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  • Silvertree

    Mod post: No wishlist posts in blogs

    By Silvertree

    Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101  Thanks!
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 19

Let’s wrap up the Gothic portion of this year’s countdown with a classic that was published the same year as the now-better-known Dracula: The Beetle (1897) by Richard Marsh. Read it here. Quote: So far, in the room itself there had not been a sound. When the clock had struck ten, as it seemed to me, years ago, there came a rustling noise, from the direction of the bed. Feet stepped upon the floor,— moving towards where I was lying. It was, of course, now broad day, and I, presently, perceived that a figure, clad in some queer coloured garment, was standing at my side, looking down at me. It stooped, then knelt. My only covering was unceremoniously thrown from off me, so that I lay there in my nakedness. Fingers prodded me then and there, as if I had been some beast ready for the butcher’s stall. A face looked into mine, and, in front of me, were those dreadful eyes. Then, whether I was dead or living, I said to myself that this could be nothing human,— nothing fashioned in God’s image could wear such a shape as that. ALT
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eldritchhobbit

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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 18

Today’s text is “A Night in Monk-Hall,” an excerpt from The Quaker City; or, The Monks of Monk Hall (1845) by George Lippard. Read it here. Quote: I was sitting upright in bed, chilled to the very heart, afraid to move an inch, almost afraid to breathe, when, far, far down through the chambers of the old mansion, I heard a faint hushed sound, like a man endeavouring to cry out when attacked by night mare, and then great God how distinct! I heard the cry of `Murder, murder, murder!’ far, far, far below me. ALT
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eldritchhobbit

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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 17

Today’s text is the short story “The Invisible Girl” (1833) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Read it here. Quote: “What beacon is it that helps us at our need?” asked Vernon, as the men, now able to manage their oars with greater ease, found breath to answer his question. “A fairy one, I believe,” replied the elder sailor, “yet no less a true: it burns in an old tumble-down tower, built on the top of a rock which looks over the sea. We never saw it before this summer; and now each night it is to be seen,—at least when it is looked for, for we cannot see it from our village;—and it is such an out-of-the-way place that no one has need to go near it, except through a chance like this. Some say it is burnt by witches, some say by smugglers; but this I know, two parties have been to search, and found nothing but the bare walls of the tower. All is deserted by day, and dark by night; for no light was to be seen while we were there, though it burned sprightly enough when we were out at sea.” “I have heard say,” observed the younger sailor, “it is burnt by the ghost of a maiden who lost her sweetheart in these parts; he being wrecked, and his body found at the foot of the tower: she goes by the name among us of the ‘Invisible Girl.’” ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 16

Today’s text is The Black Vampyre; A Legend of St. Domingo (1819) by Uriah Derek D’Arcy. Read it here. Quote: When reason and sense returned, she [The Lady] found herself in the same place; and it was also the midnight hour. She was laying by the grave of Mr. PERSONNE, and her breast was stained with blood. A wide wound appeared to have been inflicted there, but was now cicatrized. Imagine if you can, her surprise; when, by a certain carniverous craving in her maw, and by putting this and that together, she found she was a—VAMPYRE!!! and gathered from her indistinct reminiscences, of the preceding night, that she had been then sucked; and that it was now her turn to eject the peaceful tenants of the grave!  With this delightful prospect of immortality before her, she began to examine the graves, for subject to satisfy her furious appetite. When she had selected one to her mind, a new marvel arrested her attention. Her first husband got up out his coffin, and with all the grace so natural to his countrymen, made her a low bow in the last fashion, and opened his arms to receive her!  ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Dark Academia Works Inspired by True Crime Cases?

