As Halloween approaches, I can think of no better topic than ghosts and ghouls—unless I were to include a giveaway. So, sit back and enjoy my article on historic research of ghosts, below. And then, please enter the giveaway too! Please note: the giveaway is at the very bottom of this post, after my bio.
You can read Part 1 of this ghostly roundup HERE.
Don’t Rest in Peace
Like a page from an Edgar Allan Poe tale, a strange phenomenon began to take place in the 1800s, creating fear and influencing public behavior and beliefs: Catalepsy. A real physical occurrence that modern doctors believe is related to catatonic schizophrenia, this condition causes rigid muscles and gives the victim the appearance of death. In the 19th century, however, this ailment was not properly diagnosed and, as a result, many people were buried alive.
Some of these people managed to find their way out of their earthly tombs, once again giving rise to a belief that the dead can come back, not as wispy spirits but rather as actual physical beings.
One of these survivors was Constance Whitney, a woman who died in the late 1800s. A sexton attempted to remove one of her rings while she lay in her casket, but in the process, his blade slipped and he cut off her finger. Constance sighed, woke up and came back to life, continuing her life above ground for several more years. In Northern Ireland, grave robbers dug up the remains of a rich woman. Again, while trying to take one of the woman’s rings, the supposed dead woman came back from the dead.
For thousands of years, stories have circulated about how the dead are walking among us, sometimes clothed in flesh, sometimes hungry for human flesh and blood, and sometimes merely hungry for another home-cooked meal. The line continues to blur between what we consider life and death. But one thing is for sure.
The notion that ghosts look like sheets blowing in the wind, with transparent hands and legs and soft voices, is fairly recent. The ghosts that haunted our forefathers also chased them down the street and threw rocks.
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AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR AND ARTIST, Merrie Destefano studied art at Northern Illinois University, met her husband at a kazoo parade, laughs at all jokes, and ugly cries during corny movies. Her books have been published by HarperCollins, Entangled Teen, Walter Foster, and Ruby Slippers Press, and, most likely, she's writing her next book while you're reading this. Born in the Midwest, she now lives in Southern California, where she runs on caffeine, and shares her home with rescue dogs and cats.
Her writing awards include:
• 2010 Mount Hermon Writer of the Year
• 2019 Realm Award for Supernatural/Horror: Shade: A Re-Imagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
• 2019 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, Silver Medal Winner: Shade: A Re-Imagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
• 2019 YARWA Athena Award, Second Place: YA/NA Speculative Fiction for Valiant.
You can visit her website here.
And now ... the Giveaway. 79 Entangled authors (including me!) joined together to create this. Prizes included are:
$462 in Gift Cards PLUS a wide assortment of our digital books.
Please enter and may the odds ever be in your favor!!
2 comments:
I Just Love Kim Falconers Books <3
Me too~
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