Author: Carnacki

When I was young and played football, we celebrated victories by partying. And when we partied, we...

He poured the blood into a tin cup for Lucy, who drank it in my presence. I could not repress a shudder at the sight of her lips touching the blood fresh from my body. She watched me out of the corner of her eyes, lowered the cup and smiled with a puckish delight. My limbs shook at the sight of her long white fangs.

“Like autumn,” Lucy answered. “Henry’s blood tastes like October when the leaves have changed colors and a hint of smoke hangs in the air and you walk past a cemetery at dusk, the fallen leaves swishing under your shoes.”

The vampire Lucy Westenra’s description of Henry Armitage’s blood sums up what I love best about this time of year.

A version of this and the photos originally appeared on The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire.

Today is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson died from a sniper wound at the height of the battle, his greatest victory and the battle that probably saved Britain from invasion by France and Spain.

OK, that doesn’t sound like a promising start to a happy story. But it is. I think. Join me on the flip to see.

A version of this originally appeared on the supernatural blog, The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire as Haunted Treehouse.

At the suggestion of someone in the comments, this was going to be my return to writing Got a happy story? but the digital camera got sand in it at the beach.

Cross posted from The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire

Have you ever had good news that you wanted to share, but you worry about jinxing it if you talked about it?

Do you throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder if you spill it?

If so you’re not alone. Lots of people are superstitious.