Revisiting Amityville 45 years later…

Happy Halloween! This month’s blog post is coming a little earlier in order to celebrate this unholy holiday.

Last year I read Jay Anson’s Amityville Horror: A True Story around Halloween. I listened to the audiobook during my commute, because I thought it would be the perfect story to get me in the holiday season.  At the time, I wasn’t crazy about it. I thought the writing was a little stilted, and the plot was far too outlandish to be within the realm of possibility.  However, I’d had no idea of the context in which this book was published. I’d had no idea that this book was originally marketed as a literally “true” story…

There has been intense debate over the last 30 years as to whether or not the Amityville horror is a hoax or the most prolific and notorious haunting that the world has ever seen.  Most of the information I have about the case comes from a riveting documentary called “The Real Amityville Horror”. It’s a 2005 documentary by Nobles Gate Production.  They interview many of the people involved, which adds an authentic personal touch.  I highly recommend watching it.  It’s spooky and informative and not a bad way to spend a cool autumn evening.

Cursed or Coincidence? The Great Omar Book

It’s been a while since I last posted, because I’ve been busy gallivanting across Canada for work.  One of the places I went to was Halifax, which inspired this month’s blog post.

At the turn of the twentieth century, bookbinding was an art, not just an automated process to create generic, identical books to sell at dirt-cheap prices.  Books were commissioned by bookbinders, who created masterpieces that were works of art. Some were even inlaid with precious stones and various fabrics and materials.  These books  took months, even sometimes years to create. With all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making a book like this, it makes sense that the most infamous one of all of them might be cursed…

Ambrose Bierce and the Crystal Skull

Ambrose Bierce with a not-crystal skull

Ambrose Bierce was an American short story writer and journalist at the turn of the century. According to Times Magazine, he’s most famous for his short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”.  His book “The Devil’s Dictionary” was dubbed one of the “100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature”.  He was said to have had a “morbid fascination with horror and death”. (Who here can relate?) (Time Magazine). A civil war veteran, Ambrose Bierce accomplished a lot in his 71 + years of life.  But it’s his disappearance and presumed death that has had everyone speculating and theorizing over the last hundred years.

A Gallery of Ghosts: The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Various Hauntings

Museums house artifacts of historical, artistic and cultural significance, providing visitors a unique opportunity to catch glimpses into the past.  The Cleveland Museum of Art, however, allows you to catch a literal glimpse into the past.  It stands to reason that a museum filled with treasured items would be haunted.  But the Cleveland Museum of Art has taken this to an extreme.  It is allegedly home to several spirits, and has been dubbed one of the US’s most haunted museums.

This week’s topic isn’t a library or a bookstore or directly related to books, but museums share many of the same values as libraries—primarily the preservation and sharing of information.  This information doesn’t have to come in the form of books.  Art, artifacts, memorabilia—all these items provide invaluable insights into the past, present, and even the future.

Now that I’ve justified talking about a museum, I can dive into the nitty gritty of the haunting.  Or should I say, hauntings.

If you stand in front of an artwork that was beautifully painted by an Impressionist, you might feel captivated, at a loss for words, and have an overwhelming desire to escape into that world of pastel shades and blurred reality. But what if it were possible that the subjects of these paintings could come to life?  No, I’m not describing The Night at the Museum, but what many visitors and employees claimed to have experienced while roaming the halls of the Cleveland Museum of Art.