Tag Archives: Gothic

A Haunting We will Go – to Quebec!

June 24, 2017Ghost Tour, Gothic, Quebec, Worcester State College French ClubGhost Tour, Gothic, Quebec, Worcester State College French Clubhealy24yang

At the end of May, Yang and I had the good fortune to join the WSU French Club’s trip to Quebec City. The tours of the history, churches, and gorgeous natural landmarks were wonderful but the treat of the treats was our Saturday night Ghost Tour of the city. We gathered in an old stone courtyard on a lovely, softly lit evening and met our guide, a delightful ghoul who in life had been a city executioner in the 18th century. So, he could tell us the history, as well as the scandals, of city – both could be mixed! For example, we learned that he, like his predecessors and successors, got his job by agreeing to take it on in lieu of being executed for being involved in a fatal tavern brawl. Of course the aristocrat also involved got off while he had taken the entire rap – class privileges . . .

Still, he had a wonderful sense of humor about the situation, and was always solicitous enough to warn us about the “evil machines” (i.e. autos) when we crossed the streets. He also warned us against the various not-so-solicitous ghouls whom we met along the way. Listening to them bantering back and forth with our guide, we learned quite a bit about the laws, customs, and mores of the early settlement, with a healthy dollop of scandal thrown in.

This lovely lady ghost is picking out one of the students to be her third husband, after the first two accidentally-on-purpose died at her hands. He looks a little nervous, doesn’t he? He managed to tap dance out of the situation deftly. My friend Kathy Heal(e)y on the right seems to be enjoying the situation. We also learned that the punishment for women who committed murder, even if they had no one to protect them from vicious or brutal husbands, was harsh and merciless, silently bringing home the injustice of pure patriarchal power.

This charming ghost had an equally charming tale to tell about how a family friend traveling with her, her husband, and children went insane and axed them all to death. Well, she was lucky enough to crawl, wounded, to a farmhouse, tell her story, then die. Those Great White North Winters must have been brutal.

In this scene, our ghostly guide explains the complications of what happened in divorces when the wife cheated on the husband, versus the husband on the wife. Using some of us folks to represent husband- who-spends-too-much-time chopping trees, lonely wife, and overly friendly male neighbor, our ghoul worked it all out for us with an analogy about apple pies. All I know is that Yang better not go testing anyone else’s recipe. I think Yang is trying to formulate the explanation into a Venn diagram in the picture

Then there was my encounter with the ghoul – a ghoul who had a grudge against our guide and planned to work it out with his axe – first on him then on us! So when our guide turned to me (!?) for support, I went into high gear. Forgive the plethora of pictures; I’m an unrepentant hambone! I went all method actory and reached within for fierceness. My motivation: plagiarism! In my most lowering teacher voice, I threatened the poor haunt with every punishment ever devised in the Academic Code of Conduct for Cheating if he dared lift a skeletal finger against my friendly ghoul or the folks in our tour. I backed the poor soul across the square! It was quite liberating. I think I scared a ghost! Ah, it was a tough semester!

But at the end we moved down to the lower city where we saw all the neat, European-styled shops and heard tales of ancient churches and threats of revolt, before all coming together is the dusk to commemorate out journey into an eerie past with a wonderful troupe of actors!

Worcester Gargoyles

February 9, 2017architecture, gargoyles, Gothic, New England, Worcesterchurch architecture, gargoyles, Gothic, New England, Union congregational Church, Worcesterhealy24yang

Being a Gothic kind of a gal, I’ve been fascinated by the gargoyles I’ve found on churches in Worcester. There may be more than these three examples, but these churches caught my eye.

The first example is a single, friendly gargoyle that curves along a corner of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church on Southbridge Street. He gracefully curls his undercarriage toward you, his wings unfurl smoothly, and he seems to offer a friendly smile. Unlike traditional gargoyles, designed to scare away demons or to embody the sin and monstrosity lurking in the human soul, he almost seems to embody the thought that what we may judge monstrous, out of our own fears and prejudices, may actually be good and loving. An interesting thought, right?

All Saints’ Church has two gargoyle guardians on its tower. These fierce protectors are poised and ready take flight and dive bomb whatever demonic threats to the parish’s spiritual stability may lurk in the environs of Irving Street, Worcester, Ma. The church has played host to the Worcester State Chorale performances, and the acoustics for their exquisite singing was breath taking!

