Hoaxes and Hexes

Hoaxes and Hexes PDF Author: Barbara Smith
Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co
ISBN: 1926936655
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines hoax as a “humorous or malicious deception,” and hex as “a magic spell.” In Hoaxes and Hexes, Barbara Smith explores these intriguing reflections of human nature, showing our curious desire to believe in the impossible and explain the inexplicable. Here are tales of swindlers, charlatans and imposters, among them the flamboyant 19th-century financier known as Lord Gordon-Gordon; David Walsh, author of the horrendous Bre-X gold-mine hoax of the 1990s; and the eccentric Josef Papp, who claimed to have crossed the Atlantic in a homemade submarine. The persistent power of hexes is recorded in stories of cursed places— including a strange haunting in the Cypress Hills and a deadly Lake Superior lighthouse—and weird coincidences, such as the legendary Hollywood hex on Oscar-winning actresses. Whether you believe in the power of hoaxes or hexes or not, these bizarre stories show them to be a fascinating part of our history.

Hoaxes and Hexes

Hoaxes and Hexes PDF Author: Barbara Smith
Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co
ISBN: 1926936655
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines hoax as a “humorous or malicious deception,” and hex as “a magic spell.” In Hoaxes and Hexes, Barbara Smith explores these intriguing reflections of human nature, showing our curious desire to believe in the impossible and explain the inexplicable. Here are tales of swindlers, charlatans and imposters, among them the flamboyant 19th-century financier known as Lord Gordon-Gordon; David Walsh, author of the horrendous Bre-X gold-mine hoax of the 1990s; and the eccentric Josef Papp, who claimed to have crossed the Atlantic in a homemade submarine. The persistent power of hexes is recorded in stories of cursed places— including a strange haunting in the Cypress Hills and a deadly Lake Superior lighthouse—and weird coincidences, such as the legendary Hollywood hex on Oscar-winning actresses. Whether you believe in the power of hoaxes or hexes or not, these bizarre stories show them to be a fascinating part of our history.

A Hoax & a Hex

A Hoax & a Hex PDF Author: Brittany E. Brinegar
Publisher: Britt Lizz Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
Vacation with the characters you love from the Hollywood Whodunit series in a top-secret summer spinoff. Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the lie. What’s a girl to do when she’s swept up in a Hollywood courtroom drama with an over-the-hill lawyer and a defendant who claims innocence by hypnosis? Despite the implausible alibi, amateur sleuth Becky Robinson believes him. The career criminal and notorious jewel thief has already been convicted in the press and the trial is nothing but a forgone conclusion. OBJECTION! Calling Perry Mason, Matlock, even the fake lawyer from Suits. Send help. Innocent until proven guilty. Becky must uncover whodunit before the state calls their next witness. Or will the real thief snap their fingers and cast a spell on the judge, jury, and executioner? ---------------- A Hoax & a Hex is the third installment in the Robinson Family Detective cozy mystery series. If you love best friend shenanigans, quirky suspects, and adorable animals this series is for you! Robinson Family Detective Agency Series Order Book 1: Red Herrings & Pink Flamingos Book 2: McGuffins & Birdies Book 3: A Hoax & a Hex Book 4. A Patsy & a Pastry Book 5: A Trick & a Pony Book 6: A Masterpiece & a Murder -------------------------------- Keywords: cozy mystery, cozy mystery series, murder mystery, animal mysteries, dog mysteries, female sleuth mysteries, amateur sleuth mysteries, clean mysteries, mysteries with humor, funny cozy mystery, whodunit cozy mysteries, murder, Los Angles, Hollywood, actress, pop culture references, witty dialog, quirky characters, friendship, Jack Russell terrier, chasing your dream, wrongly accused, finding your place, inheritance, flamingo, courtroom drama, court, lawyer

Necronomicon Files

Necronomicon Files PDF Author: Daniel Harms
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN: 9781578632695
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
What if a book existed that gave answers to everything you've ever wondered about? What would you do to learn its secrets? Tales of such books have abounded for millennia and are legend in occult history. One of the most pervasive modern iterations is that of the Necronomicon, said to be a genuine occult text from the 8th century. The Necronomicon really is the creation of science fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft (1891-1937), in whose books the magic volume first appears in print. In The Necronomicon Files two occult authorities explore all aspects of The Necronomicon, from its first appearance in Lovecraft's fiction to its ongoing pervasive appearance in cult and occult circles. The Necronomicon Files, revised and expanded further, reveals the hoax of the Necronomicon. Harms and Gonce show that the apocryphal history of the Necronomicon was concocted by Lovecraft to lend it verisimilitude in his fiction. The magical text was transformed into an icon among Lovecraft's literary circle, who added to the book's legend by referring to it in their own writing. People became convinced that it was a real book and its references in literature and film continue to grow. The book also examines what people have undergone to find the Necronomicon and the cottage industry that has arisen over the past three decades to supply the continuing demand for a book that does not exist. Scholarly yet accessible, humorous and intriguing, The Necronomicon Files illuminates the depth of the creative process and the transformations of modern myth, while still managing to preserve much of the romance and fascination that surrounds the Necronomicon in our culture.

