I’m completely elated with the fact I landed front page news in my local newspaper here in Virginia. It came as a surprise as well because they never emailed me back letting me know they were running the press release. This is a big accomplishment for myself and very good boost in confidence of my career as a writer and poet. Celebrated with a bottle of wine and hubby bought me flowers
Black Friday Sale*
Free 11/22-11/26
~Firefly of Immortality ~
The Guardians of Light (Book 1)
by Kasey Hill
Sophie was raised to believe that she was an ordinary girl living in an ordinary world. However, after the passing of her grandmother, her entire world shattered to the ground. Sophie may have been born an ordinary girl, but her soul was as old as the dawn of time. She was an angel, and she alongside her twin flame, Incaendiel, held the key to bringing all of the fallen angels safely back to the light.
However, evil lurks where least expected, and the Jealous God of the Old Testament has waged a war against those who are seeking the light. Love, power, and vanity come together as we see the showdown between angel and fallen angel, God and Goddess, in arms fighting against one another. In the end, will love conquer and banish the evil God of Creation and return the light back to those that fell out of duty and love for their angelic family.
October 31st marks the third and final harvest of the year and the holiday celebrated is Samhain or All Hallows Eve. Samhain is the celebration of the dead. This Sabbat honors the ancestors —human, spirit, and God — that have crossed over through the veil. The veil is the thinnest on this day so spirits can come through and visit their loved ones. Many celebrate with their dearly departed by leaving plates of food for them and lighting candles to lead them home. Pumpkin carving was carried over by this tradition for lighting a candle and placing it inside a jack o lantern would ward off evil spirits. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals.
The solar god is in his last days of dying as he stands before the threshold of the last Gate of Death and preparing to enter into the womb of Sheol to await his resurrection at the Vernal Equinox. He is revered for his self-sacrifice to nature by his diminishing powers and allowing nature to transition into a new growth cycle. The dying and wilting away of spring and summers productions gave way to new growth. Even though the green has browned and trickled away from plants and trees the plants continue to thrive and live beneath the earth. It is an analogy of our own selves when we retreat from the cold winter air to spring back out once the weather warms. So just as the goddess is reflected in nature by the seasons of change, she reflects within humanity as well. With this deep reflection during the dying days comes our need to think of loved ones passed ere go the days of the dead to live once more on our earthly plane. The power of thought to the dead by the masses transmutes energy to thin the veil between realms for them to roam and visit loved ones.
Though some think Halloween is a modern tradition celebrated on this day, the tradition of Halloween goes back to the Celtic traditions of Samhain. Folklore shows that on this day, during the thinnest liminality of the year, spirits enter into the realm of the living, both benevolent and malevolent. In Irish folk stories, fey spirits, renowned for their mischievous antics, would play tricks on the living. To avoid being tricked, people would dress up as monsters or other creatures. Jack-o-lanterns with a bright burning candle were wards for spirits, often made from any type of gourd or even turnips. So, while children run around gathering treats in their costumes, in the lore of the Irish, they are tricking the spirits into thinking they are one of them too and are allowed to pass peacefully through the night.
Interestingly, Samhain hasn’t always fell in October and used to be celebrated on the day that Beltane is now celebrated. This falls in line with the Gates of Life and Death and this is also the date that the Southern Hemisphere celebrates their Autumn. Pagans celebrated Samhain as a celebration of life as opposed to mourning of death. This is seen with the Day of the Dead celebrations that take place on November 1st. So drink merrily and offer some to your ancestors. Eat heartily and offer some to your ancestors. Remember with your heart and offer it to you ancestors. Rejoice in your life as your ancestors do!