Hello, all! I am looking for recommendations of Dark Academia works (novels, short stories, films, television series) based on true crime. I would be grateful for any suggestions for my list. Thank you! I am intentionally casting my net widely, defining the Dark Academic genre (as opposed to the aesthetic) as one that focuses on an academic setting and educational experience, employs Gothic modes of storytelling, cultivates a dark mood by contemplating the subject of death, and offers critique for interrogating imbalances and abuses of power.* ALT Below the cut is my current list of Dark Academia Works Inspired by True Crime Cases. All suggestions are welcome! Dark Academia Works Inspired/Informed by True Crime Cases Note 1: “True crime” is defined here as a specific case (for example, a murder or missing person’s case), not as a larger historical event (for example, the Salem Witch Trials or the Opium Wars) or an amalgam of cases (for example, general hazing in fraternities).
Note 2: This list is in chronological order based on the true crime case.
Note 3: Some works that aren’t fully DA but incorporate DA sections are included. TRUE CRIME: 1897 disappearance of student Bertha Mellish from Mount Holyoke College
DA novels: The Button Field by Gail Husch (2014)
Killingly by Katharine Beutner (2023) TRUE CRIME: 1924 killing of Bobby Franks by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb
DA Novels: Compulsion by Meyer Levin (1956)
Nothing but the Night by James Yaffe (1957)
Little Brother Fate by Mary-Carter Roberts (1957)
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever (2020)
Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed (2022)
Jazzed by Jill Dearman (2022)
DA films: Rope (1948), Compulsion (1959), and Murder by Numbers (2002) TRUE CRIME: 1932 kidnapping and killing of Charles Lindbergh, Jr.; 1933 kidnapping and killing of Brooke Hart; and 1932-1934 crime spree of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
DA novels: Truly Devious books by Maureen Johnson (especially the first trilogy, 2018-2020) TRUE CRIME: 1944 killing of David Kammerer by Columbia University student Lucien Carr
DA film:
Kill Your Darlings (2013) TRUE CRIME: 1946 disappearance of student Paula Jean Welden from Bennington College
DA novels:
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson (1951)
Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh (1952)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992)
Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell (2014)
Quantum Girl Theory by Erin Kate Ryan (2022) TRUE CRIME: 1973 killing of student Cynthia Hellman at Randolph-Macon Women’s College
DA novel:
Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison (2019) TRUE CRIME: 1978 killing of students Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy and attack of students Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler by Ted Bundy at Florida State University
DA novel:
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (2023) TRUE CRIME: 1985 killing of Derek and Nancy Haysom by University of Virginia students Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring
DA novel:
With a Kiss We Die by L.R. Dorn (2023) TRUE CRIME: 1999 killing of student Hae Min Lee from Woodlawn High School (by Adnan Syed? debated)
DA novel:
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (2023) TRUE CRIME: 2022 killing of students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin from the University of Idaho (by Washington State University student Bryan Kohberger? currently awaiting trial)
DA novel:
This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead (2025) *(I go into this definition in further detail in my segment here on the StarShipSofa podcast, my graduate course on Dark Academia, and my 2023 academic essay “Dark Arts and Secret Histories: Investigating Dark Academia.”)
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eldritchhobbit

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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 15

Let’s keep this Gothic Halloween-fest going! Today’s text is Wieland; or, The Transformation (1798) by Charles Brockden Brown. Read it here. Quote: The tales of apparitions and enchantments did not possess that power over my belief which could even render them interesting. I saw nothing in them but ignorance and folly, and was a stranger even to that terror which is pleasing. But this incident was different from any that I had ever before known. Here were proofs of a sensible and intelligent existence, which could not be denied. Here was information obtained and imparted by means unquestionably super-human. ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 14

Before we leave the subject of Northanger Abbey completely, let’s include one more work that inspired the novel (and left a lasting mark on the Gothic tradition), The Monk (1796) by Matthew Gregory Lewis. Read it here. Quote: “Be cautious not to utter a syllable!” whispered the Stranger; “Step not out of the circle, and as you love yourself, dare not to look upon my face!” ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 13

One more of the so-called “horrid novels” referenced in Northanger Abbey is The Orphan of the Rhine (1798) by Eleanor Sleath. Read it here. Quote: “Here Silence has fixed her abode, disturbed only at intervals by the howling of the wolf, or the cry of the vulture. In such a situation actions have no witnesses; these woods are no spies.” ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 12

