#Ghost Tour in San Francisco

[sfghosts]

Unveiling the Haunted Secrets: A Ghost Tour in San Francisco

San Francisco, known for its iconic landmarks, stunning views, and rich history, is also a city shrouded in eerie tales and haunted mysteries. Our spectral adventure comes to an end within the historic Presidio of San Francisco, a former military installation with a haunting history.

Embarking on a San Francisco ghost tour offers an extraordinary and lasting experience for those who wish to delve into the eerie secrets of the city's past. From the eerie depths of Alcatraz Island to the enigmatic allure of Chinatown, the Winchester Mystery House, Golden Gate Park, and the Presidio, every destination on this expedition unveils the ghostly legends and haunted chronicles that saturate San Francisco's streets. Brace yourself for an evening filled with spine-tingling encounters and uncover the hidden world of the supernatural lurking beneath the city's surface.

[imekasf]

weird they didn’t find any ghosts using this method ✌🏼

(ghost files live - nov 1, san francisco)

[jjoongstar]

𝖍𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖑 𝖌𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖘

wc: 475 (tbh, idek what is this...)

from his recent live teehee;)

Seonghwa going on live, showing off his souvenirs that he got while on tour. some were even given by hongjoong and his stylist.

"this is San Francisco.... oh wait shit, no, its Seattle. sorry, hehe,"

laughing embarrassingly in front of the camera with his mistake bout the magnets in his hands. atinys sent laughing comments and teases him during the live. he kept on showing more of the magnets from different places he went, until,

"aahhhh~"

a familiar yet embarrassing sound emitted suddenly from behind the hotel walls. he looks straight into the camera. shocked? embarrassed? stunned? he took a second to scan around him, "is there a ghost in this hotel? I'm scared, " was all he could mutter. some atinys caught that sound and were asking bout it. Seonghwa's heart panicked a bit seeing those comments. deep down he knew what it was, where's coming from, who was involved, but he chose to cover it up by saying its just some female ghost whose haunting his hotel room and like him.

"this one was given by-"

"aaahhhh.....AAHHH JOONG AHH~"

Seonghwa has never ended a live so fast till that. without saying a single word he quickly grab his phone ending the live, closing all apps. and shut everything down. his face red in embarrassment. did atinys heard all that? please don't. he tried to convince himself. picking up the hotel's phone, he dialed the room next door. knowing the man behind the walls, he won't answer his own phone since he's busy.

the man finally stopped pounding from your behind when the phone rang. you sigh in relief when he went to pick it up. finally, after hours-

"YAHHH KIM HONGJOONG!! HAVE SOME SELF CONTROL!!"

hongjoong looks at you over his shoulder with a smirk and puts the phone on loud speaker.

"i was doing a live and atinys could hear y/n moaning, keep it down,"

you knew your voice was loud, but not this loud. you've never been so embarrassed in your whole life. not just knowing that Seonghwa heard you, but atinys too? your face was so flushed red, you hid your face in between the pillows near you.

"apologize to Seonghwa, sweetheart,", hongjoong handed you the phone.

you voice was muffled by the pillow, but Seonghwa could still hear you. he didn't mind much, cause he knew its not your fault. its the naked man who's holding out the phone to you.

"say your sorry sincerely to atinys too, baby.", hongjoong added while stroking pieces of hair out of the side of your face.

"Seonghwa, can you please tell atinys that I'm very sorry for the uhh....well...you know, that, and uhh DONT SAY IT ITS FROM ME!! just like....from next door-"

Seonghwa replied with a giggle. he can imagine so well your flustered expression, cause this wasn't the first time it happened.

dividers

[avalonia320]

all of the ghouls come out to play

I'm flexing my slightly atrophied writer's muscles with a swing at an IWTV fic. Here's a sneak peek if anyone's interested. This is going to be a canon compliant fic, bridging the gap between season 2 & season 3. Louis has returned to New Orleans once more to reconnect with Lestat, but this time Lestat is no where to be found. Instead, Louis is distracted by dreams of Claudia and reaches out for help. This fic will cover the beginning of Ghost Claudia, & maybe even the start of Devil's Minion.

This is from the first chapter, after Louis has woken up from a particularly intense dream. I have to say, I really enjoy writing Louis/Daniel convos.

***

A few minutes later, Louis found what he was looking for: Daniel, in a bar in Chicago, side-eyeing a bartender who had watered down his drinks like the man was lunch. Which, by the direction of Daniel’s thoughts, was exactly what the man was going to be. A high price for trying to save 50 cents on bourbon.

Daniel, it’s Louis.

Louis du Pointe du Lac. It’s about fucking time. Glad to hear you’re still alive. You went radio silent after your big challenge. I was getting a little concerned.

He got right to the point. I need a favor. I need you to use your research skills to check on something for me. Something to do with Paris.

Of course it’s fucking Paris. I knew all that ‘time heals’ crap was bullshit. What is it that you’re wanting to know?

Louis steeled himself. I had a dream. About Claudia. It took him several painful minutes to explain, recounting everything he had seen, what he thought it might mean. 

There was a long silence once Louis was done speaking. He could picture Daniel so clearly, as if he were in front of him, reading the expression Daniel undoubtedly had on his face right now. The disapproval. The worry tinged with fear. And finally…that hint of insatiable curiosity that Louis was banking on.

Daniel, he thought finally. Will you look into it or not?

I'm just trying to think how to talk you out of this. You know this is a bad road to go down.

I’m having these dreams for a reason. I need to know. If it’s really her or if I’m just -

Crazy? I hate to say it -  alright I’m lying, I enjoy saying it - but we both know that crazy train pulled out of the station a long, long time ago.

Louis chuckled quietly to himself. That may be true, he admitted. But I still need to know.

You want my advice? Of course you don’t but I’m gonna give it to you anyway. Let a dream be just a dream. You don’t always need to go digging up the bones, trying to see if they’ll talk to you.

I trust you understand the rich irony of those words coming from you, my friend.

A long capitulating sigh was the only response for several seconds before Daniel spoke again. Fine. I’ll look into it. His words were saturated with reluctance. At least tell me something good. Tell me you’re not in Dubai anymore.

