From the readers: Karloff, Garland, Ormsby, Merril & lots of spooky stuff

As we tumble toward Thanksgiving, here's another batch of your always-appreciated comments on Papergreat posts:

Mild Fear 2021 debuts with Boris terrifying Buster: Commenting on Facebook, Dad writes: "Pure comedy. Probably wouldn’t make the headlines today. People need something to enjoy and laugh at. But then, people are too serious and wound too tight to be able to let out air and live."

Halloween Countdown #14: Live Mystery Egg: When I put this 2011 post up on Twitter again, author A.G. Pasquella (@agpasquella) noted: "It's so strange the kind of animal isn't listed anywhere in the ad! Then again, Sea Monkey ads never mentioned brine shrimp, so I guess it's in keeping with comic book advertising."

Mystery vintage postcard: "Haunted House" near Delaware, Ohio: And when I reshared this 2016 post on Twitter during October, author Chris Woodyard (@hauntedohiobook) provided this additional information: "Perhaps the only structure left at 'Robinson House,' a lavish mansion built by an artistic 'pirate' on the banks of the Scioto. He vanished, leaving behind rumors of treasure. The site is haunted by the ghost of a young Spanish woman. I wrote about it in Haunted Ohio III."

From the Rare Dust Jacket Files: Hucca's Moor by Manning-Sanders: Desmond Banks emailed in September to identify the cover artist of this novel: "Thank you for your Papergreat website. The dust wrapper was the work of my grandfather, William Nicholson, www.williamnicholson.net. See page 229 of William Nicholson: The Graphic Work by Colin Campbell (Barrie & Jenkins, 1992)."

Lamenting what we'll never know about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris: Wheels Go Round asks: "Isn't it far more likely that she died in childbirth?"

My response: "There's nothing in the scant news clippings to support that she died in childbirth. And if she did, the child died too, without even being listed as a stillborn death anywhere. So I'm not sure about that hypothesis."

Spinnerin selling the privileged yarn-based lifestyle in 1963: Tom from the dandy Garage Sale Finds blog writes: "re: The cover. What the heck is going on there? Tide rising? Flooding? They'd better not get those knitted sweaters wet. They'll shrink!"

Vintage chipmunk postcards and the love of nature's critters: Joan writes: "This post was exactly what I needed on a bleary-eyed morning."

Postcrossing roundup: Early autumn 2021: Joan, postcard & notecard designer extraordinaire, writes: "Thank you so much for introducing me to one of my favorite things this year."

Sci-fi book cover: "The Best of Judith Merril": Brian Busby of The Dusty Bookcase writes: "Judith Merril is a name from my pre-adolescence. I'd never read her until a few years ago, after coming across an inexpensive first edition of her debut, Shadow on the Hearth (1950). An early Cold War novel set largely in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion in Manhattan, it isn't so much about the death and destruction, rather how the government and select citizens exploit the ensuing chaos. "Atomic Attack," the 1954 The Motorola Television Hour adaptation, captures much more than one might expect of the novel. Both are recommended. Looking back through my notes, I see I described Shadow on the Hearth as my most memorable read of 2017 in the pages of the Montreal Gazette. I think they were expecting a new book, but who is to say it isn't contemporary. I'm happy to learn of this collection, Chris. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. You've reminded me that I meant to read more Merril. I've just ordered a copy."

Postcard: House on the Rock in autumn: Wendyvee writes: "This has been on my 'to do' list for a very long time. That increased all the more with American Gods."

Where does this Kodak snapshot rank on the Mild Fear scale? Tom from Garage Sale Finds writes, regarding the Halloween mask: "That's a good one. I checked the archives (aka Google) and couldn't find any that matched it. It's amazing how many variety of witch masks Collegeville and Ben Cooper produced."

Vintage classroom poster that sparks mild fear: Tom from Garage Sale Finds writes: "Wow, that's dark. The kid would have made it if he hadn't chosen to perform his mime routine 'Pulling a Rope' in the middle of the road."

Snapshot & memories: Kitchen at Willow Street house in Montoursville: jhkh writes: "Hi! I was digging around Facebook and found your pic of the Lyter fire engine. [Note from me: More on that at the end of this post.] ... I was at Lyter from 72-77. I wanted to find a pic of the Lyter 'spider' playground equipment and this led me back to your blog here via a Google search. Then I found this post about Willow Street. I grew up on Pine Street near the intersection on the other end of Willow from your place. My parents still live there! Fun memories."