Altar cloths: Black, Orange, Dark Purple
Candles: white, black, orange
Herbs: honeysuckle, lavender, mint, roses, feverfew Mullein, Coltsfoot, Damiana, Dragon’s Blood, Myrrh, Patchouli, Clove and Sage
Icon of the year: Jack-o-Lanterns Besom, Masks, Cauldron, Balefire
Stones: amber, jet,
Observances: going through the veil, honoring ancestors, discarding
unwanted memories and bad habits
Decorations: pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, rust and purple mums, bales of hay
Sabbat Mythos: The Goddess mourns her slain consort and
Journeys to the Afterlife
Sun position: Sun is 15 degrees Scorpio
The Star has arrived at a crossover Where the end of the year is drawn And the beginning of a new year dawns Where the veil of shadows is at its thinnest And the voice of the Star Descends to the underworld Where it shall remain in respite Until the crowning of its majesty Rises and shines through the days of cold Dear Traveler Descend with me as I walk the Star To its resting spot in comfort and peace Where it may regain its vitality It's stamina and manna And take the throne by my side once more When the wheel turns The time is nigh and we have few hours For your soul to own passage Without the fear of it remaining Let Deaths hand of change Walk you through the shadows And offer you protection From the demise the Underworld holds near With change comes new opportunities New life and new dreams Let the day of the New Year Course through your being And remind you of wince you came forth from The creatrix of life And the womb of death Vesseled within my growing garden And sustained by the love Of the Star as its last homage Is paid in rest
Cosmic Quedem Ancient Quedem May they be blessed for all eternity I bless and praise them I adore and exalt them I honor them and lift their names up In reverence and love I remember them And their blessings Both Cosmic And through lineage I wish you peace As I gain understanding I wish you joy As I gain wisdom I wish you happiness As I gain fulfillment Expunos Shalom
September 21st is the cross-quarter day of the Vernal Equinox, and the holiday celebrated is Mabon. This is when the wine is made from the ripened grapes of summer and prime time for apple and gourd season. Mabon is the Pagan Thanksgiving and the second of three harvest festivals. Farmers start preparing their fields for the winter months ahead, as does Mother Earth.
At Mabon, the Goddess has entered her crone stage with her God, the Sage. Autumn has officially begun, whether there are patches of color on the foliage or not. This time of the year marks a time to reflect and give thanks to the universe for all it has provided throughout the year, as the Witch’s New Year falls the next month afterward. We see our God withering away, surrendering His life to sustain the crops until the harvest season, as well as the Promised Child the Goddess carries.
Once the final harvest is completed, the Sage will completely wither and returns to the Goddess’ womb for respite to be reborn as the Promised Child. A time of personal reflection begins as the nights grow longer and the days become shorter. Our Goddess is now a Crone, and our God is the Sage. Together, they enjoy the twilight days remaining until they are once again separated, only to be reunited again at the Winter Solstice. The Goddess withdraws into her own quiet contemplation, and as she does, she pulls life back from the Earth as she waits for the final moments of life to be given to her consort.
Many Wiccans and Pagans gather for festivals and dinners to celebrate the Last Supper of the God before his departure at Samhain into the primordial womb of Sheol. They feast with apple wassail and moon cakes seasoned with the seasonal fragrance of cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Thanks are given to the God for his sacrifice, and the ancestors are honored and given blessings as well. It is a time of reverence and reflection; much of the holiday is spent celebrating, eating, drinking, and crafting. In some traditions, a Wicker Man/Straw Man effigy is made to symbolize the King of the Harvest and lit on fire as a ritualistic sacrifice of the God of the Year. This was to replace the sacrificial human or animal of the ancient traditions it was modeled after.
Altar cloths: orange, gold, violet, maroon or brown
Candles: maroon, orange, gold
Herbs: marigold, sunflowers, hibiscus, myrrh, rye wheat
Oils: bergamot, gardenia
Stones: amber, jet, tiger’s eye, peridot, yellow topaz
Food: apples, apple pie
Drink: apple wassail
Observances: celebratory feast
Decorations: grapes, vine garlands, Indian corn, cornucopia
Sabbat Mythos: Goddess becomes a Crone as God’s essence showers the bountiful feast.