Today’s creepy novel, also mentioned as “horrid” in Northanger Abbey, is The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest (1794) written by Carl Friedrich Kahlert (under pseudonym) and translated by Peter Teuthold. Read it here. Quote: “…a dreadful chilliness seized us, we felt the grasp of the icy fangs of horror, being in a burying vault surrounded by rotten coffins. Skulls and mouldered bones rattled beneath our feet, the grisly phantom of death stared in our faces from every side, with a grim, ghastly aspect. In the centre of the vault we beheld a black marble coffin, supported by a pedestal of stone, over it was suspended to the ceiling a lamp spreading a dismal, dying glimmering around.”                                                 ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 11

Some of the Gothic works deemed “horrid” by Jane Austen in 1818’s Northanger Abbey (“are you sure they are all horrid?”) are available online, so let’s shift this countdown to those dark and delicious novels. (One is The Children of the Abbey, already covered on Day 7.) Today’s title is The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) by Eliza Parsons.  Read it here. Quote: “My Lord came here once or twice, but the ghosts made such a noise he could not stay. Several gentry have slept here at times, but no body would stay a second night, and so we have all to ourselves by day, and the ghosts, or what they be, have got all the rooms by night and then they be quiet enough.”
ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 10

We’ve reached the last post in the portion of this countdown devoted to the creepy Gothic books beloved by the women working in 19th-century mills in Lowell, Massachusetts. Today’s entry is the controversial autobiography of Maria Monk (1836). Read it here. Quote: We all believed in ghosts. ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 9

Another dark and dreadful novel that women working in 19th-century mills in Lowell, Massachusetts reported enjoying was Alonzo and Melissa (aka The Asylum) by Isaac Mitchell (1804/1811).          Read here the later version attributed to Daniel Jackson, Jr. Quote: The person in her room then uttered a horrible groan, and gliding along by her bed, took his stand behind the curtains, near the foot. The noises below, the cry of murder, the firing of the second pistol, and the running up stairs, were all corresponding scenes to impress terror on her imagination. The pretended ghost then advanced in front of her bed, while lights were slowly introduced, which first shone faintly, until they were ushered into the room by the private door, exhibiting the person before her in all his horrific appearances. On her shrieking, and shrinking into the bed, the lights were suddenly extinguished, and the person, after commanding her to be gone in a hoarse voice, passed again to the foot of the bed, shook it violently, and made a seeming attempt to get upon it, when, perceiving her to be springing up, he fled out of the room by the secret door, cautiously shut it, and joined his companions. ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 8

Another Gothic novel that was a favorite with women working in 19th-century mills in Lowell, Massachusetts was The Three Spaniards (1801) by George Walker. Read it here. Quote: “That unhappy phantom will ever pursue Fernando, till he shall be pacified. He ever attends him invisible, and at this moment sits at the foot of the corpse of Almira.” The Inquisitors and the prisoners shuddered, and turned their eyes towards the spot; but they could see nothing, except the pale body of the murdered maid. “… I will command this unhappy spirit to become visible, and say what are his particular desires, and how he shall be tranquilized in the grave; then shall Fernando enjoy that uninterrupted repose he so well merits.” ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 7

Another Gothic title very popular with women working in 19th-century mills in Lowell, Massachusetts was The Children of the Abbey (1796) by Regina Maria Roche. Read it here. Quote: The horrors of my mind I cannot describe; I seemed to stand alone in the world, without one friendly hand to prevent my sinking into the grave, which contained the dearest objects of my love. ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 6

A second Ann Radcliffe novel read and savored by women working in the 19th-century mills in Lowell, Massachusetts was The Mysteries of Udolpho (1994). Read it here. Quote: “… I am not so much afraid of faeries, as of ghosts, and they say there are a plentiful many of them about the castle; now I should be frightened to death, if I should chance to see any of them. But hush! ma’amselle, walk softly! I have thought, several times, something passed by me.” ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 5

Another title very popular with women working in 19th-century mills in Lowell, Massachusetts was The Romance of the Forest (1791) by the mother of the Gothic, Ann Radcliffe. Read it here. Quote: “She saw herself surrounded by the darkness and stillness of night, in a strange place, far distant from any friends, going she scarcely knew whither, under the guidance of strangers, and pursued, perhaps, by an inveterate enemy.” ALT
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Miss Twilight's Blog

