The Haunting, All Hallow’s Eve By The Fire, one year ago, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 31st, 2006, photo © 2006-2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Maybe it’s the time of year — Halloween and Day of the Dead nearly upon us. Nights grow longer. Frost kills the plants, and another season is put to rest.
Or maybe it’s our era, so many things to haunt us. We seem to be troubled, melancholy. Is the world crying, or is it just me?
I believe in ghosts, and not just the kind that might spook one cold, dark morning. (Who just caused the book to fall in the room next to me?)
It doesn’t take much to be haunted. Something someone told you that you can’t shake. Or something you saw. Experiences can haunt, and the specter of disease can haunt, and memories — my, how they haunt!
Is it bad to be haunted? Or is the ghost only as menacing as we allow it to be? (Remember Casper, anyone?)
In the October 1, 2007 issue of The New Yorker, Philip Roth said this about the inspiration of ghosts and haunting for his novel Exit Ghost:
‘Haunted by the past’ is a commonplace phrase because it’s a commonplace experience. Even if one is not, strictly speaking, ‘haunted’, the past is perpetually with one in the present, and the longer it grows and the further it recedes the stronger its presence seems to become. I agree with the Chekhov character who, when, in a crisis, he is reminded that ‘this, too, shall pass’, responds, ‘Nothing passes’.
What do you think of when you think of haunting and ghosts? Are you frightened? Or do you regularly revisit your old ghosts?
Write about ghosts and haunting. You can write about the ways you are haunted figuratively, or write about your real experiences with the supernatural. The topic is rich. Write more than once.
At the top of your page, write these words: I am haunted by … and then for three or so minutes list all the things that haunt you. Just like in Writing Practice, don’t stop to think about your list. Just click off each item.
When you’re finished, pick one of the “ghosts” on your list and write about it for ten minutes. Pick another and write for ten more. If you’d like, send us one of those writing practices to post on red Ravine. We’ll publish as many as we can.
A bizarre and (dare I say) haunting photo, QM. I just now noticed the smaller face in the distance, off to the left.
Do you and Liz whoop it up for Halloween? It’s my favorite holiday. I’m not organized enough to get/make good costumes for the girls, but I sure love the excitement. And going out to trick-or-treat.
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Fabulous QM, simply fabulous…that photo made my night!
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I am intrigued by ghosts. They probably scare me, but I know that if they’re around, it’s because they have something important to say… How about I bead a few ghostly spirits this month?? 😀
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Yes, LB, you definitely should bead a few! Cool. Can’t wait to see.
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yb, I love Halloween. Liz, too. We were out by the fire (this fire) last year and handed out candy. A lot of the adults were a little afraid to approach. 8) This year we are less organized but plan to hand out candy just the same. I love this time of year.
Heather, thanks! Glad you liked the photo. I thought of you when it got posted.
LB, I’d love to see a beaded ghost or two! Keep us posted. A great October project.
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Hey, I’m wondering if anyone has actually seen any ghosts?
I’ve had a couple of experiences with those close to me that have moved on. When I talked to one of my aunts in Georgia last year, she told me about an experience she had had, too, when her then new husband was killed in Vietnam. I wasn’t the least bit surprised.
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What a great topic. And creepy photo!
Nope, never seen a ghost. Though sometimes like that movie ‘Always’ with Richard Dreyfuss, I get the idea that those sudden feelings or intuitions might be a communication from someone’s spirit who was near to me.
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Tonight I’ve stared so long at this my eyes are watering.
QM, QM, QM!!!! Is this film or digital? This should be in the Getty…by me…so I can visit…and admire it… closer. That face uplit, well that’s just magic!
I wish you and Liz were Halloweening with me. I’d put my own camera in your hands and say “go create”….and ask Liz to try to keep the Eagle Scouts (on candy detail) in some resemblance of order… HA!
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Quoinmonkey, maybe I’m under the influence of seeing Jesus in the air conditioning unit, but right now, when I look into the fire on the right of the photo I see two hovering angels peering out of the darkness.
Fantastical!
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amuirin, I never saw the movie Always. I’ll have to check it out. Sometimes I feel those beyond brush by in a tiny tuft of wind.
Heather, the photo is digital. It does kind of look like film though, doesn’t it? The face did turn out to be magic. I was happy with the way this one came out. 8) I wish we were Halloweening with you, too! I can only imagine an All Hallow’s Eve at your place! You are the Queen of Halloween!
mariacristina, that’s funny, Jesus in the AC unit on ybonesy’s bug photo. AC, AC. And I think I see them, the angels, wisping up out of the right side of the fire. But it’s late here – I may be seeing things!
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That’s a good one, QM. I meant to comment on it when I first read it — Jesus AC.
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