Happy Halloween 2015: History of Jack-O-Lanterns! #halloween

Did you know the first jack-o-lanterns weren’t make out of pumpkins?  When I told my 9 year-old son, Joe, he was surprised.  Nope, they were turnips.

The Irish used to make jack-o-lanterns out of turnips and put them out on All Hallow’s Eve to scare away the evil spirits and specifically, Stingy Jack.  They didn’t just hallow out turnips either. They also made jack-o-lanterns out of: rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. In the 1800’s Irish immigrants came to America and discovered the pumpkin.  Since then, the squash has been a favorite to make jack-o-lanterns. 

So is Stingy Jack the guy that the jack-o-lantern is supposed to keep at bay?

Stingy Jack is an old Irish legend.  He was a miserable man who drank too much and loved playing tricks on anyone who passed his way – including his mom and even the Devil.

He tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree then he placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. Since the Devil couldn’t touch the crosses, he was stuck in the tree.  Stingy Jack struck a deal with the Devil.  The Devil wouldn’t take his soul when Jack died.  Then Jack removed the crosses the Devil got out of the tree.

When Jack finally died he met St. Peter at the gates of Heaven.  St. Peter told Jack he lived a miserable life on Earth and was very cruel.  Jack couldn’t get into Heaven.  So he went to Hell and asked the Devil if he could come in.  The Devil said no.

Can you imagine?  You can’t get into Heaven – or Hell!

Jack fussed with the Devil who took pity on him and gave him an ember from Hell to help Jack light his way as he traveled through the Netherworld which had no light. Jack stuck his ember in his turnip and even to this day, roams the Earth since he doesn’t have a resting place using a “Jack-O-Lantern.”

Have a Great Halloween! Question for you: What are you going to be for Halloween?

Joe the Minion and Andrew the Scream Guy for Halloween 2015. We made our trunk into a Graveyard. 

Creative Halloween Costumes - iPad Mini #halloween

Halloween is a great time to be creative.  I've seen some great costumes over the years.  In the past I've dressed up as Spongebob, A Boston Bruins Hockey player, Daenyrs  from Game of Thrones and Katniss from The Hunger Games.  This year I thought I'd go a little bit different.  I thought I'd be.... great ready for it.....

an iPad!! 

No, that's not me. Here's me:

So, what are you going to be for Halloween?  Do you give you candy?  What kind of candy do you give out?  Do you offer alternatives for those with nut allergies?

Who doesn't like carving pumpkins on Halloween?  Sadly, while we have the pumpkins, we've had no time to carve them.  If worse comes to worse, I'll carve the pumpkins tonight, but I have to keep it simple.  I can't make the real scary faces my husbands make.  I do this: 

Fun Fact: Pumpkins also come in white, blue, and green! 

Me, as Spongebob and the boys, 2010

More pumpkins!

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Smiles

Steph

Halloween Flash Fiction - Black Carnations

I thought I'd share a flash fiction with you in honor of Halloween. Happy Trick or Treat. Be safe out there!

Enjoy,
Steph

********

Jolee stormed into the flower shop where she worked and threw her duffle bag behind the counter, grabbing her time card to punch in. She wasn’t quite ready to stuff flower baskets or work on rose displays, but she definitely needed something to get her mind off him.

“Jolee, girlfriend, what’s wrong?” asked Audrey, her boss.

Jolee shoved the time card back into the holder under the counter. “I’m leaving him, Audrey.”

“What now?” Audrey asked. Her soft green eyes were full of concern.

“I caught him in bed with some other girl. We fought,” Jolee answered in a clipped tone. The sweet scents that wafted through the air made her stomach nauseous.

“Did he hit you?” Audrey asked.

Jolee nodded her head and pointed to the duffle bag. “I’m moving out today.”

Audrey nodded her head as if understanding. Even now Jolee was afraid to admit that he’d given her a nice fat welt on her backside from their confrontation this morning.

The bell jingled as the door opened. Jolee felt the warm air plummet to near freezing as a dark haired, olive-skinned man walked in. He was dressed in a very flattering business suit, but wore a wool coat over his clothes. Odd attire for such a warm, sunny day.

“Sweetie, can you take care of him?” Audrey asked. “I’ve got to go out back.”

Jolee nodded her head, rubbed her arms, and approached the unusual looking stranger.

“Can I help you?”

“Do you have black carnations?” he asked. His deep, baritone voice was smooth and soothing as he turned to face her.

In that moment Jolee noticed his eyes – cold, steel blue, the whites almost red, as if he was internally hot – smoldering – underneath.

“Ah, no. That’s just a myth, you know…” she stammered. She was caught off guard by his looks. There was a joke in the flower community having to do with carnations. They came in practically every color except black, and each one had a meaning. Yellow carnations meant friendship. Black carnations meant you wanted someone dead.

“I’ll take a dozen white carnations then,” he replied. “Thank you, Miss.”

Jolee nodded her head and went about preparing him a bouquet. He waited patiently, watching her every move with intense fascination. The transaction complete, he thanked her and walked toward the door, pausing suddenly to face her.

“There will be no regrets from him.”

