Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 49

Jack Chick and The Year of Mercy.

HAW! HAW! HAW! My parents threw themselves into the charismatic movement of the late 1970’s and early 80’s. Every Sunday, we would drive to a weekly charismatic prayer meeting. Being a book person even at the age of seven, I always looked at their large book table. As I shopped around one evening, I [Read More...]

Spooky Pilgrim Ghost Stories: Kid’s Edition!

(Believe it or not, your esteemed Sick Pilgrim co-founders have kids. Jess has two and J has three. Two of our offspring have started ghost clubs at their respective schools. So, yeah, we are raising them right! We invited our two eldest to share ghost stories with us.) Charlotte’s Story One day I happened [Read More...]

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Blessed, Bewildered: A Former Altar Boy Remembers Benediction

Of all the mysterious rites of Catholicism, perhaps the most mysterious is the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, known to the laity as ‘Benediction’. As an altar boy for six years, I served at countless masses, funerals and weddings almost every week, but only a handful of Benedictions, and only one or two of them [Read More...]

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Dark Devotional: John Wayne Gacy and Me

I don’t remember where I hid the bodies or how I struck them down. Many are rotting in Louisiana. Others were tossed along the many roads I’ve traveled all around this country. Sometimes I can’t even recall their names. Part of me wants to doubt I did it. Another part insists an extenuating circumstance limits [Read More...]

Going in Fire: Spooky Tales from the Crooked Tree

For my birthday this year a friend benevolently kidnapped me and took me on a road trip further up and further in to Northern Lower Michigan. We drove the Tunnel of Trees and window shopped in poshHarbor Springs, which I’ve heard called the Hamptons of the Midwest. In the middle of town stands the old [Read More...]

When the Angel of Death Comes, Play Jazz: The Axman of New Orleans

New Orleans, 1919. On the cusp of national prohibition, living in the Big Easy was, overall, classy, boisterous, and, well, easy. The largest port city in the south-central US provided ample opportunity for a mix of all different types of cultures, a tasty Creole gumbo of varied ingredients. From the suave fellows to the dapper [Read More...]

Burn the Catholic Witches! (Like Me)

I’ve been doing some research on American saints and martyrs. A few of these stories seem to be ripped from a modern horror novel. For example, there are the five North American martyrs who underwent burning, flaying, and beatings. But one particular martyr caught my eye in Brian O’Neel’s book, 150 North American Martyrs You [Read More...]

Dark Devotional: Weapons of War

The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life. The LORD will guard your coming and your going, both now and forever. R. Our help is from the Lord (Psalm 121) OnMonday I binge-watched three episodes ofThe Exorcist, the new Fox show, and when I was done I had to [Read More...]

Scary Things You Should Watch (Other than the Presidential Election)

Like most of you, we are horrified at the progression of this presidential election. It’s unsettling, scary and hard to process. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve turned Sick Pilgrim over to the spooks this month. Because, really, these kind of scares can be cathartic when real life stresses us out so much we’d [Read More...]

Spooky Pilgrim: Joanna’s Ghost Dreams

I am at my grandmother’s house, sitting with her at the kitchen table that’s been there since before I was born, a glass-topped table with a yellow-painted wrought iron base. I am an adult and visiting by myself, and, as she’s done many times before, my grandmother is sitting in her spot at the table [Read More...]