The final church has a veritable feast of gargoyles, although some have disappeared mysteriously since first I sighted them. Did they fly away? Don’t blink, then, Dr. Who fans! Originally, the Union Congregational Church and later the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, this building is magnificent.Now it is administered by Preservation Worcester. The church has been likened to a scaled down version of Notre Dame de Paris. Not as many gargoyles, but a respectable showing nonetheless. Apparently, the missing gargoyle did not fly off (no Mr. Norell around), but was removed and sold to clear debts (see WT&G story.) The gargoyles that remain are, indeed, something else. My husband and I took these photos early in January, when streams of frozen ice lent the creatures a special beauty. We see that this poor chap seems to be feeling the cold intensely. Perhaps he’s existing multi-dimensionally: here and on Dante’s ninth level of hell. Looks as if he has the satanic wings with which to create the freezing air. He’s clearly not enjoying himself.

Or maybe he’s just guarding the front entrance to the church against the incursion of demons with his pal here.

These are the only churches with gargoyles that I know of in Worcester. If you know of more, please let me know; I’d love to find them. I find it interesting that though the Protestant Reformation slammed the Catholic Church for superstitious, distracting, and gaudy decorations, none of these gargoyle-inhabited churches are Catholic. They’re all Protestant. Go figure – just don’t blink.

A Visit to the Cloisters

December 24, 2016Cemeteries, Christmas, Cloisters, gardens, Gothic, Jessie Douglas Kerriush, medieval, monastery, Mount Saint Michel, sacred art, Saint Barbara, tomb stones, unicornCemeteries, Cloisters, Gothic, New York City, sacred art, unicornhealy24yang

Many moons ago, back in grad school, my friend Andrea Rossi Reder told me about this wonderful museum of Medieval and Renaissance art, the Cloisters, that was constructed like a medieval cloistered monastery. It took me a few years to get there, but my husband and I visited one spring some time ago. It was a beautiful place, near Fort Tryon Park, overlooking the Hudson River. I not only enjoyed all the exquisite art and the ancient-styled construction, but loved wandering the herbal garden in the sun and warmth of spring. Last week, my husband proved is is indeed “goals” by taking me back there after another stretch of many years. This winter visit had charms of its own. I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed the museum.

After taking the A-train from the 125th St. station, we hopped the 100 Bus to St. Nicholas Street, then another subway, and we were right outside Fort Tryon Park. Crossing the park showed us the bleak beauty of winter, the red bar berry bushes, crimson hemlock berries, and the frosty-blue berries of another type evergreen. We even got to see a fluffy, black squirrel, rare in my neck of the woods. Then the Cloisters loomed through the trees against azure shading down to soft winter-blue skies .

These sculpture, likely not Medieval, greeted us as we made our way up the drive. We took turns guessing what the hell they were as we approached. I hit the jackpot with the conjecture of, “Pears?” For once, modern sculpture stuck in the middle of nature didn’t appear so terribly intrusive.

I like this shot of the arched entry way. Note the cobblestone drive way. We had to dodge a few not so Medieval buses dropping off passengers here. I’ll apologize in advance for not having pictures of Yang. We used his Ipad and I hate trying to take pictures with the darned thing.

After entering and moving through the great hall, we moved off to the side to the square surrounding the cloisters garden, now closed off from us by glass – allowing us to look out at the neatly mown ghost of the summer garden, while keeping the December cold outside. During the warmer months, this area is all open. When I visited Mont St. Michel and saw their cloister garden growing within the monastery, high atop the island mountain, I realized the inspiration for the Cloisters garden. Even with winter’s hand stilling the garden, the December sunshine filled the indoor court surrounding it with brightness and beauty. The carvings on the capitals of the columns were fascinating – humans, beasts (mythological and fanciful), gods – I could swear I saw C’thullu.

We went back into the building proper, then wandered from room to interconnected room, drinking in the sacred images culled from monasteries, churches, and castles – excited to find these treasures opened up to our experience, but, perhaps, a bit troubled that they had been stripped from their original homes. Still, here, they are restored, protected, and cherished. Towards the end of our meander, we came across this carved altar with the golden reliquaries of a saint and her attendants – I think St. Ursula.

