Archive for September, 2008

Halloween Tales

September 27th, 2008 by John Wolfe

Halloween Corpse

I thought I would occasionally re-post my extremely short Halloween Chaos stories, here in the blog. Seeing as how the season is officially upon us, hopefully they will help to encourage the spirit. Halloween Chaos is a section I hope to pay more attention to, come the winter months, after all my corpses are once again buried. I consider these entries chaotic because of their rampant use of descriptive adjectives and their abrupt, dark nature. Each entry throws you immediately into the action, as it’s unfolding, through the eyes of the main character.

Today’s entry is called, Retribution. It features a slightly perturbed witch, on Halloween, as she prepares an incantation. Her purpose is punctuated by her feelings of revenge, which she intends to take on the souls that condemned her sisters to death:

(A lone, hunched, female figure, bathed in moonlight is seen muttering to herself)

“Your cries do not go unheard- no more so than the wind, which whips through this somber forest, could go unfelt by the trees. No more so than my laden footsteps could go unnoticed by the ground I tread upon. As we were in blood, your voices are with me always. I have not forsaken you, nor forgotten the foul crimes of those who sentenced you to death. I’ve merely prolonged the casting of the deed. On this eve of All Hallows their torment will taste much sweeter. I know you have suffered. Soon they too will understand extraordinary suffering. Two fortnights ago they sealed their own fate and that of anyone who harbors or protects them. Their crimes upon you will be the undoing of their lives. And soon they will be begging for a death as merciful as yours.”

“Yes, have patience, everything has been prepared and added to the mixture. You are just in time, for I am about to commence. Join me in evoking the cauldron’s sadistic riches! Your disembodied voices strengthen mine as we elicit the means to accomplish your revenge. Our gathering, both from this side and on the other, shall conjure a great plague upon their rotten remains, for that is all that will soon be left of those responsible.”

“LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD”-

“Life was lost

Many times before

Tortured and drowned were my coven’s four.

All of those

Bound to their fate

Shall bare the burden, just ye wait.

I call on thee

To lay to waste

Those who’ve trespassed without haste:

The wretched wraith

From depths untold

Unleash your fury on young and old.

Banshees and beasts of horrid array

Come forth with me

Overtake your prey.

Darkest denizens

Unfurl your rage

Hear the cries of your mistress sage.

Horrors of the night

Discharge your fury

Collect their souls

Sustain their worry.

The dead shall rise

Becoming my slaves

Release my sisters from their graves.

Thy spell is cast

As misery abounds

Carcasses feed wild packs of hounds.

So it is done

On this eve

Stray from those who do deceive.

Lest ye depart my vengeful path

There is no mercy from our wrath.”


Halloween Programming: Lords of the Gourd

September 27th, 2008 by John Wolfe

Last year, during the month of October, PBS ran the awesome competitive pumpkin growers documentary, Lords of the Gourd. I’m hoping they pull this one out of their stash, in time for Halloween. I’d definitely sit down and watch it all over again. The pumpkins featured in the film are beyond enormous! Most are pushing the thousand pound mark and a few break the half ton barrier. Here’s a summary of the program from the PBS website:

Lords of the Gourd follows Joe Pukos and fellow competitors Bill Bobier, Bernie Potter, Deb and Randy Sundstrom and Matt Vershneider through the final harrowing days of harvest and then the long journey cross-state with the bulging behemoths strapped into the backs of their pick-ups. Pukos is a contender for the top prize — until last-minute rumors circulate that another grower has a pumpkin that will break the world record. At the Cooperstown weigh-off, the massive gourds are hoisted one by one onto the scales and the moment of truth arrives. ‘You go to enough competitions and you can’t help it: You’re addicted. You do anything you can to hopefully come back with a larger one next year,’ says Verschneider.”

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