Hollow Hill » Ghosts in fiction

Dawn of the Dreadfuls – Review

Fiona Broome — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:44:26 +0000

This isn’t about ghosts. It’s a book I’ve enjoyed and friends might, too. However, unless you’re familiar with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — and liked it — this review probably won’t interest you.

If you do enjoy Jane Austen’s books, and you have a rather dark sense of humor, this book might delight you, too.

The book is Dawn of the Dreadfuls, a prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It is about zombies… animated bodies of people, who are rising from their coffins.

First, let me explain the context of my review. If you know me in real life, you know two things:

I have a very odd sense of humor, and
Despite my interest in ghosts and related subjects, I don’t like anything creepy, gory, gruesome, violent or ghoulish.

Point #2 generally trumps any interest I’d have in most horror-related novels. (However, I don’t think ghosts are “creepy.”)

Dawn of the Dreadfuls is an exception. It’s the humor that won me over when I started reading this book. The puns, the wit… they’re laugh-out-loud funny.

Make no mistake, this is a gruesome book in many ways. That’s part of what makes it hilarious. The contrasts with upper middle class propriety and manner… it’s absurdity at its best.

I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, yet. I am part of the way through Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (by the same author) and it’s amusing. The latter is the kind of book I’d read at the beach or by the swimming pool, but it’s not exactly a page-turner. It’s simply ridiculous fun.

Dawn of the Dreadfuls is ridiculous. There’s no other word for it. If you’re a fan of Jane Austen and/or have a background in Regency England’s manners and morals, you’ll either be outraged by this book or you’ll laugh out loud every two or three pages. I don’t think there’s any middle-of-the-road with this.

The plot is fairly simple to start: Attending a funeral, the Bennet family witnesses a corpse rising from his coffin. Mr. Bennet realizes that the zombies — or “dreadfuls” — are back. He promptly converts Mrs. Bennet’s greenhouse to a dojo, and starts training his five daughters to fight zombies.

Meanwhile, there is the matter of romance, or at least marriage. Jane, the oldest daughter, is being pursued by Lord Lumpley. He’s interested because she looks like a good, docile young woman who’d stay out of his way once they’re married.

As you’d expect, this is not a courtship that will go well.

With that foundation, the story leaps from one preposterous scene to the next, and each successive problem (or the solution these people choose) is more absurdly funny.

If your humor is like mine, and you’re a fan of Jane Austen and Regency England, I think you’ll love this book.

Official website: Quirk Classic – Dawn of the Dreadfuls
Dawn of the Dreadfuls at Amazon.com
Quirk book contest/forum: Quirk Classics Contest

Dickens’ Christmas Carol – the facts

Fiona Broome — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:05:47 +0000

Dickens’ book, A Christmas Carol, was based on Dickens’ own life. What’s not clear is how autobiographical the tale is. Here are some clues.

Scrooge’s experiences… fact or fiction?

In the original 1843 edition, Dickens’ preface said:

I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C. D.
December, 1843.

Some of Dickens’ story was based in fact. Bob Crachit’s sickly child was originally named Fred, after Dickens’ younger brother. That character became the beloved Tiny Tim. The name, Fred, was still used in A Christmas Carol, but for Scrooge’s nephew instead.Scrooge’s scorn of Fred’s lifestyle may have echoed Dickens’ views of his real-life brother. The real Fred borrowed on his brother’s famous name, landed in debtors’ prison, and died an alcoholic.

“Fan,” or Fanny, was not only Scrooge’s sister in the book, but also the nickname of Dickens’ older sister, Frances. She died of consumption in 1848, at age 38.

Her son, Henry Burnett, was the most likely model for Tiny Tim. Henry was a sickly child who lived only ten years and died in 1849.

Likewise, many locations in A Christmas Carol were based on places in Dickens’ past.

The location of Ebenezer’s early childhood–and Dickens’–was Strood, close to Rochester in Kent.

Young Ebenezer’s school was based on London’s Wellington House Academy, which Dickens’ attended during his youth.

Most people believe that Dickens’ tale was never meant as a literal account of events. His story delivers a message about living our lives in a way that benefits others as well as ourselves, with spiritual wealth far greater than gold.

Nevertheless, it is interesting that the settings and characters in the novel are largely based on fact. And, the various ghosts and spirits of A Christmas Carol are not pure fantasy, but based on events that could really happen.