I’m not in Dubai. I’m in New Orleans.

Oh Jesus fucking Christ. Daniel groaned loudly. No wonder you’re in the mood for a seance. You know that’s the first place anyone’s gonna come looking for you once they figure out you’re not in Dubai.

It’s sweet that you care, Daniel. But this is where I need to be right now.

Who says I care? I just need you alive for the next book.

Louis smiled to himself. Sure. 

OK, I admit it. I care. So listen to what I’m saying now. There’s nothing for you in New Orleans. Lestat isn’t even there anymore. Stop chasing ghosts and come visit me instead. I’m flying out to California to start the second half of the press tour tomorrow. Why don’t you come with me? You don’t have to be on camera if you don’t want to. We can relive old times at Polynesian Mary’s when we’re in San Francisco. Go night swimming in Santa Monica. It’ll be good for you.

Louis stretched before he stood up, stepping out of the coffin. It’s tempting. But I’m not ready to - He stopped as sudden realization struck him. Wait. How do you know Lestat isn’t in New Orleans anymore?

There was an uncharacteristic hesitation. Uh..

What is it that you’re not telling me, Daniel?

My agent’s calling me. I have to go.

DANIEL.

I’m hanging up now. This is me slamming down the metaphorical phone. If you really want to know, get on a fucking plane. His voice gentled slightly. I’ll let you know what I find out about Paris. 

DANIEL MOLLOY DON’T YOU DARE - 

It was too late. Daniel’s voice was gone. 

[lucybellwood]

Remember when I used to do events? Me neither.

BUT I'M DOING ONE NOW!

I'll be at Bart's Books in Ojai, CA next Thursday, March 21st at 6pm to interview my genius bike-touring, adventure-having, genre-bending cartoonist friend Tessa Hulls about her new graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts. The book explores three generations of her family's tumultuous history from Maoist China to America and beyond. It's rich and cathartic and unbelievably gorgeous. Tessa's spent the last nine years bringing it to life. You can read more about it in the San Francisco Chronicle or the New York Times.

Given the lengthy isolation and emotional toll required to craft a book like this, I'm very keen to have a packed house to help celebrate its emergence into the world. If you've never been, Bart's has a gorgeous outdoor courtyard and an absolutely amazing selection of used titles. Well worth the visit.

If you're not in Southern California and still want to get your hands on the book, you can do that! It's out! Order from Bookshop.org or request it at your local library.

[venus-of-the-hrdsell]

I want to get into Zatanna comics but I’m not sure where to start. What series do you recommend?

Hello! Don't worry, I can give you a short starting guide + some recommendations on this post so you can read without having to dive fully into thousands of issues (unless you want a detailed guide of more appearances).

The usual go to for any beginner is Zatanna (2010) by Paul Dini. It's her longest solo comic (16 issues) and it fits as a stand alone.

If you are interested, I'm currently working in a masterlist reading guide of her appearances. Zatanna is a very old character, so a lot of her appearances are scattered as cameo and team books, so often finding what to read is hard. If you want to get a little further into her character, these options I'm about to mention are good as well. More under the cut because this is a long post.

- Secret Origins (1988) (volume 2) #27

Offers a summary about of Zatanna's origin in the DC universe. A bit old, so the scans can be blurry, but still a nice read.

- Zatanna Special (1987) by Gerry Conway & Gray Morrow

Zatanna gets contacted by the ghost of her mother Sindella, which leads her to travel to secret city of the Homo Magi with her manager. A lot of details about her background are revealed her, it's one of my favourite comics for her.

Zatanna: Come Together (1993) by Lee Mars & Esteban Maroto

Four issue mini in which Zatanna tries to get a fresh new start in San Francisco, temporally retiring from her superhero career. Unfortunately, she doesn't expect to find her stay disrupted by a supernatural threat infesting the city. Still one of my favourite comics of her and the art is amazing too. It also explores her background from her mother's side of the family, which is always good and underrated.

Zatanna: Everyday Magic (2003) by Paul Dini & Rick Mays (one shot)

We see Zatanna in her best moment as a famous stage magician in a long tour. She seems to be doing great, but she still fights to have an ordinary personal life. Things get complicated when her former partner, John Constantine, shows up on her life once again.

This is a fun story! It's Zatanna only Vertigo solo book. There are some poorly aged jokes and the art is not everyone's cup of tea, but it's a fun light hearted read for everyone.

Zatanna: Seven Soldiers (2007) by Grant Morrison & Ryan Sook

Zatanna attends a superhero support group. Her powers are weak and she finds herself in a low spot in her life, but the arrival of a mysterious girl pushes her to go on a tripe to find her father's missing journals.

This mini series is part of a bigger event written by Morrison called Seven Soldiers of Victory, but it can be read as a stand alone. If you want further context, I recommend reading the event, though.

I really like this comic, though. I wish we got to see more of Zatanna's mentorship role.

Black Canary & Zatanna: Bloodspell (2015) by Paul Dini & Joe Quinones.

A fun team up comic! It's an original graphic novel. I love Zee and Dinah's friendship.

Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace (2020) #15

A fun team up issue with Diana and Zee spending quality time together.

Justice League Dark (2011) (New52) & Justice League Dark (2018) (Rebirth)

Now, to clarify. I don't necessarily recommend the Justice League Dark books, but I'm incluiding them since most of Zee post new 52 appearances are in these two books which are...a mixed bag. Justice League Dark (new 52) wasn't of my liking with the exception of the last third of the whole book (Dematteis did a good job, probably the best out of the three writers heading the book). Earlier writers didn't know how to handle Zatanna, her personality is very watered down just as well as her abilities, and she isn't really given spotlight, leadership and full potential of her abilities until Dematteis takes the pen. I also don't enjoy how off was the characterisation of other characters of the book and the overall writing quality and pace, but that's a story for another post.

Justice League Dark (Rebirth) is a step up in quality from New52, but unfortunately it continues with the weird personality shift in Zatanna's personality and the a lackuster character design. As much as I love Diana, who is part of this team line up, I think Zatanna should have been given the leader role and the spotlight. Out of this book, I sincerely enjoyed Ram V's stage on the later half on this run, who deserved to stay longer on this title.

