Don't Look Now, But The Ghost Of Countess Bathory Is Right Behind You

 Once again, Hallowe'en has come upon the land. That magical time of year of tricking, treating, ghost stories, and when our darkest parts of our imagination get to run free for the night. It's also the time of year when endless reruns of Hallowe'en gets replayed over and over again on cable channels, and Donald Pleasance keeps trying to kill Michael Myers. Michael does, of course, have it coming....

Lots of jack o'lanterns get carved, of course, and some people put a lot of particular effort into decorating their homes for the festivities.

"Gentlemen, Operation World Domination begins this Monday. The odd decorations the humans put out are central to our plans. Let me explain..."

One pumpkin to rule them all....

"Now, witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational jack o'lantern."

Here in Ottawa, we have many a ghost haunting some of the public and less public places scattered throughout. Like other cities, there's a touring company that runs several Haunted Walks, telling the ghost stories of the city. I thought I'd touch briefly on three of them.

The luxurious Chateau Laurier hotel was commissioned a century ago by railroad baron Charles Melville Hays. In 1912, it was finished, and Hays was coming from Europe with a large shipment of furniture for the grand opening of the hotel, but unfortunately he took passage aboard a certain ship you may have heard of. Hays and his furniture went down aboard the Titanic. Since then, there have been sightings of the great man in the hotel, among other ghosts...

The Carleton County Gaol (or Jail, depending on your nationality) is now used as a youth hostel and small museum, but in its day it was a prison downtown, where hangings took place of condemned men, including the convicted assassin of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of our Fathers of Confederation. The place is haunted of course, and having had been in there, I can say that you can feel the coldness of it, the sensation that you're being watched. It's a creepy, creepy kind of place to even briefly visit.

Watson's Mill is on the shore of the Rideau River in the village of Manotick, a short drive away from the city. Indeed, I was just there myself this weekend. The 19th century era grist mill is still in operation today, producing flour and selling bread. The building is open for visits, the equipment remains in place, and there's a spectral presence too. A young wife of an owner paid a visit to the mill one day a century and a half ago, and was killed in a tragic accident. Her ghost is still said to be seen in the mill and the grounds. Having had been on my own in the attic space during my last visit... I did have the distinct feeling of someone else there with me....

At this time of year, cartoonists get busy with the theme of the supernatural, of course, so I thought I'd  collect a few of them from the last few weeks for you. Plenty of ghosts, witches, monsters, and such to go around for everyone. And no, don't worry, just because there are the odd vampires in the mix doesn't mean it involves any glittery ones....

If you're drinking coffee, you might want to put it down before clicking on this. Just saying.

Even editorial cartoonists get into the act this time of year....

One might, if one is a fan of the genre, feel the need to participate in a Zombie walk, such as these fine folk did recently here in Ottawa. It was a bit strange to keep passing people with blood on their faces through the streets... and then realize there was a point to it.....

Coming for Hallowe'en 2012... Barbie: Malibu Serial Killer...

And so I bid you a Happy Hallowe'en. Mind the ghosts and goblins. And if you see any sparkly vampires, take out the stake. You'll be doing the vamp a favour by putting them out of their misery.

The First Rate Nutbar Meets The Grim Reaper

Well, all good things come to an end. And all bad things, for that matter. Come to think of it, everything ends sooner or later. And so we reach the end of the road for the Libya blogs. In recent days, for those of you who have been living under a rock, stranded in the wilderness, or ignoring the outside world, Moammar Gadhafi (take your pick on the spelling; there are dozens of variations on his name) met his end, shot after his convoy was attacked. The total nutbar, terrorist financier, and general pariah arguably got what was coming to him, cornered like an animal. It's strangely fitting, given all the blood on the man's hands.

When I started all of these Libya blogs, I didn't quite realize how long it would go on, but I'd say this is the last one. With the Nutbar dead, Libya turns a page in a new chapter in its national life. Hopefully it's for the best. And given the circumstances of his death, I've even thought of a way to work it into the backstory of a character down the line. Which character, of course, is another matter entirely.

Last week, of course, after months of fighting, the end came very swiftly, and from that point, editorial cartoonists around the world have been busy using the death of a Nutbar as the focal point for their inspiration. The following are some of the best that I've found....

Often when someone famous dies, the standard position of a cartoonist will be depicting them arriving in Heaven. On occasion, however, Hell is the most likely destination for a well deserving Nutbar, so the standard for cartoonists becomes that hot place full of demons with pitchforks, lots of fire, and John Wayne grumbling.

Rumor has it when Gadhafi found himself in Hell, the Devil introduced him around. "Moammar, meet Adolf, Josef, Vladimir, Saddam, Osama, and Leona Helmsley. I'm sure you'll all get along famously."

Gadhaffi's first tweet from Hell:  First day in Hell. Seems colder then I expected. Am planning to overthrow cranky red guy with help from Saddam.

Goodbye, Moammar. You were always good for a laugh (from a distance)... even if you were a crazy, self absorbed, tyrannical nutbar who killed God knows how many people and fashioned yourself a King of Kings. I know, it sucks, having your life end in such an undignified way, with your wig gone and all bloody and such in front of the world, but hey... we can't always get what we want. Besides, you deserved it. You had to know it was always going to end this way, right?