Witch’s Garden

I love books in which the author describes beautiful witch’s gardens with mysterious plants and medicinal herbs, used both to handle diseases and practice magic spells. It is scientifically demonstrated that plants have chemicals that work like pharmaceutical drugs, and just as a pharmaceutical drug, they have benefits but also side effects that mustn’t be underestimated.

As we know, witches are very close to nature, so many of them are used to have a little garden where they spend many hours every day taking care of their magical herbs. But, what kind of plants, flowers and herbs are usually in these magic gardens, or also searched into the wild by witches? Here is a list of some of the most important flowers/plants that has been considered useful for different spells and purposes throughout the centuries.

 

White Poppy

• It is said that white poppy has the peculiarity of being sedative, calming and even sleep-inducing.

 

Vinca

 

• A flowering and beautiful plant with violet flowers that was used in ancient times to treat terrible diseases just like leukemias and cancer.

 

Christmas Rose

 

• Also called Black Hellebore, in spite of its name, this particular evergreen perennial floral plant doesn’t belong to the Rosaceae family. A strange feature of this plant is that it flowers in the depths of winter. This plant is very dangerous, it’s poisonous and can cause burning of the eyes, mouth and throat, gastroenteritis and oral ulceration.

 

Witch Hazel

 

• This is a northern America flowering plant that was used for healing different types of skin irritations (even if it’s not scientifically proven nowadays that it’s safe since oral consumption of witch hazel water is toxic).

 

Mandrakes

 

• This is one of the most mysterious plants in history, and there are several legends and myths around this big perennial herbaceous plant. Nowadays, more than 80 different substances have been identified inside it, and many of them are poisonous. The effects of consumption of mandrakes are many, including dilation of the pupils, vomiting, hallucinations and tachycardia.

 

The list could be longer and longer, because there are many plants that is and have been considered poisonous or with healing effects throughout the centuries, but we also have to remember and underline that thanks to modern traditional medicine and scientific researches, like the discovery of penicillin that has been one of the most important discoveries of all times, humanity has been saved from different horrible diseases.

 

 

Paranormal activities on YouTube, real or fake?

Searching on YouTube, you can find a series of horror videos about anything, from possessed dolls videos to paranormal activities caught on video. But, what is real and what is made up just to get attention?

Today I want to focus on this strange phenomenon. I must say that in my opinion most of them are fake, just because sometimes the tricks are evident if you have a keen eye (transparent strings moving chairs, tables and doors, or evident graphical effects), but, sometimes, some videos are just so well made, that you wonder if something really is going on.

We certainly know about several real strange phenomena happening, and that’s always been like that. But, if you really see something strange, would take a camera and film all of it really be the first thing you’ll do? I don’t know.

Anyway, here is a list of the most haunted dolls caught on camera and well explained by the YouTube channel Top 5s Finest. Enjoy! 

 

 

 

American Poltergeist

American Poltergeist tells the story of a group of college students that decide to rent a vacation house during summer in Fall River, Massachusetts.

You’ll immediately find out at the beginning of the movie that it’s a very strange and spooky house, with bedrooms at the second floor, a spooky pool and a basement that, as the house’s owner Dianna Eastbrock explains, is completely locked, and the key has been lost. The film is divided like a diary into days, and as days go by, the friends will understand more and more that the house hides a terrible secret. In fact, in August 1892 a terrible murder happened, the famous Lizzie Borden murder, where a girl murdered her parents; this happened in the basement of that house.

The same thing happened again in 1992, the day one of the protagonists of the film and one of the friends moving into the house, is born. Taryn has a strange feeling that something is wrong, but nobody believes her at the beginning. They’ll soon find out who she really is, and they’ll experience one of the most terrifying poltergeists in American history.

The movie is directed by Mike Rutkowski, that graduated in 2008 from the Los Angeles Film School; this is his first feature film.