Other articles in this series:
Dickens’ Christmas Carol – real ghosts
Dickens’ Christmas Carol and astral travel

References and related reading:

The Annotated Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.
Ghost Sightings, by Colin Wilson. (c)1997, Robinson Publishing, Ltd., UK
True New England Mysteries, Ghosts, Crimes, Oddities, by Charles Turek Robinson. (c)1997, Covered Bridge Press, N. Attleborough, MA.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings, by Tom Ogden. (c)1999, Alpha Books, Indianapolis, IN.
The Ghost Hunter’s Guidebook, by Troy Taylor. (c)1999, Whitechapel Productions Press, Alton, IL.
Psychic Phenomenon Astral Projection Part 1, reprinted from The People’s Almanac series, © 1975 – 1981 by David Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace.
David Purdue’s Charles Dickens Page – family and friends.

—————————————————————————————————————

Photo credits: Photo of old leatherbound book by Melodi T. Thames panorama photo by Janne1. Haworth Main Street photo by sootyangel.

Dickens’ Christmas Carol, pt 2 – Astral travel

Fiona Broome — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:23:44 +0000

Continued from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – real ghosts

How can we explain Scrooge’s visions of the ghost of Christmas Present?

It is important that Scrooge did not see himself in his visions of the present. His experiences could have been similar to astral travel, with minor time elements involved.

Astral travel and the Wilmot Apparition

Many people question the validity of astral travel. However, the Wilmot Apparition is one of the most famous and well-documented examples.

S. R. Wilmot had been aboard a ship, the City of Limerick for many stormy days, on his way to New York from Liverpool.

On the night of Tuesday, October 13th, 1863, he dreamed that his wife entered his cabin and bent over to kiss his sleeping form.

What alarmed him the most was that his roommate, William J. Tait–a librarian in his fifties–had been awake at the time and clearly saw the apparition of a woman in a nightdress. (In fact, Tait didn’t realize that it was an apparition. He was shocked at the apparent familiarity of the woman, knowing that Wilmot’s wife wasn’t aboard.)

Adding to the mystery, Mrs. Wilmot had dreamed about visiting her husband that night, and awoke feeling as if the experience was real, and accurately described the cabin in detail.

Despite intense research, no one has been able to explain this event in terms other than paranormal.

That same ship disappeared on January 8, 1882 without explanation, on a voyage from New York to Liverpool.

Shelley’s eerie doppelgangers

A second, well-documented apparition of the living, or doppelganger, appeared in May 1822 at a villa near San Terenzo in Italy. The houseguests at this villa included the poet, Shelley. He claimed that he saw himself on the terrace, one day.

On two other occasions, he was seen on the terrace by Mrs. Edward Williams, another houseguest. However, at those times, Shelley was many miles away.

About two months later, Shelley died mysteriously.

Today, Shelley is remembered for his poetry. He’s better known as the husband of Mary Wollestonecraft, the author of the original novel, Frankenstein.

So, we can say that Scrooge could have seen Marley, could have seen images of the past, and may have traveled within his own time to see others’ Christmases. However, what about the future?

Goethe looks ahead… and sees his own spectre

In his autobiography, philosopher Goethe (1749 – 1832) described an event similar to what Scrooge experienced, but in a much more benign context: In about 1772, “…I saw myself on horseback coming towards me on the same path dressed in a suit such as I have never worn…”

Eight years later, Goethe was on that path again. This time, he was on horseback, and–glancing down–realized that he was wearing the suit he’d seen “himself” wearing, many years earlier. Had he seen himself in the future? Perhaps–like Scrooge–he did.

The final question is, how much of A Christmas Carol was fact and how much was fiction? That will help us decide whether to take Dickens’ story elements seriously.

In our next article, we’ll investigate Dickens’ Christmas Carol – the facts.

—————————————————–

Photo credits: Shelley’s gravestone photo by Einar Einarsson Kvaran.

Goethe portrait provided by Wikipedia.com.

Dickens’ Christmas Carol – real ghosts

Fiona Broome — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:19:47 +0000

Charles Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol, is a favorite among many people. But how realistic are the ghosts in the story?

Marley’s ghost rattled his chains as he appeared to Scrooge.

“The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.”

-Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”

Ghosts in chains

Today, we rarely hear of a ghost rattling chains. In fact, apparitions are very rare, and most of them are silent. More often, invisible ghosts are the ones that knock, rattle objects (including chains), and whisper or shout.

However, there are exceptions. In the first century CE, Pliny the Younger documented a ghost who was seen and heard by Athenodorus, at a villa in Athens. The ghost wore chains, and pointed to a spot in the garden before vanishing. The next day, Athenodorus had that spot in the garden dug up, and a skeleton in chains was found buried. They re-buried him in a proper cemetery, and the ghost never appeared again.