2024 13 Nights of Halloween

9/5/2024   Anything in Paintbox Soap Works Halloween release that you'd like? Oooh.  Fairytale!!  Jack-of-the-Woods sounds interesting except I'm scared of the mushroom part.  Ask Tarty how heavy that part is?     Let me in at your Window?  The Grey Hound?      The products I like are bath streusel, sorbetto, hot process soap -- the partner would totally try some of the shaving soap (Black Sun, Wayfinder.)   Anything hand knit or embroidered you might like? I would love embroidered things!  Especially snarky gothy embroidered things.    As far as hand knits go, I am WAY too picky about stretchy cast on/bind off, sizing, yarn, etc. since I am also a knitter.  I make my own things.   I make shower steamers, salves, candles, soaps and other such. Are you interested in any such homemade goodies? yes please.  All of the above except salves, I already have a brand new tin of it from Winterblizzard.    9/7/2024   Would you like a small watercolor painting?  I'm talking 3×5".  If so, would you like it based on your preferred Halloween motifs or something else? oohh yes!   Bats and the moon?   Spooky trees?  Whatever speaks to you.   I make light-weight hair falls ( I can do single or double, if you have a preference for pony tail or pig tails)- I make them out of things like soft yarns, up-cycled silk and bits of lace. Is this something you'd like? If so, tell me up to three colors and a length in inches you'd like. Only if you show me how to wear them with my super short hair!  (pony tail, purple / black / blurple, ummm long enough to go past my neck and shoulders?   Anything from the Haus of Gloi Fall update? I love their Ghost Puffs in body powder!!  And/or Bubbling scrub or sugar exfoliant.     How about the Nocturne Alchemy Halloween update? So I don't really want anything with cinnamon, coconut, oak, moss, or oakmoss.    That leaves out a LOT of their Halloween offerings.  I'm also not a huge fan of florals or fruits, but I really like their vanilla, amber, patchouli, other woods/resins, rose, lavender, and musks.   From Halloween Limited '24: Black Vanilla Kulfi Candy Corn Wraith Black Amber Incense Black Patchouli Amber Incense Black Rose Amber Incense Blood Moon 31 Bats Pandora 31 Bats Morticia 31 Bats Mircalla   9/8/2024   Milk, Dark, and or white Chocolate? Milk!   (I will not go into the "white is not chocolate" debate, look at my restraint!)   Would you like a gently-used tarot or Lenormand deck? Sure!   If it fits my wishes/aesthetic.      I'm going to Disney World all next week!!! Can I get you something? (Maybe you have a favorite Disney / Star Wars / etc character or fandom? Maybe you're a Pin Trader? Maybe you like cute kitchen-wares / tea pots / nice English tea / pot holders tea towels?)  YESSSSSSSSS   All of the Nightmare Before Christmas things!!!  I love kitchen stuff!!!!   Anything would be awesome but I have a skeleton themed kitchen so any towels, teapots, canisters, pot holders, kitchen stuff in general.   I love 20oz or larger mugs.   I like pins too!     This is has been alluded to in other questions, but feelings about candles/wax tarts/incense and scent profiles? I love all of them!   New place will have a huge jetted tub with lots of room for candles and good air circulation, I love beeswax candles and candles from Sea Witch Botanicals or other places that don't put a lot of synthetic fragrance or additives in their wax.     I have a few wax tart melters, same with the synthetic fragrance and additives.      I love good quality low smoke incense like Shoyeido but if you can find other good quality low smoke incense with a great fragrance throw, I'd be down to try it.      (I have major respiratory issues, so I prefer places who use really safe products in their candles and incense, like Sea Witch Botanicals.   Here is an article about breathing in things from additives:  https://seawitchbotanicals.com/pages/what-are-synthetic-fragrances  I guess this applies to perfume and room spray as well!)     are you interested in skincare, such as trying travel sizes of various types? (would be cruelty-free, cleaner options coming from over here, if that matters to you!) Not really, I never use them and they aren't usually large enough to see if my skin likes them or not.  (I would need to use for a week or more.)     9/9/2024   Let's talk earrings.  Pierced?  Stud, dangly, hoop?  Any ear wire preferences?  Large or small?  Other preferences? I think I talked about this in my questionnaire.  Right now my ear piercings are closed up and I'm hoping to get them pierced again but gauged up (I don't know how large yet, so with a hollow needle at a body piercer place.   So I'll be looking for larger than normal earring wire (but not huge) spirals and things.   I'd prefer 304 stainless steel (if not sterling silver) or 316L surgical steel (low nickel content) -- please no 316lvm surgical steel as that has more nickel.   Titanium is also supposed to be nickel free, as is Niobium (non-plated.)   No color plating on anything, that irritates my ears and causes infection.   I'm PROBABLY going to go with 16g as that is the lowest size available in most of the jewelry that I like.   If there is something extravagant on your wish list, would you like one large gift and the rest of your gifts quite modest, or would you rather forego the lavish item in favor of more of a mix among your other gifts? Totally up to my sender, I'm good with both.  