Kicking off Halloween with a postcard mailed 100 years ago: Anonymous writes: "I live in the house that was the summer home of the Silliman family and, eventually, Mary's home until her death. What a fun thing for me to find so long after you posted it!"

Saturday's postcard: RPPC with family, jack-o'-lantern and cat: Tom from Garage Sale Finds asks: "I'm wondering about that Jack O' Lantern. It has a handle. Is that a real pumpkin they put a handle on? Or is that a metal (or other) fake pumpkin?"

My response: "That's a great question. There was a jack o'lantern with a handle in an old photo the other day, too. I have to think that 100 years ago, it was typical to rig up some kind of homemade handle on real carved pumpkins, because I doubt the mass-produced ones we're familiar with today were either widespread or inexpensive. But it would be interesting to investigate further."

Do you want to hear something REALLY scary? Tom from Garage Sale Finds writes: "I never had these records, but really wanted them, particularly this one that was advertised in the back of comic books: http://www.heyrube.com/images/haunting_1000.jpg. The scariest recording I can think of (at least scary to me at the time) was on one of Leonard Nimoy's 'In Search of...' episodes where a team of ghost hunters made recordings from tombstones in a cemetery. I recall one EVP that said, 'I'm scared.' The idea of a ghost being scared really bothered me as a kid. Thanks, Leonard."

1977 children's book about actual (maybe) haunted house: Tony Zimnoch writes: "Great Blog! I just found you! I have given you a plug on mine. Keep Up The Good Work! Best Wishes from Tony."

Saturday's postcard: Japanese girls imitate the three wise monkeys: Commenting on this 2012 post, Marnie writes: "Hi Chris, I'm a Japanese researcher specializing in modern culture and ran across this webpage. Let me explain about the Japanese text, though it may be too late. The text is written in the old character form of Japanese, from right to left. It says 'Union Postale Universelle Postcard,' the same thing as in French, unfortunately."

Judy, a black cat and a ghost book: Commenting on this 2014 post, Ken from Dublin writes: "Just saw the photo on 'Pointless,' the British game show. Couldn't find the book either, though there is a book of the same title from 2012. I wonder was it's title inspired by this photo."

Alan Ormsby's 1970s: Summoning zombies and a Scholastic book: Tom from Garage Sale Finds writes: "This is such a great book. I got from my classroom library in 2nd grade (and kept it, but that's another story). I tried to use the makeup tips in the book to create my Halloween costume in 4th grade, but I didn't come out looking like the kids in the book. I still had fun though."

And Bob writes: "I enjoyed your article, and thank you for the shout-out to our Jillian & Addie channel (this is their father, Bob). Alan Ormsby certainly is an interesting man! Happy Halloween!"

Eight awesome things you'll never find inside e-books: Commenting on this 2013 post, Anonymous writes: "I worked at Ell's in the 1960s assisting Mr. Ell Senior and can remember his reliance on Englishmen to manage the store's leading departments, like Toys and Books. It was an enjoyable period of employment."

10 postcards showing Atlantic City as you've probably never seen it: Miranda Reitz writes: "I have 2 varieties of these postcards, one is the ocean scene showing Traymore, Chalfonte, and Haddon hall as shown in the photo, and the other is view from Ventor pier. I have quite a few of each, and none of them were ever circulated. I'm looking to try and find what their value is, if possible? If anyone can help give me an idea of worth, I'd be appreciative! (And if anyone is interested, feel free to contact me!)"

Snapshot & memories: Relocated fire engine in Montoursville: Finally, after this blog post went up on Sept. 11, people continued to share memories and photos of the fire engine and the stagecoach on my Facebook crowdsourcing post. Here are some of them:

• "Was a staple on the Lyter Elementary playground! Fell off of that and got hurt many a times. Baseball players could also become legendary for hitting balls over the 'fire truck' from the Little League field. Lol. Awesome memories! Ty for sharing."
• "I played on this fire truck at Lyter when I was a kid. This playground truck brings all of us memories of our youth."
• And Chris Palmer shared these pictures from mid-1970s Lyter Elementary School yearbooks:

1963 cover from "Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery" comic book

Happy Halloween! Mild Fear 2021 began on October 1 with Boris Karloff, so we'll bookend it nicely with this post about the horror icon. According to Karloff.com, "The Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery comics were originally published in the 1960s in a series of 97 issues by Gold Key. Each issue contained approximately 6 original stories featuring Boris Karloff. There were additional stories, puzzles and games in each issue, all in vibrant color by wonderful artists of the day."

