Oh my gosh I ate this up with abandon ! How wonderfully creaky and atmospheric . Thank you for taking me to New Orléans . I went there for my honeymoon - we stayed in a guest house which was so southern gothic , I struggled to sleep .
That drawer 😱
We did stay in a haunted hotel last week and I think we were woken up by the sounds of a drunken 18th highway man smashing the bar 😂 ( true story ).
Amazing words thank you - I just love the line ‘the building doesn’t actually have to do anything at all once it has persuaded your attention to take up residence.’ Love it .
Happy new year, Marie! Of course you were in a haunted hotel just last week! I'm not so secretly hoping we get to learn more about your new acquaintance, drunken 18th highway man, in an upcoming ghostsmile. :)
Brillaint observation about how hotel horror weaponizes attention itself. The piece really captures how knowing something is "haunted" transforms perception, and what stands out is the lack of consent aspect, you sought curated gothic (tours, cemeteries) but got uninvited visitations instead. I had a similat thing happen in Prague where I didnt know the hotel history until after checkout. Once attention takes up residence the building barely has to participate anymore.
Hi NF! Thanks for sharing your own experience (Prague--gorgeous!) and for highlighting the juxtaposition of the sought after experience and the "uninvited."
Late to the party. I've been trying to limit my time here, because I was overdoing it and trying to read everything everyone I follow posted. But I save the stuff I know I want to comment on or restack etc., and so... here we are.
As always, I loved the post.
1. Yes, I would knowingly spend the night in haunted hotel — outwardly saying nothing would happen, but secretly hoping something (not terrible) would.
2. Once while out hiking alone in the fall (in Ohio, so lovely fall smells and colors), I swear I heard a voice right next to me while I'd stopped to rest. Annoyingly, now, I can't recall what the voice said. :-(
What do you recommend for a read or watch, for anyone collecting haunted rooms…from a distance?
3. Everything that's coming to mind is more like secret/magic doors that lead to whole realms (e.g. Pan's Labyrinth) or are generic horror movies. Literature though... *The Night Circus* (Erin Morgenstern) is about a mysterious circus that appears where and when it will containing all sorts of hidden spaces. Deliciously dark and atmospheric. I see someone else appropriately mentioned *House of Leaves*. Oooh, *The Historian* (Elizabeth Kostova) is about a woman looking for her vanished father, across Southern Europe. It features all sorts of hidden rooms, libraries, passages, and vampires. Caution: reading this book will make you want to visit each and every place in it.
1.) Yes, this tracks! I remember you sharing once that you had a bit of "a fetish for scary things" during childhood.
2.) I imagine Ohio falls are gorgeous. It's interesting to me that you're not alone in the comments section about having an uncanny experience out of doors.
3. Loved The Night Circus and I'm 100% going to ignore your thoughtful warning label and read The Historian and hunger for all the places. :) Adding to my to list...
House of Leaves (haunted object?) is on the shelf beside me. I had to get a copy because I'm so intrigued. I haven't started it yet. Soon. Do you remember using a particular approach? Follow and flip to everything? Prioritize the main narrative? It looks to be quite the experience!
PS. The overdoing it is so relatable. I've been setting parameters for myself too. It means a great deal that you choose to spend time here haunting the rooms with me. And I really enjoy your comments--consistently on time with awesomeness!
1) Definitely. We were and still are big Halloween fans, and that spilled over into all sorts of things, like horror movies that made me hide behind the couch at times, but which I absolutely wanted to watch.
2) Ohio fall colors are one of the things I miss most now that I'm living in subtropical southern Brazil. One of these years, we have to go home to visit in October instead of December, so my wife can see it firsthand.
3) Was it you that called my review of Dune a love letter? I could write about The Historian that way too.
House of Leaves is something you have to read in physical form if you ask me. I can't see how it would work as a ebook, except, maybe as a PDF because of the need for a static layout. It's been ages since I read it, but I just went straight through as far as I can remember, though I'm sure I flipped back to check stuff at the very least.
