Ghost Bakes Fluffy Biscuits

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Sometimes ghosts grab sheets, throw rocks, break dishes, make loud noises, and the list goes on. Ghosts are not usually portrayed as helpful roommates but rather (sometimes entertaining) nuisances.

The ghost of the Kubis household in Rice Lake, Wisconsin (1925) was a special kind of ghost: she cooked and cleaned!

This domestic goddess ghost slung “an awfully wicked mop” and baked biscuits that were “nothing short of a poem.” The poetic biscuits were “so nice and brown and just the right texture.”

She was also consistent: her shift always started at midnight.

The biscuits would not make up for the fact that the house was getting too crowded. Not satisfied with the list of cleaning tasks, the ghost started to get a bit too social. One night she climbed in bed with the two Kubis daughters (Helen, age 13, and Armilla, age 11). Another night, she stood very close to Mrs. Kubis while she was replenishing the kitchen fire.

After Mrs. Kubis described the ghost to the neighbors, they shared a photo of Mrs. Axol Pickman, the previous owner of the Kubis home. The photo was a spitting image of the ghost! Further, Mrs. Pickman once told the neighbors she would return after death. It must have been her.

The Kubis family ended up moving out, because the house was cold (that’s the polite answer).

I wonder if Mrs. Pickman is still cleaning the house (and if the house is on Zillow)?

Sources

  • Battle Creek Enquirer, Battle Creek, Michigan, March 12, 1925.
  • The Escanaba Daily Press, Escanaba, Michigan, March 05, 1925.

#25SpookyStories: A 2023 Christmas Reading Challenge

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Nothing satisfies us on Christmas Eve but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about spectres. It is a genial, festive season, and we love to muse upon graves, and dead bodies, and murders, and blood. – Jerome K. Jerome, Told After Supper (1891)

Christmas is a time for ghost stories. It’s true! The tradition of telling ghost stories around Christmas time probably came before the holiday itself and definitely before the commercialized version of today.  The origins, as Kat Eschner writes, are “about darker, older, more fundamental things: winter, death, rebirth, and the rapt connection between a teller and his or her audience. But they’re packaged in the cozy trappings of the holiday.” The tradition never really made it over to America (Puritans ruin the party again), but ghost stories around Christmas were especially popular in 19th Century British books, periodicals, homes, and theatres. In 2017, Ghostland author Colin Dickey made a call to resurrect the tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas, so I’m challenging y’all to read 25 ghost (or just scary) stories this Christmas season (or 12). Maybe you’ll read them in your comfy chair with hot chocolate or wassail. Maybe you’ll read the stories aloud around the fire with family and friends. Whatever you need to do to bring this tradition back to life and hopefully start a new spooky tradition in your home. (To learn more, please check out the articles below that ground this tradition in interesting historical research.)

If you participated in #31SpookyStories, it is basically the same thing. You’ll read 25 spooky short stories each day this December until Christmas. Or, you can choose to read 12 spooky short stories (for the 12 Days of Christmas).

Below I have provided some books and FREE sites where you can find some spooky Christmas stories (I’ll continue to update this list throughout December). Feel free to read whatever spooky stories you want, Christmas-themed and otherwise.

Your reading style and availability may be different than mine, so I gave the challenge additional options:

  • You might read from one anthology/story collection or multiple anthologies/story collections.
  • You might double, triple, or quadtrouple stories on slow days or makeup days. You could read 25 (or 12) stories in one week.
  • You might choose to read fiction and/or nonfiction spooky stories.

The goal of this? To have fun, resurrect an old tradition, and to introduce yourself to new writers. Below are some progress sheets, social media information, some sources on the history on the tradition, and possible stories to read.

Documenting Your Reads

There are many ways to keep track of your stories, whether privately in a notebook or publicly on social media. This year spooky artist Sian Ellis was kind enough to create printable progress sheets for both challenges. I recommend printing the sheets!

👻 12 Spooky StoriesDownload
👻 25 Spooky StoriesDownload

And, what better way to save your page than with one of Sian’s bookmarks (though you’ll find yourself putting multiple items in your cart). Make sure to follow my cohost Sian on Instagram (@thisissianellis)!