That said, you can take a look on these titles, but you know, at least you know what to expect.

Bonus: Graphic novels, webtoons and stand alone stories

DC's new talent showcase (2018)

Truth and Justice (2020) #7 - 9

Zatannna & the Ripper (Available for Free in Webtoon, still ongoing)

Zatannna & House of Secrets (Kids graphic novel)

Batman: Urban Legends (#11-16)

Johnny Constantine & Mystery of the Meanest Teacher (she's a co protagonist here)

[danlous]

What are your hopes / predictions for Season 3?

I think and hope that Louis will stay as very important for the story and isn't reduced to a sidecharacter or just Lestat's love interest. It's the single most important thing to me. I think him and Lestat won't get back together until later but they'll still be interconnected and everything Lestat will do is related to Louis

They're going to do the whole rockstar Lestat thing, which has potential to be an incredibly entertaining storyline and it'll probably run through the whole season and possibly longer. Lestat's rock star era is a reaction to the book being published, but i've seen people speculate that in this version he isn't angry at Louis for it, and more at Talamasca and Daniel, and the tour thing could be partially to protect Louis by distracting vampires who're planning to kill him. I think that could be the case but i hope there's still some friction between Lestat and Louis about the book and different versions of events because i thought that was interesting in the original series. Wrt Lestat's music and stage persona it sounds like it's not going to be traditional rock and more like a mix of different genres

I don't know are we going to see ghost!Claudia yet at this point (i think it might reduce the impact of her death like i felt the appearance of dreamstat sometimes reduced the impact of his 'death') but i think her presence and absence will be heavily felt. She'll be constantly in every character's mind

Though s3 has been called TVL season i'm sure it's going to be structured very differently than the book because TVL being almost entirely flashback doesn't really lend itself to television medium, it would grind the plot to halt. I think the flashbacks are going to be interspersed with the modern time scenes, and at least half of the story is going to take place in the present. I think Lestat telling his story to Louis is one possible way they can bridge the timelines and also involve Louis more

The entirety of the Vampire Chronicles lends itself poorly to television adaptation, because it's so dialogue/internal monologue and description heavy, has so much origin stories, and often has little plot or the plot sucks. I think as Rolin has already implied, they're going to mix the best and most adaptable elements from all the books of the series rather than going in order book by book. So we'll likely see things from qotd and later books already in s3

I think what Assad said about making 'what happened between Armand and Daniel in Dubai' the new 'what happened in San Francisco' and doing a whole bottle episode focusing on it is a great idea, would love if they actually did that. I'm very curious to see what's going on between Armand and Daniel, and learn more about Armand and his motivations. Not to sound like an annoying stan who can't accept different interpretations of their fave, but Armand is one of my favorite characters of all time and i thought his characterization in the show was amazing for 2 seasons until this finale where i thought it felt pretty confusing and shallow, and stuff related to Armand and his relationships with other characters felt very rushed and inconsistent with his earlier characterization. I trust that there's going to be more to it, and i hope that more is good and complex enough to feel satisfying to me

GABRIELLE! Gabrielle is one of the best characters in the books and i'm really excited to meet her and find out who's playing her and how she's going to be portrayed. And like Sam has said several times now the dynamic between her, Lestat and Louis is so interesting. With writers who actually care about Louis and Gabrielle as characters in the way Rice didn't it's going to be an absolute hydrogen bomb of a dynamic. Can't wait for the best worst mother-in-law and son-in-law relationship of all time

[whitepolaris]

Ghosts of Alcatraz

by Troy Taylor

San Francisco Bay's barren Alcatraz Island, long nickname The Rock, was originally a fort and then served as a military prison from 1859 to 1934. With the arrival of social upheaval and rampant crime in the 1920s and '30s, the federal government chose Alcatraz as the perfect site for an escape-proof prison that would strike fear into the hearts of criminals thanks to the isolated location and the swift currents surrounding the island.

From the time Alcatraz became a federal prison in 1934 under the stern and watchful eye of Warden James A. Johnston until it closed in 1963, its steel doors clanged shut on then 1,000 hardened convicts, criminals, and would-be escape artists.

From the start, the most incorrigible inmates from across the country were sent to The Rock. Each train that arrived in San Francisco to dispense prisoners seem to have a "celebrity" of sorts on board. Among the first inmates were Al Capone, perhaps the most famous gangster of all; Doc Baker, the last surviving member of Ma Baker Gang; George "Machine Gun" Kelly, the privileged son of a wealthy Memphis family who became one of the Prohibition period's most notorious gangsters; Floyd Hamilton, a gang member and driver for Bonnie and Clyde, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, a Canadian-born former Public Enemy No. 1 who arrested by J. Edgar Hoover himself; and Robert Stroud, the amateur ornithologist who would later become known as the Birdman of Alcatraz.

Noteworthy or not, the inmates found that Alcatraz was a place where they had but five rights-food, clothing, a private cell, a shower once a week, and access to a doctor. Their methodical daily routine never varied.

While the cells the prisoners lived in were barren at beast, they must have seemed like luxury hotel rooms compared to the punishment cells. In these, men were stripped of all but their basic rights to food-and even then, they barely survived. Confinement in the single Strip Cell was punishment for the most severe violations. In the Hole, the name for cells in the bottom tier of the main cellblock, the punishment usually included psychological torture, and sometimes physical torture as well. In D Block, inmates in cells above the Hole couldn't escape the screams of those imprisoned there. Prisoners who emerged from the Hole would often be senseless or sick and bound for the prison's hospital ward. Others never came out alive.

Even worse were the dungeons. A staircase in front of A Block led down to a large steel door, behind which were catacomb-like corridors and stone archways leading to the sealed-off gunports from the days when Alcatraz was a fort. In the dungeons off the corridor, the prisoners were chained to the walls, their screams unheard in the rest of the main cellblock. Food and sanitation in the dungeons were minimal, dignity nonexistent.

