Majanka Verstraete's Blog, page 3

Board Game Review: Escape Room The Game – Prison Island & Mad House

Escape Room The Game is basically an escape room that you can play from the safety of your own living room. No need to go outside, which is perfect for those cold winter nights where you don’t want to head out anyway.

A lot of different editions of this game have been released already, and this particular one, featuring two different escape rooms, “Prison Island” and “Mad House” is designed for 2 players.

Like in a regular escape room, you have to escape from a ‘room’ (or more like, multiple rooms) in different scenarios. In “Prison Island”, as you might have already guessed, the players are trapped in a prison and have to escape. In “Mad House”, you’re trapped in a psychiatric institution and need to escape.

The concept is pretty nice. Each scenario consists of a big folded piece of paper that you then have to open for the first part of the adventure. Once you escape from that, you have to open the paper further to reveal part two, and so on. The game is best played with the decoder (which you can find in the original game, and which is shown also on the picture).

I like playing these escape rooms – they last about 60 minutes, sometimes shorter if you manage to break the codes faster – and it’s fun entertainment for a family night. However, with these particular escape rooms, I found the stories rather lacking. The plot is too thin. I don’t need a whole background story for why certain events happen, but I need a bit more than ‘oh, you’re trapped in a prison and need to escape’. Now I know that in normal escape rooms, you don’t get a lot of background either, but here it feels like a missed opportunity as it would allow the reader to feel more invested.

Also, and this happened on both adventures, our decoder was acting up and saying we didn’t have the right keys although we did. We checked against the answers on the website, and we did have the right answers, so that was kind of a bummer.

Despite that, we still had two entertaining evenings with this game, though. The first evening, we played the introduction game, “Kidnapped”, followed by “Prison Island”, and the second night, we tackled “Mad House”.

An original and fun idea for date night, since these are aimed at two players.

If you like puzzles and escape rooms, then I recommend reading…A Study in Shifters (The Adventures of Marisol Holmes Book 1)

“The game is afoot.”

Seventeen-year-old Marisol Holmes wants to live up to the family legacy; after all, she is the great-great-great granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes. What’s more Holmesian than a grisly murder? The Conclave, an underground organization of detectives solving supernatural cases, is giving her just one chance to catch a killer and join them. After all, as a half-blood jaguar shifter, Marisol is uniquely qualified to solve this murder—since every scrap of evidence points toward the culprit being a fellow jaguar shifter.

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”

There’s more to this than just evidence. Is one of her own people really involved, or is this all a ploy to kick Marisol’s mother off the shifter throne?

When Marisol discovers her handsome best friend, Roan, is missing, she realizes Roan may be the killer’s next target. The stakes just got higher than political intrigue.

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Just when things couldn’t get worse, Marisol’s ex-boyfriend-turned-nemesis, Mannix, starts leaving sinister clues for her. In her last case, Mannix broke her heart and ruined her case, and Marisol isn’t sure which is worse. Marisol fears this case too might be far more personal than she could’ve imagined.

“Elementary.”

It’s time for Marisol to prove her worth, or her people could fall into chaos while her best friend loses his life.

This book is perfect for fans of: shapeshifters, steampunk, paranormal, high school drama, teen romance, Sherlock Holmes and deadly intrigue.

Purchase from Amazon.

Crafting: Mini Creative Kit – Gnome

Time Required: 30 min – 1 hour
Difficulty: Medium
Review of kit: 2 out of 5 stars

One of my friends gave me this cute kit as a Christmas gift. The gnome on the picture looked adorable, and according to my other friend, who had already made one of these, the gnomes were quite easy to make, so I was looking forward to an hour of relaxing while crafting this gnome.

Not so much relaxing though… The best term to describe how I felt while making this gnome is “frustrated”. Frustrated because the instructions were anything but clear, and most of the time, I just had to guess what to do next.

Anyway, when opening the package, it contained a handful of items.

The instructions were just one page long, and contained only pictures, no written instructions. The pictures weren’t very clear, in my opinion, and I didn’t even know how to get started.

Eventually, I did manage to tie the wool around the figurine. The other items shown above needed to be glued to the figure as well.

The result looked pretty good, but note that you need good glue in order for the material to stick together.