Join the Fun on Instagram

Some challenge readers (me included) will be sharing our daily reads on social media. Follow me (@notebookofghosts) for fun Story templates, my daily reads, available anthologies from some of my favorite online sellers, and more!

We’ll be using the hashtag #25SpookyStories!

Some History About the Tradition

Books You Might Purchase

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FREE Reading List

Below are links to some anthologies online. I haven’t read all of these, so I’m sorry for the lame ones! 🙂  Please note: Most of these links take you to Project Gutenberg, which gives you multiple formats to read it in. HTML is best for reading on your computer. You can also send it to your Kindle (I use this email method). 

Happy Reading!

Extra! Extra! Haunted Bunk Beds!

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I love haunted objects, especially mundane objects. I have read about haunted chairs, paintings, bookshelves, beds, quilts, and now…bunk beds!

This tale from Wisconsin definitely caught my attention when I was browsing the newspaper archives. Bunk beds were such an important piece of my childhood (I always had the bottom bunk). My sister and I shared bunk beds in my childhood bedroom. I used them during soccer camp. I even slept in them all four years of undergrad, from dorm room to sorority “cold air.” I have lots of great memories, but none of them involve ghosts.

“‘Haunted’ bunk beds landfilled”

Deborah and Allen Tallman paid $100 for a second-hand set of bunk beds for their daughters, aged 1 1/2 and 2 1/12. After placing the beds in their home, dreadful things began to happen.

  • A foggy apparition appeared to Allen in his daughters’ room and threatened him, saying “You’re dead.”
  • The ghost of an elderly lady appeared to their son.
  • A clock radio kept changing stations on its own.
  • A chair and suitcase moved on its own.

Things came to a head around Christmas when Allen challenged the being to leave his family alone, instead focusing its rage on him. Allen then saw flames coming from his garage’s overheard door.

The family eventually buried the set of bunk beds in the landfill and put the house up for sale.

Source: Chippewa Herald-Telegram, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, February 20, 1988.

#31SpookyStories: October 2023 Reading Challenge

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I’ll continue to update this post when I come across more free and/or recommended readings.

For the past few years many committed to reading 13 or 31 spooky short stories during the month of October. This challenge is not only doable, but it is accessible as I provide free resources. I find this tradition an excellent way to introduce yourself to new writers, folklore, genres, and more.

Artist Sian Ellis was kind enough to design spooky progress sheets. They are an easy and fun way to keep track of your stories, whether you are doing 13 or 31 stories this October.

There’s not wrong or right way to complete this challenge. When choosing the next story for this challenge, I usually grab one of my favorite short story anthologies and randomly pick a story. I usually read fiction pieces and I never go a challenge without reading M.R. James. Your reading style, interests, and availability may be different than mine, so I gave the challenge additional options:

  • You might read from one anthology/story collection or multiple anthologies/story collections.
  • You might double, triple, or quadtrouple stories on slow days or makeup days. Heck, you could read 31 stories in one week. I find I read most my stories on the weekend.
  • You might choose to read fiction and/or nonfiction spooky stories.
  • You might not have time for 31 stories, so let’s swap the numbers around and make it 13.
  • You might choose to participate with your children (I sprinkled in some children’s books below).

Make this challenge your own. I look forward to seeing what you do with it and what stories you recommend! 👻

Join the Fun on Instagram

Some challenge readers (me included) will be sharing on social media. Follow me (@notebookofghosts) for reading templates, my daily reads, available anthologies from some of my favorite online sellers, and more! 

We’ll be using the hashtag #31SpookyStories!

Documenting Your Reads

There are many ways to keep track of your stories, whether privately in a notebook or publicly on social media. Might I recommend these beautiful and spooky progress sheets by Sian Ellis? Print them out and fill them in! There are sheets for both 13 and 31 stories.

13 Spooky StoriesDownload
31 Spooky StoriesDownload

And, what better way to save your page than with one of Sian’s bookmarks (though you’ll find yourself putting multiple items in your cart). Make sure to follow my cohost Sian on Instagram (@thisissianellis)!