Talking about how to read HoL reminds me of reading Milorad Pavić's Dictionary of the Khazars. If you haven't read it, it's literally a dictionary of Khazar related stuff, so you get their history and culture in this weird way. Anyhow, there are lots of ways to read this, as you can no doubt imagine. I read it by following cross-references. This required some bookkeeping, but it was fun, certainly more than just reading it front to back.
If it wasn't me that called your review of Dune a love letter, I was def thinking it! Speaking of love, how wonderful that you want to time a visit home so your wife can see firsthand the fall colors of Ohio.
I've never even heard of MP's Dictionary of the Khazars--further proof you're always introducing me to something new. Love it! Off I go into a rabbit hole...
Oh my stars I'm planning a trip to New Orleans with my college student daughter and I'd LOVE to know your itinerary and I know for a fact we would love to make the same stops and visits that you did! Can you email me at juliasbookbag@gmail.com and drop your wisdom if you don't mind sharing?? Everything you did sounds amazing, did you tour Anne Rice's home by any chance? I would really love to chat about this more with you!!
Mother-daughter trips are so special - how wonderful! We didn't tour Anne Rice's home but we did wander the Garden District when we were briefly in New Orleans some years ago: gorgeous! Yes, I will send you an email about some of the stuff we were up to. To be continued...
One of my favourite ghost stories is The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. It's set in post-WWII England, and centres around an upper class family living in a dilapidated stately home. A young doctor befriends the family, and a series of increasingly disturbing incidents play out at their house, but it's unclear whether these are paranormal or an expression of the family's collective trauma. It was also made into a great movie. Lolve it! https://youtu.be/ASR04zW4K8w?si=n3KyFNX6CLD5sQfT
Yes! I'd write more, but I have dilapidated reading and viewing "home"work that I want to get started on. :) As always, thanks for sharing recommendations/connections!
Oh, this is great. I've always wanted to visit New Orleans, and I could certainly handle the noise (New York City born & bred means I have a bigger fear of quiet places), but I couldn't handle the ghosts. Last summer I spent a week in the mountains of Virginia in a fairly modern resort, between the silence and my limited knowledge of Appalachian folklore, sleep was...difficult to say the least. Big fan of ghosts and monsters when they're in books and on screens, but I am a huge coward in real life. Happy New Year! Seems like a great trip, and that photo of the cemetery is so atmospheric and beautiful.
Ohh, NYC! How I hope to visit someday. I'm small, rural town born and raised. I hadn't thought of that being one of the reasons that I lean more into quiet. Like you, I'm more of a literary and cinematic ghost and monster hunter. I imagine the Virginia mountain setting was gorgeous. We got really lucky the day we decided to walk to the cemetery because it happened to be the one misty/foggy morning and added to an already incredible atmosphere. There were ravens, too, and one in particular that was a bit of a companion while we roamed around. Happy new year to you too!
Virginia certainly was gorgeous! It was actually a road trip, and I made a few stops at send places related to Edgar Allan Poe. I visited his grave and home in Baltimore and his house in Philadelphia on the way back and it would have been so cool to see a raven in any one of those places!
Your recent holiday experience is like postponed fireworks to herald the new year! Running away from home for the holidays sounds plausible enough to anybody, but there is something not quite so random as you make it sound in the words "ended up in New Orleans". as is affirmed in the very same sentence: a ghost tour and a pilgrimage to St. Roch cemetery, which both have, as, most likely, all of your readers know, little to do with coincidence or fortuity.
Eating a chocolate and praline desert while your husband orders a 'blood bag' (he must have been feeling very adventurous) and staying in the French Quarter of New Orleans, a city known worldwide for its voodoo, vampirism, haunted houses and graveyards, is macabre, especially for someone who is 'porous to atmosphere'. Hearing sounds at night in a haunted hotel, I'd say you asked for it.
The Shining's Overlook Hotel, even if watched 'on repeat' should have provided ample forewarning indeed, but yet you chose to spend the holidays in a haunted hotel. You consider tarot and pendulums 'consensual little doorways to the beyond', but if you open a doorway, you can never be sure of what or who comes in through it. The room you rented, had furniture looking like what you described in your ekphrasis post, right down to a drawer opening itself. "The room seemed to know". The ghost tour, with the Casket Girls and the convent with a forbidden upper floor as ghostly brain food to the already nervous, almost fearful hunger, didn't do much to ease the mind, as can be expected. But it still wasn't enough; upon hearing your hotel was in fact known for being haunted, you simply had to know what had happened there, to find out the chilling stories that played out just a few doors down from where you were.
Indeed, you were the one who checked in uninvited, and got yourself into more than you thought you bargained for, waking up your husband to accompany you to the bathroom in the process. The protective spell may have worked, but, as you say yourself (paraphrased), the room didn't have to do anything, once you'd chosen to stay in it. Before I answer your always interesting questions, let me just ask you: how much eeriness and horror, mystery and the occult are needed to really frighten you? Seems to me, it's quite a bit more than you let on.
My answers:
-I wouldn't spend the night in a haunted hotel intentionally, I like my mystery and occultism neatly dosed.
-I don't know if I would call it a 'visitation', but I remember a childhood experience that implied a 'presence' of some kind: I was about 12, walking in the woods as I often did, it was sunny and there was quite a bit of wind, it could have been early autumn. I came upon a clearing in the woods I had never noticed before. When I entered the clearing, suddenly the wind was gone, and there was no sound whatsoever, no bird song in the distance even. I looked around me, and got anxious, felt I wasn't supposed to be there, and ran away, back into the woods. Everything was like before: wind and sound of birds. I never went back, but when I told someone who also knew the woods quite well, he said he wasn't aware of any clearing there.
-My recommendation doesn't include haunted rooms per se, but is a frightening movie, mainly set in New Orleans, very atmospheric and sometimes shocking. It's Alan Parker's "Angel Heart" from 1987. You'll recognize the ambiance for sure. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary report of a Christmas holiday trip, that, as usual, raises more questions than it could possibly answer, but that's why I subscribed, I guess.
Hi Vincent! Love that a film recommendation that came to mind is mostly set in NOLA. I'm going to try to watch it sooner than later -- while I'm still seeped in the atmosphere and ambiance.
And, you got me! (You pay attention.) It was no accident we sought out New Orleans for our excursion. It's my #gothicprojectera after all, and as you pointed out, the city is "known worldwide for its voodoo, vampirism, haunted houses and graveyards."
Such an incredible question: "how much eeriness and horror, mystery and the occult are needed to really frighten you? Seems to me, it's quite a bit more than you let on." It does fascinate me. In terms of tolerate and frighten, and how much, I'm going to think on that. Thank you for the brain food.
How surreal to have that experience in the clearing and later have someone so familiar with those woods not know of its existence. It reads like a dream or film sequence where a portal opens and closes and time/space shifts. Your mention that the soundscape disappeared, not even birdsong in the distance reminds me of the neighboring farm to ours during my rural childhood. We had plenty of birds on our property, but our neighbor claimed to have none and started hearing whispers and experiencing strange sensations while in certain parts of their home. She called someone in and apparently there was an old farmer still lingering--frustrated that his family was missing and strangers were in his home. The medium helped him on his way, and whooosh--bird song and birds on the property from that day onward.
Thank you for sharing your observations and experiences with us!
*Bookmarking this to spend more time with tomorrow.*
This night owl spent too much time with Emily Jane this evening,scrambling down rabbit holes and now I don't have the time deserved to give to this 'hauntingly' exquisite post--I'll return, I promise.♡
This was such a delight to read--the image of a drawer opening is so evocative! Is it being pulled open? Pushed open (by the furniture itself)? Are you intended to place something inside? Or, is it revealing something to you? Releasing something?
I believe deeply in belongings retaining energies--I DO wonder why it stopped opening?!
I think the place where I've 'felt' the strongest 'negative' energies might be Gettysburg. When our son was young we spent nearly every weekend walking the battlefield and exploring the woods (around Big Round Top) and meadow (around Devil's Den and the Slaughter Pen). At dusk the whole energy of the place shifts and it becomes deathly still; it is palpable--but alas, I cannot claim to have ever 'seen" an actual ghost.
Happy New Year, my friend...the early bird...I'm so happy you shared your New Orleans experience with us--and tell your sweet left-handed guy he's a gem for escorting you to the bathroom.♡
Pushed, pulled, invited, revealing, releasing? So many questions and possibilities! But no answers. And now I'm wishing I had better inspected the inside of the drawers. What if there was an object, symbol, inscription-- something--that I overlooked?
I'm with you: I also believe belongings and places retain energies. A coworker who has a dog several of us believe can see, or sense, humans and animals that have crossed over (based on stories she tells when we should be performing our riveting tasks), had curious reactions to certain antique pieces she thrifted recently.
And your share about Gettysburg, for me, is another reminder how a place retains energies, history. And dusk, a threshold time, seems like it would be a particularly sensitive time to stillness. And, I imagine, a heaviness. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
He really is a gem, my left-handed sweetie. Ack! Why is this early bird still up? Good night, my friend...the night owl...I hope you can see the stars!
I love, love, loved New Orleans and hope to go back one day, but not to a haunted hotel (although that might be tough in that city! What a treat to read about your experience, as always! "Love, I learned, includes this: Yes, he will accompany you to the bathroom because the hotel has a scary TripAdvisor paper trail." My husband has had to do this in a few places because of paper trails or "a feeling." Bless our late-night bathroom companions! The drawers were wild, and the combination of that plus the reviews would have had me up all night as well. A couple of years ago, I was on a trip with friends and we experienced a haunting in two consecutive hotel stays. We refused to separate after that, which required lots of rebooking and sharing our story with a fascinated (and very receptive, thankfully) set of staff members. It's a bit long and I should write about it, but long story short, even though the first hotel had no feeling of menace, its effect on my sleep greatly affected the rest of my trip and I never, ever want to stay in a haunted room again. I, like you, like my ghostly experiences in the wild, not in my bedroom! Wonderful tale, as always!
NOLA is incredible, and like you, look forward to returning. Yes, we are certainly blessed to have late-night bathroom companions. Do you also avoid looking in the mirror late at night or when scared? I'm curious because you mentioned Bl**dY M@rY when sharing a bit about your upcoming Nostalgic Nightmares series (can't wait!). I won't fully type the name much less say it out loud. :)
Oh, I will most definitely be writing about my fear of she-who-shall-not-be-named here. Thank God I don’t have an actual experience, but even at this point in my life I have covered mirrors in hotel bedrooms and most definitely avoid any and all of them at night. Nope, nope, and no thanks! Hope you can return to NOLA soon. So much good food awaits! Also, did you get to visit St. Louis Cemetery #1? We did a morning history tour there and it was absolutely the most perfectly gothic introduction to the city we could have had.
I also didn't have an actual experience with she-who-shall-not-be-named here, but my belief that I could have is palpable. Thanks for affirming I'm not the only one to avoid and cover mirrors. We walked by St. Louis, but as you know, they have it set up so you can't peek through the entranceways: tours only. Next time goals!
New Orleans is my favorite city, I was so happy to read this. I went for my bachelor party and did nothing but food and cemetery tours. We took a photograph in one of the cemeteries and it changed my entire approach to the paranormal.
For hotels, my wife and I avoided haunted hotels at all cost… but we always accidentally stay at them anyways. On our one-year anniversary in Maine I woke up to my first full-body apparition, walking across the room. The next morning, any time I tried to tell her about the experience, the smoke detector would go off.
Nothing but food (it was all so delicious!) and cemetery tours sounds divine. Wow, you've got stories (your "first" full-body apparition!). So interesting that the room in Maine had feelings about you sharing what happened...I type as my larger ear is listening for the hint of a smoke alarm in the distance.
Happy new year, Benjamin! Thanks for sharing with us a sampling of your experiences.
Happy new year, Karen! Thrilled you felt called to mention "House of Leaves." I just read a synopsis and looked at a few images of the fascinating structure/typography and I'm so intrigued and eager to read this one. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Oh my gosh I ate this up with abandon ! How wonderfully creaky and atmospheric . Thank you for taking me to New Orléans . I went there for my honeymoon - we stayed in a guest house which was so southern gothic , I struggled to sleep .
That drawer 😱
We did stay in a haunted hotel last week and I think we were woken up by the sounds of a drunken 18th highway man smashing the bar 😂 ( true story ).
Amazing words thank you - I just love the line ‘the building doesn’t actually have to do anything at all once it has persuaded your attention to take up residence.’ Love it .
Happy new year, Marie! Of course you were in a haunted hotel just last week! I'm not so secretly hoping we get to learn more about your new acquaintance, drunken 18th highway man, in an upcoming ghostsmile. :)
😂😂 Oh yes it’ll feature in a post soon - it was gold ! Really enjoyed this . I do love New Orléans. Happy New Year to you too 🖤🖤
Yay! Looking forward to it.
Brillaint observation about how hotel horror weaponizes attention itself. The piece really captures how knowing something is "haunted" transforms perception, and what stands out is the lack of consent aspect, you sought curated gothic (tours, cemeteries) but got uninvited visitations instead. I had a similat thing happen in Prague where I didnt know the hotel history until after checkout. Once attention takes up residence the building barely has to participate anymore.
Hi NF! Thanks for sharing your own experience (Prague--gorgeous!) and for highlighting the juxtaposition of the sought after experience and the "uninvited."
Late to the party. I've been trying to limit my time here, because I was overdoing it and trying to read everything everyone I follow posted. But I save the stuff I know I want to comment on or restack etc., and so... here we are.
As always, I loved the post.
1. Yes, I would knowingly spend the night in haunted hotel — outwardly saying nothing would happen, but secretly hoping something (not terrible) would.
2. Once while out hiking alone in the fall (in Ohio, so lovely fall smells and colors), I swear I heard a voice right next to me while I'd stopped to rest. Annoyingly, now, I can't recall what the voice said. :-(
What do you recommend for a read or watch, for anyone collecting haunted rooms…from a distance?
3. Everything that's coming to mind is more like secret/magic doors that lead to whole realms (e.g. Pan's Labyrinth) or are generic horror movies. Literature though... *The Night Circus* (Erin Morgenstern) is about a mysterious circus that appears where and when it will containing all sorts of hidden spaces. Deliciously dark and atmospheric. I see someone else appropriately mentioned *House of Leaves*. Oooh, *The Historian* (Elizabeth Kostova) is about a woman looking for her vanished father, across Southern Europe. It features all sorts of hidden rooms, libraries, passages, and vampires. Caution: reading this book will make you want to visit each and every place in it.
1.) Yes, this tracks! I remember you sharing once that you had a bit of "a fetish for scary things" during childhood.
2.) I imagine Ohio falls are gorgeous. It's interesting to me that you're not alone in the comments section about having an uncanny experience out of doors.
3. Loved The Night Circus and I'm 100% going to ignore your thoughtful warning label and read The Historian and hunger for all the places. :) Adding to my to list...
House of Leaves (haunted object?) is on the shelf beside me. I had to get a copy because I'm so intrigued. I haven't started it yet. Soon. Do you remember using a particular approach? Follow and flip to everything? Prioritize the main narrative? It looks to be quite the experience!
PS. The overdoing it is so relatable. I've been setting parameters for myself too. It means a great deal that you choose to spend time here haunting the rooms with me. And I really enjoy your comments--consistently on time with awesomeness!
1) Definitely. We were and still are big Halloween fans, and that spilled over into all sorts of things, like horror movies that made me hide behind the couch at times, but which I absolutely wanted to watch.
2) Ohio fall colors are one of the things I miss most now that I'm living in subtropical southern Brazil. One of these years, we have to go home to visit in October instead of December, so my wife can see it firsthand.
3) Was it you that called my review of Dune a love letter? I could write about The Historian that way too.
House of Leaves is something you have to read in physical form if you ask me. I can't see how it would work as a ebook, except, maybe as a PDF because of the need for a static layout. It's been ages since I read it, but I just went straight through as far as I can remember, though I'm sure I flipped back to check stuff at the very least.
Talking about how to read HoL reminds me of reading Milorad Pavić's Dictionary of the Khazars. If you haven't read it, it's literally a dictionary of Khazar related stuff, so you get their history and culture in this weird way. Anyhow, there are lots of ways to read this, as you can no doubt imagine. I read it by following cross-references. This required some bookkeeping, but it was fun, certainly more than just reading it front to back.
