Monthly Archives: October 2015

THE STRANGE ORMONDS (1833): GOTHIC HORROR

THE STRANGE ORMONDS (1833) – By Leitch Ritchie

Ormond HouseHalloween Month continues! The last neglected Gothic Horror tale I examined was Isabella of Egypt back on the first of October. Let’s dive back into them with this 1833 story set in England.  

The reader is informed right off the top that the Ormond family (no, not the same Ormonds who are beloved by all of us bad movie fans) lived in the north of England and were objects of mingled fear, suspicion, derision and horror. The story is narrated in the first person and the author pretends that he is concealing some info to protect the innocent. An unnamed doctor from an unnamed town was called in to attend the oldest living Ormond in his last days.

The doctor took his daughter with him to witness the death of one head of the Ormond family and the accession of another. The huge mansion of the Ormonds was as odd as the family itself. The building seemed to be composed mostly of additions added on during different decades – even centuries – and if not for the obvious wealth of the family would have been deemed ramshackle. Continue reading

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MUSLIMS KILL RAPE VICTIM FOR BEING “UNCLEAN” BECAUSE OF THE RAPE

Rokstan M

Rokstan M

I dislike all religions but only spineless hypocrites try to pretend Islam is not the biggest problem at this particular point in history. That pack of backward social attitudes and savage superstitions is in serious need of reform. There ARE Muslims who try to reform the faith, but the repulsive political left in Western countries always pretend that those Muslims are “right wing” and that the only true voices of the Muslim world are the misogynistic, homophobic and Western-hating fanatics.

And remember, I’m NOT a conservative or a Republican nor am I a Libertarian so don’t bother going there. I despise a lot about the political right as well as the left but the world’s failure to deal with Islam’s constant retardation of the rest of the world’s social progress is overwhelmingly the fault of the political left because of their egotistical need to defend the indefensible.

With my feelings on all that clarified once again I’ll mention this incident in Germany. In addition to the flood of Islam’s Raping Refugees pouring into the country another blatant example of Islam’s status as a philosophy of hatred presented itself.  

Rokstan M is the only  name being revealed. She was gang-raped in Syria, then killed in Germany in one of those detestable “honor killings” Muslims commit. Her own family considered her “unclean” because of the rape and because of their barbaric religion’s irrational attitudes toward women. Continue reading

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THE DEATH SHIP

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend in honor of Halloween Month.

THE DEATH SHIP

Death ShipEvery October 31st for over two hundred years Harpswell, ME was visited by a supernatural vessel. Sometime after dark a ship made of blood-red wood and with sails of purest white could be seen offshore.

Slowly but surely the ship would make its way into port. No crew members could ever be seen above or below decks. No one stood at the wheel, no one stood lookout in the crow’s nest. The ship would make its way in even against the strongest gales and the most violent seas. Continue reading

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MWINDO: EPIC MYTH OF AFRICA PART FIVE

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this epic myth of the Nyanga people.

PART FIVE

Nyanga river 2Mwindo now stood before Mukiti, the serpentine river god himself. The semidivine hero still held his conga-sceptre (a riding-crop sized club made from an antelope tail) in one hand, his axe in another and had his pouch of magic implements slung around one shoulder.

Mwindo and Mukiti exchanged challenging words with Mwindo’s being the most overstated and foolhardy. (Remember, part of the point of this epic is that Mwindo eventually learns to be humble and to be a good ruler, similar to Gilgamesh in Sumerian myths.) Before the two powerful figures could engage in all-out combat they were interrupted by the arrival of the woman Iyangura, who was Mwindo’s aunt and Mukiti’s ritual wife.  Continue reading

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MICHAEL MANN DEMANDS A VIRGIN SACRIFICE BUT REFUSES TO BE THE SACRIFICIAL OFFERING

Some people just want to pretend the world is burning.

Some people just want to pretend the world is burning.

Michael Mann, the Clown Prince of Climate Science who gets reviled by scientists on BOTH sides of the man-made global warming debate in the terrific book A Disgrace to the Profession, confided his latest strategy to Balladeer’s Blog exclusively.

With his inaccurate hockey stick ideas being ridiculed as readily as his false claims to be a Nobel Prize winner, Mann has begun calling for a virgin to be sacrificed in order to save the world. When called upon to be said virgin sacrifice Mann refused, saying he has to appear in court to testify in the countless nuisance lawsuits he has filed. Continue reading

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THE FOUR-FINGERED HAND

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend in honor of Halloween Month.

THE FOUR-FINGERED HAND

Andover, NJ in the years just after the Revolutionary War was the setting for this macabre tale. Four merchants of the area would often get together in the evenings at various taverns for a meal followed by several drinks before staggering home for the night.

Their last names are all that is now known and those were Evans, Bailey and Hill, but the name of the fourth man is no longer mentioned for reasons that will become clear. This fourth man had lost the middle finger of his left hand to a musket ball during the Revolution.  Continue reading

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS: USCAA

Here’s Balladeer’s Blog’s unofficial USCAA football rankings.

Williamson Trade HelmetUSCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association) – 1. WILLIAMSON TRADE SCHOOL MECHANICS     ###      2. NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS     ###      3. IOWA WESLEYAN COLLEGE TIGERS (Defending Champions)     ###      4. ALFRED STATE PIONEERS     ###      5. CONCORDIA (AL) HORNETS   Continue reading

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LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES AND PARTY LOYALTY

The symbol of the nonexistent Balladeer Political Party

The symbol of the nonexistent Balladeer Political Party

Balladeer’s Blog is the only site on the web that truly criticizes American Liberals and Conservatives equally. I was recently asked if there is any real distinction between the rank and file of American Liberals and American Conservatives.

Yes, there is. American Liberals have a simple-minded attitude of “My political party right or wrong” which is even more imbecilic than the old attitude of “My country right or wrong.” Liberals mindlessly and unquestioningly obey the Democratic Party and believe anything they are told to believe from the Party’s talking points on any given week.

American Conservatives have, in recent years, at last broken away from their own knee-jerk allegiance to the Republican Party. Conservatives have got enough backbone to describe their Party’s leadership and elected figures with the contempt they deserve and no longer support a candidate just because they have an (R) after their name. Witness the virtual Cold War between the Party regulars and their own constituents. Continue reading

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ASH VS (THE) EVIL DEAD IS STILL COMING OCT 31st

Army of Darkness big skull faceYes, it’s another cover from one of the many Army of Darkness comic book series to come and go over the years. It’s all part of building the mood for the Starz series Ash vs (the) Evil Dead on Halloween!

Ash Williams, the man with the boomstick and the chainsaw hand takes on Deadites galore in the new cable series just like he did in these comic book series.

I’ll have more covers between now and Halloween. Continue reading

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THE SORCEROR FRANCIS WOOLCOTT

Halloween Month continues as Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend.

THE SORCEROR FRANCIS WOOLCOTT

Francis WoolcottFrancis Woolcott lived in Copake, NY in the Berkshire Hills during the first several decades of the 1800’s. Always drawn toward dark and unwholesome studies, Woolcott deciphered markings on the side of a fallen meteor one day in his 30’s.

The markings formed the letters of an unknown alphabet Woolcott claimed, though they defied the efforts of others to understand them. Francis stated that the lessons he learned from the markings on the meteor empowered him with potent magic. Continue reading

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