SATURDAY & SUNDAY, December 28th & 29th at The Dickens Project

 

Both Saturday & Sunday at Noon slt/pacific

It's a great tradition in the British Isles - ghost stories between Christmas and New Years. Whether it's M.R. James, Walpole, or Dickens himself, Caledonia will be sharing chilling tales 'tween the holidays, live. On Stream from Fezziwig's Courtyard.

Sunday, December 29th from 1:30 - 3pm slt/pacific

Dickens Project friend (and Founder of Virtual Community Radio) Elrik Merlin will be playing traditional dance music of the 18th and 19th Century at the Miner's Village on Dickens Harbour. Fluff your petticoat, or brush up your finest Sunday waistcoat and come a long to tread a measure to some vintage dancing music.

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Teleports to all venues available at The Welcome Area

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Dickens%20Project/129/128/1401

SUNDAY, December 31st at The Dickens Project: Ghost Stories!

 

Winter ghost stories are a Victorian Tradition - after all, Dickens' A Christmas Carol is at heart a ghost story.

Trains became a popular mode of transport during Dickens’s lifetime, and he was a seasoned traveler, using the locomotive to travel the country to see friends and carry out his reading tours. But as this new technology developed there were also devastating accidents. Dickens himself experienced the Staplehurst Railway crash in 1865, a year before he wrote this story. Dickens was haunted by memories of the accident for the rest of his life.

“Now, sir, mark this, and judge how my mind is troubled.  The spectre came back a week ago.  Ever since, it has been there, now and again, by fits and starts.” 

“At the light?” 

“At the Danger-light.” 

“What does it seem to do?” 

He repeated, if possible with increased passion and vehemence, that former gesticulation of, “For God’s sake, clear the way!” 

Then he went on.  “I have no peace or rest for it.  It calls to me, for many minutes together, in an agonised manner, ‘Below there!  Look out!  Look out!’  It stands waving to me.  It rings my little bell—”

Join Caledonia Skytower for this tale and more.

Teleport to the venue from the Welcome Area 

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Dickens%20Project/129/128/1401

WEDNESDAY October 28th at 7pm: FROM THE DUST RETURNED

  

"If they live forever, why not me?"

FROM THE DUST RETURNED

They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois -- and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids.

Join us in Second Life

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Island%20Of%20Joy/149/24/46

Shandon Loring, Faerie Maven-Pralou, and Caledonia Skytower present

another Ray Bradbury masterpiece at the Haunted Hollow.

There will be a teleport from the main landing point. 

NOTE: While Isle of Joy is an adult region, none of the content of Haunted Hollow is adult in nature. 

Book: FROM THE DUST RETURNED

Author: Ray Bradbury

..

TODAY, December 27th, at The Dickens Project

A HAUNTING WE WILL GO!

1-4pm: HAUNTINGS 'TWEEN THE HOLIDAYS ~ Three Hours of Ghost-Inspired Tales with Patch Linden, Caledonia Skytower, Da5id Abbot, Elrik Merlin, & Bryn Taleweaver
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Dickens%20Project/76/234/22

6-8pm: TEA DANCE Music & Roleplay with Aoife Lorefield and Ktadhn Vesuvino at The Opera House
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Dickens%20Project/105/157/501

All times slt/Pacific

Dickens Square Main Landing Point

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Dickens%20Project/125/118/22

For additional events at The Dickens Project check out the Dickens Calendar & Events Page

WEDNESDAY, October 30th at 7pm: STORIES ON THE EVE OF ALL HALLOWS EVE

Oooooooo! The wait is almost over, and we can barely contain ourselves.  Halloween is just a day away, and we cannot resist gathering 'round the roaring bonfire to share chilling tales and happy haunts of the season.

Join the Seanchai Staff tonight for some Halloween fun, presented live in Voice from the campfire at Pixeltrix.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pixeltrix/162/127/21

TUESDAY, October 22nd at 7pm: THE SPOOKY CLASSICS - E.F. Benson

Caledonia presents ghostly stories from some of the classics of the genre.  Each week features a different author associated with tales of the macabre, Gothic, or plain old spooky.

THIS WEEK: 
E.F. Benson

Best known for his "Mapp & Lucia" series of tales, Edward Frederic Benson was a prodigious and productive English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer. He also was a keen hand with ghost story.

Caledonia presents Benson's THE FACE and more,  live on Stream.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

SUNDAY, October 20th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME HAUNTS Final Episode

THIS WEEK: a 90 minute cavalcade!

Load up your refreshment plate with chocolate spiders and plenty of green frosted monster cake! Have a full cuppa, and be ready. Kayden Oconnell, Elrik Merlin, Da5id Abbot, Caledonia Skytower and VT Torvalar will share these adventures:

Waiting for Mr. Mershing, by Kevin Kling

The Man With The Dagger, by Russell Hoban

Don't Ask Jack, and The Sea Change, by Neil Gaiman

Turntables of the Night, by Terry Pratchett

LIVE on stream in the Fireside Room, Downstairs. 
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

SUNDAY, October 13th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME Haunts - Episode 2!