Early Ghost Activity

A number of guards who worked in Alcatraz between 1946 and 1963 experienced the strange and the unexplained. From the grounds of the prison to the caverns beneath the buildings, they heard people sobbing and moaning, smelled strange odors, discovered cold spots, and saw what they described as ghosts. Even families who lived on the island and the occasional guest claimed to have seen the ghostly forms of prisoners or phantom soldiers. The sound of what seemed to be gunshots mdae the guards think prisoners had escaped and obtained weapons.

A deserted laundry room would sometimes fill with the smell of smoke, though nothing was burning. The guards would be sent running from the room, only to return momentarily and find the air clear. Like the other mysterious happenings at Alcatraz, the phantom fires were never explained.

Even Warden Johnston, who had no time for those who believed in ghosts, once heard the unmistakable sound of a person sobbing in the dungeon as he led a group of guests on a tour. The sound was followed by an ice-cold wind felt by the entire group. Johnston could never arrive at an explanation for this weird occurrence.

During the twenty-nine years Alcatraz operated as a prison, there were at least fourteen escape attempts. Almost all the prisoners who tried to flee were either killed or recaptured, and only one is known to have made it ashore. The most traumatic and violent attempt, later dubbed the Battle of Alcatraz, took place over two days in May 1946.

What started as a well-planned breakout from the "escape-proof" prison turned into a disaster when the six inmates involved saw their plan fall apart. Realizing they couldn't succeed, they decided to fight it out. Before it was over, they had taken a number of guards hostage, killed three of them, and wounded several others; two of the guards were murdered in cold blood in cells 402 and 403 (later renamed C102 and C104). The failed escapees fared no better. Three of them climbed into a utility corridor to avoid the constant gunfire, only to die after being hit by bullets or shrapnel.

An escape attempt in 1962 was later documented by Hollywood in the film Escape from Alcatraz. Released in 1979, the movie was a big hit in the box office, but the prison had closed long before. Too expensive to renovate and properly secure, what could be called the world's most famous prison shut its doors for good in March 1963.

Mysteries of Cell 14D

In 1972, the federal government put Alcatraz Island under the purview of the National Park Service, and after opening to the public, it became one of the part service's most popular sites. While in the daylight hours the old prison teems with tour guides and visitors, at night it is filled with mystery. Many believe that the energy of those who served time on The Rock remains, making the Alcatraz complex one immense haunted house.

Night watchmen patrolling the main cell house, divided into A, B, C, and D blocks, say they've heard the sounds of what seems to be running coming from the upper tiers. Thinking an intruder has gained entry, the watchmen investigated the sounds but always found nothing.

One Park Service employee reported that on a rainy afternoon the sparse number of tourists allowed her some time off from guiding tours. She went for a walk in front of A Block and was just past the door leading down to the dungeons when she heard a loud scream from the bottom of the stairs. She ran away without looking to see if anyone where there.

Asked why she didn't report the incident, she replied, "The day before, everyone was ridiculing another worker who reported hearing men's voices coming from the hospital ward, and when he went to check the ward, it was empty. So I didn't dare mention what I heard."

Several guides and rangers felt something strange in one of the cells in the Hole: Cell 14D. "There's a feeling of sudden intensity that comes on when you spend more than a few minutes around that cell," one of them said.

Another guide described Cell 14D as "always cold. Sometimes it gets warm out here-so hot that you have to take your jacket off. The temperature inside the cell house can be in the seventies, and 14D is still cold."

The tour guides weren't the only ones to have strange experiences there. Several former guards at the prison have told of terrifying incidents that took place near the Hole, and in Cell 14D in particular.

During one guard's stint in the middle 1940s, an inmate was locked in 14D for some since forgotten infraction. According to the officer, the man began screaming within seconds of being locked in. He claimed that a creature with "glowing eyes" was locked in with him. Yet no one took the convict's cries of being "attacked" very seriously, probably because tales of ghostly presence wandering the nearby corridor were a continual inducement to practical jokes to the guards. The man's screaming continued into the night, until finally there was silence. The following day, guards inspected the cell and found the convict dead. A horrible expression was frozen on his face, and there were hand marks around his throat. An autopsy revealed that the strangulation couldn't have been self-inflicted. Some believed that the man might have been choked by one of the guards, who had been fed up with all the screaming, but no one ever confessed to the crime.

On the day following the tragedy, several guards who were performing a head count noticed that there were too many men in the lineup. Then, at the end of the line, they saw the face of the convict who had recently been strangled in the Hole. As they all looked on in stunned silence, the figure abruptly vanished.

Banjo Strains

A park service employee who worked at Alcatraz in the late 1970s had a weird experience in another of the main cellblock's chambers. He was down near the shower room when he heard something he couldn't explain.

"It was banjo music," he said. "The room was empty, but I definitely coming from there. Maybe back in the days when it was a fort or army stockade, there was some guy here who played that instrument."

What the employee didn't know was that during the most traumatic days of his life, Al Capone, rather rick going out to exercise yard with the other inmates, would sit in the shower room strumming on his banjo.

Perhaps this lonely and broken spirit still plucks at the strings of a spectral musical instrument that vanished decades ago. Even today, tour guides and rangers who walk the corridors of the prison alone occasionally building. Could Al Capone be its source? Or could it be another of the countless ghosts who continue to haunt Alcatraz year after year?

[margridarnauds]

tagged by @cicelythereaper (Thank you!)

relationship status: single

favourite colour: I love blue -- cerulean blue, ice blue, electric blue.

last song i listened to: "Dangerous" from Epic: The Musical

songs stuck in my head: "Would've, Could've, Should've" -- Taylor Swift

last thing i looked up: "Joseph Falaky Nagy The poetics of absence in Celtic tradition" (I know, incredibly glamorous and unpredictable.) (In my defense, I saw it on a German Wikipedia page and I needed to see if it was real or a Chat GPT thing since they HAVE created citations for him that aren't accurate before...as part of my ongoing hobby of Collecting Spurious Celtic Studies Citations from it.) (If anyone's in contact with him, don't tell him I didn't know that that was a real lecture of his.)

favourite food: Teriyaki chicken with rice, pork belly (either with ramen/rice or without), hot dog lattices, pavlova.

dream holiday: God it's hard, isn't it? Like, the problem with travelling a lot these days is that I get to travel to a lot of places, but I almost always want to return and see more and do more, so much bucket list is always growing longer.