The gnome’s hat was the most complicated part to make. I think I spent the better half of an hour on it, and I’m still not sure if I did it correctly or not, but whatever – it looks like a hat, and that’s that.

The above picture shows the final result, and I have to say that, despite cursing over the unclear instructions and feeling more frustrated than I can begin to describe, I’m very happy with the results. The gnome looks adorable. I was worried he would be wobbly because of his oversized hat, but he manages to keep standing up without toppling over, so I’m impressed.

If you’re interested to craft some gnomes, go for it, but I recommend checking out another kit (with clearer instructions).

 

 

Crafting – Miniature: Sweet Lullaby

Time Required: About 5 hours
Difficulty: Medium
Review of kit: 4 out of 5 stars

I thought this miniature in a box was just too cute when I saw it in the shop, so I couldn’t stop myself and had to purchase it.

Opening the kit, there was actually quite a lot inside, including an instruction manual, the wooden pieces to make the furniture, a LED light, fabrics and other accessories, and the box to build the little room in.

Luckily, the instructions were also rather straightforward. I have made a few of these houses in the past (first one in this kind of tin box, though), and I have to say I’m always rather happy with the manuals made by Crafts&Co. They’re easy to follow and give clear instructions.

This cupboard was the first item I had to craft, as per the manual. I like how it turned out. Looks rather cute!

I first had to finish all the furniture before I could get started on decorating the interior of the tin box that is acting as “room”. Here is a close-up of the cupboard, the dressing table and chair. The dressing table was the hardest to make, because it had to balance on four feet that were not straight, and finding the right angle was quite difficult.

The bed was fun to craft, except for the pillows…I’m pretty sure I messed up with the instructions, but at least they still came up looking rather pillow-y.

Once I finished all the furniture, I could start decorating the box. I do recommend using proper glue for this one; it’s essential, especially because the paper doesn’t stick to the tin very well. I struggled a bit to install the light fixture, but with some help of my fiancé, I eventually managed it.

Tada! And here is the finished result. I’m happy with how this turned out, and it received a nice spot in a glass closet in my dining room.

If you’re used to building miniatures, then this one should be easy enough, and it doesn’t take that long in comparison to some of the bigger DIY miniature kits. And if you’re new to crafting miniature houses, then this is a great way to start.

 

 

 

Crafting: Miniature – Margaret’s Shop

Time Required: 10+ hours
Difficulty: Hard
Review of kit: 4,5 out of 5 stars

I’m a huge fan of miniature dollhouses. Years ago, I already made a dollhouse. It was just the house itself, though, no furniture. Back then, they didn’t have fully furnished kits (at least not that I could find) but the last few years, I’ve seen these kits pop up more and more often and I have to say, I actually prefer it. The nicest part about making these dollhouses is decorating them. Without furniture and decorations, it’s basically just a shell waiting to be completed.

Anyway, on to this particular kit. When I saw this for just 9.95 EUR in the Action store in Belgium, I had to have it. When purchasing similar kits online, they easily go for 30 or 40 EUR, so this was a steal.

I purchased three kits in this series (basically, every kit they had in store): Margaret’s Soap Shop (pictured above), Madam Fleur’s Boutique (a bridal shop), and The Happy Florist (a floral shop).

I liked the design of Margaret’s Soap Shop the most, so I decided to start with this kit.

When opening the box, I saw it was literally filled to the brim. The box contained a manual, lots of bags, wooden panels, a LED light, and so on.

Above is a bit more detail of the things included: clay in various colours (to make the soaps), fabrics, printed paper to cut designs from, small buttons, and so on. Everything was divided neatly in little bags and the manual explained what was in each bag.

As far as manuals for miniature kits go, this was actually one of the best manuals I’ve come across. The instructions were clear and easy to understand. I tried my hand at other miniature kits in the past where I struggled to comprehend half the stuff written in the manual, but that was definitely not the case here.

One of the first things I worked on, was the desk that was supposed to go in the center of the shop. The hardest part about this was tying up the bags around the balls of ‘soap’ that you can see on the left of the above picture. As per the manual, all the furniture was supposed to be completed first, before working on the shop itself.

Next thing I crafted after finishing the desk, was the above display. The structure itself was quite easy to make, but I do recommend using a good glue. Having glue that doesn’t take ages to dry and leaves no marks, makes all the difference when working on these kits.

