The Pale Raven Official

  The practice of post-mortem photography emerged in the 19th century, primarily gaining traction after the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839. It's crucial to understand this ritual within its historical context. At the time, cameras were expensive and rare, not the handheld devices we casually use today. Infant and child mortality rates were tragically high due to disease and lack of modern medicine. For many families, particularly those of modest means, a portrait of their young child while they were alive was often a luxury they couldn't afford or an opportunity they didn't have. Thus, a post-mortem photograph became incredibly important. It was frequently the only visual record a family would ever possess of a loved one who had passed too soon. Far from being a macabre obsession, it was a sincere, deeply personal, and socially accepted act of mourning, serving to immortalize their physical presence. Originating largely in Europe and the United States, this photogra...

    Throughout October I will be sharing a daily post that highlights the real history of Halloween/Samhain. These will correlate with my short videos I am posting across my social media accounts. You can follow me on  Youtube,   Instagram , and  Facebook  to view them! When the ancient Celtic calendar turned, ushering in the time known as Samhain , the very air changed. This wasn't merely the end of the harvest; it was the most significant spiritual moment of the year, a night when the veil between the world of the living and the realm of the dead thinned, allowing spirits, both benevolent and malevolent, to cross over. The chaos of the night was held in check, and the entire spiritual landscape of the celebration was defined by one colossal, primal image: the sacred bonfire . These weren't mere campfires to keep warm. They were ritually constructed beacons of power, light, and community , and the immense responsibility for their creation, maintenance, and...

  Throughout October I will be sharing a daily post that highlights the real history of Halloween/Samhain. These will correlate with my short videos I am posting across my social media accounts. You can follow me on  Youtube,   Instagram , and  Facebook  to view them! The fear and fascination with the walking dead is not a modern cinematic obsession; it is one of the oldest spiritual practices of humanity. To trace the history of the cinematic zombie is to trace the evolution of how different cultures have sought to harness, or merely survive, the immense power of the dead. It is a history that moves from ancient prophecy to medieval hauntings and, finally, to the modern horror blockbuster. The search for a connection to the dead begins with the ancient art of necromancy, derived from the Greek for "dead" and "divination." This practice, which is the forbidden art of seeking hidden knowledge by communicating with the dead, is recorded in some of the oldest works...

  The True Horror of Halloween: Unmasking The Candyman Murder Halloween night is a tapestry woven with crisp autumn air, the rustle of fallen leaves, and the joyous clamor of children in costumes, their faces alight with the promise of candy. But on October 31, 1974, in the quiet suburbs of Pasadena, Texas, this idyllic image was brutally shattered, replaced by a horror far more sinister than any ghost story. This is the chilling tale of Ronald Clark O'Bryan, the man who became known as "The Candyman," and whose actions forever changed the way America celebrated Halloween. Ronald O'Bryan seemed, on the surface, to be an ordinary man. A trained optician and a deacon in his local church, he presented an image of respectability. However, beneath this veneer lay a desperate man drowning in a sea of debt, reportedly owing over $100,000 to creditors. His financial woes were mounting, his employment history was spotty, and he was on the brink of losing everything. In a cruel...