Tuesday 16 January 2024

Update to the Update....

 Well, after all the crappy things that happened to me before the last update, I also managed to get another dose of Covid right before Christmas, which meant having to stop my H-Pylori treatment whilst I waited for it to clear.

I also had to stay in the flat by myself over Christmas, and round two of Covid hit me a bit harder than the first round, so I was having crazy fever dreams and coughing my lungs up all throughout the festive season. I lost my sense of smell again too, which made eating interesting...

However, after resting up, getting plenty of fluids and staying put, I was able to test negative just before New Year, and so New Year's Eve I was able to visit my parents and have Christmas and Hogmany all rolled into one day, which felt odd and a bit rushed, but at least I saw the bells in with other people!

And how am I now? Well, I still have a bit of a cough, I'm still waiting on an ultrasound and ECG to check everything else I had going on before my latest bout of Covid, and for some reason my back has been really sore since I recovered, so I'll need to get that checked out when I get to the doc's too....

I'm hoping that this year will be a lot better than last, and I wish the same to all of you reading this! Have a good one everybody!

I've got a few interesting ideas for this year, that will hopefully be happening soon, so I'll keep you all posted with all of that too..but let's all keep our fingers crossed that we all prosper in 2024!

Saturday 2 December 2023

Update.....

 Hi everyone....this is really just a message for anyone who was expecting posts for Creepmas as I stated at the end of my Countdown to Halloween run that I was planning on posting for the first thirteen days of December.

Well, I've had some terrible news that my cousin died suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday, and so posting the stuff I was going to be posting just feels totally wrong now. On top of that, I've just been hit with another bout of H Pylori (Stomach infection) so I'm facing at least a few weeks of  antibiotic treatment with horrible side effects.

I'll see how I go with everything and might post something around Christmas time, but for now and just in case, I'll wish you all the best for the holiday season, and I'll hopefully be back soon with some more posts...

Have a good one everyone!

Tuesday 31 October 2023

Almost Forgot....Hallowscream!


 


Almost forgot to mention that the latest issue of the Halloween comic my brother puts together every year is available to download now! 

This year he made a paper-mache monster to use for the front cover!


You can download it by clicking here.....


Here's a list of the contents...


 Cover by Malcolm Kirk...


Page 3 : Return Unto Me  Story by Dan Whitehead, Art by Mal Jones

    

Page 9 : Apocaly-Oops!  Story by Tim West, Art by Carol Kewley

    

Page 10 : Deadvertisements  by Malcolm Kirk

          

Page 11 : The Misplaced Tick  Written by Andrés Briano, Illustrated by Ciaran Duke, 

Lettered by Tim West   

     

Page 15 : The Jogger  Story by John Crowther, Art by Emi Utrera 

           

Page 19 : Undercurrent : The Good Samaritan  Story by Paul Bradford, Art by

Randy Valiente

    

Page 27 : Uncle Fred's Puzzle Page  by Malcolm Kirk

      

Page 28 : Terror of The Sheep 2 : Chapter 10  Story and Art by

Malcolm Kirk

    

Page 31 : Called It  Story by Gate Karain, Art by Rob Gaughran, Letters by

Tim West

           

Page 33 : Grim Gallery  Artwork by Tony Rothwell & Andrew Milne

       

Page 36 : Back Cover Skull  by Malcolm Kirk

 

You can also download this and all previous issues of Hallowscream at www.hallowscream.net


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One last visit to the Countdown to Halloween hub!




This year’s decorations! (🎃Happy Halloween!🎃)

 



Made it back to the parents, where there has apparently already been 20 trick-or-treaters / guisers…..not bad for a village that only has about 50 houses!

Above is the window with resident spook and witch, and below is the front door with a grim greeter!



Across at my other-mother’s house (the family used to be our neighbour at our previous residence, and coincidentally also moved into the new place 35 years ago at the same time as us!) they have some ghosts flying around their front door (see below)…



The treats above are for visiting family members at my parents….




And my dead wedding spooks are hanging next to some oddly melted candles in the front room, along with these guys below!



The next three photos are what awaits any trick-or-treaters when they enter the front hall….I don’t know what Ugly Kid Joe or Guns n Roses has to do with Halloween, but my mum constantly uses their flags as black backdrops to the Halloween goodies every year! 😅




That last lot of spooks are just some masks stuck on the coat rack!


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Well, I’d like to take this moment to wish you all a very Happy Halloween, and congrats on another very successful Countdown to Halloween! Now I can properly go through and catch up on all the posts, and so can you by clicking the badge below and heading over to the Countdown hub….

