Ghostly Games and Wicked Fun for Halloween

I love games.   I love playing every kind of card game and board game.   Game night was a tradition in my family that I have passed on to my own family.   It is a way of bonding with friends and family that draws everyone together in fun.   My favorite games are quite traditional.  I love scrabble and Words with Friends on my iphone is my favorite app.  I love hearts and chess and monopoly deal, but for Halloween I've discovered some new games that bring out my ghoulish nature.  They also reveal my dork side as much as they reveal my dark side.   They are cute and creepy and make the season more interesting.   I turn out the lights, light some candles, and get out these games for a a ghostly giggle in the dark hours of night:

1. Spooky Tales: This is my favorite. This game seems somewhat simple but brings out the dark side of everyone involved and is hilarious even at the worst of times. It consists of a deck of card with various beginnings, ends, segues, and topics on them. So your starting hand might have a couple beginning cards one of which reads,"There was a two headed pig born on my father's farm last night, but that was not the most unusual thing about the pig......." It might also contain a zombie card, a cheerleader card, and drum made of human flesh card. In order to win the game, you have to compete with other players to lay down your cards and make a coherent story and be the first to use all of your cards. The stories that people come up with are disturbing and hysterical. It makes every night an adventure. The game even includes a flashlight with sound effects.

2. Munchkin Zombie: The Munchkin games are a world unto themselves. They are a fairly simple card game that pokes fun and pays homage to role playing games. I don't care for role playing games, but this card game makes me giggle happily every time I play it. The zombie version of this game is brilliant. You will battle horrible adversaries like girl scouts or cafeteria ladies with your own large intestine or with someone else's left leg. This is a definite dark delight for anyone who likes zombies.

3.  Munchkin Cthuhlu:   This is another permutation of the Munchkin Game.  This is probably one of my favorites.   I love Cthulhu and playing a Cthulhu card game makes me happy.  You can become a cultist and fight terrible gods like the great unpronounceable terror.  You get to use wonderful weapons that make no sense while going completely crazy. 

4.  Oh No.... Zombies:   This board game puts you in a small town.  You are trapped and surrounded by zombies and have to fight your way out, or surrender to the zombie hoard.  Have fun trying not to get eaten as you race to the end of this silly and crazy game.

A Headless Ghost in the Night

In the small town off Fayetteville, there is an old ghost story.   This is the type of ghost story that has passed into legend and come to define the folklore of the region.   It is the the story of the Vander Light.  I have heard several different versions of this story, but I share the story that was told to me.   The Vander Light is a lonely ghost.   It is a ghost that has been wandering the train tracks since the 1800s.   According to legend,  years ago a young man named Matthews took a train ride.   The young man was a smoker, as was common in those times.   He stepped out of the train car and out into the area between the cars to have a smoke.  Just as he was lighting his cigarette, the train his a bump and he was thrown from the train.  The young man fell at just the wrong angle.   His head hit the car and his body was tossed to the ground below the train.  He was decapitated on impact.    Matthew's head was forever lost to him.

It is said that ever since this time,  anyone who wanderers along this lonely stretch of train track can catch a glimpse of this young man at night.    He walks along the tracks he was killed on carrying a lantern.   Those that see him can see him in front of them for only a minute.   He appears to be searching for his lost head in the darkness.   When the observer gets to close to the young man that has come to be called the Vander Light,   he vanishes into the darkness.    If you turn around,  you can see him standing behind you, watching you and waiting for the parts of himself he has lost in the darkness.

Clusterfuck

As a 3L, one would assume I've somehow managed to get my act together with regard to law school...

And they'd be wrong.

Without fail, I overload myself, overwork myself, underwork on things I should DEFINITELY be working on, and overall seemingly attempt to get my life as close to the description of clusterfuck as I possibly can. And that's just the beginning.

I spoke the other day about how things were starting to get hairy. I'm now freaking out about how little I feel like I've accomplished, and how much I still have left to do. I've got Trial Comp starting tomorrow and have to write a closing statement and finish a direct. I have witness prep also. Oh, and "senior pictures" tomorrow.

Let's not forget the teacher that is making my life a living hell by scheduling class to run til 6:00 instead of 5:00 (I'm leaving at 5:00, I've almost decided). And BOA, who has someone not related to the damn competition sending out emails and usurping my committee head by trying to call meetings regarding subjects he knows nothing about. Oh yeah, and the fact that I have clients coming in uninvited to talk to me about their cases. And trial in a WEEK where I'm repping a child against two felonies.