I'm going to use the same caveat that violetchaos used on hers -- I don't have room for things that just sit on shelves or flat surfaces.   A figurine of a bat, no thank you.   A box or tray shaped like a bat?  YES PLEASE.   (or mirror, or --- Joann Fabric has garden stakes with bat spinners on them, I laughed, I cried as I put them back in the rack.)   The Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer is out with all of their autumn offerings. Is there anything you would like? I've already picked up the Maple Butter but would take more... sadly my store didn't have All the Fall Things yet.   I'd love the Maple Spiced nut mix,  Milk Chocolate Covered Honey Comb,  Apple Shortbread Cookies, Hold the Cone Tips!!, the dogs love their cookies (preferably grain free.)     9//11/2024   I have in my possession a selection of real Bakelite bangle bracelets! Definitely from the 1940s-1960s era. Would this be an exciting gist for you to receive? My vintage collection is solely neodymium items that change from purple to blue in different lights.  Not into bakelite or vaseline glass.   Thank you for asking!   Would you like anything from sock dreams? I *have* a Sock Dreams wishlist but I almost literally never wear socks so they really would be wasted on me.   (I wear Madrid Birkenstocks everywhere.   Kidney issues = swollen feet/ankles = most of my shoes don't fit.)   9/13/2024   Would you be interested in a spooky mini waffle maker or spooky playing cards? I have *so many* playing cards, so no please.   A regular size waffle maker would be cool but not a mini one I don't think.  Sorry!   Does anything from SnagTights strike your fancy? I never wear tights, sad face.   What about from Michaels or JoAnnes? I love so much of their Halloween offerings!   Everything bat!   (prefer things that are not plastic or flimsy.)   do you like Ren faires?  Might there be a fun little thing I should find for you there? I love Ren Faires!!   Most of the things I want would probably be too spendy.   Hand thrown mugs / drinking horns / vases / bowls / coats / corsets / etc.   Maybe some cute buttons (bats?)   Or if drinking horn holders (that sit on a table) aren't too expensive?     9/14/2024   Weather permitting I'll be going to a witchy Florida themed night market next week! Is there anything you may want from it? Oooh sounds great!   I love lots of things from markets but I don't know specifically what I'd want that would mail well.   Whatever you think I would like?     9/17/2024   Do you desire any Samhain ritual-type items, if so, what? 
ooooh.   Sadly my brain fog is a thing and I can't think of anything specific but I love this season so ... anything you think I'd like and would fit my spook.   Tell me, my ghoul-friend, would you love to see things from these places (and what?) as you unwrap your gifts? I will be going to the Pacific coast soon, and there are witchy stores (one with serious occult supplies, many handmade including inks, quills, books, etc), a HUGE gem & mineral store, a huge yarn shop, shells and way too much sasquatch stuff, also an amazingly diverse mercantile in Yachats, OR, and the Green Salmon, where unique PNW teas, coffees are sold I could use some rose quartz or blue rose quartz palm stones or towers. I could also use some more selenite sticks (at least 8 or 16 of them) to grid my new room(s).  Or pick some palm stones or beads (or cabs) for intent for me.  I'm needy, haha.  (I can make bracelets or necklaces from the beads and wirewrap the cabs.)   I love coffee and have a grinder, so whole bean.  Prefer dark roast and I don't mind flavored.   Also can do k-cups.   I love yarn (fingering, sport, dk, worsted weights), (merino, silk, merino silk cashmere, etc.  no acrylic please.)      I really have a LOT of tea so unless it's from Damman Freres or Mariage Freres, pass for now.     Handmade Ink, quills, and books sound interesting.  I love handmade sealing wax and seals as well.     9/18/2024   Would you like spooky-themed stationary supplies?  What kinds if so? Nice pens?
What about unanointed spell candles? I think I'm ok on those right now.   Could you use any clever storage boxes like these? nope, I've had those and given them away.   9/22/2024   If I were to place an order from Cellar Door, what strikes your fancy - they're having a fast 20% off sale through Monday so I'd need an answer fast  I think I had a wishlist for Cellar Door for a while.  I'd love a candle but would also take soap. * Black no 1 * Farmhouse Pumpkin * Lavender Pumpkin * Once Bitten * Sanderson Spice * Spooky Season   non seasonal: * Acadian Driftwood * Lavender Fields * Midnight Rider * Sex Machine     10/2/24   Would you be down for baked goods as a day zero gift? If so, are there any you particularly enjoy that travel well? Of course!   Shortbread (chocolate or flavored), pumpkin bread?  Open to more but in a hurry and no brain.   Is your perfume wishlist up to date?  Sadly, probably not!          10/4   Do you need herbs? Rosemary, thyme, winter savory, oregano, sage or such? Mugwort for tea/burning? I grow lots of herbs and I'm happy to share! Sure, I love dried herbs!  
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Miss Twilight's Blog

