Category: historical value

  • Fantasy jobs: Treasure hunter for the British Museum

    Fantasy jobs: Treasure hunter for the British Museum

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    In 1998 I, my hubby and my in-laws got to pretend we were Indiana Jones for a few hours. Hubby & I had driven down to Florida to join his parents for a week at a family condo in Clearwater, and in the news before we left I saw a…

  • The End of a Train Era

    The End of a Train Era

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    In Egypt, there were miles of sand, which refused to remain pleasantly flat. It made the tracks undulate so much that it gave our train a pronounced sway – so much so that at times it felt like the car holding our cabin was going to tip right over. There…

  • Curses! It’s a Mummy!

    Curses! It’s a Mummy!

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    Death will come on swift wings to whomsoever opens this chest.“It’s the curse! It’s the curse! Beware of the curse!” Beni.“Stupid, superstitious bastard.” Daniels.The Mummy, 1999 “CARNARVON’S DEATH SPREADS THEORIES ABOUT VENGEANCE; In Egypt, England, France and Here, Occultists Advance Stories of Angered Gods.LONDON, April 5.—Genuine regret is expressed here…

  • Inspired by Ancient Mythology

    Inspired by Ancient Mythology

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    Along with the eerie literature and movies that were big influences for me as a child and early story-teller (Edgar Allan Poe, The Twilight Zone, etc.), I also grew up on what I loosely call ‘sword-and-sandal’ movies. Officially, the term ‘sword-and-sandal’ refers to a popular genre of Italian knock-off movies…

  • Dark, Crumbling and Intense

    Dark, Crumbling and Intense

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    “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave…” Victor Frankenstein Another year gone – it’s hard to believe that we’re now twenty-six years past the qualms of New Year’s Eve 1999. After what I hope was a lovely holiday…

  • Murder & Mayhem at Christmas

    Murder & Mayhem at Christmas

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    Are the usual Christmas movies so sugary-sweet they set your teeth on edge? All beautifully-decorated-homes that seem to clean themselves, and perfect family meals that appear out of decorating-magazine kitchens? Then take a ‘stab’ at Christmas-themed murder mysteries, or the raft of holiday suspense and horror movies. Sometimes I’m in…

  • Guilty holiday pleasures

    Guilty holiday pleasures

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    Holiday madness and excess already getting to you? It may be time to shut off the phone, lock the door and indulge in some guilty pleasure time. What’s your guilty holiday pleasure? Do you secretly binge on Hallmark movies? Stash and eat festive chocolates? Lock yourself into the bathroom for…

  • A spicy holiday season

    A spicy holiday season

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    I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce. Taylor Swift Sometimes Taylor speaks for all of us. When the weather in the northern hemisphere turn harsh and the nights grow longer, comfort foods…

  • The Hidden

    The Hidden

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    A spooky theme in November? What the heck? Well, today is Occult Day, a day for us to indulge curiosity about what lies beyond. A lot of people believe that there’s more to our world than meets the everyday eye. We want to believe that there’s something beyond being born,…

  • Vampires in the family

    Vampires in the family

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    There is no passion so contagious as that of fear. Michel de Montaigne It’s 1891. Mists creep between the grave markers in the cemetery in Exeter, Rhode Island. Men, grimly determined, dig up the resting place of Mercy Brown. Her coffin is lifted and set onto the ground beside the…