The Last Winter of Dani Lancing

As a child I was afraid of ghosts.  Ghosts were the ones that came out from the shadow and frightened you.  Ghosts were malicious phantasms that knocked things off shelves, made your homework disappear, and were nicknamed "not me" by most children when parents would ask who did the dirty deed.

As an adult I view ghosts differently.  Now they are the restless spirits of the dead that have refused to leave the Earth for the other realm.  Really not all that different from my view of them as a child as they still frighten me with their antics.  Or I could blame my brother and his knife slashing antics he developed from watching too many scary movies for the same effect of fearing shadows thinking it was just him out to get me or a ghost quite possibly; I'll let you choose.

During Samhain the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest as it is only one other time, that being Beltane.  Samhain is also known as Halloween.  Beltane is a lesser feast time also called May Day which is celebrated on May first.  Usually drunken debauchery went on during the celebrating of May Day and many a babe was born nine months later of which was blamed on the spirits.  Just which spirits though I'm thinking were most likely the ones that were imbibed not the kind of spirit that possesses.

On and around those two times of the year ghosts can be seen easier without dabbling with divination or working with a medium.  It is possible while looking into a  mirror you might see a phantom.  However, when you turn around to actually look at the view behind you there is nothing there.   Get your vision checked because if you are seeing black floaters in your sight line you might have a serious issue.

Most often the "cold spots" are felt in older homes.  These as lore would have it, represent the ghost being there but unable to be seen.  I have felt a few cold spots in my parents' house in upstate NY.  They loved to tell me it was haunted too.  As I got older I realized those cold spots were because the flooring was over a cold cement slab, we had poor heating with an old furnace and the windows weren't properly sealed.  Ghost de-bunked.  I'd suggest wearing thick woolen socks, flannel lined pants and finger-less mittens if you ever were to go into that house.  Most likely the new owners have realized the furnace is an issue and put in a new one by now.

This post was inspired by The Last Winter of Dani Lancing, a novel by P.D. Viner. Twenty years ago, college student Dani was murdered but her killer was never found.  Now a promising new lead may change everything. Join From Left to Write on November 7 as we discuss The Last Winter of Dani Lancing.  As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.