2024 13 Nights of Halloween MASTER QUESTION LIST

9/5/2024   Anything in Paintbox Soap Works Halloween release that you'd like?   Anything hand knit or embroidered you might like?   I make shower steamers, salves, candles, soaps and other such. Are you interested in any such homemade goodies?   9/7/2024   Would you like a small watercolor painting?  I'm talking 3×5".  If so, would you like it based on your preferred Halloween motifs or something else?   I make light-weight hair falls ( I can do single or double, if you have a preference for pony tail or pig tails)- I make them out of things like soft yarns, up-cycled silk and bits of lace. Is this something you'd like? If so, tell me up to three colors and a length in inches you'd like.   Anything from the Haus of Gloi Fall update?   How about the Nocturne Alchemy Halloween update?   9/8/2024   Milk, Dark, and or white Chocolate?     Would you like a gently-used tarot or Lenormand deck?   I'm going to Disney World all next week!!! Can I get you something? (Maybe you have a favorite Disney / Star Wars / etc character or fandom? Maybe you're a Pin Trader? Maybe you like cute kitchen-wares / tea pots / nice English tea / pot holders tea towels?)    This is has been alluded to in other questions, but feelings about candles/wax tarts/incense and scent profiles?   are you interested in skincare, such as trying travel sizes of various types? (would be cruelty-free, cleaner options coming from over here, if that matters to you!)     9/9/2024   Let's talk earrings.  Pierced?  Stud, dangly, hoop?  Any ear wire preferences?  Large or small?  Other preferences?   If there is something extravagant on your wish list, would you like one large gift and the rest of your gifts quite modest, or would you rather forego the lavish item in favor of more of a mix among your other gifts?   The Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer is out with all of their autumn offerings. Is there anything you would like?     9/11/2024   I have in my possession a selection of real Bakelite bangle bracelets! Definitely from the 1940s-1960s era. Would this be an exciting gist for you to receive?   Would you like anything from sock dreams?     9/13/2024   Would you be interested in a spooky mini waffle maker or spooky playing cards?   Does anything from SnagTights strike your fancy?   What about from Michaels or JoAnnes?   do you like Ren fairest?  Might there be a fun little thing I should find for you there?     9/14/2024   Weather permitting I'll be going to a witchy Florida themed night market next week! Is there anything you may want from it?   9/17/2024   Do you desire any Samhain ritual-type items, if so, what?    Tell me, my ghoul-friend, would you love to see things from these places (and what?) as you unwrap your gifts? I will be going to the Pacific coast soon, and there are witchy stores (one with serious occult supplies, many handmade including inks, quills, books, etc), a HUGE gem & mineral store, a huge yarn shop, shells and way too much sasquatch stuff, also an amazingly diverse mercantile in Yachats, OR, and the Green Salmon, where unique PNW teas, coffees are sold     9/18/2024   Would you like spooky-themed stationary supplies?  What kinds if so?