I’ll probably be a bit quieter on the blog for a bit, but I think I’ll be back at the start of December this year, for a bit of extra Creepmas celebrations! I might even manage another post or two tonight…we’ll see hiw we go, but have a great rest of the night everyone, and will see you all next year for another Countdown!




272 Gruesome Games So Far!

 


Castlevania - Lord of Shadows (Xbox 360)


Over the years, I’ve obviously covered a lot of spooky games on the blog, and every now and then I’ll do a post with links to them all! This time though, I’ve painstakingly put them in to alphabetical order to make it easier to find specific games, which is for my benefit as well as yours, as I’m starting to forget what I’ve already covered! 😁


Here then, is all 272 games covered so far! Just click the name of the game you want to here about..

(Apologies for any missing pics or videos…will be spending a few days after Halloween trying to fix these broken things!)


* * *





























Dr. Franken (SNES)


















































Call of Cthulhu (Xbox)



























































Gremlins : The Adventure (ZX Spectrum)

























The Last Guy (PS3)

































Dark Seed (Amiga/PC)










































Hell Cab (PC)

































* * *

You’ll surely find something among that lot to play! If I have time later tonight, I might post another three which will take the total up to 275….but we’ll see how I go! I just thought I’d put this up in case I run out of time…

Just before I finish up this post though, there are even more Gruesome Games to be found in Bitmap Books latest addition to their library…




Due for release this very day, and with a groovy glow-in-the-dark cover comes From Ants To Zombies,
a massive book filled with six decades worth of horror games…It looks to be an excellent resource, and I’ll be picking up a copy to see if there’s anything missing from my backlog of things still to cover in my own lists!





It’s £32.49, and more information can be found by clicking here
It still isn’t available at the time of me writing this, but it shouldn’t be too long before it becomes available for purchase!

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Can’t believe it’s the 31st already! Always comes around way too fast! I’ll hopefully have time to post another couple of things before the night is through, but for now I need to leave my flat and head back to my parents, with hopefully some spooky shenanigans once I get there! In the meantime, why not head over to the Countdown to Halloween hub, where you can find a list of all the cool Cryptkeepers who have spent another full month filling their blogs with creepy contributions to celebrate our favourite holiday!
Just click the badge below to go check them out!











Monday 30 October 2023

Forever Dead!




Another strip from Ajax/Farrell’s Voodoo Issue 17, dated Sept/Oct 1954, is what today’s visit to the vaults of the Digital Comic Museum has dug up! This one has a nice little twist on the ‘done to death’ be-careful-what-you-wish-for trope!

It was uploaded to the museum by Yoc, so thank you to them for the scans!

As always, clicking the pictures will let you enjoy a better view of those lovely comic panels!

 








Awww! Don’t you just love a happy ending!

Talking of endings, the Countdown to Halloween itself is about to come to an abrupt halt tomorrow as we reach the big day itself! As usual, it has come around way too fast, but it does mean that after a last few posts I can finally get around to reading everyone else’s stuff properly! You don’t need to wait to enjoy them though…just click the badge below and you’ll be taken to the Countdown hub, where you’ll find a list of all of the Cryptkeepers!






Sunday 29 October 2023

Spook Sightings of Yester Year - No.25 - The Caledonian Mills Fire Spook (Part 3)


And so we've reached the part of the investigation of the Caledonia Mills fires where a policeman was sent to find out what all the hoopla was about. Detective "Peachie" Carroll, a detective with some local fame and admiration for his swift conclusions in deducing several murder cases, set off for the McDonald house along with reporter Harold B. Whidden, convinced that he knew the answer to the fire origins already. But after speaking to the witnesses, seeing the scorch marks for himself and spending a couple of nights at the house, he was now convinced that the antics were of a supernatural origin...

* * *


From The Boston Globe, dated Sunday 5th March, 1922


Not content to let such curious happenings pass without some attempt being made to solve the mystery, the Halifax Herald retained the services of  one of Nova Scotia's best known criminal investigators, P.O. Carroll of Pictou. Mr. Carroll, formerly a chief of police, has the solving of several baffling criminal mysteries to his credit.

Extremely skeptical regarding the "spook" theory, Mr. Carroll expressed his willingness to conduct an investigation, and before leaving for the scene of the mystery with Harold Whidden, Herald reporter, he stated that he was confident the human being who was responsible for the fires and other happenings would soon be under lock and key.

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Alexander McDonald (or MacDonald)


Blows in the Dark

His conviction was strengthened by the fact that during the first night he and the reporter spent in the house nothing unusual occurred. Members of the McDonald family were interviewed by Mr. Carroll, also the witnesses who were present the last night the family spent in the house. The detective was not successful, however, in locating any clew which would substantiate his claim that the fires were of human origin.

