The Number 13: Day 4 of #OctoberFrights

Welcome to Day 4 of the October Frights Blog Hop!

Today is the 13^th of October. It is also #FolkloreThursday over on Twitter, so it seemed a perfect time for a post on the myth and folklore of the number thirteen.

We all know the superstition, the ominous unlucky number thirteen, scourge of digits and integers, and striking trepidation in many. And of course, should the dreaded date of the 13^th fall (gasp!) on a Friday, well...

This belief in the unlucky quality of thirteen is quite pervasive from the aforementioned Friday the 13^th to high rise buildings actually lacking a thirteenth floor. So what are the origins of this belief? How did thirteen come to symbolize bad luck? What heinous crime did it perpetrate to be labelled Bad Luck King of the number world?

Nobody’s quite certain.

One of the most popular theories as to its ill-fated origins is the Christian one regarding Judas Iscariot being the 13^th member to arrive at the Last Supper. While this idea may have spread the fateful notion of a bad luck thirteen, it was probably not its origin. However, the superstition of 13 being an unlucky number at a dinner party has some validity, and goes back to Norse mythology. In some versions of the story of the Death of Baldr, the trickster god Loki is the thirteenth (and uninvited) guest at a celebration feast. It is at this celebration Loki tricks the god Höðr into killing Baldr with mistletoe. So one could see how thirteen guests might now seem unlucky at a dinner party, and perhaps spill over into other areas.

But this idea of “bad luck thirteen” doesn’t translate well past Western culture. 

Ancient Egyptians and Aztecs considered the number fortuitous, and in some Asian culture, the number four is the unlucky one. Perhaps it is simply a matter of poor thirteen being in the wrong place and the wrong time, and labelled bad for eternity.

Some Tidbits:

• In folklore tradition, thirteen turns make a traditional hangman's noose (In actual practice not so much)
• Some airplanes have no 13th row and some airports skip the 13th gate
• Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
• Friday the 13th can only occur in months starting with Sunday
• The actual fear of the number thirteen is called triskaidekaphobia
• Triskaidekaphilia is the love of the number 13
• Thirteen at Dinner is a US title of an Agatha Christie mystery novel

Further reading:

http://www.bannergraphic.com/story/1501712.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html

http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/whats-so-unlucky-about-the-number-13

http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/cultures/mythology-and-folklore-of-friday-the-thirteenth.html

http://paranormalstories.blogspot.ca/2012/01/13-facts-about-number-13.html

http://mysticalnumbers.com/number-13/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/23266/13-reasons-people-think-number-13-unlucky

And now for the Giveaways!

You can check out my Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway! (live until October 31st) by clicking on the Giveaway Tab at the top of the blog or this link: Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway!

And here's my October Frights Book Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now you can continue on your journey, and check out the rest of the Blog Hop and the delights these wonderful people have in store.

An InLinkz Link-up

Drabble Wednesday: #OctoberFrights Edition

Welcome to Day 3 of the October Frights Blog Hop!

And to the very special October Frights Edition of Drabble Wednesday!

Prepare for a trio of macabre tales full of bloody chills and spooky thrills.

Plus, there are Giveaways!

Now on with the stories...

Be Very Quiet

The sound of rapid breathing is very loud in my ears.

It’s mine.

I steady myself. I have be quiet. No noise as I make my way through the house. I don’t want to call attention to myself. I just need to find the front door. I’m close, I can feel it. It won’t be long. I’m nearly there. I can do this. Step by silent step, until...

Wait. I can see a faint sliver of light reflecting through the front hall window.

And a crawling shadow.

Yes. I’ve found her.

My hand tightens on the knife and I smile.

~*~

A Little Rhyme, A Little Blood

“Hickory dickory dead,

Daddy did hit his head.

I smashed and I bashed

as Mother did gasp,

and over the floor he bled.”

Amelia giggled as she finished her rhyme, while her trussed up mother whimpered in the corner.

“Did you like my poem, Mother?”

No answer.

Amelia stepped over her father’s corpse, and walked through his brain matter to kneel beside her mother, a bloody crowbar in her hand.

She repeated, “Did you like my poem, Mother?”

This time a shaky voice answered, “Yes, Amelia. It was very clever.”

“Good. I don’t want to have to kill you yet.”

~*~

By the Moon

Do you see me?

