Wednesday 25 July 2012

Black Dog




Dogs  - frightening or friendly?


I've just read a superb ghost story by Penelope Lively called 'Black Dog' in the highly commendable Virago Book of Ghost Stories. It made me think of other Black Dogs:

Anubis, Egyptian God of the Dead
a name for Depression, used by Winston Churchill, and further back in time by Samuel Johnson, James Boswell & Hester Thrale
Guytrash, Barghest and Padfoot - three legendary haunting Black Dogs of Yorkshire
Shucks, Cappels, and any number of other scary  hounds from the rest of the UK
The Guardian Black Dog - a traditional story where the Black Dog saves a man's life - which can be found in K. M. Briggs' Dictionary of British Folk-Tales (a wonderful resource for any fantasy writer)
Monty Hall's mad Black Alsatian Reuben
Do hounds haunt you - or delight you? 

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Ghost Dresses

I find these enchanting - so delicate and ethereal in appearance - yet made from such a humble material. Sadly, I do not know the original sculptor - if you do, I'll happily credit them.
It occurs to me that hanging these from nylon fishing wire would make an even eerier effect - they were turn as though dancing to unheard music.

There's a link here to a sequence showing the construction of something similar - and spooky.