The Moon Hoax of 1835: A Mini-Essay

     In the sweltering summer of 1835, the penny press newspaper Sun sent New York City and, over the proceeding weeks, much of the United States into a wild frenzy. On the morning of August 21, the publication’s headlines detailed the fire at a brewery, the near collision of the navy frigate Constitution with a steamboat, and the story of a runaway who had stolen $300 from her father before fleeing town.[1] Lost amid the sensational stories was an article titled “Celestial Discoveries.” Written by a Scottish astronomer named Sir John Herschel, the text explained the bizarre sights he had witnessed while watching the moon from his observatory at the Cape of Good Hope. In his account, he described how the moon was covered in teeming lakes, thundering waterfalls, and dense forests, which were populated by beavers that walked on their hind legs, unicorns, and four-foot-tall man-bats who constructed massive temples and fornicated in public.[2] The strange article, printed in the recesses of the paper, took the reading public by storm and subsequent publications from Herschel added fodder to readers’ insatiable interest. Newspapers throughout the nation – as well as in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy – republished the articles, an illustrated pamphlet collecting all of Herschel’s accounts sold twenty-thousand copies in the first week, and both P.T. Barnum and Edgar Allan Poe added their opinions on the matter, the former declaring it an intriguing hoax and the latter labeling it a juvenile rip-off of his short story “Hans Phaal – A Tale” published earlier that same year.[3] Despite Barnum and Poe’s claims, interest failed to wane and Sun was catapulted from an unknown publication to the most widely read newspaper in the world.[4] On September 16, though, everything came to an end as Richard Adams Locke, the editor of Sun, announced that there was no observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, no Sir John Herschel, and certainly no man-bat civilization on the moon. The entire story, he claimed, had been fabricated by him as piece of creative fiction for the newspaper and he was shocked that it had gained such a sensational following by a mass populace which believed it to be true.[5] The public’s reaction to Locke’s admission was mixed; however, as Matthew Goodman highlights, the Moon Hoax did more than just tarnish the reputation of Locke and Sun, it marked a revolution in journalism, shifting newspapers from a publication for the elite to a mass-market medium for the average person, and helped establish New York City as the leading metropolitan center of the United States.[6] 

Works Referenced

Goodman, Matthew. The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bates in Nineteenth-Century New York. New York: Basic Books, 2008.
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[1] Goodman, 2-3.
[2] Goodman, 11-12.
[3] Goodman, 12.
[4] Goodman, 12.
[5] Goodman, 264.
[6] Goodman, 12-13.

Doll Head Candle Holder

$15 - $20 (based on 2017 prices)

Makes one candle holder

While building the creepy doll wreath for 2017’s haunt, I purposefully reserved one of the heads for this project. I had seen several concepts for old dolls used as candle holders and decided to fabricate my own version to incorporate into the theme. Since using fire in a haunt is never a wise idea, I substituted a real candle with an LED one.

• One large vinyl doll head
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flesh tone*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat red*
• One 8 oz. bottle of wood glue*
• One battery-operated LED candle
• One hot glue gun and glue sticks
• One 0.44 oz. bottle of clear nail polish*
  

1. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, crackle paint the doll’s head. To do this, begin with a base coat of black paint and, once that has dried, use a thick brush to smear a smattering of wood glue onto the prop. Try not to over think your application (a random pattern produces the best results). Let the glue sit for a minute to become tacky and then cover the head with a coat of flesh-tone paint. As the glue and paint dry, they will form cracks. To further the aging process, give the prop a light smudging of brown paint to simulate dirt.

2. Use a sharp knife to cut a hole in the top of the head large enough to accommodate the candle. You may have to gradually trim the opening until the candle passes easily through it. Once this is done, feed the candle through the hole and ensure its base sits flush with the base of the head (this will allow access to the battery compartment and on/off switch).

3. Using hot glue, give the candle extra girth by building up layers and piping drips of wax down the sides and onto the head. I found that pumping the glue along the top of the candle and allowing it to naturally run downward creates the best results. For added effect, cover one of the eyes with glue to make it appear that wax is pouring out of the socket.

4. Apply three coats of red paint to the candle. I used three because I wanted a deep, vibrant red to contrast with the dull blacks and browns of the head. You, of course, are free to use fewer (or more) coats based on your chosen appearance for the prop.

5. To make the candle look waxy, cover the red paint with a layer of clear nail polish. If you want the candle to seem old and unused rather than freshly melted, do not add the nail polish, but give the candle a light brushing of brown paint to mimic dust.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.

Vampire Cookies

$20 - $25 (based on 2017 prices)

Makes two dozen cookies

The idea for this recipe came entirely by accident. I made these cookies for a birthday party, but the icing never reached the right consistency. Because of this, it fell in globs when I drizzled it over the cookies. The patterns reminded me of blood splatter, so I decided to thicken the icing and dye it red to resemble gore. For the time-pressed haunter who hates to cook, you can use a boxed cookie mix.