This is the 12-cent July 1963 issue, which was No. 4 in the series. I wrote about one of its advertisements in April of this year. 

Regrettably, my online searching could not discover the name of the artist who deserves credit for this wonderful cover illustration. Perhaps someone else out there knows; there are a lot of experts on comic book history. I did find a great post on Tony Isabella's blog about issue that follows this, #5. For that one, he identifies the cover artist as George Wilson. But I don't know if Wilson also did this one.

So, that's a wrap. I'll leave you with these thoughts from Mr. Karloff...

Alan Ormsby's 1970s: Summoning zombies and a Scholastic book

Alan Ormsby, now 77, has had quite a career. He wrote or co-wrote movies as diverse as The Little Dragons and My Bodyguard (both of which I watched ad nauseam on HBO in the early 1980s), Porky's II, the Michael Keaton ice hockey romantic comedy Touch and Go, and the 1982 remake of Cat People (which is stylish, but skip it and watch the 1942 original). His other writing credits include a few episodes of the TV series Nash Bridges. 

Ormsby's only significant acting credit, meanwhile, is a big one in the realm of cult horror movies. He plays the obnoxiously dressed and mannered lead character in the 1972 zombie film Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (see the 2013 Papergreat post "Which movies gave you the biggest fright?"). His character in that movie, pictured at right, is so despicable that there are cheers at the end when he gets his comeuppance at the hands (and jaws) of the undead. 

Also in the 1970s, Ormsby was the creator of Kenner's Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces doll, which was kind of a do-it-yourself Lon Chaney Sr. makeup set, except that the doll looked like Ed Harris after a bad acid trip. One of the places Hugo lives on these days is in the adventures of Jillian and Addie over on YouTube.

In addition to all of this, Alan Ormsby authored a Scholastic Book Services book in 1975. Which brings us to this post. The nonfiction book is titled Movie Monsters, with the subtitle "Monster Make-Up & Monster Shows to put on." Ormsby further explains the book's approach in a note to the readers on the copyright page:

"Movie Monsters has three parts: The Greatest Movie Monsters — for your delight, information, and reference, page 3; How to Make a Monster, including make-up and recipes for monsters, page 29; and How to Put on Monster Shows, page 63. Happy Ghouling!"

 

Ormsby absolutely knows his stuff. Part 1 starts with Chaney Sr. and works its way to explaining the magic behind the Universal classic monsters. Ormsby showers make-up artist Jack Pierce with deserved credit for the success of Frankenstein's monster and other horror icons. (Coincidentally, Ashar and I watched a documentary about Pierce earlier this month as one of the extra features on The Mummy Blu-ray.)

Ormsby quickly works his way up to 1972's Blacula, writing:

"As portrayed by actor William Marshall, Blacula is as much victim as villain: He was transformed into a vampire because he asked Count Dracula to sign a petition which would abolish slavery! Blacula's make-up is more elaborate than earlier vampires. He wears bloodshot contact lenses, and form-fitted vampire fangs (like Christopher Lee) but he also wears heavy black eyebrows and sideburns that grow up to his eyes. Dark make-up has been applied around his eyes and his hairline has been filled in to make it more prominent."

In the second section of the book, Ormsby discusses his own history with make-up effects. There's an adorable picture of him as a vampire at age 12 (which would have been circa 1955). He discusses the importance of light and shadow; safe ways to make warts, blood and scars; and ultimately how kids can transform themselves into Dracula, Blacula, Countess Dracula, the bride of Frankenstein, the phantom, the mummy, the wolfman and more. And there's an emphasis on making sure kids don't get into hot water.

"You will need your parents' approval and cooperation to do some of the make-ups and recipes," Ormsby writes. "In fact, you may need their financial help, so be sure to check with them before you start cooking up monsters. ... Don't 'borrow' your mother's or big sister's make-up materials without their permission. This includes powder puffs." Ormsby also rightly insisted that kids, for health reasons, not use talcum powder. (If only others had been so proactive.)

The final section of Ormsby's Movie Monsters gives tips for putting on a "monster show," be it at school, a carnival, for Halloween, or for whenever. He even gives kids a sample sketch that they can perform or adapt as they see fit. There are directions for including some pretty cool special effects in the production, too, including a disappearing ghost, a floating head and spooky sound effects. 