For me, the main downside of this kit was that there was still some stuff that needed to be painted. Some of the house’s trim needed to be painted white, other part had to be painted green. I don’t necessarily mind painting, but this took up a lot of time (especially to let everything dry in-between) and since each piece needed multiple layers of paint.

Also, if you follow the manual to the letter, step-by-step, then you will end up having to paint multiple times. I just painted everything all in one go, as this was faster.

You can see above all the items that needed to be painted green. Since I was working on the house mostly in the evenings, it took a whole evening to paint everything, while I would have preferred to keep working on the house itself.

After finishing the furniture and painting the windows and doors, the next step was to put the house together. The above picture shows the front of the house, right before I put the wallpaper on it.

It was not that difficult to connect the back wall, sidewalls and the front of the house but as I mentioned, you definitely need good glue.

Once the house itself was built and the lightning fixture was added, as per the manual, I could now add the furniture, starting from the furniture in the back of the room. As you can see on the picture, I had to make a ton of soap. Making the soap was not that easy, especially the heart-shaped soap took ages and still ended up looking rather ‘meh’.

Another view of the interior of the house, this time with even more furniture added.

And then now, the big reveal of the finished soap shop…

The exterior…

… And the interior.

Plus, another close-up of the interior.

Although this took over 10+ hours to make (probably a lot more than that, but I didn’t really keep track – it definitely took multiple evenings over several weeks), I still recommend it to everyone who enjoys miniature kits. As I said, the manual is easy to follow and it’s one of the more creative kits out there. Plus, even if it took some time, I didn’t get bored once and I was really curious (and happy with) the end result.

 

Monday Musings #52

Monday Musings is a post in which I talk about my writing goals for the upcoming week. I was a bad student and barely made any Monday Musings posts last year, but I promise to do better this year.

I hope.

I also didn’t make a New Year’s Resolutions post this year, simply because well… I always fail at resolutions. I start out with the best intentions, and I manage to keep my resolutions until mid-January or best case, end of January, and then it all goes down in hellfire. That’s why I wanted to keep things lowkey this year and not have a ton of resolutions like I did last years.

This year, my resolutions are quite straightforward:

Write at least 4 days a week. Doesn’t matter what I write: could be working on my manuscript, writing posts for my blog, anything writing-related. Editing counts too.Blog more regularly. I’m aiming at at least 2 times a week, but honestly, I’ll be glad if I make it 1 time a week as well.Eat healthier. This is an overall goal, and of course there can be cheat moments. I’m not saying no to French fries for a whole year, haha.Finally take the book marketing course I signed up for aaaaaages ago.Spend more quality time with my family and friends, since that’s the most important thing in life.

 

In terms of new releases, the books that I’m working on for this year are:

Academy of the Wicked #2: Hear All EvilAcademy of the Wicked #3: Speak All EvilAllegro Academy #2: Requiem for the LostAllegro Academy #3 (Untitled)A Monstrous BeautyThe Conclave of Fear (The Adventures of Marisol Holmes #4)Angel Assassin (The Angel of Death Series #3)

 

For the following books, the rights have been returned to me (or will be returned to me soon), and I will re-publish them:

Murder in Mind (Psych-Tech Series #1)Valentina’s Spooky Adventures SeriesWeirdville SeriesGhostslayer

 

As for my goals this week, since I have to get back to work tomorrow after three months’ off taking care of my newborn baby, I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself for this week. I want to:

Edit 5 chapters in last month’s WIP.Write 10k in my current WIP.

 

What are your writing goals for this year?

Happy New Year’s to everyone, and I wish you all the best in 2023!

Real Haunted Houses: Schweppe Estate

Tucked away just outside of Chicago in Lake Forest, Illinois, is a mansion in English Tudor style of magnificent size and splendor, that harbors a haunting story of loss. The Schweppe Mansion was built in 1917 as a gift to Laura Shedd from her late father – I wish I would get wedding gifts like this one – when she married her husband, Charles Schweppe (the reason why the mansion is dubbed the Schweppe Mansion).

Tragedy struck the young couple not long after their marriage. Laura Shedd died from a heart attack in 1937. Four years later, in 1947, Charles was found dead in his bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. His suicide note read the chilling words: “I’ve been awake all night. It’s terrible.”

