Halloween 2013: Ten Terrifying Tales

Halloween has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain, the day when the souls of those who had died that year progress to the underworld. It was said to be a night when the veil between this existence and the next is the thinnest- when ghosts, demons, and things that go bump in the night roam the earth freely and people placate them with offerings of food. In modern times offerings are more likely to be M&Ms and Jelly Beans, but it remains a day when we acknowledge our fears and celebrate forces we do not fully understand.  These 10 stories tell of the sort of sinister goings on we've come to expect from the Eve of All Hallows. The October Athenaeum invites you to curl up in your favorite chair, turn the lights down a bit, and read your way into a Halloween frame of mind...

Kerfol by Edith Wharton  A prospective buyer goes to look round a French chateau (complete with chapel and tombs) but finds the place deserted - apart from a strange pack of dogs.   The Return by Fernando Sorrentino  A man is the only witness to an accidental killing and the bizarre series of events that follow.   The Case of Lady Sannox  by Arthur Conan Doyle  A case which leaves a Lady of notoriously loose morals in a nunnery and her lover - a brilliant physician - in a vegetative state.   Mrs. Zant and the Ghost by Wilkie Collins  A man and his daughter come across an apparently mad, ill woman in a London park.   The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde  When an American minister buys Canterville Chase, a long term resident's life (or death) is thrown into turmoil.   The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson  A student doctor becomes suspicious of the methods being used to supply dead bodies for his professor's dissection table.   The Moonlit Road by Ambrose Bierce  A man's mother is brutally murdered but, except for the finger marks around her neck, no trace of the killer can be found.   Hobnail by Crystal Arbogast  Scary bedtime story about a mother and daughter's night-time journey home.   The Lost Ghost by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman  Late one night a little girl appears at a woman's door: "I can't find my mother".   The Trial For Murder by Charles Dickens  A banker is disturbed by visions of a murdered man and his killer. Then he is called for jury duty. (story links courtesy of www.eastoftheweb.com)   Wishing all Athenaeum/Sic Semper readers, commenters, and posters a very Happy Halloween spent in the company of family and friends.   -Maureen Lang Ghosts of Athenaeum Halloweens Past: 2012- A Bit of Halloween History, Poetry, Music, & Ephemera 2011- "The Banshee"- Alice Guerin Crist 2010- "Hallowe'en in a Suburb"/Classics from the Crypt