The plot and the story is very interesting but the story could have been deepened more in my opinion; that’s the classical story of a haunted house, that I love, but I feel like we miss a great part of the story in some way. The movie is also not so long, it’s a bit more than an hour.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the Reunion

Everyone who grow up in the 90’ must have watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer; this TV series is one of the best memories of my childhood! I remember watching it with my brother and my best friend and we loved everything about it, the atmosphere, the story, the locations and all the characters. So I was very excited when I found out that recently the cast has made a reunion after twenty years!

Series creator Joss Whedon talks in an interview about the series, how much this reunion means to him and how Buffy the Vampire Slayer influenced positively teenagers around the world. Buffy, Willow, Angel, Spike, Xander, Rupert, and Tara, everyone reunited to remember the series and make a gift to every fan around the world. Unfortunately, Giles was not present. 😦

But, maybe this reunion means something else is coming up?

I’ll link some images of the meeting.

 

In the Heart of the Sea

The story of Moby Dick first published by Herman Melville in 1851 inspired another book written by Nathaniel Philbrick in modern times; In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex won the National Book Award in the year 2000.

From this epic tale Ron Howard decided to produce a very interesting film in 2015 starring Chris Hemsworth, Brendan Gleeson and Benjamin Walker among others.

The movie tells the story about Herman Melville visiting Thomas, the last survivor of the sinking of the whaleship Essex, wanting to write down the story of how the tragedy really happened. The man doesn’t think he’s ready to speak, but after a while he narrates to the author how everything went. The story is set in the beautiful Nantucket, where a very young Thomas decides to follow the adventure of the whaleship Essex signing on as a cabin boy. In 1820, in fact, the whale oil trade was very gainful. Herman Melville could not believe what he heard Thomas narrate about, because this is for sure the most amazing adventure he has ever heard about.

If you love adventures, deserted islands, ships and storms, you have to watch this movie. In my opinion the film wants to focus on how difficult it was for every member of the ship to leave behind their life and their families, to sail in the ocean and risk their life every day to provide a living for them and their loved one, and how much ambition man has, and how many sacrifices they have to make, because in the end they really don’t have a choice. They even think they will die of starvation at one point.

One of the most interesting fact I found during my research on this movie is that the actors were really on a highly restricted diet during the shooting, they had to spend four weeks in the open ocean on a ship and they did an incredible real physical transformation.

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The third Harry Potter novel that follows Harry, Ron and Hermione during their third year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is one of my favorites. I think that’s because it begins with the belief that a terrible criminal, Sirius Black, has escaped from the scary magic prison of Azkaban, and then, at the end, nothing is at it seems to everyone; the book ends in a very surprising way. J. K. Rowling describes as usual everything with her unique, ironic and captivating way that makes you want to continue reading page after page without stopping. Here we meet for the first time the eccentric professor Remus Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor that turns out to be a werewolf;

Also, Harry has to deal with the Dementors, dark creatures that have the capability of sucking happiness from people, and during one of his loved Quiddich matches, he faints and fall off his broomstick. He will find a way to find back thanks to Professor Lupin.

As the title of the book let us know, this is the first time the prison of Azkaban is introduced: what’s the story of this dark prison?

Azkaban was built on an island in the North Sea and at the beginning the place never appeared on any map, Muggle or wizarding, and it is believed to have been created by magical means. Azkaban is considered to be the prison of the darkest and worst criminals of the wizarding world, but also home of the Dementors.

The Real Story Behind the Blair Witch Project

I’ve already written about the movie The Blair Witch project, one of my favorite horror movies based on the legend of a witch and three student filmmakers that wants to find out how much of the story is real and film a documentary in mystic woods in Maryland in 1994. (If you’ve not read it yet, here is the link to the article).

The Blair Witch Project

But, what’s the real story behind the film? Let’s find out.