I've dreamed of going to Egypt ever since I was a little girl; I've looked into all-inclusive group tour packages that wouldn't be *monstrously* expensive that would involve Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, and Abu Simbel. It would be expensive, more expensive than I'm used to paying without someone on the other end compensating me for my expenses, but it would be a once in a lifetime kind of expense for a once in a lifetime trip.

Obviously, my heart's in Ireland, but it's always a matter of..."Do I want a holiday there or do I want to live there?" I'm never living in San Francisco, New York, or Amsterdam. For professional reasons, I might have to live at Dublin at some point because there's so MUCH relating to the field there, but I don't think I'd *really* be happy there. But those are all places that I've either enjoyed staying in...or enjoyed aspects of (in the case of NYC and Dublin). With some places in Ireland, it's the reverse where I know that 2 weeks or even a month isn't enough and it'll never really be enough unless I'm actually living there and I'm working there. I love going, and I take every opportunity to go, and I'm always grateful for the opportunity, but it's also never really enough, either.

I'd love to go back to the Netherlands, visit my friends there, see more of the country besides a few cities, grab the Miffy merchandise I didn't get ahold of last time, down my weight in Stroopwafels. I'd love to visit Japan one of these days, I feel like that's almost an inevitability at this point.

I'd love to go back to Norway for more than 24 hours, as Cicely knows, I've been drooling over a specific fine dining place in Norway that is set on an actual fjord and has an underwater level (If I had unlimited money, I WOULD spend a week or two in a submarine exploring the deep sea, though I wouldn't be doing it with carbon fiber.) I'd love to go to the Viking Ship Museum, I'd love to explore some of the country outside of Oslo, especially since that *is* where my ancestors are from and, not to be like "I'm Actually™ Norwegian™", but...my paternal grandfather actually was in contact with his cousins from there; it isn't a MASSIVELY distant thing like, say, the German or Scottish side of the family. Even if that's the fucked up side of the family.

I'd love to spend a week or two scurrying around London, seeing all the museums, possibly making a private trip to Whitechapel to give my regards to the victims of the Whitechapel Murders. I'd love to spend a month or so scurrying around France, especially Paris, Versailles, and Brittany. Closer to home, I've dreamed for ages of getting to spend a night or two in St. Augustine and getting to see the city at night, since we always have to leave before I can do the ghost tours. I'd love to go to Colonial Williamsburg at least once before I move from the States to somewhere else.

But. I love traveling, even when it doesn't always love me, since I have notoriously bad luck with it, and there's a lot of the world I still want to get to, and there's a lot I still want to do and see.

tagging: @fallenidol-453 @niccolodigenova @tybaltsjuliet @marzipanandminutiae @violetcancerian

[beardedmrbean]

IIRC you're from California, right? Do have any recommendations for cool and/or fun places to go besides the popular ones (eg the San Francisco bridge)? My aunt is planning to travel through the state and talked about wanting to see the less mainstream touristic stuff, and neither she nor I don't know any Californian personally to ask about that (we're not American, for bigger context) - so I'm asking you cause I remembered you said somewhere you lived in Cali

I'm in the central valley, pretty close to the geographic center of the state.

I'm gonna kinda stick with a similar geographical location if I can.

Less visited but still notable places we've got Hearst Castle that's a cool place to visit William Randolph Hearst one of those more money than God types from the gilded age, Citizen Kane was a thinly veiled dig at the man, beautiful place they do tours and such. His publishing empire still exists so still money coming in, great-granddaughter and I think at least heir is a model, but we don't talk about her mom Patty.

Hopefully I can ramble less now.

Winchester Mystery House is another cool one, widow of the Winchester of firearms fame, not supernatural. Oddly enough the mystery is because of the supernatural, weird thing she couldn't stop building it and it's supposed to be set up so ghosts and spirits get confused. Hallways and stairs to nowhere all kinds of weird stuff.

MC Escher inspired interior design

Here's their twitter

I always like going to the Jelly Belly factory

California Factory - Jelly Belly Fun little tour go see how they make the jelly beans get a little history and they give you a little bag of jelly beans at the end, free tour afaIk.

There's the Charles M. Schulz Museum if you like Snoopy.

@montereybayaquarium world class operation, great place to visit check out their tumblr here. I enjoy their page, also in Monterey is Cannery Row which if anyone is a John Steinbeck fan might be interesting thing, and the pier is always nice I suggest the Clam Chowder in a sourdough bread bowl anytime it's available anywhere.

They have em all over the place, yum soup and then eat the bowl.

Little further down the road is Santa Cruz, there's the boardwalk there touristy spot with fun rides and stuff, but that's a way off from the bay area Monterey might be a bit much.

There's still a bunch of Missions from when Spain was in the process of attempting to colonize the area, most are gone now since they used to have on every 20 miles, still some here and nice for a visit history and such.

There are oodles of different types of museums in San Francisco,

Exploratorium, has a description I like "mad scientists penny arcade" always loved going there as a kid, plenty of adult stuff too

The Walt Disney Family Museum, fairly new one neat place to go

Antique Vibrator Museum because why not add that one

Tons of interesting museums, just google san francisco museums stuff will pop up.

SF also has pier 39, and Ghiradelli Square basically the same place good bread and chocolate there.

Alcatraz does tours too.

Trying to keep it to a closeish geographical area, SF itself is just full of wild neighborhoods with their own history and things to see, their Chinatown is probably the only place I can say I've have fairly authentic Chinese food, very different stuff, tasty.

Just certain neighborhoods to avoid too.

I gotta log off and get wound down for the night, but if you feel like sending me a touch more info on what they like to do and any details about "general location" I could probably be more helpful.

But I hope this is a good start at least, I'm trying for off the beaten path but not wildly obscure, cept maybe the jelly belly place.

[tomboy014]

TruthShriekers AU, the Setup

Weeks turn into months, and after two years, April, Wes, Dib and Dipper are close friends.  Forum posting has turned into DMs, private group chats, emails, texts and finally video calls.  At this point, the only thing left to do is meet.