This Week: 
Dubhna & Corwyn!

Dubhna Rhiadra with a seasonally spooky story by author Mary Molesworth, and Corwyn Allen with The Japanned Box by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

LIVE in the Fireside Room, Downstairs. 

NOTE: Today's session will be slightly longer than 60 minutes ... because these are just those kind of stories!

Live in Voice.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

TUESDAY, October 8th at 7pm: THE SPOOKY CLASSICS - M.R.James

Caledonia presents ghostly stories from some of the classics of the genre.  Each week features a
different author associated with tales of the macabre, Gothic, or plain old spooky.

THIS WEEK: 
M.R. James  

James redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal Gothic clichés of his predecessors and using more realistic contemporary settings. However, James's protagonists and plots tend to reflect his own antiquarian interests. Accordingly, he is known as the originator of the "antiquarian ghost story".

Caledonia live on Stream.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

SUNDAY, October 6th at 1:30pm: TEA TIME Haunts

In our first session, Da5id Abbot and Caledonia Skytower share some classics from the western shores of the Atlantic "Pond" with selections from American authors Edgar Allan Poe, and Washington Irving. Grab a cup of cider and join us in the Fireside Room.

“What! going to leave the castle at midnight? Why, everything was prepared for his reception; a chamber was ready for him if he wished to retire.”

The stranger shook his head mournfully and mysteriously: “I must lay my head in a different chamber to-night.”

 ~ from The Spectre Bridegroom, by Washington Irving

Da5id Abbot & Caledonia Skytower, Live on Stream.

WEDNESDAY, September 26th at 7PM: THE SPOOKY CLASSICS ~ Charles Dickens

Description:Caledonia presents ghostly stories from some of the classics of the genre. Each week features a different author associated with tales of the macabre or gothic.

THIS WEEK: Charles Dickens

When we think of Mr. Dickens, we think of his holiday tales, and his stories featuring the plight of children and the underclass. But The Boz was a great proponent of ghost stories. We might have gathered that from A Christmas Carol. Tonight Cale presents two stories from Dickens' early works, including The Ghosts of the Mail.

Live in Stream.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

SATURDAY, December 29th, 2pm at The Dickens Project: EVEN MORE GHOST STORIES!

Our final installment of 'tween the holidays ghostly tales takes us into broad territory, spanning two centuries

VT Torvalar and Kayden Oconnell share an assortment of tales from a variety of sources:

My Own True Ghost Story by Rudyard Kipling

Staying the night in a rather sinister old dâk-bungalow, a man hears the 'unmistakable' sound of a game of billiards being played in the non-existent room next door - a strange game in India at the time of the Empire.  

The Ghost by Guy de Maupassant

A man does his friend a favor, and comes to regret it.

Between the Lights by E.F. Benson

An unusual gothic horror story, written in 1912 and set in the sunlight rather than the dark and taking place on the day before Christmas. A tale of looking back and the healing power of Christmas. A prime example of the British tradition of Christmas ghost stories.

Mrs. Davenport's Ghost by Frederick P Schrader 

A medium gets more than he bargained for.

Presented live in voice, in Dickens Square.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/128/128/22

FRIDAY, December 28th, 2pm at The Dickens Project: MORE GHOST STORIES!

We continue down our in-between-the-holidays path today with a return to Dickens, but not the Dickens most people think of - especially not at this time of year. 

Da5id Abbot and Caledonia Skytower share two tales from the darker recesses of the Dickensian canon:

The Signal-Man was first published as part of the "Mugby Junction" collection in the 1866 Christmas edition of All the Year Round. The railway signal-man of the title tells the narrator of an apparition that has been haunting him. Each spectral appearance precedes a tragic event on the railway on which the signalman works. The signalman's work is at a signal-box in a deep cutting near a tunnel entrance on a lonely stretch of the railway line, and he controls the movements of passing trains. When there is danger, his fellow signalmen alert him by telegraph and alarms. Three times, he receives phantom warnings of danger when his bell rings in a fashion that only he can hear. Each warning is followed by the appearance of the spectre, and then by a terrible accident.

To Be Read at Dusk finds its first-person narrator amid the Swiss mountainous region of Saint Bernard, eavesdropping on a nearby group of men while avoiding the boring conversation of fellow travelers indoors. The sun is setting, giving way to strange thoughts and memories. The group is composed of five couriers from different nationalities, sharing instances of déjà vu, of omens and visions that mysteriously come true. As their stories co conclude, the couriers vanish leaving the narrator admitting that what he has heard has rendered him afraid of being left alone in such a place or in any other place.

Presented live in voice, in Dickens Square.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/128/128/22

THURSDAY, December 27th, 2pm at The Dickens Project: GHOST STORIES!

We take a different path at The Dickens Project, sharing ghost stories from a number of authors whose names are NOT Charles Dickens.

Elrik Merlin presents two selections from the work of English novelist Alan Garner: the Arthurian fantasy Tarn Wethelan, and The Smoker.  The author is best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of Garner's  work is firmly rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native county of Cheshire, North West England, being set in the region and making use of the native Cheshire dialect.