All in all, it's a nifty and creativity-encouraging book. I can see why there's so much nostalgia for it in comments on Amazon and Goodreads. Some excerpts:

• In 2007 on Goodreads, Don Roff wrote: "This book gave me the courage -- at a young age -- to hoist my love-of-monsters freak flag high for all to see. I used to make myself up as Dracula or the Wolf Man and prowl around the Saturday-night neighborhood, growling at unwary pedestrians through the hedges. The book is probably a big reason why I work in the film industry -- it was a look-behind-the-curtain peek at magic world of monster movies."
• In 2012 on Amazon, James E. Transue III wrote: "I picked up this book when I was in grade school - probably at one of those book fairs they have. I loved it and read the instructions over and over. I memorized the 'monster show' in the back. To use the vernacular of that time, it was awesome!"
• In 2014 on Amazon, R.M. Ries wrote: "I have loved this book since I was 7 years old."
• In 2009 on Goodreads, John Young wrote: "I wrote a will at age 8 which specified that this book was to be buried with me. It was a life-changer!"
• In 2013 on Goodreads, Michael wrote a long review that concluded: "I guess I have to say thank you, Alan Ormsby, for adding so much pleasure to both my childhood and my childish adulthood."

The book's illustrations, by the way, were also by Ormsby.

Em Emberley's psychedelic children's witch book illustrations

Ed Emberley (born 1931) is fairly well known among those of us in Generation X because his books made us laugh and helped us learn to draw when we were kids. Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Faces (1975), with its step-by-step instructions for every character a kid could possibly dream up, is one that I especially remember. But it was just one of many. He had a Big Green Drawing Book, A Big Red Drawing Book, Drawing Book of Animals, and many others, including a Drawing Book of Weirdos, with his interpretations of the classic Universal monsters on the cover.

Emberley has also illustrated books for others, and earlier this year I came across Suppose You Met a Witch, which he illustrated for author Ian Serraillier (1912-1994) in 1973. Emberley's intense, psychedelic illustrations steal the show in this short children's book. It's like Yellow Submarine meets Bonnie MacLean — yes, I know I still have to do the post about her — meets Peter Max. All within a disturbing fairy tale.

It's a fairly difficult book to come across, though I suspect that's more due to folks who have a copy not wanting to surrender it. In late 1973, The New York Times children's editors selected it as one of the best books of the year, calling Emberley's illustrations are “a tour de force ... [with] rhythms every bit as striking as those in the text.”

Kirkus also gave it a glowing review. Here's an excerpt:

"(Emberley's) flamboyant art nouveau swirls, the sweeping curls and marble-like sea-foamy flames are gracefully spectacular, and his green, gulping witch quite lives up to Serraillier's description of Grimble-grum as 'all willow-gnarled and whiskered head to toe.' Most important, his sensuous ostentation is totally in keeping with the dramatic transformations of the Grimm-based story and the compressed, onomotopoetic extravagance of Serraillier's musical verse."

I'll share a few more images from my copy below. But if you want to check out the entire book, you're in luck. The Haunted Closet blog posted beautiful scans of the whole thing in 2019. It would be wonderful to see a new edition of this published, so that more kids could have it on their shelves.

1909 Hallowe'en postcard sent to Miss Doughnut Bainbridge

OK, let's get the important thing out of the way first: There was a Miss Doughnut Bainbridge 112 years ago, and we have no idea who that is!!!

I looked through some of the newspapers of the day from Fort Bragg in northern California (mostly The Mendocino Beacon) and there are references to people named Bainbridge, but nothing that hints of a Doughnut Bainbridge. Clearly, that was a girl's or woman's nickname, because people weren't cool or weird enough back then to actually name someone Doughnut.

This Hallowe'en postcard, with its two grinning pumpkins and a smiling moon, was postmarked on October 22, 1909, in San Francisco. On the front, in small, orange print, it states: COPYRIGHTED 1908 BY INTERNATIONAL ART [?] CO. NEW YORK. The word I can't read between ART and CO. might be ASS. Stop snickering.

This is  my best decipherment of the cursive note on the back:

Dearie,

I'm [Am?] having a lovely time. Oh why wasn't you here. Bert Hart was over to see me last eve. Said he got a postal from you. Will write soon.

Alice [?]

And of this possible Doughnut-Alice-Bert love triangle, we shall know no more. 