If that is not enough to give you the chills, then consider that after the deaths of Laura and Charles, the house sat empty for a staggering 50 years! For a place this undeniably beautiful, it is stunning to think it could be left vacant for this long.

Schweppe’s son-in-law eventually sold the house in 1987 to a couple (Howard Hoeper and Donna Denton) who did a massive renovation of the property, but got divorced a mere 2 years later. Be it from the headaches the renovations gave them, or the headaches the resident spirits gave them, we will never know. Schweppe Mansion was listed in 2007 for $18 million but was eventually sold in 2020 for $8.5 million.

With 12 bedrooms, 11 fireplaces and a private beach, a property like this seems to be well worth the $8.5 million for which it was sold. Perhaps the reduced asking price and the 13 years it took to sell the property was due to the ghosts of Laura and Charles, who are said to still haunt the place? Especially keep an eye out for the window pane that is allegedly kept free of grime by the ghostly hand of the mansion’s previous owners. There’s also a twisted footprint in the concrete floor of an upstairs room that looks deformed or maybe even inhuman.

Real Haunted Houses

Previously in this series:

Real Haunted Houses: Franklin CastleReal Haunted Houses: Villesca Axe Murder HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Sallie HouseReal Haunted Houses: LaLaurie HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Bell Witch FarmReal Haunted Houses: Ann Starrett MansionReal Haunted Houses: Sturdivant HallReal Haunted Houses: Whaley HouseReal Haunted Houses: House of Seven GablesReal Haunted Houses: Woodruff Fontaine HouseReal Haunted Houses: Cedar Grove MansionReal Haunted Houses: Sauer CastleReal Haunted Houses: The Pink PalaceReal Haunted Houses: House of DeathReal Haunted Houses: Joshua Ward HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Lemp MansionReal Haunted Houses: Los Feliz Murder MansionReal Haunted Houses: Winchester Mystery HouseReal Haunted Houses: Bliss MansionReal Haunted Houses: Croke-Patterson MansionReal Haunted Houses: Thornewood CastleReal Haunted Houses: Drish HouseReal Haunted Houses: Old Shelby HotelReal Haunted Houses: Barker’s Slave QuartersReal Haunted Houses: Winter PlaceReal Haunted Houses: Sweetwater MansionReal Haunted Houses: Oakleigh HouseReal Haunted Houses: Bragg-Mitchell MansionReal Haunted Houses: Jemison – Van De Graaff MansionReal Haunted Houses: Redmont HotelReal Haunted Houses: Cedarhurst MansionReal Haunted Houses: GaineswoodReal Haunted Houses: Kenworthy HallEnjoyed this article? Read Fractured!

When Piper discovers an old antique mirror on the attic of her new home, she has no idea what terror she unlocked.

Eerie shadows lurking in the night and estranged voices crying out for help are only the beginning. As Piper’s world comes crumbling down, she realizes everything that she believed was imaginary, might have been real all along.

Something is very wrong with that mirror. And if she doesn’t find out what, the mirror might end up killing her.

With some help of old and new friends, Piper tries to get to the bottom of the mystery. One thing is for certain: the mirror preys on the guilty. But what exactly is she guilty of?

Release Date: September 16, 2013

Format: eBook and Paperback

Price: $3.99 for eBook and $13.99 for Paperback

InkSpell Publishing | Amazon (PB) | Amazon (Kindle) | Kobo | B&N | ARe

Urban Legends Investigated: The Dancing Mania

History is filled with strange, bizarre happenings, but perhaps none is as bizarre as the Dancing Mania. The Dancing Mania appeared at random every few centuries, only to disappear as swiftly as it had appeared, with no cause or reason and most importantly – no apparent cure.

Between the 14th and 17th centuries, entire villages were swept up in the Dancing Mania, as groups of people started dancing erratically, sometimes thousands at a time.

Whatever this strange sickness was that literally caused people to dance to their deaths, it stopped abruptly in the 17th century.

Earlier outbreaks

In 1237, a large group of children traveled from Erfurt to Arnstadt, a 20km journey, jumping and dancing all the way, which is reminiscent of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a legend that originated around the same time.

In 1278, a group of about 200 people danced on a bridge over the River Meuse, resulting in its collapse.