Female and male martyrs of the early Church were honored in stained glass, wooden statuary, and paintings. There were tons of artwork of St. Margaret. However, in honor of my BFF Barbara, I have to include this statue of St. Barbara.

From the other side of the arch in the same chamber, here is one of my favorite statues of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus. She is clothed in the sun and stands on the crescent moon. Just to the left, you can see a carving of St. Christopher bearing the child Jesus. These statues are more colorful than some of the others. I don’t remember if their paint had been restored. Most likely the case.

Here are some more particularly striking carvings of Virgin and Child. What must the colors have been like when this piece was even relatively new? The thought takes my breath away. If you can look closely at the folds of Mary’s robes and the strands of her hair, you’ll be filled with amazement at the workmanship. Truly, this work is a loving prayer.

Similarly, look at this exquisite piece. I am amazed at the fluid drapery of the folds of her clothing, the mobile shape of her body, and the moving tenderness of her expression. The soft shining polish of this wood dissolves any impression of stiffness and immobility. The statue seems a fluid prayer of gentleness, love, and faith. What a pity the Protestant Reformation looked at these works and only saw “painted idols” instead of art’s living prayer to God.

There is also a room in the lowest level, at the far end of the gallery, designed like a crypt, that displays effigies. The ceiling is shaped into beautifully vaulted Gothic arches – again, I remembered Mont St. Michel. I noticed one family had a faithful dog under the feet of the various sculpted forms of generations of its nobility. The novel The Undying Monster gives an intriguing play to this custom as a hint to the UM haunting its family through innumerable generations. I guess when I go, they will have to surround me with effigies of my plethora of cats!

We also made it into the unicorn room, with all the famous tapestries. I was not pleased to see so many unicorns so mistreated. No wonder they’re so hard to find nowadays – or it could have to do with the dearth of virgins. Nevertheless, I couldn’t report on a visit to the Cloisters without a picture of the most famous unicorn tapestry.

There were also displays of jewelry, fine utensils, and various types of game boards. There were several chess boards with figures carved from ivory or bone (whose?!), often with the knight displaying an accurate depiction of armor on man and horse. My favorite was this chess set made out of amber. If you look closely at the board, you can see pictures created in the chess squares.

Of course, we also did some touristy things in town. After a wonderful dinner at Alice’s Teacup – with equally wonderful tea! – we went to Rockefeller Center and got a look at the famous tree as well as the skating rink.

So, by eight o’clock or so, we were on our train, heading back to Connecticut. Our dogs might have been barking, but we ended the day culturally and spiritually enlightened.

Halloween Reading Treats!

October 25, 20161940s mystery, Autumn, Dorothy Mcardle, Film Noir, Gene Teirney, Gothic, Gothic literature, Halloween, Jessie Douglas Kerriush, Mary Wollstonecraft, mystery, suspense, The Sign of the Ram, The Uninivted, UncategorizedAutumn, Dorothy Mcardle, Gothic, H.P. Lovecraft, Halloween, Jessie Douglas Kerruish, Mary Wollstonecraft, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Sign of the Ramhealy24yang

Every October, I like to have some bedtime reading that suits the season. I just finished two new books: Midnight Fires and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. The first is a mystery by Nancy Means Wright that features Mary Wollstonecraft as its intrepid detective. Wollstonecraft is a great choice for the role, as anyone who has read her Vindications would agree that she has all the nerve, smarts, and wit to boldly ask the questions and dig the dirt necessary for an investigator. Her being cast in this role makes perfect sense. The novel is set during Wollstonecraft’s tenure as governess to the aristocratic Kingsborough family in Ireland and does a neat job of characterizing “the troubles.” We also get good views of the workings of the Kingsborough family, as well as how contemporary views of women have stunted and warped them – right in line with MW’s own writings. The descriptions of the landscapes are a pleasure to read as well. Not least of all, the mystery has some neat twists and turns.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was a pleasantly amusing visit with the supernatural – a low key, smile-inducing progress of Lucy/Lucia Muir’s liberation from oppressive Edwardian propriety to become a mischievous, independent woman – with a little help from a frank and fiery sea captain’s ghost – though she was already well on her way to freedom before they met at Gull Cottage. There are some significant changes from book to film, but both work equally well. I do think that Gene Tierney gives Lucia Muir a bit more power than the character in the book.