"Will Eisner's Spirit Casebook Of True Haunted Houses And Ghosts"

We had a different edition of this spooktacular ghost book by Will Eisner around the house when I was growing up. It was the one with the creepy one-eyed pirate on the cover. It disappeared during one of our many moves. Then I rediscovered it in a dusty box in the cellar while cleaning out the Wallingford house in the early 2010s. It had been victimized by mildew and mice and wasn't salvageable, but its rediscovery reminded me of the chills it had given me when I was kid, so I eventually tracked down another copy...

• Title: It's complicated. This copy states "Will Eisner's Spirit Casebook 1" and "True Haunted Houses & Ghosts" on the cover. On the title page, we get "The Spirit's Casebook of True Haunted Houses & Ghosts," with an ampersand. On the spine, it's "The Spirit's Casebook of True Haunted Houses and Ghosts," without the ampersand. I am gritting my teeth a little bit.
• Additional cover text: "Documented case histories assembled for your fright and enjoyment by the great crimefighter."
• Author & illustrator: The great Will Eisner (1917-2005)
• Cover illustrator: It states "Will Eisner 76" in the corner.
• Publisher: Tempo Books, a division of Grosset & Dunlap. Further, the copyright page states that it was produced by Poor House Press of White Plains, New York. That was Eisner's personal company, according to one of the prefaces in the 2017 W.W. Norton & Company edition of Eisner's A Contract with God: And Other Tenement Stories.
• Year: 1976
• Pages: 160
• Format: Paperback
• Cover price: $1.25
• Content: 22 short, heavily-illustrated stories. Chapter titles include Good Ghost of Llanwellyn, Visitor at Lawford's Gate, The Ghost of Inmate 23, Admiral Tryon's Ghost, The Barbados Ghost, Ghost Cavalry of La Bassee, The Ghost of Johnny Daniel, The Curse of Cornstalk, The Ghost at 226 5th Ave., The Handless Ghost and The Trip of Mrs. Wilmot.
• Introduction (written by The Spirit): "For a long time I have collected a file of occult and unexplained events. In this book I have assembled the most interesting of the cases in which ghostly visitations and hauntings have been documented by some respected source. Occult happenings thrive on the outer perimeters of science so in the final analysis, the truth lies in your acceptance of the evidence..."
• Goodreads rating: 4.29 stars (out of 5)
• Amazon rating: 4.8 stars (out of 5)
• Eisner's own assessment: According to a quote I cannot confirm elsewhere from Wildwood Cemetery: The Spirit Database, Eisner described the book as: "an attempt to treat The Spirit in a more conventional format and an effort to find a place for a 'comics' character in the paperback medium. It was a failed effort."
• Final notes: Despite Eisner's fame, this book remains a little-discussed oddity and rarity. There's a thread on the "Vault Of Evil: Brit Horror Pulp Plus!" message board, but little other online discussion that I could find. ... There's a 2017 tweet from a Will Eisner exhibit that featured pages from the book. ... And in a tweet last month, artist @empire_of_dust_ noted that this book "was published by Tempo Books two years BEFORE 'A Contract With God'. I believe it could be added to the list of books that helped shape the 'graphic novel' format before use of the term blew up in the 1980s." ... For me, the book definitely made an impact when I first came across it in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Eisner didn't soften the scares, and some of his horrifying illustrations burned themselves into my brain, likely remaining there as nightmare fuel during the many years before my rediscovery of the book. Here are some of those illustrations... 

Spooky illustrated children's book by Liniers

Here's something a bit more modern, with some wonderful artwork. Argentine cartoonist Ricardo Siri, who uses the pen name Liniers, wrote and illustrated the children's book Lo que hay antes de que haya algo in 2006, and it was translated into English by Elisa Amado and published in 2014 as What There Is Before There is Anything Else.

It's an unsettling short tale about confronting and coming to terms with the nighttime and our dreams. From a perspective suitable for a child, but still spooky (as a good children's tale should be), Liniers captures in words and images what seems to be a fever dream.

I've never seen a ghost. But I have a very distinct memory from when I was 8 or 9 years old, living in that old house in Clayton, New Jersey. I was feverish, and I awoke at some point and imagined that there were a half-dozen tall figures standing around the edges of the bed, looking down at me. In my memory, they weren't malevolent, but it was still quite disconcerting. (Given that this the same house where I watched the likes of The House of Seven Corpses, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things and Salem's Lot at far too young of an age, the only thing that's surprising is that I didn't see more flickering phantoms or hear more things go bump in the night.)