But ghosts in chains are not entirely in the past. Even today, a tall, evil-looking man appears on back roads and highways in Yorkshire, England, and jumps out to frighten late-night travelers. He’s known as “Jack in Irons.” Most people who’ve seen him comment that the ghost appears wrapped in chains.

Of course, Marley is not the only ghost in Dickens’ famous tale. There are the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

Shadows without consciousness

As Scrooge is led through scenes of his past, his ghostly companion informs him, “These are but shadows of the things that have been…They have no consciousness of us.”

This is a superb description of paranormal phenomena we call “residual energy hauntings.” These hauntings are like a hologram or video, played on a continuous loop. Events from the past appear to be played like a movie, over and over again. Most are probably mere images of people who took part in the events, many years ago.

One of the best examples of residual energy hauntings is the visions of war seen in the United States, at Civil War battlegrounds.

More residual energy hauntings

Residual energy hauntings are a ghost hunter’s best opportunity to see a “ghost” that appears in human-like form. However, these forms rarely react to or interact with people viewing them. In fact, most ghost hunters believe that these hauntings are just energy imprints on the environment, replaying the events on a repeating and regular schedule.

In the United States, one of the clearest examples of a residual energy haunting is near Tiverton, Rhode Island on the Sakonnet River. Two or three canoes appear on the river, each carrying six Native people. Sometimes they fight, sometimes they simply row to shore and vanish, sometimes they continue on their journey down the river. These images have been reliably reported as recently as 1996.

However, in A Christmas Carol, we encounter more than just residual energy hauntings and a stereotypical Victorian ghost rattling his chains.

Amityville Horror – some thoughts about it

Fiona Broome — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:49:38 +0000

This week, I watched a documentary questioning the hauntings at the ‘Amitville Horror’ house.

On one hand, I try to be very respectful of researchers’ subjective and psychic experiences.

On the other… Well, several years ago, I explored another classic “ghost story,” the Ocean-Born Mary tale, supposedly haunted by Mary Wallace.

My extensive research is described at The Truth about Ocean-Born Mary’s Ghost. Some of the historical information was true, but most of the hauntings cannot be attributed to Mary Wallace.

(That said, I’ve heard from the daughter of the psychic who went to Henniker, NH with Hans Holzer, and she is confident that something haunts the famous house. I haven’t done enough research to identify who that spirit might be… we only know that it’s probably not Mary Wallace.)

Since that Henniker, NH research, I tend to be extra skeptical about sensational hauntings.

The Amityville documentary was inconclusive. Each side — believers and skeptics — maintain the truth of their claims.

I’ve been skeptical ever since I read that the Lutz family let their children sleep in the same beds where the previous residents’ children were murdered.

Was that true? I don’t know.

As a parent, I can’t even think about doing that… even under the most compelling financial circumstances. But, it certainly increases the horror level when the story is told.

That possibility (if it is true) makes me question whether the Amityville “horror” was planned as a hoax from the start.

Oh, the interviews with Mr. & Mrs. Lutz seemed sincere and compelling. They probably believed the story as they told it. And, it’s a very good story.

I also believe that they could have been working with false memories, which are a volatile area of psychological study; I’m reluctant to say that anyone is lying.

Also, during the show, Ed Warren commented that ghosts are seen telepathically, and I want to clarify what he was probably talking about.

In most cases, it’s rare to see a full figure, solid-looking ghost. Most of our perceptions aren’t visual… not in the way we usually see the world around us.

However, many of us have seen ghosts and briefly confused them with actual, living people. For example, I’ve seen two ghosts that looked like real people at Gilson Road Cemetery in Nashua, NH.

One of our team researchers–with a third-degree Black Belt in Karate–was so convinced that one of the Gilson Road Cemetery figures was real, he tried to physically block the figure from attacking me.

So, that ghost was not seen telepathically, but in real life and by several of us at the same time.

The Amityville documentary emphasized the importance of physical evidence. While no proof will be enough to convince a determined skeptic, it can tilt the scales when someone isn’t sure about a haunted site.

I’m still not sure about the Amityville house. Even the police reports raise questions. (For example, it appears that there was an unreported body among the victims. That’s a very good reason for a haunting.)

Ghost hunting remains a subjective study until we have more proof. When the Amityville house was a sensation, ghost investigations were handled very differently from today’s research.

Although paranormal studies can be fascinating and personally meaningful, researchers should continue to collect as much evidence as possible. From EMF to EVP to ‘ghost photos’, it’s key to document everything that provides proof of anomalies in haunted settings.

As the Amityville house reminds us, there may not be an opportunity to collect additional data, later.