Cookies

• ½ Cup vegetable oil
• 4 Ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
• 2 Cups granulated sugar
• 2 Teaspoons vanilla
• 4 Eggs
• 2 Cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 Teaspoons baking powder 
• ½ Teaspoon salt 
• 1/3 Cup dried cherries
• 1/3 Cup crushed walnuts
  

Icing Drizzle

• 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon water
• Red food coloring
  

1. In a large bowl, mix together chocolate, eggs, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla.

2. Add baking powder, flour, and salt to the mixture and blend well. Fold in the cherries and walnuts, cover the batter with a tea towel, and refrigerating it for at least three hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F, form the dough into small balls, and drop them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet two inches apart.

4. Bake the cookies for ten to twelve minutes, remove them from the baking sheet, and allow them to cool on a wire rack.

5. As the cookies cool, make the icing by mixing the food coloring, powdered sugar, and water together in a small bowl. You want the mixture to be thicker than a glaze, but thinner than frosting, so you may have to add additional water or sugar to reach your desired consistency.

6. Drizzle the cookies with the icing. Do not overthink your application. You want a haphazard blood splatter.

"A Tree Song" (A Poem)

Originally published in 1906 as part of Rudyard Kipling’s Puck of Pook’s Hill, “A Tree Song” deals with the innocence of childhood before it is crippled by the stark sobriety of adulthood. Although the poem, which was meant to be a message for Kipling's children, draws on the concept of midsummer celebrations, much of the work's details (the ash, oak, and thorn, for example) are modern inventions by the poet and not traditional elements.[1] In fact, as Chas Clifton and Harvey Graham highlight, recent uses of the text, including Lady Sheba’s Book of Shadows (1971), have forgotten its authorship, removed it from its original context, and made assumptions that it was written in the pre-Christian era.[2]

Of all the trees that grow so fair,
Old England to adorn,
Greater are none beneath the Sun,
Than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.
Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs
(All of a Midsummer morn!)
Surely we sing no little thing,
In Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Oak of the Clay lived many a day,
Or ever Æneas began;
Ash of the Loam was a lady at home,
When Brut was an outlaw man;
Thorn of the Down saw New Troy Town
(From which was London born);
Witness hereby the ancientry
Of Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Yew that is old in churchyard mould,
He breedeth a mighty bow;
Alder for shoes do wise men choose,
And beech for cups also.
But when ye have killed, and your bowl is spilled,
And your shoes are clean outworn,
Back ye must speed for all that ye need,
To Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Ellum she hateth mankind, and waiteth
Till every gust be laid,
To drop a limb on the head of him,
That anyway trusts her shade
But whether a lad be sober or sad,
Or mellow with ale from the horn,
He will take no wrong when he lieth along
'Neath Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
Or he would call it a sin;
But – we have been out in the woods all night
A–conjuring Summer in!
And we bring you news by word of mouth –
Good news for cattle and corn –
Now is the Sun come up from the South,
With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs
(All of a Midsummer morn):
England shall bide till Judgment Tide,
By Oak, and Ash, and Thorn![3]

Works Referenced

Clifton, Chas and Graham Harvey, editors. The Paganism Reader. London, Routledge, 2004.

Dialmer, Morgan. Fairies: A Guide to the Celtic Fairy Folk. Hants, Moon Books, 2017.

Kipling, Rudyard. “A Tree Song.” Puck of Pook’s Hill. New York: Doubleday, Page, and Company, 1906. 29-30.
____________________ 
[1] Daimler,
[2] Clifton and Harvey, 80.
[3] Kipling, 29-30.

Sugar Skull Votives

$10 - $15 (based on 2017 prices)

Makes three votives

Halloween-themed votives have become a mainstay in do-it-yourself blogs and vlogs and, although they have never appealed to me, I decided to fashion a few for 2017’s haunt, since the concept fit well with the Dia de Los Muertos theme. Because I lined the jars’ openings with artificial flowers (plus, open flames are never a good idea in a haunt), I used battery-operated LED tea lights to illuminate the props.

• Three twenty-four-ounce glass jars
• One roll of multi-surface painter’s tape
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat white*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat blue*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat green*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat orange*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat pink*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat purple*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat red*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat yellow*
• Nine artificial flowers in multiple colors and sizes
• Three battery-operated LED tea lights
  

1. To remove the labels, dampen paper towels with rubbing alcohol, cover the labels with the cloths, and allow them to sit long enough for the alcohol to dissolve the glue. Thoroughly clean and dry the jars and, using painter’s tape, create skull faces and adhere them to the glass. You can make these faces as whimsical or frightening as you desire.

2. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the jars a light coating of white spray paint. You want the coverage to be thick enough to cover the glass, but thin enough to allow the candle light to shine though. You may want to experiment with another jar beforehand. I found that holding the can roughly twelve inches away from the jars and making quick passes produced the best results.

3. Once the paint has dried, remove the tape and create patterns on the jars. As with the faces, your designs can be as fanciful of frightening as you choose. Since these were used for a Dia de Los Muertos haunt, I stayed with playful imagery; however, you could paint bloody symbols or cryptic messages on them for a darker theme. Also, I did both the front and the back (pictured), but you could cover just the side which will be displayed to save time.

4. Glue the flowers to the tops of the jars. You can create crowns on just the front or use numerous flowers to wrap around the entire opening. For additional detail, consider using beads, paper butterflies, or other decorative trinkets.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.