Anyway, Liniers' illustrations in this children's book reminded me of that odd memory. 

If you want to read another take on this book, check out Ryan Billingsley's review on Dad Suggests.

Slightly rhomboid chicken-person postcard sent to Brussels

OK, we're in France with chickens again, but this time we are the chickens, the chickens are us, and it may be impossible to say which is which. This slightly skewed postcard, sold at a shop in Paris, appears to be promoting a production of the Edmond Rostand play Chantecler, which premiered in Paris in 1910. As Wikipedia explains: 

"Rostand was inspired to write the play after exploring the farming countryside around his new home, Villa Arnaga, in the Basque Country of the French Pyrenees, where he had come to live for health reasons after the phenomenal success of Cyrano de Bergerac and L'Aiglon. ... This is Rostand's most personal play, reflecting his deep love for the French countryside and its simple way of life; his disgust at the increasing cynicism and materialism in French society, and the constant anguish he felt as a creative artist."

In the play, all of the characters are barnyard animals and the actors dress the part. Hence, actors in full chicken outfits, as if they're getting ready to hawk fast food or encourage Padres fans to start the wave.

But here's the final question: Is this a clay sculpture made to look like a human being dressed as a chicken, or is it a human being dressed as a chicken made to look like a clay sculpture?

1977 children's book about actual (maybe) haunted house

Raintree Publishers had a little run in the 1970s with books for children about the paranormal, cryptids and UFOs. And who can blame them for trying to make a buck? Those topics were all the rage, with Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of... one of the leaders of the pack. 

A couple of years ago, I wrote about Raintree's The Case of the Ancient Astronauts. You can check out some of the other Raintree book covers at The Trash Collector and this 2012 post on The Haunted Closet blog.

Today, as part of Mild Fear 2021, here's another Raintree offering...

• Title: This House is Haunted!
• Author: Elizabeth P. Hoffman (1921-2003). More on her in a bit.
• Illustrator of awesome cover: Lynn Sweat
• Publisher: A Contemporary Perspectives Inc. (CPI) book distributed by Raintree Children's Books, Milwaukee
• Year: 1977
• Pages: 48
• Format: Hardcover
• Original price: Unknown
• Interior illustrator: Wayne Atkinson
• Interior photographs: Courtesy Elizabeth P. Hoffman
• Chapter titles: The Dream, We Find Our House, Knives and Scissors, The Lady in the Hall, Clara!, Arthur Ford Pays a Visit, Eileen Garrett Helps Us.
• First sentence: The author of this story claims that it is a true one.
• Last paragraph: Our house is now haunted by happy memories. And who knows, in the next hundred years more ghosts may turn up! Maybe they'll be our own ghosts!
• Random sentence from the middle #1: We went through a lot of housekeepers during the next few years.
• Random sentence from the middle #2: When the rocking chair moved, we shouted at her to go away.
• Amazon rating: 4.8 stars (out of 5)
• Amazon review: In 2018, "rg7722" wrote: "Lived right next to this house as a child. Early 60's through early 70's. The book is more of a documentary than a children's nighttime story. True to the talk about town at the time. It is said a girl drowned on the property as well. Not true. She was pulled from the concrete pond by a woman 7mths pregnant who couldn't swim. My mother." 
• So, where is this house? In the book, Hoffman describes it as being in "Beechwood, Pennsylvania." A 1992 article by Melanie Novak in The (Allentown) Morning Call is much more precise: "A professional librarian and amateur ghost hunter, Hoffman speaks of her paranormal experiences in a disarmingly matter-of-fact manner. Perhaps it comes from sharing a house with the ghost of an irascible widow named Clara. Clara plagued Hoffman's family for several years of their residence at Beechwood, a former inn in Havertown built in 1757." (Havertown is an unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Beechwood is one of its neighborhoods. Pennsylvania names and places are very complicated.)
• More about Hoffman: That Morning Call article is the most in-depth piece I found on Hoffman, and it includes information about the other paranormal books she authored. According to this obituary notice, she got her undergraduate degree from Dickinson College in 1942, was an elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania in the 1950s and early 1960s, and received a library-science degree at Drexel University in 1961. It continues: "She was then hired as coordinator of the division of school libraries for the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 1966. In 1975 she joined the faculty at Villanova University as an associate professor of library science and chair of the department until 1978, and the next year she became director of the [Haverford] Township Free Library in Pennsylvania until her retirement in 1991."
• Quote from Hoffman: According to this 2003 post by Jade Walker on The Blog of Death, Hoffman once said, "I write books to encourage children to read. No one wants to read about broccoli. I want to write about what kids read."
• Memories of Hoffman: A 2017 post on the Facebook group "Growin' up in Havertown, PA" asked the question "Who remembers the librarian, Mrs. Hoffman? They did a story on her haunted house!!" The post drew more than 100 comments. Here are some of them:

"She was my neighbor! I was at the house all the time, it was old but not haunted."