A little difficult when you live all over the country.

So come summer, the gang is going to go on a cross country trip to meet each other and hunt the paranormal!  There are some concerns, and not everyone is super mobile, but they’ve got a plan.

Wes lives in prime ghost-hunting territory and is the least mobile.  He’s just gotten his license, but doesn’t have a car, so the gang will start their adventures in Amity Park, Michigan.

Dipper is going to catch a flight and April will pick him up from the airport when she drives over from New York.  She’s borrowing a neighbor’s car, an old junker they were ready to scrap anyways.  They’ll use it to carpool, with April and Wes driving.

Dib is concerningly mobile for a twelve-year-old, but he guarantees he can make it on his own to Amity Park.  It’s the shortest trip, only a few hours drive by car since he lives in the next state over, so they’re worried, but willing to trust him.  For now.

After some ghost hunting, they’ll swing down to Dib’s hometown to get a tour of Membrane Labs and check out his “alien” classmate.

Then, a weekend in Point Pleasant, West Virginia for the Mothman festival and a little bug-hunting of their own.

Then they’ll swing up to Chicago to check out the (second) most haunted city in America!  From there, it’s a long drive across country before they hit California, so they figured they’d save some money by camping along the way instead of staying in hotels.

But then they get to check out San Francisco!  After that, one more very long ride to New York City so April can show them around the Big Apple before they all part ways.

It’s… a lot, and it’s not exactly easy on anyone’s budget, but everyone’s been saving money from allowances, part-time jobs, birthdays and anything else they can, so it’s just barely doable, but it’s tight.  The campgrounds will have to be cheap, they need to couch surf as much as possible in the different cities, and there’s not really any money left for anything else, so it’s going to be a lot of bologna sandwiches and ramen, but everyone’s looking forward to it.

Except this plan almost immediately starts falling apart.  For one, Dipper never actually got his parents approval to fly across country by himself.  In fact, they’d already planned for him and his sister to spend the summer with their great uncle in Oregon.

It’s okay.  Instead of checking out the Bay area, there’s bound to be something in Oregon… right?

But this also means that he won’t be able to join them for most of the trip, and he might not be able to go to New York at all.  Still, the important part is that they’re going to finally meet.  They’ll make it work and meet him there.

And of course, Mikey found out about April’s plans and told Leo, who told Raph, who told Donnie who will absolutely not be left out of a chance to tour the Membrane Labs.  Mikey’s not about to be left behind on a ghost hunting summer, and if they’re going, the rest of the boys are going, too.

Downside, there’s now four more people and April needs to prep her friends because her “brothers” look a little… different from other people.  Upside, there’s now four more people contributing to the budget AND they can take the Turtle Tank.  That’ll give them all a lot more room, even with the group doubling, AND they have room to pack April’s kayak.  If they’re going to go camping across country and hit up two cities on Lake Michigan, she’s bringing it.

Plus, the Turtle Tank doesn’t run on gas.  She doesn’t know what it runs on, but it means they don’t need money for gas anymore or to stop to refuel, and that’s a win in her book.

See?  The plan is still salvageable.  Now, they all just need to hit the road.

After all, what else can go wrong?

<<Prev Next>>

Ages in this AU: April, Jazz: 18 Raph: 17 Leo, Donnie, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Wes: 16 Mikey: 15 Dib, Dipper, Mabel: 12 Zim: ?

[studioahead]

Curator Spotlight: Natasha Boas

We’re ringing in the new year with a firecracker: one of our most hilarious, crazy features ever, an interview with Natasha Boas, whose sparkling wit is matched only by her taste in literature and chairs. You’ll have to read below to understand, but we’ll say now that this is a woman who was once Jacques Derrida's student and sat on his kitchen chairs in his apartment in Paris. A conversation with Boas, an independent scholar and curator (and thinker), had us traipsing all over the noosphere and our own backyard in San Francisco, where she became our tour guide to the hidden currents of a city we thought we knew well.

Studio AHEAD: In your home you have several towers of precariously stacked books. We’re going to name a few and would like you tell us the perfect chair/sofa/magic carpet on which to read them:

La honte (Annie Ernaux)

Natasha Boas: I have always been a huge fan of Ernaux’s and have read everything she has written in French, and then in 2022 she received the Nobel Prize in Literature so her novels are finally more available in English. La honte is about the shame a young woman experiences about her childhood and the woman she becomes. It’s autofiction, one of my favorite genres. I think I would suggest reading La honte on any Madame Récamier daybed—perhaps specifically on my antique nineteenth-century French iron folding bed. I grew up with it as my childhood bed and it has tiny wheels—when we once had an earthquake in San Francisco in the 1970s, I remember waking up having rolled across by bedroom from the garden corner to my fireplace.

SA: Specters of Marx (Jacques Derrida)

NB: For Derrida, the spirit or “ghost” of Marx was even more relevant after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This essay was the plenary address of "Whither Marxism?," a conference on the future of Marxism held at the University of California, Riverside in 1993. Derrida was my professor in Paris and a very modest man who would have wanted us to read his book on a simple kitchen chair—perhaps a Charlotte Perriand Bausch chair from the 50s that came secondhand with his humble apartment—where the caning is damaged and used and it is broken and somewhat imbalanced.

SA: Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (Sigmund Freud)

NB: This book contains the iconic essay in which Freud reveals his famous Oedipal theory among other things. It should be read in your mother’s lap—haha! No, it should be read on Freud’s divan couch of course! It may be the most famous couch in history and can be admired in Freud’s study in London at The Freud Museum at 20 Maresfield Gardens in the Hampstead neighborhood. The term “on the couch” became the euphemism for what psychiatrists do because of this very couch shaped like a chaise long with a Persian rug laid over it. Of course, I contributed to a fundraiser launched in 2013 to help reupholster the legendary couch. It seemed very important to me at the time.