Caledonia Skytower presents M.R. James' 1925 short story A Warning to the Curious; the tale of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist who holidays in "Seaburgh" and inadvertently stumbles across one of the three lost crowns of Anglia, which legendarily protect the country from invasion. Upon digging the crown up, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian.

Presented live on stream in Dickens Square.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/128/128/22

WEDNESDAY, October 31st: HAPPY ALL HALLOWS! WE HAVE STORIES!

@ 5PM- POETRY OPEN MIC -  Stranger Nightfire's Halloween Party

A Second Life holiday tradition is Stranger Nightfire's annual halloween party - a journey as much as it is an event!  This year's festivities kick off with a Poetry Open Mic, hosted by Stranger Nightfire, live in voice.

@ 6PM - SCARY STORIES! -  Stranger Nightfire's Halloween Party

Caledonia Skytower and Shandon Loring share haunting tales in honor of the day, and Stranger's annual Halloween Celebration.

@ 7 PM - THE JENNIFER MORGUE Continues

The name is Howard. Bob Howard. Please don't hurt me... Bob Howard, geekish demonology hacker for The Laundry, must stop a ruthless billionaire from unleashing an eldritch horror, codenamed "Jennifer Morgue" from the ocean's depths for the purpose of ruling the world. Join us as Corwyn Allen continues Book 2 of Charles Stross' Laundry Files series, the Jennifer Morgue, live in voice.

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Attend the 7pm session & teleport to Stranger's Halloween  events from  Seanchai Library.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

SUNDAY, October 28th from 1-3pm slt: SPOOKIN' at OCTOBERVILLE

SPOOKIN' AT OCTOBERVILLE !

Stories and Poems for the season at Octoberville: Shandon Loring,  Corwyn Allen, Finn Zeddmore, & Caledonia Skytower, Live in Voice. 

If you are not already "Octoberville enabled, then come to the Library where you will be manually teleported to the story camp.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

BE WARNED! Octoberville is a popular destination and fills up very fast, so . . . consider arriving early!

TUESDAY, October 16th at 7pm: GHOST STORIES FROM HOME

Caledonia shares stories from her home turf by, diligently researched and curated by local journalist Steve Dunkelberger.

Beginning in the 1860s, explore the haunted side of Cale's Pacific Northwest home including: The booze-loving ghost of Old City Hall, A Widow's Tale, A Story About Sour Hearts and Sour Notes, and The Harlot Hauntings. A lucky thirteen tales in all!

Teleport to The Glen from the Library and gather around the fire ... 
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

THURSDAY, August 18th at 2PM: GHOST OF THE BRIDGE

Caledonia presents a second reading of her newest story (revised), set in late 17th C Luxembourg and based on a legendary spook of that era.

Max is a newlywed, out with his buddies for the first time since his wedding.  It is possible he might have imbibed just a bit too much, but when a tale of a fierce and frightening local haunt gets tossed around, Max is in for a memorable night.  Is the legend of the Stierches-geescht just an imaginative myth? Hopefully Max will remember to ask, when he meets it.

Caledonia Skytower presents, live in voice.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/214/43/27

THURSDAY, August 9th at 7pm: GHOST OF THE BRIDGE

Caledonia has been writing again, and many of you know what that means. It can mean adventure, romance, and occasionally it can mean spooky.

Max is a newlywed, out with his buddies for the first time since his wedding.  It is possible he might have imbibed just a bit too much, but when a tale of a fierce and frightening local haunt gets tossed around, Max is in for a memorable night.  Is the legend of the Stierches-geescht just an imaginative myth? Hopefully Max will remember to ask it, when he meets it.

Caledonia Skytower presents the draft of her re-telling of this haunting tale from 17th Century Luxembourg, written in Second Life at Pfaffenthal 1867, live in voice.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/214/43/27

FRIDAY, December 29th at 3PM; THE LAST STORIES at the 2017 Edition of The Dickens Project

@ 3PM - GHOST STORIES ~ More than Dickens!
 At The Dickens Project on LEA 7

Following a fine tradition of our friends and cousins across the pond, we've been heavily into GHOST STORIES this week, as we bring the 2017 Edition of The Dickens Project into its final days. 

Today will be the last story day on LEA 7, with stories by M.R. James and A.R. Burrage with Kayden Oconnell & Caledonia Skytower, in Dickens Square.

M.R. James' THE LOST HEARTS: a mysterious scholar welcomes an orphan boy into his home.  Yet the boy discovers he is not the first young person so welcomed, and ponders the mystery of the sudden disappearances of his predecessors, just as spirits from beyond the veil take things into their own ghostly hands.

A.R. Burrage's SMEE (as retold by Rosemary Border): What could be more playful and innocent than a game of hide-and-go-seek? Perhaps its cousin "Smee" (derived from "It's Me")?  How could a party of a dozen players suddenly come out as thirteen?  Who is the unexpected extra player?

Stories presented live in Voice.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/114/149/21