Halloween: Halloween

The Anatomy of a Haunted House

Ghost in the attic

When someone thinks of the symbol of Halloween, a ghost has to be close to the #1 spot, wouldn't you agree?

The concept of a ghost is from the idea that a person's spirit lives on after their living body has passed. If the deceased person's spirit can be separated from their deceased body, there is the ever perpetuating story that the deceased can linger and "haunt" the living. (If this is good or bad...it probably depends).

Because of this belief, places have been labeled as "haunted" because of lingering spirits or ghosts.

The History of Ghosts in Western Culture

A lot of aspects of ghosts ancient Egyptian culture still are accurate to ghosts tales today. Ghosts in ancient Egypt were traditionally created at the time of death. They took the memory and personality of the deceased. What is altered to today is that families of the deceased were expected to make offerings to the deceased in order to not be inflicted or "haunted" by their loved ones. Healing practices were described as having ghost in the system instead of what really ailed the person (this continued for quite some time). There were also different periods of time with different, changing beliefs.

In the Hebrew Bible, ghosts were depicted as being part of the occult.

In Classic Greek literature, ghosts were less a part of the living. Ghosts lingered around their place of burial. Once a year, the Greeks held feasts to honor the dead where they asked all the lingering spirits to leave, but allowed to come back for the celebration the following year.

Ancient Romans reverted back to a more interactive ghost system. Ghosts haunted places and could cause curses as well as cause illness by being in one's system.

Medieval Europe classified their ghosts into souls of the dead or demons. The dead returned for a specific purpose while demons tormented the living. To tell the difference, one would just simply need to ask them their purpose in the name of Jesus Christ. The, obviously pure, soul will tell the truth while the demon would be vanished.

We can go on and on about the different cultures and their interpretation of ghosts....but the recipe for making a ghost (at least in Western Culture) not far from: a tortured person recently deceased, a reason for sticking around on Earth, or to torment or to punish. Of course...the need to say BOO as well.

Haunted dolls in the kids room

What makes a doll haunted? Could dolls be haunted? These are all questions that come up with very little research into it.

Dolls have been around for many, many, many years. Since the time of humans, there have been dolls. Essentualy and historically, they can be made out of anything. So let us break this creepy factor down.

The fear of dolls is called pediophobia, the fear of humanoid objects is called automatonophobia, and the fear of puppets is pupaphobia. These are all inter-related in the complex idea of the uneasy feeling that one could get around dolls. Especially dolls that are older and have history. Some researchers have called into question that it could be the "uncanny valley". The uncanny valley is the upsetting or creepy feeling that people get when facing an almost human like object. 
More about haunted dolls in our articles section!

Bloody Mary in the bathroom

"Bloody Mary...Bloody Mary...Bloody Mary..."You are supposed to say it in front of a bathroom mirror in the dark. Can you stomach it? (The Library takes no responsibility to anything creepy that happens after). 

Bloody Mary was a real person. A queen, in fact! Mary Tudor was the daughter of King Henry VIII (yes, THE King Henry that everybody knows) and Catherine of Aragon (if you couldn't keep track of them, that was his first wife).

King Henry's desire for a male heir split his ties with the Roman Catholic church and created the Protestant Church of England. This held the friction between the Catholics and Protestants well long after he died in 1547. Despite his efforts for a strong, male heir, his rein eventually went to Mary who became the first woman to rule England. Because of her staunch Catholic upbringing, she attempted the reverse of the split between England and the Catholic Church. With this, many those who were not of that religion were punished as heretics and her moniker came into fruition.

There are a few others in history that could be the inspiration to this lore as well: a 17th century countess, a woman from the American south, or a woman burned at the stake during witch trials.

Zombies in the living room

Zombies have gained a small rising in popular culture with The Walking Dead, Resident Evil, being the scary parts in movies, and being the main or scary focus in video games. But these undead, reanimated body come from an interesting origins.