What about unanointed spell candles?   Could you use any clever storage boxes like these?     9/22/2024    If I were to place an order from Cellar Door, what strikes your fancy - they're having a fast 20% off sale through Monday so I'd need an answer fast      10/2/24   Would you be down for baked goods as a day zero gift? If so, are there any you particularly enjoy that travel well?   Is your perfume wishlist up to date?      10/4   Do you need herbs? Rosemary, thyme, winter savory, oregano, sage or such? Mugwort for tea/burning? I grow lots of herbs and I'm happy to share!
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 4

Because we mentioned The Castle of Otranto yesterday, let’s show some love for the dark reimagining of Walpole’s novel by Clara Reeve, The Old English Baron (1778). Reeve called it Otranto’s “literary offspring.” Read it here. Quote: …he thought he saw a glimmering light upon a staircase before him. “If,” said he, “this apartment is haunted, I will use my endeavours to discover the cause of it; and if the spirit appears visibly, I will speak to it.” He was preparing to descend the staircase, when he heard several knocks at the door by which he first entered the room; and, stepping backward, the door was clapped to with great violence. Again fear attacked him, but he resisted it, and boldly cried out, “Who is there?” ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 3

We have even more evidence of which Gothic novels the women who worked in 19th-century mills in Lowell, Massachusetts read and enjoyed. The next few posts will highlight these titles. ALT One of the most popular titles was The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1764). Read it here. Quote:  …and then the figure, turning slowly round, discovered to Frederic the fleshless jaws and empty sockets of a skeleton, wrapt in a hermit’s cowl. “Angels of peace protect me!” cried Frederic, recoiling. “Deserve their protection!” said the spectre.
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 2

Another Gothic title very popular with women working in 19th-century factories in Manchester and Lancashire, UK, was The String of Pearls; or The Barber of Fleet Street (aka Sweeney Todd)  (1846-1847) by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. Read it here. Quote: “How still everything was in those vaults of old St. Dunstan’s. Were there no spirits from another world—spirits of the murdered, to flit in horrible palpability before the eyes of that man who had cut short their thread of life? Surely if ever a visitant from another world could have been expected, it would have been to appear to Todd to convince him that there was more beyond the grave than a forgotten name and a mouldering skeleton.” ALT
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Eldritchhobbit's Blog
 

Halloween Countdown 2024, Day 1

Halloween season is here! Since 2005, I’ve been observing a Halloween countdown on whatever social media I was using at the time with a daily post throughout October. These days I am primarily on Mastodon (so if you’re in the Fediverse, or connected to it via Threads or some other means, please say hi!), but I also post on Tumblr, my Goodreads blog, and Dreamwidth, among other places.  I look forward to sharing October with you! Happy Countdown to Halloween 2024! This year I will focus on Halloween-friendly texts (long and short) available for free online. I will try to lean away from the usual suspects and, I hope, bring you some treats that you will enjoy! This countdown will have several separate parts. The first part is inspired by Bridget M. Marshall’s excellent 2021 work Industrial Gothic: Workers, Exploitation and Urbanization in Transatlantic Nineteenth-Century Literature. In her book, Marshall notes that dark and dreadful Gothic novels were very popular with the “mill girls” who worked in 19th-century factories. I’d like to start the countdown by recommending some of the shiver-inducing texts these women reported reading and savoring. ALT Here begins the Day 1 post! One of the most popular titles with women working in factories in Manchester and Lancashire, UK, was Mysteries of London (1844-1845) by G.W.M. Reynolds. Read it here. Quote: “Perhaps there is no other cry in the world, save that of ‘fire!’ more calculated to spread terror and dismay, when falling suddenly and unexpectedly upon the ears of a party of revellers, than that of ‘A corpse! a corpse!’”
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