In honour of this spooky holiday, I would like to introduce you to the Uley Long Barrow.
Barrow means a mound placed over a grave/tomb, in case you were wondering.
Image of the Uley Long Barrow in Uley, Gloucestershire, England. From www.altasobscura.com
Numerous skeletons have been discovered within it over the years, and there is evidence of disturbances over the centuries. But considering the barrow is thought to be at least five THOUSAND (not hundred) years old, I guess that makes sense.
Uley is located in England, near Gloucestershire in the Cotswolds, just north of Bristol and Bath and south-west of Stratford-on-Avon.
And guess what? You can go right inside it! (Be prepared to be squished and get very dirty!)
Upper Canada Village holds a special place in my heart, and even more so during the month of October. Why, do you ask? Because it hosts the largest pumpkin attraction ever!
With Halloween right around the corner, is there a better way to get in the spirit of ghosts and ghouls than The Haunted Walk of Ottawa? Grab your lantern – let’s go for a walk.
You may not know it, but we live in city which offers amazingly rich history filled with scandal, scariness, and intrigue! We are even more fortunate that there is a business to tell these stories in such an engaging and vivid way. The Original Haunted Walk of Ottawa is a 90 minute tour, led by lantern light to some of Ottawa’s well known haunted spots, including: the Bytown Museum, the Fairmont Château Laurier and Ottawa’s haunted high school.
Since this was our first time taking one of their tours, we opted for the ‘Original Haunted Walk of Ottawa’. Louie, our tour guide, was fantastic; he related the tales with confidence and flair and kept the entire ninety minutes intriguing. I’m fairly used to ghostly tales and can be somewhat jaded, however, with the combination of the locations and the stories, the story telling was truly goose bump inducing. A few of the younger participants even seemed genuinely creeped out. The tour was not all serious the entire time; the walk was spiced up with occasional stabs at humour which also kept things interesting. The outing was a great way to share some history, campfire tales and get a wonderful tour of a truly beautiful city.
I will admit, before we started I was unsure if this tour really was for me. I’m not particularly superstitious and paranormal stories had never previously caught my full attention. The Haunted Walk has now changed that for me. The combined atmosphere of being on location and the expertise of the tour guide make it an exciting experience for anyone involved.
If you are looking for something to bring you straight into the Halloween spirit or you have never experienced The Haunted Walk – we highly recommend that you enjoy one of their tours (before it gets too cold!).
Dylan McEvoy is a writer for Ottawa’s very own The Nerd is the Word (website, Facebook, Twitter). The Nerd is the Word is a fantastic place to catch up on nerdy news, indie spotlights, reviews, and local events! Follow them and bookmark their website for more awesome content.
This weekend is Halloween, and if you’re looking for something last-minute to do, I’m sure there’s a Halloween party just around the corner. In Ottawa, Can-Con will have Trick-or-Treating in the vendor’s room all day, and it’s free to the public, so be sure to stop by!
But if you’re looking for something a little further from home and off the beaten path, here are some great last-minute options!
Ithaca, New York
Do you like Harry Potter? Would you be interested in visiting Diagon Alley? For five hours on Halloween, Ithaca NY is transforming Press Bay Alley into Diagon Alley and I desperately want to go!! There will be a House Cup Competition, a Horcrux Hunt, a costume contest, presentations on magical creatures, wizarding chess, Quidditch re-enactments, wizarding duels, and so much more! This is their first event, so maybe I’ll be able to go next year…
You would have had to enter the contest with Airbnb, but two lucky (or unlucky?) winners will be the first people to spend Halloween night in the Catacombs under Paris – the home of seven million corpses. Dinner, a private concert, breakfast, and a storyteller will put them to sleep with creepy bedtime stories “guaranteed to produce nightmares”. Who would like to participate in this? Certainly not me!
The Stanley Hotel is one of the most haunted hotels in the world. It was the setting for Stephen King’s “The Shining”. Reportedly haunted by Lord Stanley and his wife, as well as kids who run along the fourth floor halls at two in the morning, and many others, this would be the place to go to test yourself. It is open for business, and hosts a Ghost Adventure Package as well as standard room packages.
“Am I allowed to get my picture taken?” “I’m not allowed to pose for pictures. But just keep clicking, sweetheart.” “This is rather cool. Did you make it?” *Commence internal freak out* *Almost died of heart attack* Michael Rooker (link to his Twitter) was super sweet when I walked up to his table at the end of the day on Sunday. There was no line, and I wasn’t buying an autograph. I asked him if he was scared of the zombies in Walking Dead, and he said “No, because I know they’re not real.” Then I asked for a photo, and got this rather interesting set of pictures. The TARDIS fluffed up again nicely after being squished. And he called me “Sweetheart”. I was blushing rather furiously after that one.
This Berkian family is ready for a party! Halloween party, that is. Hiccup, Astrid and baby Toothless were a big hit this weekend.
Wings made by the baby’s mom, Crochet Toothless hat made by myself. Available for commission in our Products page.
