Sailors tell a lot of stories. Stories about sea monsters that are hundreds of feet long and cling to the underbelly of ships to sink them within a matter of minutes; making it as though they never sailed at all. They tell stories of illnesses and hallucinations, of sirens and of pirates. But something even more terrifying than being taken over by a pirate ship, would be to see one abandoned and floating freely in the ocean. When all the members of the crew died, or for whatever the reason abandoned ship, this phenomena would occur. The ship would continue on, sailing through the ocean until it eventually sunk due to lack of maintenance, weather conditions, or eventually hitting something. A ghost ship.

ghost ship

Of course, some novelists and screenplay writers have taken this concept and said “suppose the pirates never left the ship, suppose they were unable, or their spirits were tied to it.” In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies a group of men are tied to their ship by a curse. During the day it seems that all is well and they are normal seafaring men, but by night they become skeleton ghoul-like creatures with organs missing and detachable limbs.

In other instances, the guys in pirate costumes are simply ghosts; making the term ‘ghost ship’ a very literal one. They are described as washed out, misty images of a crew. Working relentlessly on the ship despite their work having little to no effect on the improvement of the vessel. Some of the stories go that if you were to board a ghost ship you might become a member of the crew and be forced to spend the rest of eternity with them as a trapped spirit. It is a fate that some think worse than going to Davy Jones’ locker down at the bottom of the ocean.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow

Samurai and Ninja have always been “super cool!” for lack of a better term. They both have the deadly accuracy of someone who has studied their craft and practiced it often, and in popular culture are seen lopping heads clear off with one swing, or throwing knives from far off distances and hitting a man in the center of his forehead. They both have rules which they follow, but while the samurai deal in strict honor codes and set modes of battle, the ninja specialized in sabotage and assassination in the dead of the night.

samurai

Ninja are appealing because of the mystery that surrounds them. There were very few records kept about what they did for/to history over the centuries, (which must mean that they were doing their jobs well) but we do know some things about them. It is assumed that the ninja came about during the 14th century, but there was not any kind of training to become one, or an organization to it until the 15th. At that point they were mercenaries, doing they dirty tasks that higher-ups or opposing forces would rather pay someone to do that risk tarnishing their reputations. By 1571 they were being hired for some very high profile assassinations and by that point their name was definitely made in the history books.

Samurai were a different type. They followed a code called Bushido (“the way of the warrior”) which was made up of seven virtues; rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor, loyalty. They did not fear death, and did not necessarily avoid it either. It was thought that a man who had not risked his life in battle at least one time was a shameful person. To die in battle, especially fighting alongside a fellow warrior or for the good of some cause was the most honorable thing a man could do. Later ways were invented to regain this all-important honor, should it be lost. Most notably the ritualistic suicide called ‘seppuku’, wherein a man would take part in a ceremony that ended in slashing his own stomach (and sometimes), being beheaded by a fellow samurai.

Both ninja and samurai played important roles in history, and either would make an ideal Halloween costume. Be sure that you choose wisely though, and don’t do anything they wouldn’t to.
Don’t do everything they would do either, or you might end up in jail or dead.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow

Imagine running through a dark forest in the middle of the night. The wind is cold and biting for this time of year, and stings as it rushes past your face. Something is chasing you, but you dare not look back for fear that it will be much closer than you expected.

Headless Horseman

You concentrate on moving your feet, and avoiding tree branches, but forget for a moment that tree roots are more of a threat. A gnarled root catches your food and sends you crashing into the ground. You loose precious seconds as you scramble back to your feet and begin to run again. The light of the moon is dim, and hardly illuminating the path in front of you. You pray that you don’t run into a tree, because that would most certainly mean your end.

Behind you, the sound of a massive creature huffing and snorting grows louder. It’s hoofs are digging into the half-frozen ground with ease, and jetting it forward at a pace faster than your own. It will only be a matter of time now until it catches up to you, until it has you. But the horse is not what you fear, oh no, it’s the rider. A man, large and vengeful who seems to have come from the very center of the earth. From hell itself. He knows exactly where you are, and expertly steers his horse around trees and over roots despite not having a head.

A head is what he is after…. the head currently sitting on your shoulders.

You chance a look behind you and see that he is there, his shoulders are turned and he is reaching for something. In that dim light of the moon you see the glint of metal; of sharpened, bloodstained steel. He swings the blade towards you, and you resign your life to The Headless Horseman.

Trying dressing as something fearsome this Halloween.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow