Halloween 2018

Every Friday since early April 2018 I have been doing a thing called #FreeFridayFrights.

This is where, on my website, I offer up either a free short story or a free non-fiction eerie/ghostly article read. I also do a Facebook live video that is often also posted to YouTube and other places.

For this past Friday (Oct 26, 2018), because it was the last Friday before Halloween I talked a bit about the origins and sources for Halloween customs as well as some trivia related to Halloween.

Since the Free Friday Frights articles only appear for a week and then are replaced by new content every week, I thought I'd share this past week's article here. If you'd rather see the video based on this written content, scroll down to watch it.

Friday Oct 26, 2018

NON-FICTION:  Halloween

A look at the tradition of All Hallows Eve (Halloween) as well as some interesting trivia associated with it.

Halloween appears to be a combination of traditions and folklore derived from Pagan, Celtic, ancient Roman and Catholic traditions.

Originally a pagan festival of the dead, All Saints’ or All-Hallow’s Day is November 1. The day is also known as All Saints Day, All Hallows Day, and All Souls’ Day. According to the original pagan custom, the celebration of the dead is meant to begin as the sun sets the evening before, and that is usually when the souls of the dead are said to begin to get up and roam around the earth. This original festival has, of course, survived to the present day in popular culture as Halloween, a night of trick-or-treating by children dressed up in costumes.

 

In the 17th Century, the catholic church used the same day as a way to honor and celebrate the known and unknown saints and martyrs of the church. It had originally been celebrated on May 13, but was moved to November 1st in the eighth century.

The ancient Celts refered to the festival surrounding this day as Samhaim and used it to celebrate the onset of winter and the begining of the Celtic New Year. Samhain translates to “end of summer.” In Ireland, the same celebration was known as Samhein, or “the feast of the sun.” In Scotland, the term Hallowe’en was used.

The act of children dressing up and going door-to-door to collect treats was likely adapted from the Gaelic practice of giving cakes to the poor (aka “soul-cakes”) in return for praying for a good harvest, prosperity and protection against bad luck. The concept of the trick is likely to have been derived from an English Plough Day custom where Ploughmen went door to door begging for gifts, and if they did not receive anything they would threaten to damage the grounds with their ploughs.

There are numerous folk customs associated with this festival. Here are a few Halloween related bits of trivia:

• THERE IS NO ESCAPE: Harry Houdini died on Halloween. It’s true. I even wrote about it in Macabre Montreal (yes, that’s a bit of shameless self-promotion). One of the world’s most famous magicians died on October 31, 1926 in Detroit at the age of 52 in Detroit. He died of peritonitis, secondary to a ruptured appendix. It is commonly stated that Houdini died due to repeated or unexpected blows to the abdomen by a McGill University student in Montreal. This proposition might be partially true, as it is possible that the pain from the blunt force trauma Houdidi received might have masked the fact he was suffering from appendicitis, and, had he been treated earlier for that, he likely would have survived.

• NOT SO HAPPY JACK: One of the traced origins involving the carving of jack-0-lanterns is believed to have come from Ireland with the carving of turnips and the legend of a man named Stingy Jack. The miserable old drunk enjoyed playing tricks on people. After playing a trick and trapping Satan, Jack made a deal to release him, so long as Satan promised not to take his soul. When Jack died, he was denied entrance to heaven, but also banned from hell. Satan gave Jack a single burning coal, which he placed into a hollowed out turnip. He then spent eternity wandering the earth with this lantern hopelessly looking for a resting place.

• GIMME SOME CANDY:  According to the National Confectioner’s Association, one quarter of all of the candy sold in the United States every year is purchased specifically for Halloween. In addition, a majority of all candy given out on Halloween is chocolate. Three out of every 10 homes will pass out lollipops or other types of hard candy. Candy Corn was created in the late 1800s. The three colors are meant to look like the colors in kernals of corn. More than 35 million pounds of candy corn is produced each year. According to a 2017 Forbes article, Candy Corn is among the most hated of all Halloween candies (second to Circus Peanuts) and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups were the most favored

• HALLOWEEN 2018: THE TRIVIA OF MICHAEL MYERS: Jamie Lee Curtis was considered for the heroine for the original 1978 Halloween by John Carpenter as a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. (Janet Leigh, famous for the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho, is Jamie Lee Curtis’s mother. The movie, produced in 12 weeks, was shot on a shoestring budget of only $300,000 and went on to make $47 million. It was the most profitable independent film ever made until The Blair Witch Project in 1999. John Carpenter was paid $10,000 for the film, and Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers, was paid only $25 a day. The sound of slashing flesh was created by stabbing a watermelon. Myers mask was another side effect of a low budget. It was derived from William Shatner’s likeness because they purchased a Captain Kirk mask, peeled off the eyebrows and some hair, and spray painted it white.

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This article was originally composed for Mark Leslie’s weekly #FreeFridayFrights

You can also watch the video on my Facebook page, where a fun POLL has also been embedded.

Mining for Ghosts

Last week I was back in my home town of Levack, Ontario, helping my mom with painting a few rooms in her home. Because Alexander had a PD day off school, we managed to get up there earlier in the week so I could get the work done.

So when I was in town, I recorded a short video at Levack Mine, referencing a chapter from my book Spooky Sudbury. I did this as part of my ongoing #FreeFridayFrights weekly series of live Facebook videos where I either read a story (FICTION) or relay a true tale (NON-FICTION).

In the short video I recalled, mostly off the top of my head, the tale about an eerie encounter from the 1970s at the mine in Levack that I wrote about in a chapter called "Haunted Level 2650 at Levack Mine"

I was startled to find that, within just a few days of posting it, the video has already had more than 2,600 views. I also, of course, realized I had goofed up and used incorrect terminology when relaying the story. So, when I did the post-live video upload (where I add sound effects, graphics and other enhancements to the video, I thought it best to record an introductory apology for getting the terms wrong and then also a conclusion where I read part of that chapter to share the proper and more full story.

I have been doing the Free Friday Frights videos every week since April 6, 2018, but this one, by far, has been the most watched video of all. I was delighted to see how many folks from my home town area commented, shared and then re-shared the video.

It reminds me of an old adage that my friend, fellow author Robert J. Sawyer said years ago and which stuck with me. He said it was important, when marketing yourself as an author, to define yourself as a big fish in a small pool.

The idea is that, as a writer of thrillers, horror and ghost stories, if I compare myself to Stephen King, I barely make it onto the radar. But if I compare myself to all the other thriller, horror and ghost story writers in the Sudbury area, at least I rank a spot on the charts. (There actually are a few authors who write those same things, but at least my presence, compared to them, is a lot more even than my comparison to Stephen King)

I find it fascinating that my largest success from writing always related back to my home town. When I launched my first book, One Hand Screaming there in 2004, there was a line-up of people, the newspapers and radio featured the release. And then, of course, in 2013, when Spooky Sudbury was released, the support from local media and the local public was truly overwhelming. Jenny and I sold out at both the Chapters and the Coles on the day of our book launch, and the following day, I spent 8 hours at the local Costco and sold most of a skid of books.

And, reflecting back on the comparison to Stephen King, it was awesome to see that, at least in one city in one afternoon in one store, I outsold the master of horror. (Of course, I was there signing copies, and he wasn't. Let's ignore the fact that, if King had been there signing copies of his book the only thing people might be looking at me for would be directions to the restrooms or where to find more copies of his books, because the skid sold out yet again. But best NOT to focus on that.)

Sales on that particular title continue to dominate my annual royalties, even though the local population of the City of Great Sudbury (about 165,000) is far smaller than the cities of Hamilton (550,000) and Ottawa (950,000) where a couple of my other books are set. A smaller community seems to take much more pride either in celebrating the accomplishments of a home town boy, or wanting to read about their home town itself.

For writers, the lesson is important. Focusing on defining a smaller and more focused target audience seems to be a consistent key for larger success.

The Ghost of Jack Kerouac

Yesterday's live talk part of my weekly Free Friday Frights included a talk about the chapter "Kerouac's Favourite Haunt" in my 2014 book Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries.

Once you get me talking about the things I am most passionate about, I will go on and on. In the chat, I not only share the stories I had heard about the ghost of the famous author who allegedly haunts this bookstore, but my love for visiting bookstores, especially a place like Haslam's which is the largest and oldest independent bookstore in the state of Florida. (Not to mention that today is Independent Bookstore Day)

I also, of course, introduce other things I am passionate about, such as the discovery of local beers. And there are at least three local beer spots in the neighborhood of Haslam's. One that I visited a few years ago (Urban Brew & BBQ) and two more that I just discovered (Taphouse 61 and Cage Brewing)

Hmm, with Novelists Inc, Haslam's Bookstore and at least four great beer spots to check out (I discovered Mastry's Brewing Co. a couple of years back), I have more reasons than ever to look forward to this fall in St Pete, Florida.

Don't Judge My Love of Sharing Ghost Tales

In my weekly Free Friday Frights adventures I have enjoyed the combination of sharing live videos of reading my fiction or just sharing a ghostly tale from the research I have done for many of my non-fiction books on the paranormal.

 

And last Friday (Friday April 13th), while I was enjoying a couple of pints at The Winking Judge in Hamilton, as part of a quick teaser video that I had originally posted live to Facebook, I walked about the 2nd floor of this haunted bar and shared a few of the ghostly tales I had heard over the years.

I re-edited the original live video to add in a few fitting visuals as well as some haunting background music.

Here is the revised and enhanced video:

You can read more about this in a post on my Spirits Untapped blog entitled "Ghostly Tales From A Hamilton Bar," which also focuses more on the "beer" and "beer culture" aspects. (IE, if, after seeing the beer I'm holding and wanting to know what it was)

Announcing FREE FRIDAY FRIGHTS

Starting on Friday April 6th I will be starting a weekly feature that I'm calling FREE FRIDAY FRIGHTS. It'll be hosted on my main website at www.markleslie.ca/freefridayfridays and use the hashtag #freefridayfrights.

Every week I will post, for approximately 24 hours, a free frightening read. I'll alternate between fiction and non-fiction.

Some time during that same 24 hour period, I will host a live video on my Author Facebook Page where I'll either read the short story or I will discuss/share details from the non-fiction / true eerie/ghostly tale that is posted.