SA: Leonora Carrington: The Story of the Last Egg (Leonora Carrington)

NB: This book is the accompanying catalogue to Gallery Wendi Norris’s 2019 exhibition of the same name in New York City. In addition to the show, the gallery hosted a two-day symposium on Carrington. It began with a dramatic reading of Leonora's play, titled Opus Siniestrus: The Story of the Last Egg, which in many ways predicts the dystopian situation of women’s reproductive rights today. My talk “The Leonora Carrington Effect: What We Can Learn from Leonora Carrington Today” became an essay for the book.

These ideas on the relevance of Carrington today resonated a year later at the Venice Biennale “Milk of Dreams” with its focus on Carrington and other historic Surrealist women artists. I wrote my dissertation years ago on this seminal modernist movement in art, which continues to influence my work. Currently, I have curated the exhibition on the post-Surrealist Gertrud Parker: The Possible at Marin MOCA, which includes Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini, Alice Rahon and other influential Surrealist women. It is up through March 31 and I highly recommend a visit. It also features the famous Dynaton artists Luchita Hurtado, Wolfgang Paalen, and Gordon Onslow Ford, who convened in Inverness in west Marin County last century.

I think I would read The Story of the Egg on the bed that the Surrealist artist Max Ernst made for his wife, the artist Dorothea Tanning. It is said that she hated the bed and hid it out of view in the basement of their Provence house, but it is currently being shown on the top floor at a small regional Max Ernst museum in Seillans, near my family house in the Var, Cote d’Azur region. It’s a bizarre six-post structure with a mirror, green metal leaves, a faux brown fur bedspread and several circular paintings attached to it—but seems like the perfect bed for lounging on to read this provocative book.

SA: You are an expert on countercultures and in particular the Mission School. Is there anything you have learned from them—whether related to art or not—that you apply to how you interact, live in, go about San Francisco? This is of course a movement whose members reimagined what was around them.

NB: Yes, I have always been drawn to countercultures, alternative art movements, and under-recognized artists. What drew me to the Mission School artists was that it was an “affective” community—one based on shared sensitivities, a shared neighborhood, and friendships. Graffiti, studio painting and the San Francisco Art Institute were touch points for the group. In many ways I see this group of artists as a continuation of another SFAI group, the Rat Bastards Protective Association with Jay deFeo, Bruce and Jean Conner, Manuel Neri, and others. In fact, Ruby Neri, Manuel’s daughter, who was raised in Inverness and educated at SFAI, literally connects the two movements. I learned that there can be a correlation between street art and studio practice through her, Barry McGee, Alicia McCarthy, Chris Johanson, and Margaret Kilgallen.

These artists were not precious, they used simple materials often culled from garbage found in the city and they always included their friends’ work in their exhibitions, and they still do. That is very much the “Bay Way” of making art. It has influenced my way of curating too. I am not afraid of the heteroclitic or telling new stories. I just curated a show this fall: “Old Friends/New Friends” at Creativity Explored, which is a studio that supports neurodiverse artists or what we used to refer to in art history as “outsider artists” and the expanded Mission school artist community.

I grew up in SF in the 1970s. I even lived at the now defunct radical artist colony The Farm founded by the conceptual artist Bonnie Ora Sherk under what was then Army Street overpass and now Cesar Chavez. I worked at the Café Trieste in North Beach as a barista and served the likes of Allen Ginsburg. I read my poetry at City Lights Book Store and saw the Dead Kennedys perform at The Mabuhay Gardens. We were around when Harvey Milk was assassinated and when SFMOMA was on the fourth floor of the War Memorial Veterans building on Van Ness Avenue. This group of Mission School artists are my generation. We vibe on the same San Francisco history.

SA: I am curious as to what happens in your curation when you bring institutional outsiders inside the institution. Perhaps nothing happens. Perhaps it changes everything. Perhaps it ruins everything.

NB: In my experience—magic happens. But I have always taken risks—like bringing a trailer, which I bought with the Indigenous artist Brad Kahlhamer at an Arizona swap meet for a hundred dollars, into a museum gallery to create a nomadic studio space. We had to fumigate the trailer to make it museum compliant and we built out a proscenium so we could also use it as a stage for local Native performances. The exhibition was appropriately entitled SWAP MEET and played on all the valences of cultural exchange.

SA: You speak so much about San Francisco’s history, and so much has changed, that I wonder if counterculture is still possible in this city? 

NB: Yes—it is always possible especially in our city with its cyclical history of boom and bust! There is always some kind of counterculture operating. We just need to ask “which culture is counterculture countering?” and then we can identify it. And we should always be brave enough to counter culture through the sub, the underground, the transversal. I just participated in a show at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris called The Termite Bites and it looked at artists who are practicing—literally and figuratively—below ground.

SA: We always ask the person interviewed how they came to California. We’ll pose this question to you with a twist. How did you come to California? And can you trace the history of how one piece of artwork that you own came into your possession here in California?

NB: My family came to SF from France in the late 1960s as part of a larger movement of young people seeking alternative lifestyles and new ideas—I was raised in a vibrant multicultural city and went to a French lycée and roamed freely around town on Muni. Later, I moved east for college and then lived and worked as a curator and professor in New York and Paris for over 20 years, when I returned back to the Bay to raise my family.

Most of my collection is from artists I have worked closely with over the years in all three places—either gifted or swapped. I am particularly attached to an Etel Adnan (1925-2021) Mount Tamalpais artwork I have from my time working with her in Paris. Adnan—who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, died in Paris, and lived an important part of her life with her life companion, the artist Simone Fattal in Sausalito—is a transnational link for me between my two homes and two cultures—in her case three cultures. Her poems and drawings in the book Journey to Mount Tamalpais speak to me the most; it has been re-edited recently by my friend Omar Berrada.

SA: Lastly, in the spirit of Guy Debord and the Situationists, if you were doing a dérive-style walk around San Francisco, where might it take you?

NB: My dérive would always lead me back to the Lyon street steps at Broadway. My friend Marc Zegans just published a book of poems about this important passage way in the city. Our SF was more of a village, pre-tech booms. I grew up and went to high school in Presidio Heights. It was very sleepy. We lived on those steps as teens, overlooking the bridge. We had our first kisses there, smoked our first joints, played the guitar, the city was ours.

