I was reading about the history of Atlanta while I was sick and I was reminded of a story I heard years ago. This story takes place at Six Flags Over Georgia and involves the vintage carousel there. The Riverview Carousel is over 100 years old and is considered one of the finest carousels in the world. Originally it was located in Chicago at the Riverview Park. In 1908, Riverview Park was one of the country's most famous theme parks. According to legend, it was shortly after this time, that a young boy was killed in an accident at the park. His ghost was said to be seen playing near the carousel in the years after his death. In time, Riverview Park closed and the carousel was one of the only attractions that was saved. It was sent to Six Flags Over Georgia in 1971 and was quickly restored to its former glory. It seems this was enough to bring the little boy back too. 

Today in Mexico, Day of the Dead celebrations are underway. These celebrations stretch back over 3000 years and were made to honor the Lady of the Dead.
The Day of the Dead festivals are actually broken down into a few days, the first day is set aside for infants, children and the young. It is called the Day of the Innocents. The second day is for everyone else. It is the actual Day of the Dead. 

Here are a few tidbits about Halloween. I'd like to share them with you. 

Halloween's Origins
The original Halloween was actually an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, were around about 2,000 years ago and lived in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. Their new year was celebrated on November 1st. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became very thin. 
On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. At that time, these predictions were very important. Life was a fragile thing and any help was huge.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. 

Pumpkins
Originally, the Irish hollowed out turnips and put scary faces on them to scare away evil spirits. During the Great Potato Famine, many Irish were forced to leave Ireland and come to the United States. Turnips weren't as easy to come by, so the Irish turned to pumpkins instead.

1900's 
Before the early 1900's, the only people celebrating Halloween were the Irish and Scottish. Most Americans weren't too interested in going to neighbors and asking for treats.

Colonial Halloween
The first Americans brought their traditions to the US and mixed theirs with the Native Americans. This turned into festivals celebrating the harvest. They would tell ghost stories and tell each others futures, dance, sing and give God thanks for that years blessings. Of course some areas this was still frowned upon by the Puritans.

Cauldrons
The pagan Celts believed that after death, all souls went into the crone's cauldron, which symbolized the Earth mother's womb. There, the souls awaited reincarnation, as the goddess' stirring allowed for new souls to enter the cauldron and old souls to be reborn. That image of the cauldron of life has now been replaced by the steaming, bubbling, ominous brew of a witches' cauldron.

I would like to share one of my favorite Halloween reads. It was back in the early 90's and I was at a used book store. As I was searching for books, I came upon a large box of graphic novels (fancy comic books). There was one book that caught my attention, The Upturned Stone by Scott Hampton. Don't let the fact that its a graphic novel turn you off to it. The artwork has this Norman Rockwell feel to it. Its beautiful. The story is about 4 boys who are becoming too old for Halloween. Their last Halloween changes their lives forever. It has ghosts, a murder mystery and boys coming of age. I love this book and I can't believe it hasn't been made into a movie yet.
If you are interested in buying it, there is some info on this site too. Thanks, Google.
http://besthorrorcomics.blogspot.com/2011/10/upturned-stone.html
Its also available on Amazon for $9,998.00. hahaha

Have you ever wondered where the superstition that walking under a ladder brings you bad luck came from? Well, Uncle Ray is here to help.
The ancient Egyptians. They believed the triangle was sacred. So, a ladder leaning against a wall formed a triangle. Walking through it disrupted its energy, so it would bring you bad luck to do so.

Today's Daily Dose is a great article from the Indiana Gazette. It is about the Halloween events in the Sleepy Hollow area. Check it out.http://www.indianagazette.com/a_news/article_1e9a0a3b-7d03-5664-a30f-9dfd25f50ad3.html

Well, my favorite season is upon us. I would like to share 13 of my favorite movies. The kind that get me into the Halloween spirit. Let me know if I missed any of your favorites.

• 20 - Drag Me to Hell - The Seance scene alone is enough reason to have it on this list.
• 19 - Evil Dead - Sam Raimi's first movie has always been crazy fun. Watch it again. It's darker than you remember but still funny. It also launched the great Bruce Campbell's career. Thanks, Sam!
  