Sun position: Sun is at 0 degrees Libra
So, I have spent the last few weeks binging shows and a friend turned me on to Scream. Yes, the MTV series is on Netflix to watch and I have put it off for years it seems but finally caved. If you have yet to watch the show and don’t want spoilers, this article is not for you because #spoileralert. Season 1 starts off with the Lakewood killer and our final girl, Emma. From episode 1, I had my killers pegged. However, in season 1 only one of the killers, because in true Scream fashion there was an accomplice, was revealed. Emma’s half-sister her mother put up for adoption, Piper, turned out to be the killer of the season, and one of my guesses for who the killer was (odd she just showed up out of nowhere to podcast the town). Police close the case saying Piper was the sole killer.
However, we all know that from the episode that Will is kidnapped when he met with the mayor with Piper standing beside him, that there was obviously another killer aside from Piper. It’s horror not supernaturally geared so its not some body swap crap. Season 2 starts up and it takes a only few minutes to realize, ding ding ding, there is another killer. Jake is killed within the first 15 minutes of the show. Now, the other killer that I had pegged in season 1 turned out to be the killer of season 2. Kieran, the late sheriff’s son and Emma’s boyfriend.
Kieran is put on trial for the murders and is in prison when he receives a strange phone call that legitimately frightens him. Using the same voice changer he and Piper had used on their victims, the caller asks him, “Who said you could wear my mask?” And there, the third killer is brought to light. The last episode shows Kieran being rescued from his jail cell as a person in a Brandon James costume kills the guard guarding his holding cell and begins to unlock the cell. Kieran says, “All right, you kept your word. So you going to tell me who you are?” The killer slits his throat and then stabs him in the spine. Kieran dies from his wounds.
Yea, yea, we all know that there are rumors who the third killer could be with the three most prominent being Kevin Duvall (Emma’s dad), Troy James (Brandon James’s brother), and Brandon James himself (I’m leaning hard on it was Emma’s dad and he was the original 1994 Lakewood killer and framed Brandon). So with all of those factors, people didn’t get the answers they wanted when the season ended and the show was totally rebooted with a new storyline. Viewers were left with a gaping question of who was to return to Lakewood for the season that had been set up with the cliffhanging ending of the Lakewood Murders. Kevin Duvall is seen standing over Kieran’s grave smugly. A Mr. James is checking into a motel, unknown if it is Troy or if Brandon DID survive his gunshot wound and he’s returning for revenge. So many questions we don’t have answers to.
If you are one of those people, I am about to leave you with more questions than answers by providing answers to questions not even asked. Noah kept saying the new killer had an accomplice as well. We see how Audrey is being framed into being that accomplice as the killer starts setting her up with come scenes as well as calling her a killer. We learn that she was the one that drew Piper here to get even with the town for marking Brandon James as the serial killer who she thinks was also framed. As the drama unfolds, we learn that she actually wanted to get even with Emma for “breaking her heart.” As the season unfolds, we see Audrey being visibly framed but we also see Audrey being very much an accomplice. Episode 13 shows her being abducted by the killer while they are in the movie theater and the killer stabbing Brooke nearly killing her. Kieran shows up and goes with Brooke to the hospital while Emma runs from the police. While Kieran is on the phone with Emma after Brooke is taken back to the operating room, we see that he is very visibly in the hospital and hasn’t left Brooke or Noah’s side. As soon as they hang up, Emma receives video of a tied up Audrey at the abandoned children’s home. When she gets there, she is attacked by someone in costume and then Kieran shows up. This is when it is revealed that Kieran is the killer.
There was no time for Kieran to abduct Audrey and tie her up in the children’s hospital if he was with Brooke and Noah the entire time. So, if the caller on the phone wasn’t someone he knew, but the person who abducted Audrey is his accomplice, then there is a 4th killer in the show. But who is it? Well, the person who Noah accused of being the accomplice, Audrey.
