Travel theme: Spooky

Posted on October 26, 2012 by ailsapm

It’s almost the time of year when hedgerows sprout glowing orange pumpkins…

…doorways mysteriously develop intricate cobwebs…

…and the creepiest of visitors start hanging around outside your window.

Yes, it’s almost time for one of my favourite holidays, Hallowe’en; a festival that started back in pagan Ireland and is celebrated now in many corners of the world. If you fancy celebrating Hallowe’en the traditional way, check out the post I wrote last year about the proper Irish Hallowe’en.

I’ve had some thrills and chills this past year – the hair-raising midnight drive along Beartooth Highway, my chilling encounter with the horseman in Sleepy Hollow, and meeting the Van Cortland squirrel murderer to name but a few. But all this talk of Hallowe’en has got me in a spooky frame of mind, so I’ve been looking around for some suitably eerie photographs, and here’s what I’ve come up with.

Driving through Utah under heavy cloud cover, a line of eerily white fog started to creep across the desert brush towards the road. I couldn’t help feeling it was out to get us.

More fog, this time in the depths of the jungle in northern Guatemala, with an ancient Mayan temple looming up out of the mists. Breathtakingly beautiful, ever so exciting and just a little spooky.

The last photo is also from Guatemala. I was visiting a coffee farm just outside of Antigua, and noticed an extensive display of devil masks on one of the walls. They were in all shapes and sizes but the creepiest one of them all was the least ornate; a sparse black mask with unnerving features. Coincidentally, that same night there was a festival in the centre of town where they burned an effigy of the devil. See the whole post here.

So what do you find truly spooky? If you’d like to join in this week’s travel theme, here’s what to do:

Create your own bone-chilling post and title it Travel Theme: Spooky
Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
Get your post in by next Thursday, as the new travel theme comes out on Friday
Don’t forget to subscribe to keep up to date on the latest weekly travel themes

I’m quaking in my boots in anticipation of the chills and frights you have in store for me.

xxx

Ailsa

About ailsapm

Hi there! I’m Ailsa Prideaux-Mooney. I’ve lived in many places, and travelled to many more. I had a lot of fun getting there and being there, wherever there happened to be at the time. I climbed a castle wall in Czesky Krumlov, abseiled down cliffs to go caving in the west of Ireland, slept on the beach in Paros, got chased by a swarm of bees in Vourvourou (ok that wasn’t fun, but it was exciting), learned flower arranging in Tokyo, found myself in the middle of a riot in Seoul, learned to snowboard in Salzburg, got lost in a labyrinth in Budapest and had my ice cream stolen by a gull in Cornwall. And I’m just getting started. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read so far, I’d love you to follow my travelogue - wheresmybackpack.com - and remember, anyone who tries to tell you it’s a small world hasn’t tried to see it all.

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