The Blair Witch Project was filmed in 1999 in Burkittsville, a little city with only 75 houses, a church and a post office. There were actually local legends around there, in the little mystic cemetery; it is said that Civil War Soldier Ghosts wander around there, and apparently there is also a legend about a mythical dragon that laid an egg in the hills.

 But, what about legends of witches? There is a very creepy place there called Spook Hill, in the woods you can find an old house, where it is said the real Blair Witch lived. Many that camped nearby says they have witnessed several paranormal activities, such as strange glowing lights and, absurd but true, if you happen to be on a road trip there, on the road of Spook Hill into the woods, your car will roll backwards up the hill! We don’t know if it’s an illusion or there is a scientific explanation to this, but something is really happening, and for sure it’s strange.

After the great success of The Blair Witch Project the major of Burkittsville spoke out saying that it was crazy there, and people with cameras were everywhere.

Anyway, a spooky fact of the movie was that they finished shooting it at Halloween Night, and the actor Michael C. Williams said that there was an incredible surreal atmosphere that night in the woods.

 

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

A beautiful story of a friendship between a boy called Angus and a legendary sea creature, this fantasy movie is a must-see for everyone who is interested in the Scottish legend of the monster of Loch Ness, or interested in history. In fact, the film begins with an old Angus telling the story of the Loch Ness monster to a young couple in a Scottish pub near the lake. When he was a little boy, Angus found a strange egg with beautiful pearl-water blue colors; from the egg came a little sea monster that he called Crusoe and that at a certain point he has to free into the lake, because it will be bigger and bigger, and no one can know this secret.

The story is set during World War II, precisely in 1942; Angus is living in a beautiful mansion on the Loch Ness shores with his mom and his sister, but one day troops of the Royal Artillery arrive at the house and an artillery battery is set up near the lake for protecting the area from possible attacking from German U-Bots.

The major themes of the movie are the atrocity of war and the constant fear people lived in, risking their lives every day, the relationship between man and animal, that can be a beautiful friendship in the case of Angus, but the film focus also on how man destroy nature and betray the trust of all other creatures.

The Water Horse is produced by Jay Russell and is based on a fantasy children novel with the same name written by Dick King Smith, the English writer of the famous The Sheep-Pig, or Babe the Gallant Pig, that was adapted as the movie Babe in 1995 (one of my childhood favorite movies, loved it).

The actors are amazing in this film; among others we have the great Emily Watson in the role of Angus’ mother, the soundtracks of the film are beautiful in my opinion, you can hear all typical Scottish Celtic music during the movie, and the setting is astonishing. Scotland is wonderful.

Plus, the visual effects were made by the same New Zealand based companies Weta Digital and Weta Workshop that made also the visual effects of all The Chronicles of Narnia films.

 

The Picture of Dorian Gray

 

The only novel written by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray is part of the Irish literature culture worldwide. First published in 1890, this novel faces philosophical mayor themes, like the human duplicity, fading beauty and decadence.

It’s strange to think that a novel that will become one of the most famous and iconic books worldwide, was initially only considered an indecent work, not fitting into the social frame of mind. In fact, the book was censored and several parts were never published (as many great works at that time).

Dorian is a handsome man that has a hedonistic world view, thinking that beauty is the only thing worth pursuing in life; the novel in fact begins with an artist, Basil Hallward, that paints a portrait of Dorian Gray, considered his muse.

Dorian will experiment every human vice possible, while his portrait become more and more horrible. At a certain point, the artist of the portrait is only able to identify it as his work by his signature.

One of the major hidden meanings of the book is the analyze of how important it was to fit into the Victorian Age Society, but that no one was as he seemed and people had secret lives that they were too ashamed of reveal. Everyone was ashamed of being what they truly were! But not Dorian.

The degeneration of the portrait symbolizes the degeneration of Dorian’s soul. Outside he was really beautiful, but he could do nothing to not let the portrait transform day after day;

This work has several interpretations, and Wilde himself made textual revisions and expanded the text, so you can find censored editions, and editions with passages added to the novel.