Halloween Head
Happy Halloween! Merry Samhain! The day of all days is here! Today is the perfect day to let go of heaviness, the things of the past, and set good and new intentions as the season changes to winter.
I have had a SPOOKTACULAR Halloween season and year so far and wanted to reflect on and highlight some of my favorite things to celebrate HALLOWEEN.
I was so excited to go on a mini excursion to celebrate my favorite season of all! I went to visit the inaugural Pumpkin Nights at Silver Dollar City Amusement Park in Branson, MO this past weekend.
Branson is a quick three hour drive from where I live and I have lots of fun and fond memories going to Silver Dollar City with my family growing up. It was always a summer vacation spot for us, but I’ve never been to visit this late in the year. The last time I was there was in the summer when I had to have been about 11 or 12 years old.
Let me tell you something though about this trip – the fall foliage driving through the Ozarks this time of year is absolutely magical. I was having an equally fun time soaking in all of the colors of the leaves as I did enjoying the masterfully carved pumpkins in the theme park.
If you would like to take a look at what the first ever Pumpkin Nights is like, keep on reading to see lots of photos!
Continue reading “Halloween Travels: Harvest Festival and Pumpkin Nights at Silver Dollar City”
The bizarre yet true tale of one of my ancestors, Elmer McCurdy, is an example of when the dead don’t die (cue Sturgill Simpson now).
My dad shared with me that all McCurdy’s in the U.S. were descended from the same Scottish family that came here many years ago – therefore we claim Elmer McCurdy as a long lost uncle. He is notably the most famous family member I have, but famous for the wrong reasons.
What makes his story so bizarre is that he was not laid to rest until 66 years after his death. He had just as much of an interesting life after death as he had during his life. He’s the outlaw that just wouldn’t give up and still haunted the living…
Continue reading “The True Tale of Elmer McCurdy: My Family’s Ghost Story”
This weekend has been SPOOKTACULAR. I made it out to the inaugural Texas Haunters Convention in Mesquite, TX. I do not have much history related to convention attendance, so I’m never quite sure what to expect when I arrive at these events. It’s good to go into something with a sense of wonder instead of expecting too much or too little.
The convention is a cash and carry style two day Halloween convention geared towards haunt owners, industry professionals, home haunters, families, trick-or-treaters, and Halloween lovers (I fall into the latter category)! The event is open to the public with the purchase of a ticket. There are also live demos, classes and make-and-takes sessions that are available to attendees for an additional fee.
I had so much fun seeing all of the AMAZING and talented crafters, creators, and haunters at this event. The event had over 70 booths consisting of vendors, haunters, guests, and more.
What made this event even more enjoyable was spending it with my Halloween friends! I FINALLY got to meet my inspiration behind starting my very own blog, the queen of Halloween herself, and in my opinion a total internet Halloween celeb – Miranda, the ghoul behind Spooky Little Halloween!
Continue reading “A trip to the 2019 Texas Haunters Convention”
A place is defined by it’s past – or the ghosts that are left behind. Tulsa, OK is no different than any other city in the U.S. , or in the world for that matter, because it has its fair share of ghosts.
I had the privilege to go on a Tulsa Spirit Tour a few days before Halloween this year! If you are a Tulsa history buff, you are interested in a city’s history, or just love a good ghost story – you need to a book a tour. They offer a variety of different tours throughout the year, but my husband and my friends and I chose the classic haunted Tulsa bus excursion. I went on the tour about ten years ago when it was a Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa (P.I.T.T.) Tour. Teri French, founder of P.I.T.T. and her ghost hunting colleagues are still a part of that team, but have upgraded and transformed their haunted tours since then and now call them “Tulsa Spirit Tours”.
I wanted to share a little bit about all of the haunted and fascinating spots we went to but each tour is slightly different – I won’t go into too much detail, because I want to ensure that I don’t giveaway too many intriguing facts so that YOU can experience a tour someday for yourself!
I have some of my fondest memories at the 104-year-old Brady Theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Everything from seeing STOMP! and the Beatles Tribute band with my family when I was a child, to experiencing the exhilarating sounds and fantastic performances from bands such as Vampire Weekend, Death Cab for Cutie, Cold War Kids, the Naked and Famous, Metric, Weezer and so much more in my high school years to early-20’s. Most notably, my husband proposed to me inside this haunted structure on April 13, 2012 (on my 21st birthday) during the Avett Brothers concert while they played their song “January Wedding.” Not only does this location hold a history for me personally, but it also is woven deep into Tulsa’s history and tells the history of the spirits that haunt it. Continue reading “Haunted Hometown: The Brady Theater”
I’ll be doing a new series on the blog highlighting haunted locations in my own hometown of Tulsa, OK. Many of these spots I learned about during a P.I.T.T. (Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa) tour I went on in 2009. During the tour, our last stop was here at the Thomas Gilcrease house on the Gilcrease Museum grounds. I remember our tour guide sharing that this site was one of the most actively haunted sites in Tulsa. Being an art history nerd, I’ve visited the Gilcrease Museum and grounds many times, and I have not personally experienced anything supernatural, but many visitors, especially museum staff have reported some eerie encounters.
Continue reading “Haunted Hometown: The Thomas Gilcrease House”
As mentioned in my previous Salem post, I wanted to share some of my favorite places to grab a bite or a drink in Witch City! I clearly was incredibly hungry during my trip (I blame it on all the walking) because I seem to have failed to photograph any of the food I ate, however, if I’m writing about it here – it was definitely good for me to be able to remember it!
If you’re in Salem be sure to check these places out:
I will be doing a series of posts highlighting some of my favorites sights and things to do when I visited Salem, Massachusetts last October. Salem was an experience unlike any other town. The macabre history of the hysteria and horror that was that was the Salem Witch Trials seems to be ever present throughout the town. It’s incredible to think an event like that is what helped to set the civility and due processes we have today. As you stroll among the quaint shops and streets you also feel that you, yourself have stepped back into time and are looking upon the same structures, buildings, trees and seaside that settlers before also looked upon. It’s a true connection to history – and a haunting one at that.
Welcome to Salem…I’ve highlighted some of the sights I recommend in no particular order!
Halloween Head 