RenoVous

  The horror dates back to 1994, when three teenagers were convicted of murdering three boys in Arkansas. The murders were brutal, and because of those conditions, the investigation turned to Satanic cult activities.  Damien Echols, in particular, was a dropout who liked witchcraft and wearing black, so police questioned a friend of his, Jessie Misskelly.  After a lengthy interrogation, Misskelly had confessed to the murders, implicating Echols as well as Jason Baldwin. He later recanted his confession, but the ball was already rolling.  A documentary in 1996 cast doubt on the events, but it wasn't until 2007 that lawyers became involved and found that there was no DNA connecting the men to the crime. In 2010, as the Arkansas Supreme Court was considering new trials, their attorneys reached an agreement to accept an Alford plea.  It allows for the men to maintain their innocence while the state maintains their case against them. On this day in 2011, the West Mem...

  Casa Casuarina, the home of Gianni Versace, and the scene of his death. On this day in 1997, the fashion designer was shot on the front steps, twice in the head. Andrew Cunanan was in the midst of a killing spree. It started on April 27th in Minneapolis, where he bludgeoned Jeffrey Trail.  On May 3rd, he shot an ex-lover, David Madson.  Trail had been an acquaintance of his. Two days later in Chicago, he killed Lee Miglin and stole his car.  This was abandoned in New Jersey, after Cunanan killed William Reese for his pickup truck.  He then drove down to Florida. There was an FBI manhunt already underway, and a fast food worker in Miami Beach called the tip-line on July 11th.  Police arrived too late though. Cunanan was found on July 23rd, having broken into a houseboat less than 40 blocks away from the Versace mansion.  He had shot himself. It is now a hotel. The Villa

  From the collection, A Warning to the Curious, I finished this story yesterday. And it actually spooked me. The ones before it were subtle hauntings, told as stories heard from someone else, of some perceived curse or disruption of a spirit. But this one contained a true horror trying to hide itself within a ghost story. I still shudder to think of it. So what have you been reading?

 The Salem Witch Trials began in February of 1692, following fits experienced by children in the village, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams.  A doctor concluded they were suffering from the effects of witchcraft, and the girls were pressured to name names. On this day in 1692, Bridget Bishop was found guilty and was the first to be hanged. She was not the first to be charged though.  That was Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba.  As an enslaved woman from Barbados, owned by Samuel Parris, she was the presumed main culprit, with her "Haitian Vodou."  She was allowed to contest at trial, and she helped point fingers at others. Bishop had been accused by more individuals than anyone else.  She didn't dress by Puritan standards, she had been married three times, and she was known to frequent taverns. HEATHEN! Many were found guilty based on the response of the "afflicted" during proceedings.  By October, the special court had been dissolved by the g...

  Walpurgisnacht is celebrated primarily in Germany, Sweden, Finland and Estonia. It is the eve of the traditional St. Walpurga feast, protector against witchcraft. The bonfires ward off evil spirits and witches believed to be gathering on the Brocken mountain. Brocken is the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, often covered in mist, thus producing what's been called the Brocken spectre - shadows are magnified in the fog and cast upon the mountainside or a cloud bank. Folklore dates back to ancient Pagan myths, and includes another site known as Teufelsmauer, or Devil's Wall. I mention horror in the tags because you can catch Joe Bob's "Wicked Witchy Wingding" on Shudder.  He has made it his mission to establish this as an American horror holiday as well, a spring Halloween, if you will.

 I actually didn't take a picture of this one before I returned it, so this is from another  blog . I've read a lot of types of horror and murder, but this was a first, in a slasher sense.  It's clear while reading that this was going to be a movie, and I was impressed with how well an entire scene was captured in the pages. It was a quick read, and I've come to find out there are two more in the series. Not sure what I'll start next though - and now's a good time to mention I will be on vacation all next week.  Hubby's starting a new job soon so we decided to go while we can, not knowing if he'll be able to take much time come September this year. Looking forward to reading on the beach.  ;-) And what have you been reading??