I want to pretend I don’t hear the voice, or see the dark haired woman at the edge of the mist and moonlight. But it won’t matter. She’ll still be there... haunting me.

Why won’t she go away?

I felt sorry for her at first, always hovering around the gravestones after midnight, calling into the darkness. How could I not respond to her? I thought if I talked to her, she’d find peace.

Instead she found obsession.

Now I can’t be rid of her.

What’s a ghost to do when the living won’t leave them alone?

© A. F. Stewart 2016 All Rights Reserved

And now for the Giveaways!

You can check out my Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway! (live until October 31st) by clicking on the Giveaway Tab at the top of the blog or this link: Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway!

And here's my October Frights Book Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now you can continue on your journey, and check out the rest of the Blog Hop and the delights these wonderful people have in store.

An InLinkz Link-up

The Official Launch of Horror Haiku and Other Poems! #OctoberFrights Day 2

On this second day of the October Frights Blog Hop, I am officially launching my new book of horror poetry, Horror Haiku and Other Poems, so today I give a peek at this delightfully dark book. Plus, there's a small poetry excerpt from the book, the book trailer, a link to the Facebook launch party, and two giveaways for copies of the book and a poster of the creepy cover art.

Horror Haiku and Other Poems

Words linger... 

In the darkness of shadows, in the distant screams. 

They whisper past the drip, drip of blood. 

The strange beauty of words hide, waiting for you.

Embrace the horror.

Venture past safe reality, into the world of terror told in verse. Horror Haiku and Other Poems brings forth surreal dread and spins it in artistic countenance. From small chilling bites of poetry, to murky morsels of fright, come find where the words haunt you, where they live and die. 

Horror Haiku and Other Poems is available on:

Amazon US

Amazon Canada

Smashwords

iTunes

Kobo

And for the month of October you can get it for only .99 cents!

And now a bit of how the book came to be...

This compilation was born from the murky recesses of social media (otherwise known as Twitter) and the blood-dripping delights of #HorrorHaikuesday. As part of that weekly event I had written many creepy poems in the haiku style, so I took those bits of verse, mixed in a few more longer style poems, and pulled Horror Haiku and Other Poems out of my publishing hat. The book contains thirty-eight haiku style poems and eighteen longer form poems to form its black innards, along with some appropriately spooky accompanying photos.

An Excerpt:

Shadows over rust

Forsaken carnival fun

mask the gate to Hell

~*~

I can’t see well. Pain.

My wife is holding something.

My eyeball. I scream.

~*~


Book Trailer

I'm holding a poetry slam over on Facebook today if you'd like to drop by: 

The Horror Haiku Poetry Slam

And now for the Giveaways!

You can check out my Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway! (live until October 31st) by clicking on the Giveaway Tab at the top of the blog or this link: Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway!

And here's my October Frights Book Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now you can continue on your journey, and check out the rest of the Blog Hop and the delights these wonderful people have in store.

An InLinkz Link-up

#OctoberFrights Begins! Blog Hop Day 1

Greetings my minions, and welcome to another October Frights Blog Hop!

And a Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians!

Salutations All and Beware the Monsters!

2016 OCTOBER FRIGHTS BLOG HOP

A Frightful Blog Hop Celebrating

All Things That Go Bump in the Night

This event of spooky chills will run from October 10^th until the 15^th, where a rabid horde (don’t worry we don’t bite) of paranormal and horror writers are serving up dark delights to scare and thrill you.

Here’s what coming this week on Are You Afraid of the Dark?

• October 10^th: The introduction to the blog hop and the flash fiction story How To Prepare A Feast For Unusual Guests
• October 11^th: A book spotlight for my new release, the poetry book Horror Haiku and Other Poems
• October 12^th: An October Frights version of Drabble Wednesday
• October 13^th: A folklore post on the number 13
• October 14^th: A flash fiction story, The Horseman
• October 15^th: A peek at the Brain to Books Cyber Convention and Book Expo, with a focus on their horror event spectacular Blood Spring. Also, there will be a bit of short fiction called Salt Wind and Bones to see off the end of the hop.

Plus, I have not one but two Rafflecopter giveaways for copies of my new book and a poster of the book cover. Check them out at the bottom of the post, after the story.

So now on with the story...

How To Prepare A Feast For Unusual Guests

“No, no, no! I want iced monkey brains for dessert! Not monkey brain soufflé!” These chefs were idiots. “If I serve monkey brain soufflé I’ll be eaten alive.” Literally. “If you can’t get it right I’ll change the menu to iced chef’s brains!”