The popular version of zombies comes from Haitian folklore. In the folklore, the deceased person is revived by necromancy. To free the zombie, one must feed them salt. The folklore was greatly influenced by the enslavement of Haitian people at this time.

The first use of 'zombie' in western culture could be traced back to 1929 in W. B. Seabrook's The Magic Island which is about Haitian voodoo (although the accuracy of what he experienced was often put into question). Soon after, zombies popped up into literature in different fashions as the violent undead, avenging undead, and then the hungry undead. Sometimes seen as a product of death (more early zombie) or sometimes seen as a product of something spreadable (more later zombie).

Poltergeist in the kitchen

"There here!"

The word poltergeist simply means 'noisy spirit' in German folklore. Folklore and claims state that the tireless spirit is very active in violent, physical touch as well as door movement manifestation, smells, and levitating furniture.

Werewolf in the garden

Have you ever felt the need to hawl at the moon? If you have, you might have the case of lycanthropy... or, in other words... a werewolf.

This creature has been in contention for hottest character for quite some time. In lore and legends, werewolves are people who have the ability to change into wolf creatures (the exact time of when and how often changes). In the non-hunky stories, these beasts are out to hunt people, controlled by blood-lust.

Some scholars say the story of the werewolf started in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Some stories popped up in Greek mythology and Nordic folklore. The transformation may be of the person themselves or the transformation of the person's spirit which leaves them. In folklore, there are some traits still left behind in the human body that could be indicators if a person was a werewolf (ears, eyes, nails, hair, etc.). Sometimes, once turned, the wolf part of the werewolf is indistinguishable from a traditional wolf and sometimes they are not.

The transformation, itself, varies. One folklore simply says one needs to put on a pelt, another says the body is rubbed with magic salve. In the 16th century, a Swedish writer says that werewolves are made by draining a cup of special beer and repeating a specific formula. The animal metamorphosis came later.

The werewolf condition was said to be able to be treated at one point. The Greeks and Romans had the belief that exhausting the werewolf would be the cure. Medieval Europe had three treatments: wolfbane, surgery, or exorcism. Those who believed in Sicily, had the remedy of striking the werewolf on the forehead with a knife. Another, general, common belief was to pierce a werewolf on the hand with a nail. Some Germans believed if one would simply call out the person's Christian name three times, they will be cured.

Vampire on the doorstep

Don't let them in!

The modern version of what makes a vampire mostly dates back to the 18th century in Europe folklore. These creatures were lingerings of evil spirits, suicide victims, or witches but could be made by body possession or being bitten. Stories of vampires became so prominent and feared that mass accusations of being a vampire caused people to be publicly executed.

Folklore at the time had the overarching idea that vampires were bloated and red or darker in color (because of the blood they drank). They slept in coffins because of being undead, while hair, nails, and other features would be overgrown because, again, the creature was said to be undead. Fangs were not a feature in the early creation. Vampires have a familiar which recalls back to the folklore of them being made by witches.

To make a vampire, there are different folklore. Some have it that any animal that jumps over a corpse makes that body a vampire (Slavic and Chinese). Vampires could also be made by once being witches or rebelling against the Russian Orthodox Church while alive (Russia). To not become a vampire also depended on where you lived. Burying your loved one upside down was common in many areas. A Chinese folklore stated that if a vampire came across a bag of rice, they would be compelled to count every grain. Keeping a vampire busy (so they would not terror your family) was also common.

A way to protect oneself against vampires was important. Garlic started as a repellent seemingly early in the folklore. As vampires were seen as the undead, crosses, crucifixes, and sacred ground were also introduced early. In many folklores, which carried on to modern retelling, mirrors became a way to ward of vampires as they did not have a reflection because of their lack of soul. As the same with many modern vampires, early vampires could not enter a home without being invited.

To get rid of a vampire, it seemed as though a stake through the heart was a common belief (which often holds true to most stories today). It was often depicted as needing to be a type of wood or a metal, but through the heart was good enough.