Add on top of that I have a friend's birthday party(esque) thing tonight, my house is a disaster, and I have approximately FIVE GAZILLION memos to file to write, and I'm starting to unravel a little. AND WE HAVE, LIKE, NINE WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT IN THIS SEMESTER.

But on the up side, I made my school's traveling negotiation team.

And Drop Dead Diva's finale is on tonight....

Still Busy

In my last post I said there was plenty to keep us busy and I wasn't wrong. In case you haven't heard, Reader's Digest magazine are running a 100 word story competition.

Cornerstones also have a competition. Send in the first 100 words of your manuscript to win a critique on your full-length novel.

Had a call from a lady at Erewash Writers' Club with news of another workshop in November. Only £3-50 including buffet so that sounds a worthwhile exercise.

As if I didn't have enough to do I've been persuaded to become Nottingham Writers' Club's assistant treasurer. I don't know anything about keeping accounts but, as I'd already ducked a few other requests to help out, I thought I couldn't turn down this one. As it turned out the treasurer himself didn't turn up on Wednesday so I had to hit the ground running by collecting fees from non-members. That meant going home on the bus with twelve quids worth of loose change in my pocket. At least no mugger would want to run off with that weighing him down.

Found out I was just out of the top three with a highly commended in the Didsbury Arts Festival short story competition. The theme was 'maps' and once I had worked out a story I enjoyed writing it. At least I have another story I can put away and possibly use another time. I hope they are going to put the winning entries on the website so I can see what I was up against.

Crystal Masaru Meth Lawyer

This one comes with a Divorce Decree, Collaborative Law Agreement and a photo ID. Oh boy!

From: Crystal Masaru

Subject: Re: Enforcement/Collections Divorce Settlement

Currently am living in South Korea for an assignment and Bloombeg Masaru lives in Seattle, Washington. Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST) it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. We agreed under a Collaborative Law Agreement attached to this mail for a onetime cash settlement of $623,000.00USD to his credit, he has paid me $122,000.00USD but still owing $501.000.00USD. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. I will be pleased to provide further information on this matter on request. I have already advised him I am planning on retaining your firm. Kindly send me your firm’s retainer agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and have a pleasant day.

Regards,

Ms. Crystal Masaru
Address: RM741-10 Haengsin-dong, Deokyang-ku, Goyang Kyunggi, Seoul, Korea.

The Five Most Chilling Real Haunted Houses

All ghost stories hold unending fascination for me, but the ones that contain the most mystery are the haunted house stories.  I know I'm not alone in this because there seem to be unending movies and books written about Haunted Houses.  The list is long and prestigious.  The terror held by house hauntings is unique.   You are bound to the haunted location by financial obligation, family, and sentiment.  It is your home that holds the shadows and that can't be easily escaped.  The ghosts or dark spirits can catch you in bed, with your children, and in the shower.   There is a unique vulnerability to being in a haunted house.   So here is my list of the most compelling house haunting stories I've heard.  I've written about many of these haunted houses before, but revisiting them still sends shivers down my spine.

5.   The House on Larabee Street:
This haunting story has always been one of my favorites because it does not have a history.   The haunting on Larrabbee Street has often been compared to the Amityville case, however, the house on Larrabee Street didn't have the history the Amityville house had.   It is a haunting that is unexplainable.   The spirit that haunted  Allen and Deborah Tallman came from nowhere.  

The Tallman's found their dream home on Larabee street and the house slowly turned evil.   At first, the family began to get sick and sickness became nightmares and ghosts and monsters that crawled in and out of the woodwork tormenting the family and their children until they finally flee there home.  For a more  detailed write up on this fascinating haunting you can go to:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2010/01/haunting-on-larrabee-street.html

4.  The Demon in the Shadows:
This is a haunting I learned about during an interview for Haunted North Alabama.   A young woman came forward and told me she wanted to talk to me and the story she told me was chilling.   This young woman bought a lovely home with her husband and the house immediately showed signs of haunting.  Doors opened and closed on their own.  Light bulbs exploded.  Phantom mists tormented the woman and her family.   Finally, the woman would wake in the morning to find deep gashes in her back where the hostile entity had clawed her.   She and her family had to flee their home.  The complete write up for this haunting can be found in Haunted North Alabama.