On 24 June 1374, one of the biggest outbreaks of the Dancing Plague occurred in Aachen, before spreading all across Germany, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and even Italy and Luxembourg. Further episodes followed in 1375 and 1376.

Incidents also occurred some 40  years later, in 1418 in Strasbourg and 1428 in Schaffhausen.

The Dancing Plague of 1518

The most well-known outbreak of the Dancing Plague occurred in July 1518 in Strasbourg. A woman began dancing in the street, and between 50 and 400 people joined her. The outbreak lasted until September 1518, when it began to subside.

It is unknown if people actually died during this outbreak, since there are no official, contemporary sources of the city of Strasbourg that note this, although there certainly are many records held by the city clergy and magistrates concerning the Dancing Plague. The sources all agree that it started with one woman dancing about in the streets and many soon joining her, but no one, not then nor now, knows the cause of why people started dancing.

What caused the Dancing Mania?

Truth is, and this is perhaps the scariest thing about the Dancing Mania – no one knows what exactly caused it. Some scholars believe it was due to food poisoning, likely from the ergot fungi which grows commonly on grains used for baking bread. Others blame stress-induced mass hysteria. Late medieval Europe was no themepark. Death and despair lurked around every corner.

The increased psychological stress over living circumstances (take for example the 1374 outbreak, which occurred shortly after an outbreak of the Black Death), could have well caused a psychosis that spread from one member of the population to the next.

The Verdict

Historical notes are thorough and detailed enough to prove that the Dancing Mania existed and caused havoc all throughout Europe for multiple centuries, so this is not just an urban legend – it is real.

But more unsettling than the fact that, for potentially no reason at all, people randomly started dancing, sometimes until they died, is that now, five centuries later, we still don’t know the cause of it.

In the mood for some dancing, anyone?

Urban Legends Investigated

Previously in this series:

Urban Legends Investigated: The Noise Coming From Inside ChildrenUrban Legends Investigated: The ExpressionlessUrban Legends Investigated: Dear David – Part 1 / The StoryUrban Legends Investigated: Dear David – Part 2 / Is Dear David Real?Urban Legends Investigated: Slender ManUrban Legends Investigated: The Bleeding HouseUrban Legends Investigated: Peter BergmannUrban Legends Investigated: Missing in the Odessa CatacombsUrban Legends Investigated: The 1962 Halloween MassacreUrban Legends Investigated: The Clock Man VideoUrban Legends Investigated: NoEnd HouseUrban Legends Investigated: The Ghosts of VersaillesUrban Legends Investigated: The 67 Exorcisms of Anneliese MichelUrban Legends Investigated: Clown Sightings of 2016Urban Legends Investigated: The Burning of Bridget ClearyIf you liked this post, you might enjoy my book, Ghost Slayer

Twenty-one-year-old Kaelyn has spent half her life hunting ghosts and killing them. But she’s not like the other ghost hunters who have to rely on spells and curses to banish ghosts back to where they came from, hoping that they don’t come back. When Kaelyn kills a ghost, they stay dead.

But in Mortimer Hall, a behemoth of a house, Kaelyn is about to face the most powerful and life-threatening ghost she ever met, and what she doesn’t know is that the ghost has been waiting just for her.

Release Date: June 6, 2018

Format: eBook, paperback

Price: $3.99 (eBook)

Buy eBook from Amazon.

Buy paperback from Amazon.

Real Haunted Houses: Kenworthy Hall

Kenworthy Hall, also known as the Carlisle-Martin House, Carlisle Hall and Edward Kenworthy Carlisle House, is a plantation house built between 1858 and 1860. It has a massive four-story tower, brownstone trim, windows of varibale size and shape. It was constructed for – as the name suggests – Edward Kenworthy Carlisle, as his primary family residence.

Carlisle died in 1873 and left the property to his wife, Lucinda. Lucinda primarily used the house as a summar residence and gifted it to her only surviving child, Augusta Carlisle Jones, in 1899. Lucinda died in 1912 and in 1947, Augusta sold the property. The property went through a series of owners over the next few years, and often stood vacant. Especially during the 1950s, the house suffered a great deal of vandalism. During the periods of vacancy, the local population began to tell stories of the house being haunted. One of these ghost stories was featured in Kathryn Tucker Windham’s book “13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey” and involves the purported ghost of a young woman in the fourth floor tower room, who awaits the return of her lover.

