Ghosts on a Tree, Franz Sedlacek, 1933
The Devil’s Muse
a horror fan blog by Sean Zio
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The Cost of Battle 💔
“In Montmorency [Quebec], the ghost is thought to be Mathilde Robin. In 1759, in the middle of the Seven Years War, Mathilde had found her true love in Louis Tessier, a local farmer and member of the militia who asked for her hand in marriage. Her father approved of the match and the two were to be married at the end of the summer in 1759.
“However, this was a turbulent time in Québec and Louis was soon sent to fight in the Battle of Beauport, which took place at the base of the Montmorency Falls on July 31, 1759.
“The English forces were controlled by General James Wolfe who is famous for taking Québec during the Plains of Abraham. He would not be victorious during this battle; wet air from the falls and a sudden storm ruined the English gun power and the British troops were forced to retreat. Wolfe recorded 210-deaths in this journal. The French leader, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, recorded 60.
“However, for poor Mathilde, the French were victorious but her beloved Louis was one of the 60-militiamen who were killed. In her grief, it’s believed that she put on her wedding dress and threw herself from the top of the falls, where they had met the evening before. People have claimed to have heard her cries or to have seen her ghost in a white dress falling from the top of the falls.”
From The Travel Geek: Montmorency: La légende de la Dame blanche
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You’re F*cked – Happy All Saints’ Day!
Probably one of the most famous martyrs is Saint Peter. Born in Judaea in AD 1, Peter was the first pope and was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus.
Peter was sentenced to death by the Roman emperor Nero, famous for his ruthless and brutal treatment of Christians. In the year 64, the Great Fire of Rome started in the Circus Maximus arena. It burned for nearly a week and by the time it was put out, it had torn through 10 of Rome’s 14 districts. Nero blamed Christians for the fire, and Peter was one of the main scapegoats.
Famously, Peter asked to be crucified upside-down, as he didn’t believe anyone was worthy to be killed the same way as Jesus Christ. According to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, Peter said, ‘I beseech you the executioners, crucify me thus, with the head downward and not otherwise.’
Many believe that Peter is buried in the crypt underneath St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but this has not been conclusively proven.
Read about more torturous saints’ deaths at www.history.co.uk.
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The Rotting Pair
The Dead Lovers, also known as The Rotting Pair, is a circa 1470 painting by a German Gothic artist, probably from Ulm or more generally from Swabia or the Upper Rhine region. It is on display in the Musée de l’Å’uvre Notre-Dame. Its inventory number is MBA 1442 (“MBA” stands for Musée des Beaux-Arts).
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Horror Cinema: The Monkey
If you like first-rate kills, watch The Monkey.
From the get-go, the movie had excellent, unexpected gory moments. Throughout, bodies exploded and heads were crushed. The story itself was satisfying enough to carry through the scenes of gore, classic Stephen King. The movie did a great job of telling a Stephen King story.
Perkins, Osgood. The Monkey, Neon, 2025.
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Desdemona
DESDEMONA
O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not!OTHELLO
Down, strumpet!DESDEMONA
Kill me to-morrow: let me live to-night!OTHELLO
Nay, if you strive–DESDEMONA
But half an hour!OTHELLO
Being done, there is no pause.DESDEMONA
But while I say one prayer!OTHELLO
It is too late.
Théodore Chassériau, “He smothers her”: plate 13 from Othello (Act 5, Scene 2), etched 1844, reprinted 1900
French, http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/371339Shakespeare, Othello, Act V, Scene ii, 1622.
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Horror Cinema: Final Destination Bloodlines
The latest addition to the Final Destination series was everything I could want from the series and more. The gore scenes were remarkable right from the start of the movie and, as the narrative unfolded about the bloodlines, the gore was worse because the characters getting chopped up and crushed were the protagonist’s family members.
This movie was made for its fans, but it was also an excellent gory horror movie that stood up as a modern horror movie.
Lipovsky, Zach, and Adam Stein. Final Destination Bloodlines, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2025.
The Devil's Muse 