3.   A Haunting in Conneticut:
This is one of the most famous hauntings.   It was made into a movie, that was not true to the facts of the actual haunting, but was still an interesting movie.   The real haunting in this case began with a house that had been a funeral home.   The eldest son of the family that moved into this home was driven slowly mad by a hostile entity that lived in the house and when he went to an institution the entity turned to the rest of the family.   Psychics involved in this case say an old evil lived in this house that preyed on the living.   An exorcism was performed of the house and the case resolved, but the family still moved .  You can read more about this case at:
http://www.thecabinet.com/darkdestinations/location.php?sub_id=dark_destinations&location_id=the_haunting_in_connecticut_house

2.  The LaLaurie Mansion:
 This infamous haunted house was home to the famous Madam LaLaurie.  Madam LaLaurie was a sadist and the things she did to her slaves in this New Orleans Mansion are beyond horrific.  She sewed slaves together and removed their appendages and reattached them to other places.   After a fire, the community discovered Madam LaLaurie's sadism and she fled, leaving behind her a trail of ghost stories and a house that is so haunted it screams with ghosts.  You can learn more about this ghoulish haunting at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html

1.  Hull House:
This is another haunting that was so famous it inspired a movie.  Hull House is tucked away neatly on a campus in Chicago.  It was founded by Jane Addams as a refuge for displaced young woman.  Jane Addams was a remarkable woman and the work she did for those in need is admirable on every level.  That is why she hated that Hull House became most known as the house where Satan's baby was born.  According to legend, one of the young women living in this house gave birth to a demon spawn in this house.  Ever since then tails of ghosts and paranormal activity surrounding this location have proliferated.   Hull House is a popular stop on the Chicago Ghost tours and is one of the few places I've photographed in which I got something that looked like a ghost on film.  The story behind Hull House was the inspiration for Rosemary's Baby.   Learn more about this one at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html


I know there are many other house hauntings that aren't on my list.  The Winchester House, Lemp Mansion,  Whaley House, and The Myrtles Plantation all have wonderful haunted histories, but these five are my favorite and the they have stories that give me a chill every time.   For me, this is the perfect time of year to revisit some of my favorite haunted house stories.  With October around the corner and Halloween in the air,  a little scare is the perfect way to set the mood for the season!

To learn more about haunted houses you can go to this link and read more:
http://www.halloweenexpress.com/ghosts-and-haunted-houses.php

Great loves (or, YOU DON'T KNOW ME!)

Everyone has their own quirks and idiosyncrasies, particularly when it comes to things they like. I am no exception, although my gleefulness when I encounter one of my favorite things may rival that of a child on Christmas day, while simultaneously coming across as weird. Really weird. One of my favorite things is the first day of school, particularly when I was younger, because it always smelled different. And we had to wake up early when we weren't used to it, so it felt different too. And because I got fresh school supplies.

To this day, I love looking at a fresh sheet of paper, just ready for my writing. Same goes with index cards. And brand new planners. 

I love anything that comes in the mail. My boyfriend (Leonidas) thinks my obsession with checking the mail every single day (and sometimes, admittedly, twice a day) goes beyond the scope of normal behavior. I say, WHO CARES? (And I absolutely love bubble wrap that packages are wrapped in. I'm six years old. And what???) This may also be attributed to the fact that Maxine eschews checking the mail, and I could have had TONS of mail just sitting in our PO box, just gathering dust. Gah.

I love new mascara. Something about taking the brand new wand out and putting on that fresh coat....oh yes. Same with most new makeup, really (but mascara is seriously the best). Hair products are in this same category. I just want to go home and use them. 

New books that haven't been cracked yet, especially when they are leather. Especially not when they are legal related. 

Chips and salsa from a particular Mexican place in town, which has precisely the right amount of cilantro in the recipe. Oooh, and mixing queso with the salsa in a separate bowl (which Leonidas finds repulsive).

Printing out papers and stapling them and having them so fresh and so clean-clean. 

One of my most favoritest things in the entire world? FALL. Growing up in the deep south, I never experienced seasons like we do up here. Our leaves didn't slowly change colors. You just woke up one morning and they were all shriveled up and dead on the ground. I love cold weather. AND TURTLENECKS! (I don't know what my obsession with turtlenecks is, other than when I was young and my family was poor thrifty, we would get the 3/$30 deal from the Penny's catalog in all different color turtlenecks. And I thought I was the SHIT. And a few years, I demanded and received penny loafers. To this day, I still love penny loafers. Maybe that should have been my mom's clue I was to someday become a lawyer.) And I love that first day when you wake up and go outside and your breath fogs! It's delicious.

I know I mostly do legal stuff. And perhaps the next one I write about will be what I love about the law. But I don't think it will make me as happy, as the list is shorter. And comes with all kinds of qualifiers. 

Right now, I'm just content with listing the things that make me unabashedly, unqualifiedly happy to be alive.

Because sometimes, they can seem worlds away. Which is just ridiculous.