There are four books that I usually return to once I finish any new prizes for the month: The Uninvited (Dorothy Mcardle), The Sign of the Ram (Margaret Ferguson), The Undying Monster (Jessie Douglas Kerriush), and Redeeming Time (me, unpublished – yet!). What I admire in the first three (and try to emulate in the fourth), is the depth of characterization, the creation of a powerful mystical/eerie atmosphere, the vividness of the landscapes, and the intelligence of the storylines. What makes them such a pleasure to read is their authors’ deftness with language: there’s enough detail to savor and shape your imagination but no excess or filler. Right now, I’m working on The Uninvited. I review it and The Sign of the Ram on this web site, under Golden Age Mysteries. The Undying Monster is part of the psychic detective genre, with a woman psychic brought in to help a scientist uncover the nature of the beast that has ravaged an ancient British family for centuries and now threatens to destroy his two close friends. The novel deftly captures the post WWI fascination with psychic phenomenon and leads characters and readers into the dark depths of ancient ruins, crypts, and family history to reach a final, mystical resolution – and it’s a fun ride!

What’s Redeeming Time about? Think H. P. Lovecraft meets film noir meets Indiana Jones meets Val Lewton.

Image of Gene Tierney from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir copyright 1946, 20th-Century Fox (http://classicbeckybrainfood.blogspot.com/2010/08/just-thought.html)

Horrors of the Yang Manse

October 24, 2016Autumn, Gothic, Halloween, Hallpween Decorations, pumpkinsAutumn, Gothic, Halloween, Halloween Decorations, New Englandhealy24yang

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So, last week, I showed you what the outside of the Yang House of Horrors looked like. Here, I will give you some images of the interior decorations. How about a look at the evil bride who faced you as you ascended the stairs in the gloom of the evening?

This creature looks especially scary, when you bathe her in a black light!

Of course, when you look down the corridor, you want to be greeted and guided by Halloween denizens.

Then, you defiintely need a comforting night light when you hit the bathroom on an eerie night like this.

We also have charming candles to guide you back down the stairs.

Watch out for otherworldly visitors peering in the window, maybe trying to lure you off to perdition. All I said to my friend Judy was, “Oh, Look. There’s someone in the window behind you.” And this lost soul prompted a shriek from my pal. Judy still comes to my house, but she’s a little leery about glancing out the windows now.

The fireplace also has its share of holiday decor, including our home grown pumpkins! These bad boys/girls started growing as early as April and developed into lovely, strong pumpkins. We haven’t grown anything this big since we lived in Connecticut!

Now, my problem is going to be trying to measure up to these decorations and those of years past. Ah well, who will I creep out this year? The trick is to place your creatures in shadows so that imagination does a large part of the work – especially when you hear sounds or glimpse preternatural beings in places where you wouldn’t expect them. Unfortunately, those kind of shadows don’t lend themselves to clear photographs, so they are hard to capture and present to you in pictures.

So, I’ll close with this goblin wishing you a fare thee well from atop his pumpkin throne! Enjoy your holiday, and be careful whom you invite to cross your threshold!

Once More, DON’T BLINK!

August 1, 2016Cemeteries, Don't Blink, Nature, New England, tomb stonesCemeteries, Gothic, Nature, New Englandhealy24yang

Recently, Yang and I decided to take a stroll in one of our favorite cemeteries, Mt. Auburn in Cambridge, MA. So, to avoid the July heat and try to catch sight of some interesting birds, we left early in the morning and managed to get in around 8:00. Parking in a slightly different location, we almost immediately came across this monument to Edwin Booth, a famous Shakespearean actor of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, his mental health in later years led him to take the method acting thing a bit too far, his Richard III indomitably driving Richmond off the stage and his Othello trying to strangle Desdemona for real – maybe an inspiration for Ronald Colman’s A Double Life? Still, he posed far less of danger than one of his actor sons, John Wilkes.

Here you can see some wonderful reliefs carved on series of family tomb stones.

This beautiful woman, perhaps an embodiment of the soul, presides over a family vault.

