History in Vogue discussion
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The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings
2016
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The Fall of the House of Usher and The Cask of Amontillado
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Both of those stories scared me in a good way when I first read them in Junior High. Poe exploited the very real fear of being buried alive. Reportedly, wakes came about when people used to watch the deceased to see if they woke up. Also supposedly, people were buried with bells in case they were accidentally buried alive!
QNPoohBear wrote: "Both of those stories scared me in a good way when I first read them in Junior High. Poe exploited the very real fear of being buried alive. Reportedly, wakes came about when people used to watch t..."They review that in the local cemetery tours, esp this time of year.....turns out all the "vampire" stories were people dying of consumption. But they show a couple of graves with the place for the bell and the cord, just in case..
Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "They review that in the local cemetery tours, esp this time of year.....turns out all the "vampire" stories were people dying of consumption. But they show a couple of graves with the place for the bell and the cord, just in case.. ."Right. I work with two so-called paranormal experts and I've gotten an earful the last year all about the paranormal and a certain TV show that fakes evidence. I know the legend of Mercy Brown, poor girl.
We also have H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe stuff on Benefit Street. I have absolutely no time to go to the Athenaeum and take pictures right now but I have a long list of books to read once I'm on winter vacation and I'll see if I can get some pics and maybe Poe will eventually one day reveal himself. Then we can all pick his brain and find out how he wrote such wonderfully creepy stories without being too over-the-top creepy.
QNPoohBear wrote: "Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "They review that in the local cemetery tours, esp this time of year.....turns out all the "vampire" stories were people dying of consumption. But they show a ..."Well, give that local show credit for "debunking" as well as collecting evidence.....in fairness.
I'll be forever grateful to them....I had volunteered at Fort Adams' Fortress of Nightmares a few years back--a scary horror house tour with a historical focus. They cancelled on the night it was my turn due to rain. This year, "that" local show went to Fort Adams, and ran into some bats. I'll never volunteer for another night function there ever again!
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Do you know which show? I'm a ghost nut, but you can tell so many of them are so fake.
There was always the fun of finding corpses with their abdomens swollen with blood and gasses, and people fearing they were rising from the dead to drink people's blood. Dracula really did a number on people.
Well, QAndPooh's gonna hate the promo, but it was "Ghost Hunters". They live here in Rhody (except that one founding member who moved north with his family). So lots of the shows are filmed in the tri-state area.
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Some of the Ghost Hunter episodes are decent. A few that are actually pretty creepy. Fake or not, it can be hard to tell. Some of the things they got on camera though would have left me heading for the car.
Erik wrote: "Some of the Ghost Hunter episodes are decent. A few that are actually pretty creepy. Fake or not, it can be hard to tell. Some of the things they got on camera though would have left me heading for..."Did you see last week´s, Erik? They got some cool activity.
I liked ¨The Haunting¨, too, Marie, but that was a bigger budget with actors re-creating stuff. Even though it´s low-budget, I don´t mind this.
It makes me laugh, though, when they edit the show to put in the pretty countryside. For example, when they came to Newport once, they were filmed coming over the bridge. Next thing you know, they´re out on Ocean Ave (in some of my photos)....when the place they were going to was in between! Makes for a prettier show, though, haha!
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Aww the whole bell ringing is a myth! Darn Poe capitalized on the Victorian fear of being buried alive.. Michael Crichton took the idea and ran with it: http://historynewsnetwork.org/article...I watch Ghost Hunters but I don't take it all that seriously. My co-workers worked with the Warrens and reportedly my co-workers were the first people called for the real life case that inspired "The Conjuring." I'm told the other night the paranormal tour group heard a child moaning in one of the museum buildings. Gee thanks. Now I really want to be on closing shift alone in the dark! However I am more afraid of bats, which I'm sure we have - in the belfry (ha ha) - than ghosts.
I'm not so much afraid of ghosts, as it is the Pandora's box of questions it raises if they actually exist. I personally think it would be cool to try and communicate, and see if there is anything I could do to set a ghost at ease. Aside from dying in some horrible movie-like manner, anyhow.
I stopped by the Athenaeum today. Still no Poe in the short time I was there. I didn't have time to take pictures but they had Poe books on display for their October staff picks.
The Fall of the House of Usher describes the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. Roderick Usher’s fate is inextricably intertwined with that of his sister, Madeline, and that of their estate. As one falls, so do they all. The Fall of the House of Usher is considered Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest work, and a masterpiece of Gothic horror.
The Cask of Amontillado explores the extreme state of decadence, fear and hate. Roderick Usher’s fate is inextricably intertwined with that of his sister, Madeline, and that of their estate. As one falls, so do they all. The Fall of the House of Usher is considered Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest work, and a masterpiece of Gothic horror.
These works display Poe's startling ability to build suspense with almost nightmarish intensity.
* from the penguin classics edition