Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Nature Beings, Ghosts, and Ancestor Spirits. The Earth is Sacred.
The Vanishing Hitchhiker by Jan Harold Brunvand defines an Urban Legend as a “realistic story concerning recent events (or alleged events) with an ironic or supernatural twist.” The teller of the story believes the legend is true, and that the events actually happened to someone just out of reach–to a friend of a friend, for example, or to somebody’s relative.
An Urban Legend is not believed to be true by academics or investigators. This is often determined because the same events are said to have happened in several different geographical areas to more than one person. The stories will often be similar to one another, but will have contrasting details such as where, when, and to who the events happened to. Continue reading “Urban Legend”
On July 21st, I was in the Cowichan Valley for the filming of Harold Joe’s new documentary, Tzouhalem. Produced by Les Bland Productions and by Harold himself, the film will attempt to unpack the oral stories and urban legends surrounding the near-mythic figure of Chief Tzouhalem, who Mount Tzouhalem is named after.
What makes this project unique is that Harold is a Quamichan traditional Gravedigger. The Quamichan Nation acknowledges the existence of human and nonhuman spirit entities, so strict protocol is observed during funerals in order to avoid problems with either. Harold’s role often calls upon him to repatriate human remains and to help disembodied ancestors find peace.
Chief Tzouhalem had a complicated relationship with this same spirit world. So who better to investigate the legends surrounding him than someone familiar with his teachings? Tzouhalem was a member of the nation Harold is, as well, which means Harold has access to oral histories no other investigator would ever be able to acquire. Continue reading “Ghosts of Mount Tzouhalem and Stone Butter Church”
In this interview, Darby asks the hard questions – we talk about common ghost story themes, racism, and the library copies of my book going missing! Our interview follows Casey’s Halloween reads, starting around the 17:45 mark.
Meet Me in the Stacks is Vancouver Island Regional Library’s podcast. Each episode is unique, but almost always has a book recommendation segment. I’ve added Casey’s Halloween recommendations to my reading list for next year.
Here’s a synopsis of the episode! You can find Meet Me in the Stacks wherever you get your podcasts, or you can listen to the episode by clicking on the image below: Continue reading “The Haunting of Your Bedside Table”
The Haunting of Vancouver Island is four years old! It’s hard to believe. Interest in the book–as well as my perspective on local ghost lore–hasn’t waned as much as I thought it would. This Halloween, I was interviewed for two podcasts and will be doing a large Zoom presentation for kids for Vancouver Island Regional Library on October 26th.
The Missing and Unexplained interview with Tyler Hooper was a lot of fun. It was the first time I’ve spoken about the Valencia story almost exclusively. The Valenica is a legendary West Coast phantom ship. There’s a chapter about her in The Haunting of Vancouver Island. In the interview, I explain the difference between a ghost ship and phantom ship and talk about the haunted vessel the Melanope–as a teaser for the sequel I’m working on, The Haunting of British Columbia (working title). Continue reading “The Missing and Unexplained Podcast with Tyler Hooper”
Huldowget is a 1926 novel by Bruce Alistair McKelvie. It’s an entertaining read–in a historical sort of way–but it is also offensive.
McKelvie was an editor for Victoria’s Daily Colonist. He is remembered for his involvement in the Native Sons (a colonist heritage fraternal order) and for promoting lost civilization theories (over Indigenous rights) through books, newspapers, and speeches.
I recently published an article on Ancient Pages about the Hepburn Stone, which is on display at the Nanaimo Museum. McKelvie was the main person who promoted the stone as a 15,000-year-old lost civilization artifact. I read some of his nonfiction during my research and was surprised to discover he had authored fiction, as well. Continue reading “Huldowget by B. A. McKelvie”
Here are few photos of holiday lights and displays I took in Victoria, BC this year.
We often don’t recognize contemporary holiday celebrations as folklore in North America, but they are. Taking photos of Christmas displays allowed me to work on my night photography while simultaneously recording folkloric customs in Victoria for 2020.
I did this for Halloween this year, as well, but those images were low quality compared to these ones as they were taken on my iPhone. These are primarily DSLR images.
There are a few photos of Munro’s Books and Russell Books but there are none from Bolen Books. This is not meant as a slight towards them, but I went by twice and they did not have Christmas lights on or obvious decorations out this year.
Wishing you the very best for 2021 and beyond! Enjoy.
Nothing brings me more joy than writing fiction. For this reason, I am excited to tell you about Althingi, Outland Entertainment’s newly announced Icelandic Viking game! More specifically, I am proud to tell you about the Althingi anthology I contributed a story to.
Outland Entertainment is an American publisher of games, comic books, and popular culture anthologies. Their brand is pretty badass, actually. A cowboy riding a dinosaur? I mean, come on! Why didn’t I think of that? Continue reading “Exiles”