Walking up the hill towards the tower that gives a beautiful panorama of the cemetery as well as of Boston and its environs, the slope that rolls down into the rest of the cemetery provides a peaceful, shaded landscape. This day we didn’t see any exciting creatures at the top of the tower, which you ascend via a spiral stone staircase in the center. Once, when we were up there, we saw several hawks circling. Here’s a nice shot the stone path leading up to the tower. I also had to take a photograph of the enormous roots of this ancient tree snaking across and underground. There’s a Lovecraft moment in here somewhere.

From lectures on cemetery tours and material I’ve read on monument art, I feel fairly safe conjecturing that the kneeling female figure represents the soul of the recently departed and the angel’s lifting a cloak from her represents this sacred figure lifting the veil of life cloaking us from God’s radiance, preparing the soul to ascend to heaven. Interesting that the soul usually is portrayed as female. A connection to the goddess Psyche?

Another intriguing relief. Any comments on the symbolism?

Here’s a figure to give all the Dr. Who fans the willies. How would you feel if this child cherub came to life? A comforting figure or not?

Yang Speaks!

March 30, 20161940s mystery, Bait and Switch, cats, Dusty, Film Actors, Film Noir, Gothic literature, H.P. Lovecraft, Hallpween Decorations, Horror films, HPLHS, mystery, Smart-Talking Gals, suspense, World War IIBait and Switch, cats, film noir, Gothic, H.P. Lovecraft, H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, Halloween, Jessica Minton, mystery novels, The Great God Pan, writinghealy24yang

So, to keep you entertained while you breathlessly await the forthcoming blogs on my appearance at The Book Lover’s Gourmet and my adventures at the Shakespeare of America Convention in New Orleans, here’s a link to an audio interview with me by Pat Driscoll for The New Worcester Spy. It contains more details on my interests in film noir and horror, on film and on the page, and even a little more on my background. Just click here. It’s what Dusty would want!

On Tour for Dracula

November 29, 2015Cemeteries, Dracula, England, English Robin, George Eliot, Gothic, Gothic literature, Highgate Cemetery, medieval, monastery, Nature, Whitby AbbeyCemeteries, Dracula, George Eliot, Gothic, Highgate Cemetery, Whitby Abbeyhealy24yang

So, the last work we’re covering for my Romantic and Victorian Gothic course is Dracula, on December 2nd. For “educational” purposes, I’m going to post some pictures that Yang and I took on our visits to England in 2013 and 2015. The first trip was a kind of “English major’s dream.” We visited Tintern Abbey, the Lake Country, Haworth and Whitby in Yorkshire, and in London St. Pancras Cemetery, Samuel Johnson’s House, Highgate Cemetery, and other neat places. So, let’s start with images from Whitby that correspond to events in Dracula.

Here is a shot of the cemetery for the Church of St. Mary’s, overlooking the harbor. You can even see a few graves that might have been the very ones that Mina and Lucy sat upon – where Lucy was attacked by the evil Count and where he hid out during the day.

Here are some of the views of the harbor that the young gals would have see from their spot – or Dracula if he peeked through the cracks of his sepulcher hideyhole. Note the man-made breakwater with its lighthouse, described in the novel.

The brilliant roofs on the houses perhaps inspired Stoker’s emphasis of red predominating his descriptions of the town.

The other arm of the harbor stretches mightily outward. You can see the depth of the harbor just by noting the height of the opposite cliff.

You get the same impression looking at the abbey and St. Mary’s from the heights above the beach and the concert pavilion.

Mina must have lied. She could never have run up these stairs in her bare feet. The girl must have had her New Balance sneakers on – and collapsed when she got to the top!

Here are some shots of the magnificent ruins themselves.

Notice me in the corner for scale.

The other Dracula portion of my tour was at Highgate Cemetery. There are actually two sides to the cemetery. One is called the Old Highgate and the other the New. They’re both pretty old, but Yang and I figure that the encounters with Lucy’s Undead self probably occurred in New Highgate, since she would have been buried in 1897. We weren’t there in the middle of the night; that’s frowned on. So, our pictures are all in daylight – they wouldn’t have looked too good with only flash light, anyway. Still, these pics definitely capture the eeriness – especially if you are a Dr. Who fan. Don’t blink!