And so, now I have an itch to reread HoL!
Thank you for the awesomeness-laden posts!
If it wasn't me that called your review of Dune a love letter, I was def thinking it! Speaking of love, how wonderful that you want to time a visit home so your wife can see firsthand the fall colors of Ohio.
I've never even heard of MP's Dictionary of the Khazars--further proof you're always introducing me to something new. Love it! Off I go into a rabbit hole...
Oh my stars I'm planning a trip to New Orleans with my college student daughter and I'd LOVE to know your itinerary and I know for a fact we would love to make the same stops and visits that you did! Can you email me at juliasbookbag@gmail.com and drop your wisdom if you don't mind sharing?? Everything you did sounds amazing, did you tour Anne Rice's home by any chance? I would really love to chat about this more with you!!
Mother-daughter trips are so special - how wonderful! We didn't tour Anne Rice's home but we did wander the Garden District when we were briefly in New Orleans some years ago: gorgeous! Yes, I will send you an email about some of the stuff we were up to. To be continued...
One of my favourite ghost stories is The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. It's set in post-WWII England, and centres around an upper class family living in a dilapidated stately home. A young doctor befriends the family, and a series of increasingly disturbing incidents play out at their house, but it's unclear whether these are paranormal or an expression of the family's collective trauma. It was also made into a great movie. Lolve it! https://youtu.be/ASR04zW4K8w?si=n3KyFNX6CLD5sQfT
Yes! I'd write more, but I have dilapidated reading and viewing "home"work that I want to get started on. :) As always, thanks for sharing recommendations/connections!
🤗
Oh, this is great. I've always wanted to visit New Orleans, and I could certainly handle the noise (New York City born & bred means I have a bigger fear of quiet places), but I couldn't handle the ghosts. Last summer I spent a week in the mountains of Virginia in a fairly modern resort, between the silence and my limited knowledge of Appalachian folklore, sleep was...difficult to say the least. Big fan of ghosts and monsters when they're in books and on screens, but I am a huge coward in real life. Happy New Year! Seems like a great trip, and that photo of the cemetery is so atmospheric and beautiful.
Ohh, NYC! How I hope to visit someday. I'm small, rural town born and raised. I hadn't thought of that being one of the reasons that I lean more into quiet. Like you, I'm more of a literary and cinematic ghost and monster hunter. I imagine the Virginia mountain setting was gorgeous. We got really lucky the day we decided to walk to the cemetery because it happened to be the one misty/foggy morning and added to an already incredible atmosphere. There were ravens, too, and one in particular that was a bit of a companion while we roamed around. Happy new year to you too!
Virginia certainly was gorgeous! It was actually a road trip, and I made a few stops at send places related to Edgar Allan Poe. I visited his grave and home in Baltimore and his house in Philadelphia on the way back and it would have been so cool to see a raven in any one of those places!
What incredible road trip itinerary stops!
Your recent holiday experience is like postponed fireworks to herald the new year! Running away from home for the holidays sounds plausible enough to anybody, but there is something not quite so random as you make it sound in the words "ended up in New Orleans". as is affirmed in the very same sentence: a ghost tour and a pilgrimage to St. Roch cemetery, which both have, as, most likely, all of your readers know, little to do with coincidence or fortuity.
Eating a chocolate and praline desert while your husband orders a 'blood bag' (he must have been feeling very adventurous) and staying in the French Quarter of New Orleans, a city known worldwide for its voodoo, vampirism, haunted houses and graveyards, is macabre, especially for someone who is 'porous to atmosphere'. Hearing sounds at night in a haunted hotel, I'd say you asked for it.
The Shining's Overlook Hotel, even if watched 'on repeat' should have provided ample forewarning indeed, but yet you chose to spend the holidays in a haunted hotel. You consider tarot and pendulums 'consensual little doorways to the beyond', but if you open a doorway, you can never be sure of what or who comes in through it. The room you rented, had furniture looking like what you described in your ekphrasis post, right down to a drawer opening itself. "The room seemed to know". The ghost tour, with the Casket Girls and the convent with a forbidden upper floor as ghostly brain food to the already nervous, almost fearful hunger, didn't do much to ease the mind, as can be expected. But it still wasn't enough; upon hearing your hotel was in fact known for being haunted, you simply had to know what had happened there, to find out the chilling stories that played out just a few doors down from where you were.
