Ghosts/ spirits

I continue learning about all these different fantastic creatures, elements, what have you. Now that we're learning about a ghost story, I thought it would be interesting to see what some things define ghosts as. There is a difference between ghosts and spirits..

Here's some sites about ghosts..

http://www.true-ghost-stories.com/GhostInfo.html

http://www.angelsghosts.com/ghosts.html

I'm sure everyone else probably knew all this, but just in case, there's some new information.

Some background on Jack the Ripper

I thought I would suggest this for some light reading to get a general overview (or much more if you wish) of the Whitechapel murders. Should help with reading From Hell.

Edited to add:
This link gives an interactive map that shows the murder locations when you hover over their names.

Smelly ghost

I had an encounter with Craddock, the ghost from "Heart-Shaped Box." I had just opened my book to continue reading when I got to the spot about the suit being in his bed and smelling really bad. About the time I read those words I started to smell something horrible. I started sniffing everything around me until I realized this rank odor was coming from my book. This is the spot where I should have thought rationally, but instead I freaked out. I put the book down and a million thoughts raced through my mind. (I've always had a crazy imagination.) "Maybe Joe Hill put a scent on this page." "Surely this ghost isn't real." Thoughts that were over the top and wrong. I finally discovered where this scent had originated. I looked in my backpack, where the book had been, and I saw my umbrella. My pink, mildewed umbrella. It had happily attached its scent to everything in my bag, including my book. I must have looked a sight while I was sitting on the quad smelling everything from my hair to my clothes.

I guess that means Joe Hill is doing his job with this story. He made me believe that "sooner or later the dead catch up..."

Doctor Who?

The new season of Doctor Who premiered in the UK this Saturday and if you haven't seen it, you really ought to. I know, I know, y'all are all obsessed with Lost, but you can watch more than one hour of tv a week, right?

Doctor Who has been running off and on since the early 60's (if you want serious sf kitsch, check out some of the First Doctor episodes) and was rebooted in 2005 by Russel T. Davies. The basic premise is that the Doctor, a Time Lord, travels around space and time with his companions having wacky adventures with some scary moments thrown in.

The new season has a new Doctor, played by Matt Smith who I was a bit leery of at first but who totally won me over ten minutes in, and a new writing and production staff, headed up by Moffat, who is awesome. The whole thing is very accessible to first time viewers; with all the changes to the cast and crew, it feels like an entirely new show, while still harking back to the (45-ish year) legacy of the show. There's a wonderful scene near the end where Matt Smith steps through a montage of Classic Who monsters and the past Doctors.

I'd put up links, but all the ones I know of are...um...a bit on the illegal side, so you'll have to do your own googling. I wouldn't want to bring the BBC down on all our heads.

American Gothic

Just so everyone know, you have likely all seen the painting American Gothic that is referenced on page 168 in Heart-Shaped Box. Just thought I would make it a little more accessible.

In other news, not much of a bio of Joe Hill on his website's bio page, but I did like this line:

"He lives in a small stone cell at the bottom of a chasm; there is only one steep, treacherous trail leading down to it, and the way is protected by fierce goats."

People named after states

I realized while reading Heart-Shaped Box that the writers of Zombieland might have taken a page out of Joe Hill's book. The characters in Zombieland are also named after states, but in their case it's their destinations, not their origins. I feel like I've also seen this somewhere else, but I don't remember where. Maybe Joe Hill is setting a new trend in the genre.

Wizards of Perfil and Harry P

So I was thinking after class today and I thought of some more similarities between The Wizards of Perfil and Harry Potter, other than the fact that both stories are about wizards. One big thing is The Cupboard Under the Stairs which I feel was taken directly from HP. Harry sleeps in a cupboard under the stairs for most of his life when he is living with the Dursleys and Halsa is given a room under the stairs when she arrives to the tower in Perfil. This living situation in both stories is supposed to be for someone like a servant, as Halsa is treated at first and as Harry was treated by the Dursleys.

I also think that Tolcet can be compared to Hagrid or Dumbledore, since he seems to be the person who goes to seek out magical children who know they are different, but are not sure why. Then he takes them to a new place full of magic. Harry Potter does not know that a magical world exists but he does know that he can talk to snakes and make strange things happen. I'm sure someone goes to the houses of muggle-born children like Hermione to explain about the school and why the child should attend.

I'm thinking this could be a good paper topic, but I'll have to see if I can make it more specific.