Comments on: Upon The Nature Of Gothic Horror

By: BILL THE HORRIFIED!!!!!

BILL THE HORRIFIED!!!!! — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 12:58:36 +0000

BOO!

How well I remember the day, when, playing raucously with my siblings, I jumped up on my unmade bed and pulled the bedclothes over me, only to find… staring at me with the vilest malevolence… THE LEERING GREEN EYES OF THE BEAST HIMSELF!!!!!!

I quickly threw off my sheets and covers and resumed my childish anarchy with my childish companions; however, I never forgot my quick acquaintance with Satan himself, hunkered down at the bottom of my bed… under… the bedclothes.

BOOOOOO!!!!!!!

By: Janet M

Janet M — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:14:14 +0000

Everyone knows about the monsters under the bed, but I expect that the monsters grow tired of waiting for us to slip up, and eventually they leave us in peace (at least I hope this is true, I must check again.) Happy Halloween. 😉

By: Cherub

Cherub — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 21:48:27 +0000

I am not afraid of the dark or graveyards, the latter I see as peaceful places of contemplation even after dark and there is a small old churchyard near us in Basel we sometimes wander through out walking in the late evening.

Many years ago I lived in a street 5 minutes walk from a graveyard, the street was called The Hallows and my house number was 31. It that’s not a nod to Halloween I don’t know what is!

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 18:40:20 +0000

Halloween holds a fond memory for me. I got my first kiss in a cemetery, one Halloween night.
I was at that age when one is no longer a child, but not yet a full-fledged teen. I considered myself too “mature” to get into a real costume, so I took the route of rubbing burnt cork onto my face and dressing in rags — a sort of girl hobo. I still had my full bag of collected treats, from going door to door, and carried it up to the nearby cemetery on the hill. A slightly older boy from our neighborhood came along and we kissed. I doubt that it was a “first” for him – he seemed quite expert and experienced — but it was a FIRST for me, and I still remember it (and him) to this day.
Needless to say, I am a big fan of Halloween — it is a wonderfully romantic holiday, methinks.

By: Christine Swan

Christine Swan — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 07:55:48 +0000

I have never really liked the dark. As a child, I had to walk past an old Gothic house which we all dubbed: ” the haunted house”. Tales abounded of creepy residents chasing children, ghosts seen cackling outside and mysterious, unexplained phenomena. The gate was surrounded by thick ivy and, as a child, I could just peer through a gap to see dum lights from within on winter evenings as I walked home from school. That house was a fascination to me.
I still dislike the dark but am much more brave than I used to be. My main fear is that the thing that goes bump in the night will be me, falling downstairs, by tripping over one of the cats who has taken to sleeping there.
The creatures of the night aren’t phantoms, they are foxes, who make a range of blood-curdling, human-pitched screams at this time of year. The white, silent, floating objects that just catch your eye, are not ghosts but barn owls. I once had a badger cub run over my foot as I took things out of my car one evening. I had assumed it was a cat and I called by its presumed name before I realised.
There is also something magical about standing in a wood, as the last of the light disappears and the stars come into view. Gradually the place becomes alive with the creatures of the night, as one by one, they put in an appearance. Your senses crackle with the slightest sound – the crack of a tiny twig, or nearby snuffling. You learn not to be afraid, there are no supernatural demons here, although, in reality, I still harbour one very real fear – tripping up.