Haunted Halloween: Kathy Charles + A Giveaway!

THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW

by Kathy Charles

Port Arthur, a historic penal colony on the picturesque island of Tasmania, is one of the scariest places in Australia.

It is also one of the saddest.

Established in 1833, Port Arthur was a harsh and brutal prison for some of the country’s worst offenders. It was a site of murder, torture and insanity.

But its black history didn’t end when the doors closed.

When its days as a prison were over, Port Arthur became a popular tourist destination. In April 1996, a disturbed loner with long blonde hair and a surfboard on the roof of his Volkswagen opened fire on tourists, lying waste to 35 lives. Some of the more superstitious believe the gunman was drawn to the site because of its dark, murderous history. Some believe the site is cursed.

What isn’t in dispute is that Port Arthur is most definitely haunted. I took a ghost tour one dark, balmy night around five years ago. In a group of ten we wandered through the old jail cells and guard’s quarters, hearing stories of the many ghosts who call Port Arthur home: the faces that appeared in the walls of the Surgeon’s autopsy room, the child’s rocking chair that mysteriously moved by itself. I kept my eyes closed most of the time, and didn’t really experience the tour until looking at photos of the event later on. I wish I hadn’t.

In one of the photos, taken through a dusty window into the living quarters of one of the many families living and working at Port Arthur, is the unmistakeable figure of a little girl. She has thick, luscious curls: magnificent waves of hair that frame a cupid face and part in the middle. Her nose is round and her eyes are translucent, staring directly into the camera. She is dressed in an old-fashioned petticoat with long sleeves and frills, and her look is serene. We sent the photograph to Port Arthur and they thanked us. It was nothing out of the ordinary. They are sent photos of this nature all the time.

Sometimes I wonder about the girl in the window. Who was she? Why is she still there? Is she sad? Is she looking at me? I’ve shown the photo to friends, some of who have recoiled and refuse to look at it again. I suppose the photo should make me happy: isn’t it, after all, proof of life after death? The only thing I know for sure is if I find myself back at Port Arthur, I might give the ghost tour a miss. Who knows who might be waiting for me.

To learn more about Port Arthur and its ghosts visit:

 http://www.portarthur.org.au/

Title: John Belushi is Dead

Synopsis: IN THE END WE ALL FADE TO BLACK.

Pink-haired Hilda and oddball loner Benji are not your typical teenagers. Instead of going to parties or hanging out at the mall, they comb the city streets and suburban culs-de-sac of Los Angeles for sites of celebrity murder and suicide. Bound by their interest in the macabre, Hilda and Benji neglect their schoolwork and their social lives in favor of prowling the most notorious crime scenes in Hollywood history and collecting odd mementos of celebrity death.

Hilda and Benji’s morbid pastime takes an unexpected turn when they meet Hank, the elderly, reclusive tenant of a dilapidated Echo Park apartment where a silent movie star once stabbed himself to death with a pair of scissors. Hilda feels a strange connection with Hank and comes to care deeply for her paranoid new friend as they watch old movies together and chat the sweltering afternoons away. But when Hank’s downstairs neighbor Jake, a handsome screenwriter, inserts himself into the equation and begins to hint at Hank’s terrible secrets, Hilda must decide what it is she’s come to Echo Park searching for . . . and whether her fascination with death is worth missing out on life.

 Now Available from MTV Books.

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Check out Jessica's Haunted Halloween post with Nancy Holder + A Giveaway!

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