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Friday, April 13, 2007
FREAKY FRIDAY

Posted by: carson // Category: Ghosts! // 4:24 pm

Today, my own Wikepedia meanderings taught me this word: paraskavedekatriaphobia, which means “fear of Friday the 13th.” Do we have any readers out there who suffer from this curious affliction?

I didn’t, until 2:13 pm today, when after the conclusion of an unexpectedly intense meeting here in the office, a clock spontaneously detached itself from the wall and rolled under my chair. I doubt I would classify myself among the estimated 17 million Americans who refuse to work, fly or buy houses on this day, but it did give me a brief episode of the creeps.

Generally speaking, I enjoy Friday the 13th, and not only because the Olsen twins claim it as their birthday. I like it because it’s an opportunity to confront the unknown, and an excuse to feel vulnerable as a result. Don’t we all enjoy being a little bit afraid?

Think roller coasters, scary movies, and… ghosts.

The Wren’s Nest offers plentiful opportunities to be spooked, if one should choose to indulge them. First of all, it’s 137 years old. Generations have been raised here; naturally, a few people (including Mr. Harris) have died here. Though many details of the house and its inhabitants have been recorded and passed from person to person, there’s a lot we don’t know about the place. The upstairs storage room and basement are filled to the brim with mysterious artifacts, which the spook-lover in me can’t wait to get her hands on.

Lain gave me a tour of the basement on my first day here, explaining that some ghost hunters had recently taken an interest in it after a bunch of ceiling lights blew out in succession. Perhaps the unanswered questions it raised prepared me to be paticularlly moved by the following: as I leaned in to marvel at an old lithograph collecting dust near the entrance, the dial on the front spun completely around on its axis.

If there’s such thing as a ‘good day’ to be spooked at the Wren’s Nest, I suppose today’s one of them (I’m leaving the ghost hunters out of this for now), which is why I’ll be going home and leaving Lain here to lock the place up.

Good luck, buddy.

friday

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2 Comments


  1. lain
    Comment // April 14th, 2007 // 9:04 am

    Yeah that spinning dial was really creepy. You were all like, “Lain you jerk there aren’t any such things as gh–GAH!”


  2. Amelia Trace
    Comment // April 14th, 2007 // 12:56 pm

    Lain is Thelma; which Scooby Doo character are you, Cars?

    I call Scrappy.

    ps- I hope the service day is going swimmingly!

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