In 1957, Karen Klassen of Birmingham bought the house and spent the next decade restoring it. In 1967, the Martin family bought the property and spent another three decades working on the restoration. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Subsequently, Kenworthy Hall was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2004.

It seems as if the property is currently on sale, as the listing can be found on a real estate website.  Just by looking through the pictures, you can see that it is actually a beautiful home, and in my opinion, it would make a great location for a Bed & Breakfast, or a historical house museum. New owners can perhaps include a  ghost tour focusing on the legend of the ghost in the tower.

Real Haunted Houses

Previously in this series:

Real Haunted Houses: Franklin CastleReal Haunted Houses: Villesca Axe Murder HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Sallie HouseReal Haunted Houses: LaLaurie HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Bell Witch FarmReal Haunted Houses: Ann Starrett MansionReal Haunted Houses: Sturdivant HallReal Haunted Houses: Whaley HouseReal Haunted Houses: House of Seven GablesReal Haunted Houses: Woodruff Fontaine HouseReal Haunted Houses: Cedar Grove MansionReal Haunted Houses: Sauer CastleReal Haunted Houses: The Pink PalaceReal Haunted Houses: House of DeathReal Haunted Houses: Joshua Ward HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Lemp MansionReal Haunted Houses: Los Feliz Murder MansionReal Haunted Houses: Winchester Mystery HouseReal Haunted Houses: Bliss MansionReal Haunted Houses: Croke-Patterson MansionReal Haunted Houses: Thornewood CastleReal Haunted Houses: Drish HouseReal Haunted Houses: Old Shelby HotelReal Haunted Houses: Barker’s Slave QuartersReal Haunted Houses: Winter PlaceReal Haunted Houses: Sweetwater MansionReal Haunted Houses: Oakleigh HouseReal Haunted Houses: Bragg-Mitchell MansionReal Haunted Houses: Jemison – Van De Graaff MansionReal Haunted Houses: Redmont HotelReal Haunted Houses: Cedarhurst MansionReal Haunted Houses: GaineswoodEnjoyed this article? Read Fractured!

When Piper discovers an old antique mirror on the attic of her new home, she has no idea what terror she unlocked.

Eerie shadows lurking in the night and estranged voices crying out for help are only the beginning. As Piper’s world comes crumbling down, she realizes everything that she believed was imaginary, might have been real all along.

Something is very wrong with that mirror. And if she doesn’t find out what, the mirror might end up killing her.

With some help of old and new friends, Piper tries to get to the bottom of the mystery. One thing is for certain: the mirror preys on the guilty. But what exactly is she guilty of?

Release Date: September 16, 2013

Format: eBook and Paperback

Price: $3.99 for eBook and $13.99 for Paperback

InkSpell Publishing | Amazon (PB) | Amazon (Kindle) | Kobo | B&N | ARe

Urban Legends Investigated: The Burning of Bridget Cleary

Believing in the supernatural is often harmless. If you believe in ghosts, witches, or even faeries, there’s nothing wrong with that. Unless that belief causes you to do the unthinkable. Fear of the unknown, belief in things we do not understand, it can cause people to do horrific things.

Think about the widespread belief in witchcraft that caused Europe to burn innocent people at the stakes en-masse in the sixteen-hundreds.

It is the same fear that caused Bridget Cleary to be burned to death by the very people she loved and trusted.

Who was Bridget Cleary?

Bridget was born as Bridget Boland around 1869 in Ballyvadlea, County Tipperary, Ireland. She married Michael Cleary in August 1887, and she took his last name.

After the marriage, Bridget went back home to Ballyvadlea and lived with her parents for some time, while Michael worked as a copper in Clonmel. Living apart caused Bridget’s independence to grow: she was a professional woman, a dressmaker, and she also sold the eggs from her flock of chickens to neighbours. This was somewhat unusual at the time.

When the couple moved in together, Bridget’s elderly father, Patrick Boland, also started living with them.

Illness

In March 1895, Bridget grew ill. More than a week into her illness, on 13 March 1895, a physician visited her home, but considered her condition bad enough that a priest was summoned to administer last rites.