If you would like to share your reads on social media, here are some ways:

  • Post your daily reads (story, story writer, book title, and book editors) on Twitter or in your Instagram stories. Instagram users: I made you templates. Just check my highlights! You might also create your only highlight to archive your daily reads!
  • Share a picture of your book piles periodically.
  • Share your method for picking stories.
  • Write down and share your favorite stories.

Recommendations for Fiction

(That aren’t already in the Free Section)

Recommendations for Nonfiction

Free Stories

Below are links to some anthologies online. I haven’t read all of these, so I’m sorry for the lame ones! Please note: Most of these links take you to Project Gutenberg, which gives you multiple formats to read it in. HTML is best for reading on your computer. You can also send it to your Kindle (I use this email method). 

Keep Notes in a Commonplace Book

Commonplace books are an excellent tool for writing down your favorite quotes and excerpts! To learn more about commonplace books, read this post (and this post). To learn more about keeping a Halloween commonplace book, read this post.

I look forward to reading along with you. Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments below!

Happy Reading!

Indiana Folk Beliefs: Cats

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Welcome to a new series: Indiana Folk Beliefs. For the next five weeks (We are on the final week!), I will be sharing a new theme each week. These will be short and sweet posts. You’ll notice some of these folk beliefs expand beyond the Hoosier state.

It is our final week (I CAT believe it) and I am ending on a high note. What kind of things about cats will claw their way out of Indiana folklore?

Some Folk Beliefs

  • If a cat howls around a house a night, death is coming. (Monroe County, around 1860-1870)
  • It is bad luck to kill a cat.
  • It is good luck for a stray cat to enter a home, especially if the cat is black.
  • When a quilt is finished, all the girls present should take a side of the blanket, put a cat in the center, and toss the cat up and down. The girl the cat jumps towards first will be the first to marry.
  • Want to see who your future husband will be? Just before midnight, open all the doors and do everything backwards (such as walking). In complete silence, set a place at the tale for each girl present. The girls will then take their place when. At the stroke of midnight, a hard wind will blow, cats will begin to squall, and your future husband will enter.
  • Cats will mutilate a corpse.
  • Cats will suck the breath out of a sleeping person.
  • When moving houses, don’t bring your broom or cat.
  • Cats draw lightning and shouldn’t be held during storms.
  • If a black cat crosses your path, walk backwards ten steps.
  • If a cat play with their tail, bad weather is on the way.
  • If a cat washes their face, company will come.
  • A woman who loves a cat will be an old maid.

A Folk Tale

There was once a man who had a gristmill in southern Indiana who was unable to get help at night. Why? An enormous cat with fiery eyes would come closer and closer towards the night worker, yowling and screaming. No one was hurt by the cat, but no one stayed long enough for the cat to reach them.

A brave man volunteered to take the night shift. The mill owner provided pay, and room and board at his home. The new worker joined the owner for a home-cooked meal, prepared by the owner’s wife. Then, he started his shift with a butcher knife for protection.

As expected, the cat appeared. The cat got louder and closer. When the cat suddenly jumped towards him, he slashed off a front paw with the knife. The cat disappeared.

The next morning at breakfast, the worker asked why the wife of the house was missing from the table. The mill owner explained his wife got her hand cut off the night before. Yep, she was a witch.

And a Favorite News Clipping

Source: The Kokomo Tribune, 12 Oct 1939, Thu.

Sources

Baker, Ronald L. Hoosier Folk Legends. Indiana University Press, 1982.

Busse, Ora S. “Indiana Folk Beliefs, Omens, and Signs.” Hoosier Folklore, vol. 6, no. 1, 1947, pp. 14-26.

Halpert, Herbert & Paul G. Brewster. “Folk Beliefs and Practices from Southern Indiana.” Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 2, 1943, pp. 23-38.

Halpert, Violetta Maloney. “Death Beliefs fro Indiana.” Midwest Folklore, vol. 2, no.4, pp. 205-219.

Indiana Folk Beliefs: Death

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Welcome to a new series: Indiana Folk Beliefs. For the next five weeks (we are on week 4), I will be sharing a new theme each week. These will be short and sweet posts. You’ll notice some of these folk beliefs expand beyond the Hoosier state.

This week’s topic is death. Which superstitions or folk beliefs also appear in your community’s folklore?

