FreeRepublic Halloween Fest

Chance33_98 and LadyShallott ^

[Magnolia]

In 1975 our son was 3 1/2 and I was pregnant with our daughter. My aunt was moving from Baton Rouge to Jackson, MS and I was helping to prepare the house before she arrived.

Our son found a small toy and was entertaining himself in a small, long, add-on room where the washer & dryer were located. I was busy wallpapering in the kitchen when our son kept calling me to "come see the people". It was about time for school to be out so I figured he saw kids as they walked home and played in yards. He finally became very insistent, came into the kitchen, took my hand and guided me into toward the room. As I stepped down into the room he ran ahead of me, gazed into the closet area containing the washer & dryer, looked up toward the ceiling and asked "Where did the lady go?" "Where did she go Mommie?" I asked what he meant and he continued to ask the same question, "Where did the lady go?"

The house suddenly became very oppressive...hard to explain. It was like the air was thick and very heavy. I finished wallpapering, grabbed my son and left. When I asked my mother about the house she hesitantly told me that the house had been foreclosed after the former owner died. It seems she was a young, single mother who was murdered in another town. The small toy that my son found belonged to her son.

We never told my aunt the story of the former owner nor my experience in the house. However, until the day she died, my aunt insisted that she was not the only occupant of the house, that she had an unseen "roommate".

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Major chill.

[MrConfettiMan]

Aw, shucks. Thanks, Katie. Actually, I'm surprised I was able to talk. I tend to get tongue-tied around good-looking women wearing short black dresses. :)

[proud American in Canada]

bump! what a great thread.

[MrConfettiMan]

Our black lab mix, Maggie, will occasionally and suddenly start sniffing the air and staring into "blank" space as if she's seeing somebody that isn't there. I know dogs have a very, very strong sense of smell but it's not like she's picking up a new scent. When she's doing this, she'll look over at us as if to say, "Don't you see them, too?" It really freaks my wife out. I'll then whisper, "I see dead puppies." She's done this in both houses since we've had here.

[Cultural Jihad]

Kitty Litter Cake for Halloween

1 spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 white cake mix
2 large pkg vanilla instant pudding mix, prepared (I like Bird's® dessert mix)
1 large pkg vanilla sandwich cookies
green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls®

1 new kitty litter pan
1 new plastic kitty litter pan liner
1 new pooper scooper

---

Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans).

Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble.

Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix until completely colored.

When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. Important: mix in just enough of the pudding to moisten it. You don't want it too soggy. Combine gently.

Line a new, clean kitty litter box. Put the cake/pudding/cookie mixture into the litter box.

Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls bury them in the mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly on top of everything -- this is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter.

Heat 3 Tootsie Rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake; sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Spread remaining Tootsie Rolls over the top; take one and heat until pliable, hang it over the side of the kitty litter box, sprinkling it lightly with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around for a truly disgusting effect!

Further notes: I had a reader write in saying this recipe only needed half the amount of pudding. I personally liked the cake with the amount given in this recipe. But feel free to use this as a loose guideline, use more or less as you see the need. Also, since the layer of cookies (with the chloropyll green specks, covers the top, you could really use any flavor or flavors or cakes underneath. Last but not least, you can also opt not to crumble the cakes, but rather layer them in the pan with the layers of pudding in between (much like you would layer a trifle into a trifle dish), sprinkle the top layer of pudding with a heavy layer of crumbled cookies. Same effect, different texture entirely to the dessert.

[Howlin]

Geeeeee-rrrrrrrrrrooooooooossssssssssssss!!!

[chance33_98]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM crunchy and perfect for the people at work :)

[Quilla]

Happy Birthday!

[dixiechick2000]

OMG!!! Nooooooo!!!







Happy Birthday! ;o)

[FeliciaCat]

cool! a ghost who picks up after you....cant beat that with a stick!


Good story.

[FeliciaCat]

My mom & dad went to the Winchester mystery house back in the 70's...my mom said it spooked her..my Dad (being a contractor) just said it was colossal waste of money.

[FeliciaCat]

yikes! I got goose bumps!

[wardaddy]

JA is dotted with old dwellings and rotting manor houses around the countryside and the topography is very dense and loud with the cacophony of sounds at night like most tropical places.....and the locals need no convincing in "duppies".

[wardaddy]

Rose Hall Bump!

Duppies and Ja rule!

[woofie]

St. James Hotel, Cimarron, NM

The St. James Hotel was built in 1873 originally to be a saloon. The hotel’s pleasant atmosphere now gives no hint of the building’s violent history during which 26 people were killed there. There are three ghosts at the hotel. Mary Lambert was the wife of the hotel’s original builder and owner, and she has never left her second floor room. The second spirit is that of James Wright. A psychic who came to the hotel identified him. He was a gambler who won a huge pot with his poker hand – reports of what it was varies, but it was something like another player’s whole herd of cattle. He was killed in his room, number 18, before he could make good on his win. There was such activity in that room in 1985 when the hotel was being renovated that the room has since been off limits. When the owners checked old records, it was found that there was indeed a gambler named James Wright who had checked into room 18 shortly before he was killed. The third ghost is unnamed, and causes mischievous havoc in the kitchen. Located near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains there is excellent hunting and fishing nearby. The hotel has 15 guest rooms and is on Route 1 in Cimarron NM phone: 505.376.2664

[diotima]

If you want to hear something REALLY scary listen to the Halloween theme from the Halloween Unspun show.

CLICK HERE!

It is an MP3 file, created by myself and agitator.

[oyez]

Try this site: http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rinaldi/bannerman.htm

The place must have been a real architectual treasure untill it burned in the '60.

[oyez]

No thanks. I'm trying to cut back.

[Afronaut]

With bilions of Camera's and video equipment you would think that SOMEONE would get a shot of a ghost.