Joshua Dowidat

Eerie for Thoughts: Jack Frost

Hello Everyone,

Many of us know about Jack Frost. The folklore behind the winter-being most likely comes from older Norse beliefs. However, he is more commonly believed to derive from the winter-being Old Man Winter. Regardless of where he came from one thing is certain. Jack Frost has been part of our upbringing for many years now.

Modern Jack Frost:

Modern day depictions create him to be one of two things. Either a wispy, chilly, obnoxious character with an excitable outlook on life or a coldblooded killer.

Yes, in case some of you are not aware, Jack Frost is also in horror movies that exist today. And he has also starred in kid’s cartoons and Pixar style films. Or regular films as a lovely little snowman.

Beliefs:

It is believed in all the tales, (books, films, etc.) that Jack Frost comes with the winter weather. Or that he creates winter. Continue reading →

Eerie for Thoughts: St. Louis Light

Hello Everyone,

This one is probably going to be a little short compared to the other eerie lights we’ve been discussing. Surprisingly, I could find limited information on this phantom light. And being named the St. Louis Light or St. Louis Ghost Light I find that a bit odd.

St. Louis Light:

The St Louis Light is yet another phantom or ghostly light that can be seen alongside the railroad tracks. This one, in particular, has been witnessed along the railroad tracks near St. Louis, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Appearing in many different sizes and shades the light gives the locals a haunted feeling when it appears. And of course anyone else who might happen to be visiting the location.

The Tale:

Similar to some of the other lights this one is believed to be a lantern shining from a drunken brakeman who lost his head from an oncoming train. The lantern swings around eerily in the dark as the body of the deceased brakeman attempts to find his missing head. Of course it isn’t there anymore, so the lantern will swing around aimlessly in the dark forever.

Another story is that it is a ghost train in its entirety. That’s right, a whole train. This is interesting because I wonder what other effects of an entire phantom ghost train might bring upon you in a place like this. I keep thinking about the scene from Ghost Busters when the subway passes through them in the abandoned subway tunnels.

Either way, there is something about a mysterious light in the middle of nowhere at night that gives me the chills.

Conclusions:

Of course, like many of the other lights, it has been studied, debunked, de-mystified, and what-not. There was even a class of grade-schoolers who did a science experiment showing that the St. Louis Light was coming from vehicle lights in the distance. They won an award for this. Unfortunately with my limited time I was not able to look further into this and see when the lights were in fact, first reported. Did they appear before or after vehicles, is my question.

Still, the St. Louis Light remains a mystery to this day and is still an eerie sight to see if you happen to be walking along the cold chilly railroad tracks. Just watching the moonlight reflect of the glistening rails. Then you see a light ahead that begins to move, you shiver but this time it’s not from the cold. There’s something else there. Are you about to be hit by an oncoming train and join the brakeman on his quest or is it a harmless apparition, a phantom ghost train that will pass right through. Perhaps it’s only the brakeman wanting some help. Will you answer his call or run away.

Thanks for Reading,

Joshua Crane Dowidat

Continue reading →

Haunted Places: Bachelors Grove Cemetery

Hello Everyone,

Since the last post was in Illinois I decided to keep it there while discussing this week’s haunted cemetery. Bachelors Grove Cemetery. The interesting thing about this cemetery that sets it aside from many of those I have been talking about is the size of it.

Bachelors Grove Cemetery:

The thick tree line makes the growing city of Chicago seem distant from the cemetery which adds to the secluded nature of the forgotten cemetery. At least forgotten for burials.

Only 82 plots are at the cemetery and many have never been filled. The cemetery started in 1840 and possibly even a few years earlier there were some burials in the same area. Perhaps the latest burials there, were rumored dumping of bodies by organized crime persons in the 1930s and 40s.

The cemetery which lies near the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve was founded by English homesteaders moving west Continue reading →

Eerie for Thoughts: Eerie Lights

Hello Everyone,

So we’ve all come to another end of a segment of blogs about scary, spooky and otherwise Eerie Lights. I wanted to do a form of wrap-up to this segment, not only to explain why I choose the haunted lights but also to touch on a few other areas that were not covered in the previous blogs.

First off: What Makes Them Eerie Lights

Well, first off all it is usually a light in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of…..okay kidding, but you get the idea. It is something that is not natural or if it is, it is unexplained. At least not explained to some level.

As we know many of the Eerie Lights have been “debunked” in their haunted origins. Yet many of them can also not explain how the lights existed before cars, which seems to be Continue reading →

Mythical Creatures: Thunderbird

Hello Everyone,

Well here we go, first of the blogs with some sort of a different direction and since the overcast today was reminding of rain, I decided to touch base on the old Thunderbird to begin with.

Although I will be jumping around from different blogs at times, I did want to focus on these mythical creatures. I wanted to do this because sometimes when I do write my regular blogs, some of these mythical and eerie creatures are mentioned.

Hopefully this will be interesting for everyone and educational. Hopefully it will also clear up and wondering or help when these creatures show up in my “Haunted Places” or “Eerie for Thoughts.”

Thunderbird:

The Thunderbird gets its name from kind of obvious reasons. It’s a bird that comes with thunder. Although there are stories throughout ancient mythical history that are similar to the description of the Thunderbird, this one Continue reading →