In the episode where the party for Kieran’s birthday takes place, a drug was slipped into the alcohol that caused hallucinations. Audrey sees Rachel, her girlfriend that was killed in season one (suspect Kieran), during her hallucination and apologizes while taking full responsibility, “I’m sorry for what I did.” Seems like guilt over bringing Piper into town right? When they find Tyler’s severed head, the mask that he was wearing had her DNA in it. This was the same mask that Audrey is seen stealing out of inventory as well as case notes in one episode when she sneaks into the police station. The mask was Audrey’s mask. Audrey was the one that killed Rachel. She would have been the only one to know to make it look like a suicide. The next kill that was Audrey was when Will was murdered. Will was nearly dead when they found him. Kieran and Piper were the ones that took him to lure Emma out there. Kieran is revealed to be the one that attacks them in the abandoned bowling alley the 1994 murders took place. Will saves Emma by knocking the killer out of tract as he ran at her ready to cut her. The next day, Kieran and Emma have a spat about her going back to Will and the killer tells her no matter how they show her how awful he is, she will keep going back to him (much how her mother was with Brandon James). Will is then killed as punishment to Emma. The note left behind by the killer says “You chose wrong again.” You think it was Kieran because minutes before the scene of Will’s death, her and Kieran have a heart to heart over her feelings for Will. As pointed out earlier, Audrey tells Emma she broke her heart and that was why she wanted to get even. Audrey didn’t want to hang out with her new friends and the only reason Emma became their friends is because Will started dating her (under false pretenses at that). What better way to get back at Emma than to kill the very friends one by one, and the love her life, she ditched Audrey to be with.
Audrey was attacked by one of the killers and screams at them to do it after they hesitate for a moment in which they knock her out and then cut her arm after, not before, hitting her in the head. Audrey didn’t watch Emma walk off into the woods and magically know she was going to end up at the dock where Piper was trying to murder her. Audrey already knew what the end game was. Audrey changed her mind in the end of the season and shot Piper, betraying both Piper and Kieran. So Kieran begins to drag her back in by framing her for murders she isn’t doing as payback for killing Piper. That’s why he makes it a point to call her partner in the texts and killer.
After having fun trying to get people to turn on Audrey, Kieran takes Noah and buries him alive. The only person that would have known about the girls playing at the horse barn would have been Audrey because they were little girls and she was the one that recognized the flower from the field. Noah was never in the agreement to be murdered and this was Kieran lashing out at Audrey as a warning to do her part and finish what he and Piper came to Lakewood to do: Kill Emma.
Now remember how Audrey is kidnapped at the movie theatre but Kieran couldn’t have done it? Well, Audrey could have just walked out the door and tied herself up. We already know she knows how to tie herself up convincingly from when she kidnapped Noah earlier in the season. Audrey draws Emma out away from Kieran. Kieran then uses Audrey as leverage with Emma. At any time, he could have just shot her like he did poor Eli. Audrey helps Emma take him down and begs her to shoot him in the head, but Audrey prefers to put him in prison to rot.
Whether my theory of Audrey being the killer is the evidence you need to make your own conclusions on who the killer is or not and you disagree, the evidence still stands that there was a fourth killer in the show. Just exactly who kidnapped Audrey while Kieran was busy slicing and dicing?. Or was Kieran clean of the attack on Brooke and it was the other killer that kidnapped Audrey that also attacked Brooke? The world of Scream fans will never know, but at one point, Noah had the evidence he needed to mark Audrey as one of the killers…
Here is an email I will never send
Layering my tastebuds with bitter lament
Angry and relieved
At times hard to breathe
With every word ever spoken
As each promise and swear is broken
Ringing in deafening tones
Lonesome but harrowing moans
As I replay every I love you
And roll over every I miss you
Just to learn freedom was your wish
And I was your enslaved bitch
That believed to the very essence you walked on water
And now as I am drowning away you have sauntered
To a life without me in it
Another promise you never meant
I begin to wonder if any of it was true
Or a spell that you thought wouldn’t undo
And to your dismay it quickly unraveled
And I saw the truth come down with the gavel