The graves are closely crowded, so you can imagine how easy Dr.Van Helsing and the boys would have had it finding a place to hide and peek at the vampires. I don’t know how overgrown the landscape would have been about 120 years ago, though.

You can’t forget to visit some of the famous folk buried here, like George Eliot.

And my husband said hello to one of the more fiery of the Marx Brothers, Karl. I guess Van Helsing and Co. were in too much of a rush to pay any literary/political social calls.

To end on an adorable note, enjoy the English Robin on the tomb stone, though you might have to click on the picture and enlarge it to see him/her.

Or this fox, who is way too adorable to fall under Dracula’s evil sway.

Don’t Blink!

August 6, 2015Cemeteries, Don't Blink, GothicAngels, Cemeteries, Don't blink, Gothic, ST. Georgehealy24yang

Don’t Blink! – Cemetery Artistry

Last year, in August, my husband and I drove to Stratford, Ontario for the Shakespeare Festival, to see Antony and Cleopatra. On the way, we stayed over in Rochester to break up our trip. Once before we’d been to the city and had been driven past two wonderful cemeteries. We decided that if we ever came back to town, we had to visit. We love the nineteenth-century “Romantic-style” cemeteries, most of them based on Mt. Auburn in Cambridge: sloping grounds, ponds, shady trees, a beautiful parklike setting. As a matter of fact, when these cemeteries were originally designed, the idea was for the whole family to take a Sunday afternoon and picnic, relaxing in the beautiful scenery, communing with nature, and visiting with lost beloveds. The exquisite, evocative, wistful statuary creates a mood of delicious melancholy –– though Whovians may feel far different emotions when surrounded by (seeming) stone weeping angels.

These two cemeteries face each other across a busy road. Yang and I started on the side without the redstone, castle-like gates. I don’t remember the names, but I bet my friend Tim Shaw could tell me!

The first cemetery that we visited was Catholic, which is brought home by the beautiful statuary of saints and angels.

This large monument celebrated St. Joseph, holding his “step son” Jesus. I love the angels flanking on both sides. It was extremely hard to get a picture without too much shadowing. I always liked St. Joseph. He was a good Dad, and my father’s middle name was Joseph – and he was a wonderful dad as well.

Here are two of the St. Anthonys immortalized, also holding baby Jesus. Clearly St. Anthony is a popular patron saint in Rochester. Maybe this is St. Anthony’s Cemetery, or a lot of people were praying to find something they’d lost- he’s the patron saint of finding what’s been lost. Whatever the case, they are so wonderfully sculpted. The faces show such deep and beautiful feeling. the graceful folds of the robes seem ready to shift with the breeze or a movement. And the mossy covering adds a lovely Gothic shading.

St. George and the Dragon, no less! This guy’s family clearly thought he was a champion of . . . what? Pretty impressive, huh? The monument is actually much wider, with statuary on the sides. Many of these graves had such elaborate stones that had arches and side statuary. Two other places you see a lot of these kind of elaborate tombs are at Sleepy Hollow in Tarrytown and Woodlawn in the Bronx. Note that this is one one really long monument.

There were also many of the traditional weeping ladies and powerful angels that you find in many Victorian cemeteries. Again, some are still smooth, while others are mossy, but all have a lovely melancholy to them.

Look at this child, someone’s little girl. The closeup shot of her face lets us see her as a real person. Look at the sadness in her expression as she holds a basket of flowers as delicate, lovely, and evanescent as her own life.

I’m particularly fascinated by this brooding woman, standing tall, but not quite able to look us in the eye. Still, she’s peeking through one uncovered eye. Or maybe she just has a really bad migraine? Anyway, Dr. Who fans would probably think she’s trying to cheat.

Across the street and past the redstone gates it was much shadier; there were far more trees. And this was a brutally hot August afternoon. You can tell by how washed out the sky looks in some of the shots how brilliant the sun was that day. As my physicist husband pointed out, the UV was baaad. I have to point out some images of my favorite monument, the greiveing angel. This figure was actually a tad unnerving, but beautiful. The grace of the carving made it seem on the verge of movement. And those enormous wings hinted at an unsettling power. So here are two shots.

Again, Dr. Who-followers, keep your eyes open!