Beyond the bonfire

 

November is filled with legends and the paranormal. One chilling event is the focus of "Beyond the Bonfire" entry, things beside Guy Fawkes Night and other than Bonfire Night on 5th November that will interest you. So make yourself a pot of tea as this will be a read.  

There is a cursed rock in a Devon village that must be turned over once every year. On the 5th November, a ritual of local people in Shebbear turns this rock because if they don't, a curse happens. It's been called The Devil' Stone. 

The Legend: It's believed that Archangel Michael flung the Devil out of Heaven, a celestial boulder was grabbed and thrown down on top of the Devil, who landed smack bang in the grass at Shebbear. It takes a whole year for the Devil to claw his way out from under this rock. Just before he emerges, the villages use a crowbar to flip over the rock, plunging the Devil far back below again. It would take him 365 days to crawl back up. Each time he tries, it's 5th November, and the villagers of Shebbear are ready to turn the rock over and send him falling back down. 

The devil's Stone is a doorway. While many say it's just stuff of legends, there's something scientifically interesting about THAT very stone. It's an unknown piece of rock that doesn't belong in the UK. Alone and an isolated feature, this rock is a glacial erratic, a sedimentary conglomerate orthoquartzite. Scientists are puzzled by how it got to be there. Some theories believe it was left over from the Ice Age, or carried by a prehistoric waterflow. But the people of Shebbear have a much more fascinating legend about it.

Prehistory: Long before Christianity arrived, early tribes found the rock sacred and carried out rituals on it. But today villagers keep to the centuries old tradition. There were two times that the curse was unleashed when someone forgot to turn over the stone on 5th November. Let's see more.

Villagers turning the Devil's Stone

Historic curses: In 1913 the villagers regarded the ritual as mumbo jumbo and they didn't turn over the stone. What followed was ruin and disasters in Shebbear: illness outbreak among livestock, stored food had rotted, crops died and a number of accidents and fire outbreaks.. The villagers were in misery and suffering, so they quickly turned the stone over and their misfortunes stopped. 

Again in the year 1939 villagers failed to turn over the rock again during the start of WW2. What happened next was a darkness and panic, an enormous sense of dread. Evil was freed in the world. So they worked together during blackouts and turned the stone over in cover of darkness. Once they did this, relief washed over them. Even during the intense years of the war, they continued to keep flipping over the stone every 5th November to stop the Devil escaping to bring more evil. 

Conclusion: Today with growing scepticism, people easily forget many old traditions and folklore. The villagers of Shebbear and their stone ritual will keep this tradition. It's their way of protecting the world. And if someone in future misses turning the stone again, Heaven help us all.

I plan to write more spooky legends for November. Did that give you chills? It did for me. Posted by Violet Dark.           

For late Autumn indoors

Hello, 

This month is ideal for getting into a good ghost story. You can make yourself a hot drink, wrap up warm in a blanket and watch a chilling horror film or get into a supernatural book in theme for November.

Here are some films I recommend for November: The Pale Blue Eye (2022), November (2017), The Mothman Prophesies (2002), The Humans (2021), Ebenezer (2026), The Innocents (1961) and Night of the Demon (1957). 

We're in this annual event of "Noirvember", It's a celebration of the film noir genre in November, so film fans everywhere can participate in watching and discussing. There are Noirvember special sales, matinees, internet based theatres and streaming. Some suggestions includes Out of the Past (1948), The Woman in the Window (1945) and The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Atmospheric novels with a late autumn gothic chill to read are Ghost Story by Peter Straub, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, November Fox by EE Bertram, The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, The Woman in Black by Susan Hill and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

My favourites include (films) Harry Potter, Practical Magic, Addams Family and The Haunting. (Books) Goosebumps by RL Stein, MR James' Collected Ghost Stories and Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell.  

CW 😊      

History: Gunpowder plot and Guy Fawkes night

Today is the 5th November. Yes it's bonfire night, also called Guy Fawkes Night. A "penny for the guy" with stuffed scarecrow figures to parade in the streets. Fireworks. Small outdoor bonnies (bonfires), dried leaves and cold crisp air. Goes with a traditional feast of toasted marshmallows, bangers (sausages) and mash, toffee apples and hot chocolate drink. This isn't complete without chilling stories and here is one of them.

Guy Fawkes was a young handsome man. He was strong and muscular, with long auburn hair and beard. There was a strong influential presence about him. He was charismatic and funny. A former soldier who was a Catholic convert, oppressed under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant. Practicing Catholicism was illegal in England back then, which caused an atmosphere of misery. Then King James I was no better, and it pushed Fawkes overseas to the European continent to give his support. On his return, he was involved in a conspiracy to blow up the Houses of Parliament. It backfired on him!

After he was arrested, Fawkes was placed in manacles then on a rack, where he was tortured. Eventually he admitted who the co conspirators were. All of those involved were hung, drawn and quartered. The others were executed before him, and he managed to flee from the scaffold, where he soon fell and died. His body was torn to pieces. Each part of his remains were distributed around the country as a warning. 

The Government wanted everyone to celebrate his death right afterwards. People were told to light bonfires, party and attend church by law on every 5th November as part of Thanksgiving (Observance Act 5th November 1605). This mandatory celebration still lasts today. The law to attend church on 5th November was repealed in 1859 as the "gunpowder treason day" tension faded. 

Now that was the history behind Guy Fawkes. He was born in a house in York, England, in 1570, which is now the haunted Guy Fawkes Inn, built in the 18th century. His unsettled spirit haunts there. The inn itself is the only place throughout the UK that doesn't celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. 

More stories on the way. Keep well. Violet Dark.        

New blog owners

Warmest greetings. 

This blog was left months ago by the owner, She Wolf Night. She passed the torch over to us, her friends Violet Dark and Charlotte Woods. The original owner of the blog, She Wolf Night, stepped down after so long. Now we've decided to reopen it. 

She Wolf Night has been ill and couldn't manage posting on the blog. It was a while she had poor health and she made the decision to call it a day. She spent over 16 years posting about supernatural subjects, which I also have a lot of interest in too. I've been adding the occasional post here sometimes. 

I'm Violet Dark, and the second admin is Charlotte Woods. We will keep everything here, the archive and blog name. We'll be adding some slight visual changes to make it easier to read. The subjects will mostly remain the same as the blog theme, but we'll introduce a few extras. The blog will always be about monsters and ghosts but we'll add mysteries, historical and the natural world.

So stay tuned for more and be well, Violet Dark