noise like a bird flapping its wings. Banshees never cause death – they only serve to warn of it.

Not all Banshees are cold and impassive creatures. There are some that had such strong ties to their families they continued to watch over them in death. When they manifest themselves, these Banshees appear as beautiful enchanting women that sing a sorrowful, haunting song full of concern and love for their families. This song is heard a few days before the death of a family member and usually only by the one for will die.

There are angry and vengeful Banshees that during their lives had reasons to hate their families. They manifest as distorted and frightening apparitions filled with hatred. The howls emitted by these Banshees are enough to chill you to the bone and rather than warning a family member of their imminent death, these Banshees are delighting in vengeance via the death of someone they loathed.

In other Irish mythology stories, the Banshee is the ghost of a young girl who suffered a brutal death and her spirit remains to warn of an imminent a violent death to her family members. This Banshee appears as an old woman with rotten teeth and long fingernails wearing rags with blood red eyes. Looking directly into her hate-filled eyes brings about immediate death. Her mouth is always open as the piercing scream torments the living.

According to other tales, some Banshees derive pleasure from taking a life and actively find their victims and wail constantly until the person commits suicide or goes insane. There are even Banshees that tear people to shreds. This violent, bloody banshee features most commonly in modern horror films.

It is important to remember the role of the Banshee isn’t to bring or reliever death but warn a family member so they have time to prepare for the inevitable.

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Mirror Folklore

In folklore, a mirror is a doorway or portal through which spirits, including ghosts and demons can gain access to the physical world where demonic infestations and hauntings occur.

In prehistory, any shiny surface was regarded as a spirit doorway and used to summon spirits into the world. They also are used for seeing visions of the future.

Much of the folklore about mirrors is negative. They are viewed by some as “soul stealers” with the power to suck souls out from bodies. In the Greek myth of Narcissus, he sees his own reflection in water and falls in love with it, staring hopelessly until he dies.

In some Christian beliefs, the Devil and Demons can enter through mirrors to attack people.

There are also numerous beliefs about mirrors and the dead. In many folklores, when a person dies, all the mirrors in a house should be turned over because if the soul sees itself in a mirror, it will not rest or can become a vampire. Corpses seeing themselves in mirrors will also draw bad luck upon the household. In some cultural beliefs, where corpses are laid out in homes, people still believe that souls linger about the body until burial.

Another folk belief is if a person sees his or her own reflection in a room where someone has died, it is an omen of their own death. Mirrors also should be covered in sick rooms in the belief that when the soul is weakened it is more vulnerable to possession during illness.

In other folklore, mirrors are believed to reflect the soul and must be guarded lest the soul be lost. These fears carry over into superstitious customs, such as covering the mirrors in a house after death to prevent the souls of the living from being carried off by the ghost of the newly departed through a mirror.

In some Russian folklore, mirrors are considered the invention of the Devil because they have the power to draw souls from bodies. Similarly, mirrors and in some places of the world all shiny surfaces, must be covered in a house after a death to prevent the soul of the living from being carried off by the ghost of the newly dead. Mirrors are covered in case one sees the corpse looking over one’s shoulder.

In an old Persian spell, ghosts may be seen in a mirror by standing in front of it and combing the hair without thinking, speaking or moving.

In then folklore of the American Ozark, the appearance of a distant friend in a mirror means he or she will soon die.

The famous folklore that breaking a mirror means seven years of bad luck but also heralds a death in the family or household. For example, if a child breaks a mirror, one of the children in the house will die within the year.

If a home is plagued with unpleasant spirit activity, the mirror in the bedrooms should never be placed at the foot or head of a bed. To do is is considered a negative influence for a person to be able to see himself or herself from any angle in a mirror while in bed. Mirrors should also never reflect into each other as this creates an unstable psychic space. A folk remedy says a mirror should be placed so that it faces outward toward a door or window. The reasoning being when the unquiet spirit looks in a window or attempts to cross a door threshold, it will see its own reflection and be scared away. Mirrors can also be closed as portals by rubbing the edges of them or washing the surfaces in holy water.

Mirrors are also tools used in Divination and Magic. In divination, mirrors train the inner eye to perceive the unseen. Throughout history, mirror gazing has been used for prophecy, aid with healing, find lost objects and people and even to identify or find thieves and criminals.

The power of mirrors—or any reflective surface—to reveal what is hidden has been used since ancient times. Gazing upon any shining surface is one of the oldest forms of Scrying (a method of divination practiced by the early Egyptians, Arabs, the Magi of Persia, Greeks, and Romans). Magic mirrors are mentioned by numerous ancient authors, among them Apuleius, Saint Augustine, Pausanias, and Spartianus. According to Pausanias, divination for healing was best done with a mirror attached to a string . The string was dangled into water and the diviner ascertained whether or not a sick person would heal.

In ancient Greece, the witches of Thessaly reputedly wrote their oracles in human blood upon mirrors. Pythagoras was said to have a magic mirror that he held up to the Moon to see the future in it. Romans skilled in mirror reading were called specularii.

In the late Middle Ages, Catherine de Medicis reputedly had a magic mirror that enabled her to see the future for herself and for France. Pére Cotton, the confessor to King Henri IV of France, had a magic mirror that revealed to him any plots against the king.

In Christian folklore, mirrors enable demons to make themselves known. St. Patrick declared that Christians who said they could see Demons in mirrors would be expelled from the church until they repented.

In Vodoun, a magical mirror is called a minore. A minore is made of highly polished metal and is consecrated for the purpose of seeing visions in divination. Only a priest or priestess may use a minore.

For Magic, both flat mirrors and concave mirrors are used in magic. Other shiny and reflective surfaces work as well like crystal balls, good size crystals and bowls of water or ink. Franz Bardon taught precise instructions for making magical mirrors that would be “loaded” or empowered with the help of the elements, the Akasha, light and fluid condensers. The result of such a charged magic mirror should be stored wrapped in silk to protect its energies from contamination.

Mirrors are also used in Scrying which is accomplished by the astral and mental powers developed by the magician and not specifically the mirror. The mirror serves only as an aid for focusing such powers.

Visualising a person in a magical mirror enables contact. The scryer can then go to the astral plane to communicate with the dead. The living can be contacted through a mirror as well with the scryer visualizes the person intensely until they seem drawn out of the mirror.

The magic mirror can be used as a tool for investigating the past, present, and future. A mirror helps the magician transcend time to see events which is one of the most difficult aspects of mirror work.

The medieval magician Albertus Magnus recorded a formula for making a magic mirror: Buy a looking glass and inscribe upon it “S. Solam S. Tattler S. Echogordner Gematur.” Next, bury it at a Crossroads during an uneven hour and on the third day, go to the spot at the same hour and dig it up—but do not be the first person to gaze into the mirror. In fact, said magnus, it is best to let a dog or a cat take the first look.

The Aztecs used a mirror like surfaces to keep witches away. A bowl of water with a knife in it was placed in the entrances of homes. A witch looking into it would see her soul pierced by the knife and flee.