  "America's Scariest Motel." It opened in 1985 in Tonopah, NV.  Leroy and Leona Davis wanted to honor their father's clown figurine collection, so they had inspiration and decoration. The new owners, as of 2017, really elevated the theme. I'm not even afraid of clowns, per se, but there is certainly a creep factor to having SO many around you.  And while you sleep. Today, they have around 4,000 pieces of clown memorabilia. Papa Davis is buried right across the street in the historic Tonopah Cemetery. Old Tonopah

 On this day in 1958, two teenagers kill a husband and wife as well as their maid in Lincoln, Nebraska. Charles Starkweather, 18/19, and his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, 14.   Charles had already murdered her parents and younger sister, of which she wasn't aware when she got in the car with him after an argument.  He threatened to kill them if she didn't cooperate. His first kill took place on December 1, 1957, when he robbed a gas station and shot the cashier.  At the end of the crime spree, 11 people were dead. They were depicted as a Bonnie and Clyde couple, inspiring movies such as Badlands and Natural Born Killers.  Bruce Springsteen's song "Nebraska" is sung from Starkweather's point of view. He received the death sentence, and sat in the electric chair on June 25, 1959.  Fugate was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 1976.  Today she is 82 years old. A few years ago she was involved in a documentary that reviewed her trial tra...

 My first and forever favorite. I've been into horror movies since I was too young.  I started pulling from my mom's collection and found this, which confirmed my penchant.  I watched it often, along with The Haunting and The Changeling. When I was in elementary school there was an 89¢ Video rental and we found some goodies.  One I remember in particular is: When it comes to slasher films, I've seen nearly all of them, but I prefer the weirdness of Texas Chainsaw Massacre .  There's more to it than just a maniac killing teenagers. I watch it almost every year for my birthday, which is also Texas Chainsaw Day.  ^_^ In newer horror, I found Hereditary  surprisingly good.  Not in the sense that I expected it to be bad, but it had moments I did not expect, and the entire theater was shook. Revenge  is another one I quite liked. Even though women in horror are subjected to violence, they also persevere, and that taught me a strength at a young age...

 Summer of 1999, and the release of The Blair Witch Project. I still remember the marketing campaign, which really set the tone for this being real found footage. While it wasn't the first movie to use the film technique, it certainly popularized it for years to follow. And for all the jokes it gets now, it really did scare the lot of us. It was an independent, low-budget film which ended up making $250M worldwide.  Much of the filming was done by the actors themselves, and they were left to improvise much of the dialogue.  They also didn't really know when the director would be out there shaking the tent to get a realistic response. It takes place in Burkittsville, MD, where Elly Kedward terrorized the town and was banished.  But then children disappeared, and the town was abandoned.  The movie makes reference to a book called The Blair Witch Cult, published in 1809.  The Maryland Center for History and Culture received many phone calls inquiring on the fi...

 On this day in 1928, Vernon Booher shot his mother, Rose and his brother, Fred, along with two hired workers who just happened to be there.  He only expressed remorse for killing his brother, as his mother was his sole target. Apparently mom didn't like the woman he was infatuated with. The horror movie part of the story is the involvement of Max Langsner, a Viennese physician who had reportedly solved crimes all over Europe by picking up "mind signals" from criminals. Using his psychic powers, he sketched a scene that included a rifle hidden in bushes.  He was able to map this for police to locate the murder weapon, and Vernon confessed. *** There's not much info to be found about Langsner though, so how many crimes he was supposedly involved with, who really knows.

 "The Castle" of H.H. Holmes, one of America's first well-known serial killers. He was hanged on this day (1896) in Philadelphia, charged with the murder of Benjamin Pitezel.  The exact number of victims is unknown.   Holmes moved to Chicago in 1886 after graduating from the University of Michigan.  He worked in a pharmacy, which he later bought from the owner's widow.  She then disappeared. After a series of cons, Holmes had enough money to begin work on his home across the street.  He would rent out rooms to young women and tourists, many who went missing.  At this time, he was also selling skeletons to medical schools in the area. He had dabbled in insurance scams to pay for his education, and he was finally caught when trying to use a corpse for another scam. The media reported many things about his "Murder Castle" but much of those tales were sensationalized.  While there were some hidden rooms, there was no evidence of torture chambers ...

  Last night I learned about Ebenezer Creek, north of Savannah, Georgia. It looks to be a lovely place to canoe, but it may be haunted as well. It was December 1864 during the Civil War.  General William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea" campaign was in full effect, and General Jefferson C. Davis was advancing towards Savannah.  They had gained a following of freed slaves, what some considered "a growing encumbrance." A pontoon bridge had been assembled for crossing Ebenezer Creek, and as his men made it over, General Davis ordered the ropes cut. Over 600 freed men panicked in the waters, many drowned, and others were reached by Confederate soldiers who shot and trampled them.  Some of Davis' men did try to help and some trees were felled which allowed for some of the freedmen to create a crude raft.  Those who survived, however, were returned to slavery. There was public outcry at the time, and in January 1865 President Lincoln approved 400,000 acres of coast...