"She was the best, we were neighbors for many years and yes the house is still there."

"I used to hang out with Wes and spent quite a few nights at their house. Spooky it was."

"I remember her well! Attended a fall party at their home when I was in high school. Mrs. Hoffman sat by the fire in the basement room of their amazing home and told us wonderful stories of their resident ghost."

"I was in that house several times. There was a cold spot."

"Glad there weren't any flying scissors in the house when we were there."

"Worked on her house back in the 80's. Nice lady, but that place thoroughly creeped me out. ... Told her the chimes of her grandfather clock were off time. She then told me she didn't have one."

"She was the best librarian and fostered my love of reading which continues to this day!"

Photos from inside This House is Haunted!

Saturday's postcard: Trio of kids, possibly dressed for Halloween

This very worn real photo postcard has a CYKO stamp box that dates it to between 1904 and 1908, according to Playle.com. Additionally, printed on the side of the card is:

Thomas

SHAMOKIN - TANAQUA - PENNA.

EXPERT PHOTO FINISHING

I think we can presume that Tanaqua is a misspelling of Tamaqua.

Shamokin ("place of eels") and Tamaqua¹ are towns in central Pennsylvania that are about 40 miles apart, so it's certainly possible Thomas had photography businesses in both places.

Alas, this postcard was never mailed, and there is no other information printed on the card about who these children are. Are they dressed up for Halloween? That seems like a good guess. But it's also possible it was for some other kind of costume party. Or perhaps even a school play.

Here's a closer look at the trio. If you're interested in more vintage RPPCs that I've shared over the years, this is a good place to start.

Footnote

1. "Tamaqua, once Tamaque, is a corruption of Tankamochk, 'Little Beaver,'" according to this Schuykill County history webpage. Tamaqua is also referenced in this 2012 Papergreat post.

Do you want to hear something REALLY scary?

Last month I bookmarked this tweet by Theo Paijmans (who has an amazeballs book collection he often discusses) because I thought it would be a good Mild Fear 2021 post.

What is the creepiest recording you ever heard?

— Theo Paijmans (@memizon) September 1, 2021

It was a simple question. These were some of the responses. (With a trigger warning that some of these are legitimately unexplained and disturbing. I've mostly just provided Wikipedia links for background information. But many of the recordings referred to can be found via online searches. If you intend to track them down and listen, maybe do it during daylight hours.)

• Numbers station, with children voices.
• Serious answer: probably the Judica-Cordiglia lost Cosmonaut tape.
• The Maurice Grosse recording of Bill, from the Enfield poltergeist. I lived in the area at the time.
• Radiohead - Creep
• Those old Aleister Crowley wax cylinder jobs they transferred to CD in the 90s.
• Southern Television Broadcast Interruption as watched as a child (This was the answer provided by David Southwell, who I interviewed in 2015)
• The last couple of minutes of "It Has To Be" from the Help Yourself album The Return of Ken Whaley. They were tripping on LSD and had taken delivery of a new synth. The last few notes of the grand piano and the synth are just truly creepy.
• Quite probably the Konstantin Raudive recordings. That voice just sends chills down my spine!

My response, meanwhile, went in a much more literal and innocent direction. Reading Theo's question, I though immediately of those vinyl albums we listened to as kids in the 1970s. You know the type...

Those albums were great. Thunderstorms. Doors creaking open. Rattling chains. Glass breaking. Plodding footsteps. Ominous wind. Rats (or something else) scurrying across a floor. A screeching cat. And, of course, creepy laughter. 

Before these record albums existed, these were the kind of sound effects that made old-time radio shows so effective. These recordings play right into the great rule of horror: What you can only hear is so much scarier than what you actually see. The mind imagines terrors far greater than any visual that can be created through special effects or CGI.

Who else remembers listening to these spine-tingling albums as a kid?