Several friends and family members attended to Bridget over the next two days, and her family also used some home remedies. Her husband, Michael Cleary, accuessed her of being a fairy, a changeling, sent to take the place of the real Bridget.

On 15 March 1895, the priest – Father Ryan – was summoned back to the Cleary household. He found Bridget alive but agitated. Michael Cleary told Father Ryan that he had not been giving his wife the medicine prescribed by the doctor, because he had no faith in it.

That evening, neighbours and relatives returned to the Cleary house. An argument ensued. Michael tried to force-feed Bridget, throwing her on the ground before the kitchen fireplace and menacing her with a burning piece of wood.

Bridget’s dress caught fire, and Michael threw lamp oil on Bridget. He kept the others back as Bridget’s body burned, insisting she was a changeling and not the real Bridget Cleary.

Death

By 16 March 1895, rumours were circulating in the small town of Ballyvadlea that Bridget was missing. Local authorities began to search for her.

Michael Cleary maintained that his wife had been taken by fairies.

The truth was much darker. Bridget Cleary was not celebrating in the land of the fey; in fact, her burnt corpse was found in a shallow grave just a week later, on 22 March 1895.

The Trial

Nine defendants stood trial over Bridget Cleary’s death. The court session began on 3 July 1895. Based on the court hearings, a timeline was established of the last few days of Bridget’s life.

Of the nine defendants, several were convicted of “wounding” and sent to several years of penal servitude or hard labour. Bridget’s own father, Patrick Boland, who had failed to help his daughter when she needed him the most, was sentenced to 6 months of hard labour.

Michael Cleary was found guilty of manslaughter, and he was sentenced to 20 years of penal servitude. He eventuallly spent 15 years in prison.

He was released from Maryborough prison on 28 April 1910 and moved to Liverpool. From there, he emigrated to Canada in the same year.

The Aftermath

Bridget Cleary’s death has been popularly described as “the last witch burned in Ireland“, although she was never really considered a witch, not even by her husband who eventually killed her. He thought she was a changeling from the fairy realm.

Psychiatrists (H. O’Connell and P.G. Doyle (2006) speculate that the murder may have been the result of Michael Cleary developing a brief psychotic disorder, which manifested as Capgras delusion: a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent or other close family member has been replaced by an identical imposter. This then developed into a case of folie à plusieurs after he persuaded others that his wife had actually been replaced by a fairy.

Bridget was buried next to her mother, but her story forever lives on in the cautionary children’s nursery rhyme: “Are you a witch or are you a fairy? Or are you the wife of Michael Cleary?”

Historian Angela Bourke wrote an intriguing book about this case, called The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story.

The Verdict

Bridget Cleary was a real woman who suffered a terrible fate at the hands of her own husband. Whether Michael Cleary killed his wife because he thought she was really exchanged for a fairy – be it due to deep-rooted folklore or a Capgras delusion – or if it was a deliberate ploy he used to get rid of her, we will probably never know.

Urban Legends Investigated

Previously in this series:

Urban Legends Investigated: The Noise Coming From Inside ChildrenUrban Legends Investigated: The ExpressionlessUrban Legends Investigated: Dear David – Part 1 / The StoryUrban Legends Investigated: Dear David – Part 2 / Is Dear David Real?Urban Legends Investigated: Slender ManUrban Legends Investigated: The Bleeding HouseUrban Legends Investigated: Peter BergmannUrban Legends Investigated: Missing in the Odessa CatacombsUrban Legends Investigated: The 1962 Halloween MassacreUrban Legends Investigated: The Clock Man VideoUrban Legends Investigated: NoEnd HouseUrban Legends Investigated: The Ghosts of VersaillesUrban Legends Investigated: The 67 Exorcisms of Anneliese MichelUrban Legends Investigated: Clown Sightings of 2016If you liked this post, you might enjoy my book, Ghost Slayer

Twenty-one-year-old Kaelyn has spent half her life hunting ghosts and killing them. But she’s not like the other ghost hunters who have to rely on spells and curses to banish ghosts back to where they came from, hoping that they don’t come back. When Kaelyn kills a ghost, they stay dead.

But in Mortimer Hall, a behemoth of a house, Kaelyn is about to face the most powerful and life-threatening ghost she ever met, and what she doesn’t know is that the ghost has been waiting just for her.