Indeed, you were the one who checked in uninvited, and got yourself into more than you thought you bargained for, waking up your husband to accompany you to the bathroom in the process. The protective spell may have worked, but, as you say yourself (paraphrased), the room didn't have to do anything, once you'd chosen to stay in it. Before I answer your always interesting questions, let me just ask you: how much eeriness and horror, mystery and the occult are needed to really frighten you? Seems to me, it's quite a bit more than you let on.
My answers:
-I wouldn't spend the night in a haunted hotel intentionally, I like my mystery and occultism neatly dosed.
-I don't know if I would call it a 'visitation', but I remember a childhood experience that implied a 'presence' of some kind: I was about 12, walking in the woods as I often did, it was sunny and there was quite a bit of wind, it could have been early autumn. I came upon a clearing in the woods I had never noticed before. When I entered the clearing, suddenly the wind was gone, and there was no sound whatsoever, no bird song in the distance even. I looked around me, and got anxious, felt I wasn't supposed to be there, and ran away, back into the woods. Everything was like before: wind and sound of birds. I never went back, but when I told someone who also knew the woods quite well, he said he wasn't aware of any clearing there.
-My recommendation doesn't include haunted rooms per se, but is a frightening movie, mainly set in New Orleans, very atmospheric and sometimes shocking. It's Alan Parker's "Angel Heart" from 1987. You'll recognize the ambiance for sure. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary report of a Christmas holiday trip, that, as usual, raises more questions than it could possibly answer, but that's why I subscribed, I guess.
Hi Vincent! Love that a film recommendation that came to mind is mostly set in NOLA. I'm going to try to watch it sooner than later -- while I'm still seeped in the atmosphere and ambiance.
And, you got me! (You pay attention.) It was no accident we sought out New Orleans for our excursion. It's my #gothicprojectera after all, and as you pointed out, the city is "known worldwide for its voodoo, vampirism, haunted houses and graveyards."
Such an incredible question: "how much eeriness and horror, mystery and the occult are needed to really frighten you? Seems to me, it's quite a bit more than you let on." It does fascinate me. In terms of tolerate and frighten, and how much, I'm going to think on that. Thank you for the brain food.
How surreal to have that experience in the clearing and later have someone so familiar with those woods not know of its existence. It reads like a dream or film sequence where a portal opens and closes and time/space shifts. Your mention that the soundscape disappeared, not even birdsong in the distance reminds me of the neighboring farm to ours during my rural childhood. We had plenty of birds on our property, but our neighbor claimed to have none and started hearing whispers and experiencing strange sensations while in certain parts of their home. She called someone in and apparently there was an old farmer still lingering--frustrated that his family was missing and strangers were in his home. The medium helped him on his way, and whooosh--bird song and birds on the property from that day onward.
Thank you for sharing your observations and experiences with us!
*Bookmarking this to spend more time with tomorrow.*
This night owl spent too much time with Emily Jane this evening,scrambling down rabbit holes and now I don't have the time deserved to give to this 'hauntingly' exquisite post--I'll return, I promise.♡
JLA spending time with EJB - as it should be!
This was such a delight to read--the image of a drawer opening is so evocative! Is it being pulled open? Pushed open (by the furniture itself)? Are you intended to place something inside? Or, is it revealing something to you? Releasing something?
I believe deeply in belongings retaining energies--I DO wonder why it stopped opening?!
I think the place where I've 'felt' the strongest 'negative' energies might be Gettysburg. When our son was young we spent nearly every weekend walking the battlefield and exploring the woods (around Big Round Top) and meadow (around Devil's Den and the Slaughter Pen). At dusk the whole energy of the place shifts and it becomes deathly still; it is palpable--but alas, I cannot claim to have ever 'seen" an actual ghost.
