Season of the witch

Don’t mess with the Ouija.

Too soon for Halloween? No way! Not when Costco and Walmart are already jam-packed with Christmas crap on October 1. I wanted to mention a podcast I’ve been enjoying in the run-up to All Hallow’s Eve: “Spooked.”

Every Thursday, the podcast features regular people talking about eerie stuff that has happened to them. You know, spectral visitors and phantom hitchhikers and an assortment of unexplained phenomena. Some of it is obvious bullshit, sure, but I do not discriminate.

I love this kind of thing. Yes, I’ll admit that a number of episodes seem suspiciously similar to well-known works of horror fiction. But somehow, hearing the stories narrated by ordinary people makes them more compelling. The episodes remind me of when I was a kid, sitting around listening to the adults in my family talk about eerie occurrences. I had an uncle who subscribed to Fate magazine. He kept a stack of old issues in the closet and I scared myself sleepless many times after staying up too late reading them.

I guess the appreciation for the paranormal runs in the family. I remember one night Mom and some of the aunts and uncles were fooling around with an Ouija board. It was all fun and games until the answers began to take a decidedly sinister turn. It concerned the death of someone then still living. They never used an Ouija board again, and I’ve steered clear myself. But I’ve never lost my childlike fascination for the unexplained.

If you’ve checked out this podcast, let me know what you think.