Release Date: June 6, 2018

Format: eBook, paperback

Price: $3.99 (eBook)

Buy eBook from Amazon.

Buy paperback from Amazon.

Real Haunted Houses: Gaineswood

Gaineswood is a plantation house in Demopolis, Alabama. It reportedly took nearly twenty years to build it to completion, and it was finished just before the Civil War – talk about bad timing. Nevertheless, it is the grandest plantation house ever built in Marengo County, and one of the most significant remaining examples of Greek Revival architecture.

Gaineswood was designed and built by General Nathan Bryan Whitfield, who purchased the property from George Gaines. Originally, Whitfield gave his farm the name of Marlmont, but in 1856, he renamed it Gaineswood in honor of Gaines. Several generations of Whitfields lived in the home, until it was sold by them in 1923.

After being used as a private residence for a few more years, it was purchased by the State of Alabame in 1969. In 1973, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and currently it is being operated as a historic house museum.

Allegedly, the property is being haunted by the ghost of a young woman, who either died while on a visit to the plantation or worked as a nanny in the Gaineswood Plantation, depending on which version of the story is being told. If you hear piano music throughout the house, then you can blame the ghost. According to the version of the story that appeard in Kathryn Tucker Windham’s “13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey“, a young lady named Evelyn Carter came to Gaineswood after the death of Nathan Bryan Whitfield’s first wife. She came to help with household chores and to take care of the young children. She was musically talented, and entertained the family on numerous occasisons. Unfortunately, one winter’s day, she became ill and died. Prior to her death, she had requested for her body to be taken back up north to Virginia, but due to the bad weather, this was not possible. Mr. Whitfield had the body stored in a pine casket underneath the home until spring arrived and it could be shipped back to Virginia. This was not that uncomon back in the day, but this apparently caused Mrs. Carter’s spirit to become restless and start haunting the house.

Gaineswood is certainly worth a visit, even if you’ren ot in it for the ghosts. The house itself is extraordinary, with unique architectural elements such as a domed ceiling in the parlor and the dining rool, vis-a-vis mirrors in the drawing room, and ornate plasterwork, cast iron and carved wood decorating the interior.

Real Haunted Houses

Previously in this series:

Real Haunted Houses: Franklin CastleReal Haunted Houses: Villesca Axe Murder HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Sallie HouseReal Haunted Houses: LaLaurie HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Bell Witch FarmReal Haunted Houses: Ann Starrett MansionReal Haunted Houses: Sturdivant HallReal Haunted Houses: Whaley HouseReal Haunted Houses: House of Seven GablesReal Haunted Houses: Woodruff Fontaine HouseReal Haunted Houses: Cedar Grove MansionReal Haunted Houses: Sauer CastleReal Haunted Houses: The Pink PalaceReal Haunted Houses: House of DeathReal Haunted Houses: Joshua Ward HouseReal Haunted Houses: The Lemp MansionReal Haunted Houses: Los Feliz Murder MansionReal Haunted Houses: Winchester Mystery HouseReal Haunted Houses: Bliss MansionReal Haunted Houses: Croke-Patterson MansionReal Haunted Houses: Thornewood CastleReal Haunted Houses: Drish HouseReal Haunted Houses: Old Shelby HotelReal Haunted Houses: Barker’s Slave QuartersReal Haunted Houses: Winter PlaceReal Haunted Houses: Sweetwater MansionReal Haunted Houses: Oakleigh HouseReal Haunted Houses: Bragg-Mitchell MansionReal Haunted Houses: Jemison – Van De Graaff MansionReal Haunted Houses: Redmont HotelReal Haunted Houses: Cedarhurst MansionEnjoyed this article? Read Fractured!

When Piper discovers an old antique mirror on the attic of her new home, she has no idea what terror she unlocked.

Eerie shadows lurking in the night and estranged voices crying out for help are only the beginning. As Piper’s world comes crumbling down, she realizes everything that she believed was imaginary, might have been real all along.

Something is very wrong with that mirror. And if she doesn’t find out what, the mirror might end up killing her.

With some help of old and new friends, Piper tries to get to the bottom of the mystery. One thing is for certain: the mirror preys on the guilty. But what exactly is she guilty of?

Release Date: September 16, 2013

Format: eBook and Paperback

Price: $3.99 for eBook and $13.99 for Paperback

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