I took satisfaction in watching the colour drain from his face and shocked fear pervade his eyes. He scurried back to the kitchen, hopefully to prepare the correct dish.

I turned my attention back to the décor. The black candles awaited lighting, placed strategically along the table in gold candlesticks. Pure gold, no iron or silver allowed at this dinner party. Which made acquiring cutlery difficult, but luckily I found some gold sets in storage. Storage also produced an exquisite black and gold set of china dishware. It looked sumptuous against the crimson table cloth with matching placemats and napkins.

Thankfully, my predecessor was a pack rat.

I walked the long table, eyeing the centerpieces, checking their proper positioning. The florist did a magnificent job of arranging the dead roses and dried leaves. They looked as if they had been moldering on a grave for weeks, and smelled as bad.

The guests will adore them. At least I hope they will. They are so mercurial.

Next I checked the curtains, making certain the heavy red velvet drapes were drawn tight, and then turned each sconce down to the lowest light setting. I stepped back and surveyed that the room for the ideal ambience.

Perfect. Dim, but not too dark, with enough shadows to set the mood. Now for the last menu check.

I scanned my copy.

Appetizers

Sautéed Eyeballs on Sliced Mozzarella

Rice Cakes in Garlic Bile Salsa

Salad

Radicchio and Arugula with Goat Cheese, Toasted Fingernails and Almonds

Topped with Berry Balsamic Dressing

Entrée

Seared Lung with Roasted Garlic

Braised Heart with Wild Mushrooms

Roasted Potatoes

Green Beans Almandine

Dessert

Iced Monkey Brains with Blood Sauce

Everything looked suitable.

And the meat would be fresh killed. They always appreciated that touch. Last night’s delivery of those unfortunate ladies topped off our larder. Thank heaven for seedy bars. People are so much easier to kidnap when they’re drunk. Not to mention alcohol creates a nice marinade to tenderize the meat.

As I mused, satisfied everything was perfect, the hotel’s internal bell chimed.

Ah, the first of the guests have awakened. Wonderful. You can always count on the monsters to be prompt…

~*~

And now for the Giveaways!

You can check out my Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway! (live until October 31st) by clicking on the Giveaway Tab at the top of the blog or this link: Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway!

And here's my October Frights Book Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now you can continue on your journey, and check out the rest of the Blog Hop and the delights these wonderful people have in store.

An InLinkz Link-up

Drabble Wednesday: Changing Seasons

In honour of the first Drabble Wednesday for October, come join the telling of a few tales of the seasons...

Winter Chill

The first nip of true cold in the air, a shiver that slowly burrows under the skin and buries itself. That’s when you know. Winter will arrive soon. If you haven’t prepared by then, it’s too late. By that beginning taste of winter, your stores should have been gathered and stocked.

And your final arrangements reviewed and amended if necessary.

Because you never know who’ll die.

Maybe no one, if the winter’s mild. The food will last, and the snow won’t smother. That’s what you hope for. That’s why you pray to the gods.

But sometimes, they want a sacrifice.

~*~

Spring Thaw

The birds are chirping outside the kitchen window these mornings, a sure sign spring is coming. And I saw a crocus poking out its green shoots by the doorstep, so I expect the last of the snow will be melting soon, though it’ll be a while farther up the mountainside.

Does my heart glad to see the change in season. It’s been a hard winter with my husband gone, even if I’m happy he ain’t around no more.

I just hope I buried the body deep enough. Wouldn’t do to have it popping out of the ground in the thaw.

~*~

Summer’s End

A sultry wind blows through the cherry trees, rustling the green leaves, and the ripened fruit. Soon it will be time for last harvest, and the leaves will turn to vibrant warm colour. But, for now, the final bit of summer lingers.

These are beautiful moments, this suspended measure between seasons, between the thriving and the waning of nature. You can feel them mesh and merge, separate and struggle, the everlasting war twixt life and death.

Like me.

No wonder I feel a natural kinship.

I died in this cherry grove. Now, as a wandering ghost, I live here eternally.

~*~

© A. F. Stewart 2016 All Rights Reserved

That’s it for this week, but be sure to pop back next week for a special October Frights horror version of Drabble Wednesday, as part of the week long October Frights Blog Hop.