Happy New Year, my friend...the early bird...I'm so happy you shared your New Orleans experience with us--and tell your sweet left-handed guy he's a gem for escorting you to the bathroom.♡
Pushed, pulled, invited, revealing, releasing? So many questions and possibilities! But no answers. And now I'm wishing I had better inspected the inside of the drawers. What if there was an object, symbol, inscription-- something--that I overlooked?
I'm with you: I also believe belongings and places retain energies. A coworker who has a dog several of us believe can see, or sense, humans and animals that have crossed over (based on stories she tells when we should be performing our riveting tasks), had curious reactions to certain antique pieces she thrifted recently.
And your share about Gettysburg, for me, is another reminder how a place retains energies, history. And dusk, a threshold time, seems like it would be a particularly sensitive time to stillness. And, I imagine, a heaviness. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
He really is a gem, my left-handed sweetie. Ack! Why is this early bird still up? Good night, my friend...the night owl...I hope you can see the stars!
I love, love, loved New Orleans and hope to go back one day, but not to a haunted hotel (although that might be tough in that city! What a treat to read about your experience, as always! "Love, I learned, includes this: Yes, he will accompany you to the bathroom because the hotel has a scary TripAdvisor paper trail." My husband has had to do this in a few places because of paper trails or "a feeling." Bless our late-night bathroom companions! The drawers were wild, and the combination of that plus the reviews would have had me up all night as well. A couple of years ago, I was on a trip with friends and we experienced a haunting in two consecutive hotel stays. We refused to separate after that, which required lots of rebooking and sharing our story with a fascinated (and very receptive, thankfully) set of staff members. It's a bit long and I should write about it, but long story short, even though the first hotel had no feeling of menace, its effect on my sleep greatly affected the rest of my trip and I never, ever want to stay in a haunted room again. I, like you, like my ghostly experiences in the wild, not in my bedroom! Wonderful tale, as always!
NOLA is incredible, and like you, look forward to returning. Yes, we are certainly blessed to have late-night bathroom companions. Do you also avoid looking in the mirror late at night or when scared? I'm curious because you mentioned Bl**dY M@rY when sharing a bit about your upcoming Nostalgic Nightmares series (can't wait!). I won't fully type the name much less say it out loud. :)
Oh, I will most definitely be writing about my fear of she-who-shall-not-be-named here. Thank God I don’t have an actual experience, but even at this point in my life I have covered mirrors in hotel bedrooms and most definitely avoid any and all of them at night. Nope, nope, and no thanks! Hope you can return to NOLA soon. So much good food awaits! Also, did you get to visit St. Louis Cemetery #1? We did a morning history tour there and it was absolutely the most perfectly gothic introduction to the city we could have had.
I also didn't have an actual experience with she-who-shall-not-be-named here, but my belief that I could have is palpable. Thanks for affirming I'm not the only one to avoid and cover mirrors. We walked by St. Louis, but as you know, they have it set up so you can't peek through the entranceways: tours only. Next time goals!
What a great piece. Thanks so much.
Happy new year, Gabrielle! Thank you for haunting this room with me.
New Orleans is my favorite city, I was so happy to read this. I went for my bachelor party and did nothing but food and cemetery tours. We took a photograph in one of the cemeteries and it changed my entire approach to the paranormal.
For hotels, my wife and I avoided haunted hotels at all cost… but we always accidentally stay at them anyways. On our one-year anniversary in Maine I woke up to my first full-body apparition, walking across the room. The next morning, any time I tried to tell her about the experience, the smoke detector would go off.
Nothing but food (it was all so delicious!) and cemetery tours sounds divine. Wow, you've got stories (your "first" full-body apparition!). So interesting that the room in Maine had feelings about you sharing what happened...I type as my larger ear is listening for the hint of a smoke alarm in the distance.
Happy new year, Benjamin! Thanks for sharing with us a sampling of your experiences.
So fun! (After the fact, of course.) I have not been in a haunted room, hotel, or house.
I wonder if the hotel had done its work with you -- time to move onto another sensitive soul.
Although bigger than any of these, "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski might give some related reading...
Happy new year, Karen! Thrilled you felt called to mention "House of Leaves." I just read a synopsis and looked at a few images of the fascinating structure/typography and I'm so intrigued and eager to read this one. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.