I was just a whore to keep you company at night
And to war I would gladly go to fight
I feel like a game that you loved to abuse
And I ate it up not knowing the ruse
I was one of many to be played
My heart strung up on your shelf to display
And what I had given you I never got back
When it was your pride and ego under attack
And now I am scattered across the floor
Broken into pieces, feeling like the whore
When I loved you with more than you ever really gave
And the more I loved the more I craved
But you never really wanted me to be yours
It was just something you did with all of us whores
Every word you ever said was really a lie
And once again I won’t hit send to give you a goodbye
K.H. ©️ 2021
Bury me in a garden of bones
Where souls reach out with harrowed moans
Wrap me in silk and lay me to rest
With whispered promises and deep breaths
And fill my grave with lilacs and tulips
And feed the darkness slowly brewing
For the moonlight beckons me to breathe
And tries to awaken my buried memories
Of hallowed reverie and haunted nights
Of Stolen sighs and sultry lies
As fire and ice wrapped me in bliss
With a siren’s kiss upon my lips
And as I blued from poison drips
My rosy cheeks greyed in quips
And a hand reached out for my aching soul
To lead me away from the horrors untold
And I walked with Death but not in fear
And watched the moments play out queer
The moment my fate had been sealed
And by your hand I would be killed
Now here I am stripped bare in the frigid air
As your hands brush the dirt from my hair
And you leave me in this chaotic state
A single sound I cannot make
Alive inside screaming to be heard
But the silent sorrows echoed interred
Eyes wide open but greyed with death
As I quietly plead for one more breath
Welcome to #RandomHorrorFacts! Horror has been my love since I was a child. The creepy, the witchy, the demonically inclined, possession, all of it was my go to! Ever wonder what incidents spawned your favorite horror book or movie? Well, let’s dig in and find out!
In Western Civilization, Friday the 13th has been a popular superstition. The occurrence happens at least once a year on the Gregorian calendar and many believe it to be an unlucky day. But what exactly spawned the superstition?
The number 13 has its roots in superstitions stemming from Norse myths. The one story in particular was where Loki, the infamous trickster god, was not invited to a dinner party. The total number of guests were 12 until he arrived. Once he was a part of the party, things started to head south as they often did when Loki was around and he soon had convinced Höðr to shoot Balder with a mistletoe tipped arrow. Balder died and the story says that the earth went into darkness to mourn the loss of Balder. Another story plucked from myths comes from the Christian story of Jesus’ last supper that also emulates the same dinner party of 13 and Jesus dying 2 days later.
However, none of the myths and stories that situate around either the number 13 or the day Friday have the occurrence of the date being Friday the 13th. Recent studies also show that as opposed to the superstition of accidents occurring more frequently on this date, they actually occurred less frequently. The only incident that was marked and dated was Friday the 13th of October in 1307 when the Knights of Templars were rounded up for trials and executions. However, there wasn’t any superstition prior to the 19th century for the date.
Camp Crystal Lake and Jason Voorhees have long been associated with Friday the 13th because, well, that’s the name of the movie franchise this fictional person and setting were created for. Initially titled A Long Night at Camp Blood, this 80’s slasher movie went on to make a 12 movie franchise with crossovers into other horror series such as A Nightmare on Elm Street. Based around the running plot of revenge, Jason Voorhees isn’t actually part of the first movie! It was in fact his mother taking out years of pent up anger and rage out on camp counselors that were more into having sex than watching the kids, which is why her son died years before. Or, so it seemed. At the very end of the movie, Jason comes back to take revenge for the death of his own mother. It has always remained unclear whether or not he was a ghost at first or if he had in fact survived his initial drowning, but hell hath no fury like Jason, and to hell he was sent multiple times.
What exactly does this have to do with the superstition? Well, just as it is titled, the first movie takes place on Friday the 13th. As all 80s slasher films, the movie had a message for its viewers. Its message: Don’t go camping on Friday the 13th. Don’t go camping and have sex on Friday the 13th.
Did the movie franchise help build the superstition? Maybe or maybe not. Superstitions have a way of being fabricated just like myths, fables, legends, or any other good old horror story.