“Huh? Who are you?” she asked. An uneasy feeling rumbled in her throat.

“Mephistopheles,” and with that cryptic reply, he waltzed out the door.

“Weirdo,” she muttered.

***

The day went on as usual. Jolee created baskets and filled orders. Just before closing a tall man walked into the shop, wearing a light windbreaker jacket that said, ‘police.’

“Jolee Smith?” he asked.

She nodded her head.

“Jack Drebin was found dead in your apartment today.”

Jolee was stunned. Her boyfriend! “How?”

From behind his back the officer brought out a black carnation. “Perhaps you could tell me?”

Twick or Tweet - History of Halloween

All right, so this picture doesn't embody the traditional Halloween "thingies" but it is kinda' spooky. It's downtown Budapest at night, and central Europe is still alive with storie of things that haunt the night.

With Halloween around the corner, I'd thought I'd look into the history of the spooky holiday.

Halloween has it's roots in an old Celtic harvest festival which took place at the end of the Celtic year called "Samhain." During this night it was believed that spirits returned to Earth to destroy the crops and play tricks on the living. Celtic Priests, known as Druids would sacrifice harvested crops to the gods to help keep these spirits away.

By the 800 AD, the Christian religion found the Celtic people. They brought "All Saint's Day," in an effort to exert their influence, thus "All Hallow's Eve" was born and was shortened to Halloween.

In the 1800's, the Irish immigrants brought Halloween with them to the US. It's through all these previous influences, that Halloween has grown into the holiday it is today.

A couple of interesting Halloween facts:

After Christmas, Halloween is the 2nd highest grossing retail holdiay in the US.

Harry Houduni died on Oct. 31, 1926. He was stabbed during a trick, I believe and didn't seek treatment for his injuries.

Samhainophobia is the name of the phobia for Halloween.

The Irish used to carve jack-o-lanterns out of turnips!

One quarter of the candy sold annually is for Halloween night.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/the-history-of-halloween_n_321021.html

Have a great Halloween. Anyone want to share what they want to be? I'm still looking for my costume. I want to wear a Star Trek the original series uniform. hehe. My boy Andrew is going to be the headless horseman and my son Joe is Wow Wow Wubzzy.

Smiles
Steph

Excerpt Monday - The Wolf's Torment

THE WOLF'S TORMENT

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I'd post a excerpt from my "scary" fantasy, "The Wolf's Torment."

The Set up: Prince Mihai finds out his friend, Viktor, has a dark secret.

********

“Do you believe in myths? Vampires? Werewolves? I never did, though I heard many tales about them growing up,” Viktor said.

Mihai felt a cold shiver run own his spine, recalling the old witch’s pursuit of his mother. Had something similar happened to Viktor? No wonder his friend was distressed. Mihai grew distant, sensing Viktor had something to tell him that involved those repugnant legends.

“I’ve heard tales. The one that intrigued me the most was where a deadly plague ravished a village in Carpathia in the dark ages. Everyone died except the son of the count who oversaw the village. The son was changed somehow from the plague, and when he grew up, one offshoot of his children became vampires, the other werewolves. There’s more to the myth, but I’m being brief. Why do you ask?”

“I have been bitten by a werewolf, Mihai.”

Mihai got to his feet, stunned. Not his best friend! How could such foulness touch him? His eyes raked over Viktor, drinking in his friend’s features. Viktor was a man, but a werewolf was sly and cunning, a beast that, if left untamed, would ravish those he cared for.

Mihai lunged at Viktor, choking him. “Damn you. How could you let this happen?”

Viktor’s hands clamped around Mihai’s wrists, and with relative ease, he pushed Mihai backwards, causing him to crash into one of the posts of the gazebo.

“That wasn’t the reaction I expected from a friend.”

“How can you be a friend to me now? You don’t understand—!”

“Then explain it to me, Mihai. I have built a life here in Moldavia and I don’t want it taken from me.” Viktor balled his hands into fists.

Mihai drew in a deep breath. “I didn’t tell you the entire truth about my mother’s death. Yes, there was a carriage accident, but she was being pursued by a witch. It was a witch that slew her, and I witnessed it.”

“Why was a witch after the Queen of Moldavia?” Viktor asked.

“My mother had been promised into servitude to the witch as a little girl,” Mihai said.

Even now, at this moment, when Viktor was being totally truthful with him, Mihai couldn’t confess to his own mother being a witch. Not even to his closest friend. How could he? Viktor was a wolf, and Mihai had heard several tales of the werewolf’s cunning nature.

“I see. The witch took no pity on your mother, and the bastard who did this took no pity on me either. I have transformed. Sonia witnessed this. She’s so upset she won’t let me touch her, and I fear I might have tried to harm her in my unnatural state.” A tear escaped from Viktor’s eye.

Mihai stood there, rocked by his friend’s confession and his own painful memories of the night his mother died. How could he let such a beast into his home? How could he not? Viktor loved Sonia, yet even now his confession spoke of the werewolf’s inability to control his actions.

“How dangerous are you?” Mihai asked.

“I don’t know. But there’s more - Sonia is pregnant with my child.”

******

The Wolf's Torment is available at http://www.amazon.com