  • Dream of death, you will hear of a wedding.
  • Turn the mirrors to face the wall, when there is a corpse in the house. Or place veils over mirrors.
  • Stop the clocks if there is a death in the house.
  • It’s bad luck to have a grave open overnight.
  • A dog howling while sickness is in the home is a sign of death.
  • Sneezing at the breakfast table is a sign there will be a death in the family within a week.
  • A picture falling from a wall is a sign there will be a death in the family soon.
  • A bird flying in the house is a sign of death.
  • Ticking in the wall is a sign of an upcoming death in the family. It’s called the “death watch.” I’m assuming this is a reference to the deathwatch beetle.
  • A ringing in the ears is a sign of death.
  • Someone died on Sunday? There will be another death in the community before the week is over.
  • Looking for a drowned body? Bring a sheet from that person’s bed and lay it on the water. It will float above the location of the body and then sink. Or use their shirt, which will remain stationary over the body’s location.
  • “Dream of the dead, hear from the living.”
  • Touch the face of the dead and you will not dream about them.
  • If three people light their cigarettes from one match: the third smoker will die, the youngest of three will die first, one of them will die soon, and one of them will die before the year is out. I guess don’t share a match.
  • If two people sweep the floor together, one of the brooms should be thrown out or one of them will die.
  • If two people make a bed together, a member of a family will die.
  • If you miss two consecutive rows when planting corn, someone in your family will die by the year’s end.
  • If a comb is dropped on Sunday, a death will occur the following week.
  • If you trade chickens, a member of your family will die within the year.
  • Don’t count the number of cars at a funeral or someone in your family will die.

Sources

Busse, Ora S. “Indiana Folk Beliefs, Omens, and Signs.” Hoosier Folklore, vol. 6, no. 1, 1947, pp. 14-26.

Halpert, Herbert & Paul G. Brewster. “Folk Beliefs and Practices from Southern Indiana.” Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 2, 1943, pp. 23-38.

Halpert, Violetta Maloney. “Death Beliefs fro Indiana.” Midwest Folklore, vol. 2, no.4, pp. 205-219.

Indiana Folk Beliefs: Three Witches & the Silver Bullet

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Welcome to a new series: Indiana Folk Beliefs. For the next five weeks, I will be sharing a new theme each week. These will be short and sweet posts. You’ll notice some of these folk beliefs expand beyond the Hoosier state.

Last week, I shared a Hoosier folktale about a witch bewitching a housewife’s butter in Giro, Indiana. The housewife won in the end. Will a hunter have the same success against three shape-shifting witches?

Today’s tale is from Shelby County, Indiana, back when it was heavily wooded and only a few log cabins sprinkled the landscape. Three sisters, believed to be witches or fairies, lived in one of these cabins. It was rumored that when they left the house to explore the woods, they transformed into wild animals.

One of the local pioneers and a famed hunter planned an epic hunt in the woods, preparing and gathering the best weapons. On the first day, he traveled deep into the woods and came across three fawns. The skilled hunter was unable to shoot any of the fawns. He returned home frustrated, deciding to check his weapons for issues after a night’s sleep.

In the morning, the hunter checked his guns and found no problems. Maybe he was nervous and needed to practice his shot? After practicing his shot, and with success, he knew that was not the case. He went back into the woods, ready to get a kill. Again he came across the fawns, and again he missed.

The next day, he headed into town with hopes of buying a new gun and cartridges. He was greeted by his curious friends at the store, who asked how many deer he had killed. The hunter, ashamed, explained he was unsuccessful. After his friends poked fun at his failure, an older hunter walked over.

This older hunter explained that these fawns were most likely the witches and that they could only be killed with silver bullets. The determined hunter went home with this new information and melted down his silver coins into bullets.

Early the next morning, he went into the woods with his new silver bullets. He happened upon the fawns again, which were galloping and enjoying the outdoors. He took his shot, hitting one the fawns in the leg.

The two other fawns disappeared when they heard the shot. The injured fawn continued after them with an injured leg, slowly. The hunter followed the hurt fawn through the woods and watched it eventually walk into a cabin and disappear, being replaced by a beautiful, young, and limping woman.