The Bad Guys: The 25 Most Incorrigible Imposters, Villains, and Killers Ever to Walk the Earth

The Bad Guys: The 25 Most Incorrigible Imposters, Villains, and Killers Ever to Walk the Earth PDF Author: Sarah Dowdey
Publisher: Hyperink Inc
ISBN: 1614646074
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
A deep, abiding passion for a modern-day tyrant, sociopath, or fraud might be cause for concern among the newshound's friends and family. But let the story be strange enough, and let enough time pass, and, suddenly, the subject becomes obsession-worthy: something to share at trivia night, to pore over at the library, or, as it turns out, to recommend to us. Since starting our podcast, Stuff You Missed in History Class, listeners have written in to request countless villains, tyrants, and imposters, representing all eras of history and all corners of the world. Sometimes the stories of these no-good characters turn out to be worse than imagined, like the nightmarish murders committed by the real Bluebeard, Gilles de Rais. Other times, though, the villains revealed a surprisingly human side, like the fierce female pirate Zheng Yi Sao's plans for a comfy retirement, or master thief Adam Worth's deep devotion to his family and his code. This book pulls together the exploits of these historically bad and worse-than-bad figures into one collection, arranged into chapters we thought made sense. You'll find tyrants like Caligula with conquerors like Tamerlane; the questionably bad gangster Ma Barker grouped with mastermind mobster Al Capone; and folk hero criminal D.B. Cooper paired up with the charmingly fraudulent Princess Caraboo. And if by the end you're not already losing sleep thanks to terrifying visions of the pirate Blackbeard with his beard alight, we've included some bonus content on creepy hotels and mysterious hidden passageways to kick off your next research obsession. Enjoy! -Sarah and Deblina

Pirate Women

Pirate Women PDF Author: Laura Sook Duncombe
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1613736045
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
In the first-ever Seven Seas history of the world's female buccaneers, Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas tells the story of women, both real and legendary, who through the ages sailed alongside—and sometimes in command of—their male counterparts. These women came from all walks of life but had one thing in common: a desire for freedom. History has largely ignored these female swashbucklers, until now. Here are their stories, from ancient Norse princess Alfhild and warrior Rusla to Sayyida al-Hurra of the Barbary corsairs; from Grace O'Malley, who terrorized shipping operations around the British Isles during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I; to Cheng I Sao, who commanded a fleet of four hundred ships off China in the early nineteenth century. Author Laura Sook Duncombe also looks beyond the stories to the storytellers and mythmakers. What biases and agendas motivated them? What did they leave out? Pirate Women explores why and how these stories are told and passed down, and how history changes depending on who is recording it. It's the most comprehensive overview of women pirates in one volume and chock-full of swashbuckling adventures that pull these unique women from the shadows into the spotlight that they deserve.

Great Canadian Ghost Stories

Great Canadian Ghost Stories PDF Author: Barbara Smith
Publisher: TouchWood Editions
ISBN: 1771512806
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
A compelling collection of iconic ghost stories from all across Canada. Time and place are infused with ghosts and hauntings. From coast to coast to coast, Canada’s provinces and territories teem with the supernatural—phantoms obscured in the mists of time, spectres that delight in wreaking terror, and spirits destined to linger forever at the edge of the veil. Visit the far-flung corners of Canada to discover the folklore and legends behind: the ghost of a Newfoundland outlaw that leads blizzard-blind men to safety A poltergeist infestation that gleefully tortured an entire Nova Scotia family A fleet of phantom ships that haunt the coastline of New Brunswick the haggard spectre of a murderous witch in historic Quebec City Saskatchewan’s ghost-ridden military cadet academy an Alberta cabbie’s encounter with a silent shadow of a man in black the headless railway brakeman of Vancouver a moaning, man-shaped mist that haunts a Yukon cabin From east to west to way up north, bestselling author and renowned storyteller Barbara Smith traverses Canada’s provinces and territories to unearth more than 100 supernatural tales that careen between heartwarming, horrifying, sorrowful, and spine-chilling.

Jack the Ripper and Black Magic

Jack the Ripper and Black Magic PDF Author: Spiro Dimolianis
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786484721
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Jack the Ripper is a gothic tale of Victorian conspiracies, the supernatural, secret societies and the police. Scotland Yard hunted a serial killer shrouded in politics as the mutilator of East End prostitutes. This book uses historic sources and rare official reports to reveal dark and supernatural aspects of the Ripper case.

Fanning the Flame

Fanning the Flame PDF Author: Mark E. Moore
Publisher: College Press
ISBN: 9780899009148
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description


Trace

Trace PDF Author: James Boyer May
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English literature
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
"A chronicle of living literature"--No. 16, cover

Fantasy, Forgery, and the Byron Legend

Fantasy, Forgery, and the Byron Legend PDF Author: James Soderholm
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081318519X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Byron was—to echo Wordsworth—half-perceived and half-created. He would have affirmed Jean Baudrillard's observation that "to seduce is to die to reality and reconstitute oneself as illusion." But among the readers he seduced, in person and in poetry, were women possessed of vivid imaginations who collaborated with him in fashioning his legend. Accused of "treating women harshly," Byron acknowledged: "It may be so—but I have been their martyr. My whole life has been sacrificed to them and by them." Those whom he spell bound often returned the favor in their own writings tried to remake his public image to reflect their own. Through writings both well known and generally unknown, James Soderholm examines the poet's relationship with five women: Elizabeth Pigot, Caroline Lamb, Annabella Milbanke, Teresa Guiccioli, and Marguerite Blessington. These women participated in Byron's life and literary career and the manipulation of images that is the Byron legend. Soderholm argues against the sentimental depictions of biographers who would preserve Byron's romantic aura by diminishing the contributions of these women to his social, sexual, and literary identity. By restoring the contexts in which literary works charm or bedevil particular readers, the author shows the consequences of Byron's poetic seductions during and after his life.