Photos by Ekaterina Izmestieva

[kovarski]

Caleb Hawthorne

Age: 58

Age at death: 41

Ethnicity: Black American

Languages: English

Krewe: None

Caleb is a veteran in who is employed at the San Francisco National Cemetery, working nights as a caretaker and landscaper. He’s always been drawn to the location since even before he died and was reborn, as he has ancestors buried here going back to the civil war, as well as comrades from his time in the military, and takes the presentation and upkeep of this location very seriously.

He works alone, uninterested in joining a krewe and doesn’t have any interest in being a part of an Sin-Eater “culture.” As far as he’s concerned, as the only major Cemetery within the city limits it’s his duty to keep other Sin-Eaters away.

Will be very distrustful and possibly hostile upon first meeting; has had negative interactions with sin-eaters coming to this location in the past with bad intentions towards the ghosts and their remains (Possibly Elliott or members of the Seven Thunders). If the Krewe needs to talk to a ghost here or access their remains, he will probably be an obstacle they have to deal with.

Caleb survived a lot in his life before the Bargain. An abusive parent, abusive spouse, a military tour and combat. Yet it was the smoking that did him in.

He developed lung cancer and suffered horribly for months, slowly growing weaker until he hovered on death’s door, only to be offered a reprieve by a creature from the other side. He still smokes even after his miraculous recovery

During his time in the military, sometimes he would have dreams about his comrades the night before they died.

His Geist is an emaciated figure that is indistinguishable from the shadows, except for its luminous eyes. It communicates with a slithering hiss that makes the back of his throat burn with bile.

[nakedmonkey]

I was at the Winchester House over the weekend (I stop there anytime I'm in San Francisco) and it's really sad how cooky and gimmicky it's become. I've been going there for years and you wouldn't believe how different the tours are. i'm glad the movie has gained them popularity and they now have money to preserve it and open up more rooms in the house (they found original wallpaper that they were able to finish a room with), but they've sacrificed the quality of the tours. They speed through them now, you're constantly running into other tours, there's spooky music playing, and they're getting ready for Halloween so there's all this weird haunted house shit in every room.

I remember one of the first tours I took there and how careful they were to say "we don't actually know why she kept building" and now they're fully like "yeah it's cause ghosts. So many historical details were fully taken out of the tour and you wouldn't know it unless you were a Winchester House nerd. So sad :(

[geeknik]

31 Days of Halloween: Day 26, Alcatraz Island

Welcome to Day 26 of our haunting adventure. Today, we sail across the cold, choppy waters of San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz Island, once home to America’s most notorious criminals. The chilling ambiance of “The Rock” awaits as we explore its grim history and ghostly inhabitants.

Historical Background

Alcatraz Island, often just called “The Rock,” was initially utilized for military purposes before transitioning into a federal prison from 1934 to 1963. Housing infamous inmates like Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, its remote location and harsh living conditions made it the perfect hold for those deemed too dangerous for other facilities.

Haunting Tales

The Ghostly Guard: Legend has it that in the 1940s, a guard was locked in solitary confinement as a test. Upon entering, he reportedly heard whispers and saw glowing eyes. His terrified screams were heard, yet upon opening the cell, it was empty, with a chilling cold lingering.

The Crying Woman: Visitors often report hearing a woman crying in the night, her sobs echoing through the deserted halls, believed to be the spectral reminiscence of past anguish on the island.

Cell 14D: This particular cell is infamous for its cold spots, even on warm days. Inmates who spent a night there reported feeling an eerie presence, with some even claiming to have been attacked by a malevolent entity.

The Phantom Cannon Shots: Sounds of cannons firing and bullets whizzing are often reported, likely echoing the island’s military past.

Exploring The Island

Alcatraz now welcomes those curious to explore its eerie past, with tours led through its decaying cell blocks and forgotten corridors. As you traverse the cold, echoey halls, the ghosts of Alcatraz’s grim past seem almost palpable. The National Park Service provides day and night tours, the latter being a chilling experience as darkness envelops the island, intensifying the eerie ambiance.

Conclusion

As we conclude Day 26, the ghostly tales of Alcatraz Island serve as a harrowing reminder of its dark history. The spectral remnants of its former inmates and the haunting echoes of past atrocities invite the brave to delve into the mysteries that shroud “The Rock.” Venture if you dare, but remember, the chilling tales of Alcatraz are bound to leave a haunting impression.

[normalaboutmedia]

tagged by @howiehamlin smooch <3

what book are you currently reading? american psycho AND heartstopper volume 2, truly the two extremes

what’s your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year? glass onion!!!

what do you usually wear? t shirt (usually band tees or shirts from my favorite media), black cargo pants, belt chain, docs

how tall are you? 5’6

what’s your Star Sign? do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event? taurus!!! no celebrities that i know of but when i went to see Glass Onion i happened to be wearing a taurus necklace almost EXACTLY like whiskey’s in the movie

i’m so hungry o you go by your name or nickname? nickname always. my full name is forbidden

did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child? when i was a kid i wanted to be an architect even though i had no idea what they actually did. so no i did not fulfill that dream thank god

are you in a relationship? if not who is your crush if you have one? i am single, and i’ll never tell ;)

what’s something you’re good at vs something you’re bad at? i’m good at cooking and singing, i’m bad at remembering things and most video games (but i play anyway)

dogs or cats? both!! i used to be more of a dog person but now i have a cat (his name is Charlie) and i’ve been convinced

If you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favorite picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this year? probably this piece i did of abner krill for a suicide squad gift exchange! i’ll post it on its own at some point too <3

what’s something you would like to create content for? the sopranos!!! but i wanna wait til i’m done watching it, i’m on season 4 right now

what’s something you’re currently obsessed with? drawing spongebob characters (i’ll show an example hehe)

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year? i was supposed to go on a ghost tour in san francisco but my family cancelled it :/

what’s a hidden talent of yours? i can do some tosses with a flag and rifle cause i did winterguard in high school! i have other talents too but i’m very obnoxious about them

are you religious? nah

whats something you wish to have at this moment? an arepa from this venezuelan place by my house i’m so hungry

thank u for tagging me!! i’m tagging @mcwexlerscigarette @odekirk @aminta @charlie-hustle