The hunter entered the house to ask the woman if she had seen the injured fawn. Instead he saw two more beautiful young women standing around a bed. In the bed was the woman he had noticed in the doorway, lying with a wounded foot. He asked her sisters what had happened, and they explained she had stepped on a sharp stone.

The hunter, finally figuring it out, asked the three sisters if they were the rumored witches that turn into animals. They said yes. Gasp!

The three sisters soon disappeared from the area after the incident.

Sources

Baker, Ronald L. Hoosier Folk Legends. Indiana University Press, 1982.

Indiana Folk Beliefs: Witchcraft & Butter

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Welcome to a new series: Indiana Folk Beliefs. For the next five weeks, I will be sharing a new theme each week. These will be short and sweet posts. You’ll notice some of these folk beliefs expand beyond the Hoosier state.

This week we are talking about witchcraft! I actually found A LOT of good stuff, so we are breaking it into two posts. The first post is focused on butter. Yes, butter.

When looking over the 1943 article “Folk Beliefs and Practices from Southern Indiana,” I came across two witchcraft folk practices.

  • Having issues with making butter “come,” it’s probably witchcraft! Counteract it by adding a hot poker to the churn.
  • Still having trouble with that butter? Put a horseshoe in the churn. You’ll be able to recognize the witch later if you see her with a horseshoe burn.

Then, later, when I was reading my copy of Hoosier Folk Legends (Baker, 1982), I came across a legend that provided some context.

This particular story comes from Giro, Indiana (an unincorporated community located at the northernmost point of Gibson County). It was not uncommon to blame the difficulty of everyday tasks on a neighbor’s bewitchment, especially in this small town.

One day, Mrs. Brown of Giro noticed she was not producing butter, even after churning for several hours. She turned to husband and exclaimed, “Someone has a foot in my cream, so I’ll find out who the witch is this time!” She then heated an iron in the fire and dropped it into the churn, hoping to burn the foot of the person bewitching her butter. Soon, she had nice yellow butter.

The next day, Mrs. Brown stopped by the house of Mrs. Jones for a chat. Mrs. Jones was in great pain and complained about her burned foot. Mrs. Brown left satisfied that she had found the witch.

Sources

Baker, Ronald L. Hoosier Folk Legends. Indiana University Press, 1982.

Halpert, Herbert & Paul G. Brewster. “Folk Beliefs and Practices from Southern Indiana.” Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 2, 1943, pp. 23-38.

Indiana Folk Beliefs: The Moon

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Welcome to a new series: Indiana Folk Beliefs. For the next five weeks, I will be sharing a new theme each week. These will be short and sweet posts. You’ll notice some of these folk beliefs expand beyond the Hoosier state.

  • If the moon changes in the morning, it will rain soon.
  • To avoid manure remaining on top of the ground, it should be laid in the dark of the moon (not in the light of the moon).
  • Plant vegetables in the light of the moon, particularly above-ground vegetables: lettuce, cabbage, beans, etc.
  • If the new moon lies on its back, it means dry weather.
  • If the moon is laying on its back, it’s full of water (Morgan County).
  • A halo around the moon means it will rain soon (Morgan County).
  • A circle around the moon means dry weather.
  • A red moon is a sign of war.
  • Move when the moon is new. In this market?
  • Got dirt on your clothes? It’s harder to get out in the light of the moon.
  • Corn grows faster in the light of the moon, rather than the dark.
  • The full moon favors severe or killing frosts (diminishes after the full moon).
  • Frost never kills fruit in the light of the moon.
  • Bathe only in the dark of the moon.
  • If you collect apples in the light of the moon, their bruises will dry up.
  • Fish bite best in the dark of the moon.
  • Make lye soap in the light of the moon.

Sources

Busse, Ora S. “Indiana Folk Beliefs, Omens, and Signs.” Hoosier Folklore, vol. 6, no. 1, 1947, pp. 14-26.

Halpert, Herbert & Paul G. Brewster. “Folk Beliefs and Practices from Southern Indiana.” Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 2, 1943, pp. 23-38.

Report from Indiana Horticultural Society’s Annual Meeting

“Weather moon signs, Morgan County, Indiana.” Shadows of the Wabash- ISU Special Collections.