  It's not his birthday or any other milestone, but it is Hitchcock Day. Known as the "Master of Suspense," he literally helped shape the thriller genre. Blackmail  from 1929 was the first British film to feature synchronized sound. Psycho  is a horror classic, and was presented to be as much even as it premiered.  The marketing of fear was a brilliant approach. And the score is one of the most haunting tracks ever used to this day.

 This is Alfred Packer - the Colorado Cannibal. On this day in 1901, he was released from prison on parole after serving 18 years. He was among the prospectors who combed the Rocky Mountains for gold in the 1860's.  Packer also served as a guide in the Utah and Colorado wilderness.  During the winter of 1873-1874, he led 21 men through harsh weather - after seeking refuge among the Ute Indians, Packer and five of the men decided to continue the journey. Two months later, Packer arrived alone at the Los Piños Indian Agency, but looking relatively well.  He claimed he had been separated from the other men during a blizzard and survived on rabbits and rosebud.  But he also had a bit of money and many items belonging to the men. Being questioned, Packer said four of the men died from the extreme conditions, so he and the other survivors would eat them. The last one, Shannon Bell, went insane and threatened to kill Packer, so he shot him, and later ate him too. This ...

 On this day in 1938, Orson Welles terrified the public with his dramatization of The War of the Worlds. It was Sunday evening, prime time in the golden age of radio, and millions of Americans were listening in.  But many missed the introduction. Welles employed sophisticated sound effects as well as top notch actors - it's really no wonder people mistook the tale as an actual report.  As "Martian cylinders" landed in Chicago and St. Louis, real life panic was setting in. Welles was just 23 at the time, and the broadcast helped him land a Hollywood contract. Happy Halloween Eve!

  George Melies was a French filmmaker who led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of cinema.  Before his famous sci-fi, A Trip to the Moon , he created what is considered to be the first horror movie in 1896. Between 1900 and 1920, literary classics were sourced for movies, such as the first adaptation of Frankenstein. And in 1922, the first unofficial Dracula adaptation, Nosferatu. To this day, some of the best and creepiest shadow work. There's a new one coming out later this year. Happy October!!

  I had to have a post for my current username reference. On this day in 1977, the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, committed his eighth shooting, just a few days after the anniversary of his first. Stacy Moskowitz and Robert Violante were sitting in a parked car under a streetlight, kissing on their first date.  The shooter approached the passenger side and fired four times before fleeing into a park.  Violante lost an eye, and Moskowitz died of her injuries. Detective John Falotico was given two weeks to solve the murder before the case would be turned over to the Son of Sam task force.  On August 10, Berkowitz was arrested. During his interrogation on August 11, he explained that "Sam" was his neighbor, and Harvey, Sam's Labrador, was possessed by an ancient demon which commanded that Berkowitz kill people. "There are other Sons out there, God help the world." He would later say that his claims of demonic possession were a hoax. The movie, Summer of Sam,  came ou...

  Quite a few bits of history from today are on the morbid side. 1942: Anne Frank receives a diary for her 13th birthday.  A beautiful gift in itself, but knowing what she endured as she filled those pages, and what an important testament it is now.... 1963: Civil rights leader, Medgar Evers, is assassinated by a white supremacist.  He had been instrumental in getting evidence and witnesses for the Emmett Till murder case.  Unlike Till's killers, Evers' was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. 1982: The largest disarmament rally in America takes place in Central Park, with more than one million people protesting nuclear weapons and the Cold War arms race. 1994: Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are murdered, fatally stabbed multiple times. 2016: Mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Miami, where 49 people were killed and dozens more injured.  A predominantly gay club, it appeared as both a hate crime and an act of terrorism.  The shooter had called 9...

  Patricia Columbo was just 16 years old when she met 36 year old Frank DeLuca.  He managed a pharmacy and she worked at the coffee shop next door.  She went to work for him instead, and they began a sexual relationship. She eventually moved into the home he shared with his wife and 5 kids, before he divorced and they moved into an apartment together.  Patricia's father beat Frank pretty badly over that. Two years later, the pair broke into the Columbo home and murdered her parents as well as her brother, brutally.  She was not initially a suspect, and had hoped to receive inheritance, only to find she had been written out of the will. The police were eventually led to the couple and after they were arrested (05/15/1976), DeLuca's employees revealed they saw him washing and burning bloodstained clothes.  He had apparently threatened them to stay quiet, and even tried to have them killed while he was in jail, but another inmate thwarted the plan. The two wer...