The second night of their stay was bitterly cold, so cold that they could not sleep. Alexander McDonald had agreed to return to the scene, and was in the house with them.

The early part of the night was spent huddled around a big fire in the kitchen, where they all went to sleep. At midnight, they lay down in their blankets for a rest and immediately things began to happen.

Soft-padded footsteps were heard from the upper regions of the house, mysterious rappings came from the outside walls, and as they lay quiet and listened, Whidden, the reporter, felt a sharp slap on his arm. Questioningly, he turned to Carroll.

"Did you strike me then?" he asked.

Complete silence reigned for a space of five minutes. Then Carroll, in a strangely subdued voice replied:

"No, Whidden, I didn't touch you : I felt a slap on my arm, almost at the same time you spoke."

They both looked over in the direction of McDonald, who although not asleep, seemed to be in half-stupor.

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Skeptics would jeer at them for their opinion, they knew, and to forestall this ridicule Whidden and Carroll issued statements through the Herald describing their experiences, and each offered $100 to any one who could prove within a year that the mysterious happenings were not caused by supernatural or preternatural agencies.

* * *



From the Evening Mail, dated Thursday 16th of February, 1922



From the Evening Mail, dated Wednesday 15th February, 1922


CARROLL OBTAINS STATEMENT FROM EYE - WITNESS

The following is a statement which Detective Carroll obtained from Michael MacGillivray, of Caledonia Mills. It is confirmed by John F. Kenny, also of Caledonia Mills, by the detective :

At the post office, probably four and a half miles from the Alex McDonald house, Michael MacGillivray, who lived in the next house, only a few yards away, was waiting for us by appointment. He gave his age as 22, and related the following experience :

On Thursday morning, he and John F. Kenny, a neighbor, proceeded to visit the McDonald house, thinking that they might be of some assistance to the people who had just come through such a hard ordeal. "We arrived there at about 10 o'clock," said Michael MacGillivray. "When we were about ten yards - I should judge it to be ten yards - from the house, I saw a white hand, and a naked arm from the elbow down, which looked like a human hand and arm, through the window in the north-east part of the house - the parlor - OVER THE STAIRWAY It held a piece of white cotton, probably seven inches long and four inches wide. It shook or waved this cotton across the window from the inside THREE TIMES. We were walking towards it all the time. I asked Kenny: "Did you see that?" "Yes," he replied.

---------------

"We ran toward the house and entered the kitchen door. We found Mrs. Alex McDonald, Mary Ellen McDonald, Duncan McDonald, Alex. D. McIsaac and Colin McIsaac in the kitchen, preparing to move. 

"I asked Duncan McDonald if any one had been in the parlor just before we came. He said NO, they had all been in the kitchen. I examined the window in the parlor over the stairway where we saw the arm and hand holding the piece of cotton. There was nobody there and I could no cotton. There was no frost on the window.  A short time after that, Dan MacGillivray came with a team and began to move the furniture."

John F. Kenny, who was with Michael MacGillivray when this mysterious hand was seen, was not at home, but MacGillivray said that they both could take out sworn affidavits that it was all true.

---------------

Duncan McDonald told us, either on Tuesday or Wednesday night of this strange happening, and that Michael MacGillivray had spoken to him about it when he entered the house. They did not say anything to Mrs. McDonald or Mary Ellen about it, because it would only make matters worse - they had gone through enough - and it would only frighten them.

"Are you prepared to give this evidence under oath," Michael MacGillivray was asked. "Yes, certainly:" he replied

 ~* * * ~


So, Peachie Carroll and Harold are now convinced that the spooks are real, despite public opinion leaning more to the human suspect angle. Of course all this uncertainty means that the newspaper couldn't pay out for the best theories yet, as everything was all still unproven either way, and so they let their readers know that things might take a bit longer...


But what are you lot thinking about the case now? For me, I'm wondering where Alex McDonald was during the hand waving spook appearance...he seems to be the one most present when things are happening, including the double slap incident!

Well, it turns out the story about Old McDonald's farm isn't over yet...there aren't more fires here, or more fires there, but there is one main trick that the spook has up it's sleeve (do ghosts have sleeves?) that will really divide opinion among the believers and non-believers, as our intrepid reporter Whidden teams up with a paranormal-investigating doctor who arrives on the scene....

However, I've found a wealth more information on the investigation that Walter Franklin Prince, PHD executes, and it's going to take a lot more writing, more than I could cover in the next couple of days...so why not pop back at the start of December, when I hope to cover the rest of this ghastly ghostly tale for Creepmas!


TO BE CONTINUED........


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Be sure to head over to the Countdown hub where you can find links to all of this year's participants! Just click the badge below to be whisked right over there......