• 18 - Halloween - Always add a movie to the list that has the name of the holiday in it. It helps that this is a great horror movie too.
  

• 17 - "The Shining" - Pretentious people always add this to their list of favorite horror movies. I have to be in a mood for it, but it works. I do like the book better.
• 16 - An American Werewolf in London - Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors. Always good advice.
• 15 - The Exorcist and The Exorcist 3 - I saw the Exorcist recently on blu-ray and it is too pretty. I liked it better on my old vhs. This movie needs to look dirty. Exorcist 3 has George C Scott and some very creepy scenes. If you haven't seen it, watch it. 
• 14 - Waxwork and Monster Squad - This is another cheat, but these movies are just stupid fun. By the way, the wolfman has nards kid is dead.
• 13 - Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Narrated by Bing Crosby it was a tradition to watch this as a kid. I still watch it every Halloween. The Headless Horseman will make another appearance on this list.
• 12 - Lost Boys - Great vampires. An amazing soundtrack. A possibly gay, incestuous brother relationship....very, very creepy. This movie has something for everyone.
• 11 - Sleepy Hollow - Headless Horseman, Tim Burton, Johnny Depp being weird, Christina Ricci in a corset. This movie makes me happy.
• 10 - The Fog - The original version. If you liked the remake better, please stop reading now. This movie is my favorite John Carpenter movie.
• 9 - Insidious - The Tip Toe Through the Tulips scene really creeps me out.
• 8 - Fright Night - Once again, I'm talking about the original even though I didn't have major problems with the remake.
• 7 - Shaun of the Dead - A great zomromcom. This team shouldn't stop making movies together. Zombieland isn't bad either.
• 6 - Poltergeist - This movie is the reason why everyone thinks their house is haunted by a poltergeist.
• 5 - The Sixth Sense - My favorite kid sees dead people movie. A truly great movie.
• 4 - The Nightmare Before Christmas - C'mon who doesn't like this movie. It is also one of my favorite Christmas movies. 
• 3 - Trick r Treat - See this movie. I wish there was another one. If you haven't seen it. Go right now. We will wait.
• 2 - The Changeling - Another George C Scott movie. I love this movie with every fiber of my being. This really is a great horror movie.
• 1 - Ghostbusters - A movie that changed my life. This movie is one of the reasons I do what I do.

Bonus - Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, Watcher in the Woods, The Lady in White, The Woman in Black, The Amityville Horror and Stir of Echoes. You can't go wrong with any of these either.
Hope you enjoyed my list. Let me know yours.

Reading, Pa - Mrs Bissinger was the wife of Phillip Bissinger and the mother of Phillip, Lillie and Mollie. In 1875, she found out that Phillip wasn't quite the man she wished he was. He wasn't faithful and it destroyed her. 
On  Aug 17, 1875 at around 5pm, Mrs Bissinger took her children to lock  49 on the Union Canal and leapt into the canal. 
Since that day, she and her children have been said to haunt this area. Their small figures have been seen walking along the canal's edge and people visiting the area have been overcome with feelings of sadness. 

Today the San Francisco Giants are playing the St Louis Cardinals in game 3 of the National League Championship Series. Back on this date in 1989, San Francisco was playing the Oakland A's in game 3 of the World Series. It was during this game that an earthquake stopped the World Series. 
It went on the be called the Great Earthquake of '89. The quake killed 62 people and injured 3,757. The highest number of deaths, 42, occurred in Oakland because of the Cypress Street Viaduct collapse on the Nimitz Freeway, when the upper level of a double-deck portion of the freeway collapsed, crushing the cars on the lower deck. 
It is here that an interesting ghost story has emerged. People riding on the lower level of the bridge now report hearing someone tapping on their windows. It always happens at night and some people report seeing a man, some claim he appears to be headless, moving along in the darkness. He appears to be tapping on the windows trying to catch a ride off of the bridge. 
For more information on the earthquake, follow the link below.
http://www.sfmuseum.net/alm/quakes3.html#1989