Dessert Can Be Deadly...

As some of you might know, Ghost Adventures recently traveled to Salem, Massachusetts; this week Travel Channel aired the episode filmed at the famous Witch House (better known as Jonathan Corwin House). It's the only remaining structure in Salem with direct connections to the world-famous Salem Witchcraft Trials. Of course, humor ensues when Zak meets witchcraft. I'm not sure asking random people on the street if they are witches is good form. But this is Ghost Adventures, after all, and we're used to an unlimited amount of intentional (and unintentional) laughs.

A lot of the places I recognized from my past trip to Salem for a book signing and pleasant stay with psychic medium Jeffrey Justice. Even before I heard this episode was coming out, I had been thinking about my trip. I do miss Essex Street and all the history. So, I did a little shopping and finally made a few postponed purchases with connections to my trip: a few herbs from Hex: Old World Witchery and some dinnerware from an artist I discovered at the delightfully morbid Life And Death in Salem. After all this time, her work still called to me.

While browsing the shop, waiting to visit Jeffrey on one of his breaks, a pair of empty eye sockets stared back at me from a dinner plate. It was part of the "Skull and Cross Utensils" design series of refurbished restaurant ware created by ceramicist Meredith Host. While the artist lives in Missouri, she received her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Ohio State University in 2008. Some of her work is quite unique (if not downright comical), though I'm partial to her depictions of skulls, bones, and organs on stark white plates, bowls, and cups. There's something about serving a slice of Death By Chocolate on a plate decorated with a grinning skull that seems too fitting for me.

So I broke down and began my collection this week with a set of four dessert plates. I'll warn you now; the dinnerware is highly addictive. Perhaps it's my odd sense of humor, but I love the idea of skull plates and zombie brain bowls laid out on a table. I'll slowly add to my collection provided I can resist the temptation of breaking the bank to fill the cupboards. Unique, well-crafted, morbidly-amusing things are so hard to find. Not only that, I'm a picky person. When I find something that screams "I must have that" it's a rare surprise.

I couldn't mention macabre dining without touching on another delight from "Professor Paranormal" himself, Loyd Auerbach. While I am eagerly anticipating his book, Haunted by Chocolate, to be released, you can find some spooky treats on the related site. His decadent "Ghost Drops" are available by mail, or you can schedule a chocolate tasting for an event or party.

The Bigfoot of the Bush?

The creature often known as "Bigfoot" goes by many names. In the United States, it is often referred to as Sasquatch in the North and Skunk Ape in the South. In the Himalayas, the Yeti.

But what about Yowie?

Yes: on the remote island of Australia, there have been reports of the same enigmatic beast. There, he is commonly referred to as the Yowie. And like anywhere else in the world, the tales are often met with skepticism and plenty of humour. Yet much of the Australian Outback is still uncharted. Many beasts once believed to be extinct (or yet to be discovered) could roam the countryside.

According to researchers, Oz is home to two distinct species of Yowie: a smaller, more docile 'jingera' of Aboriginal legend, and a gigantic, aggressive counterpart. The basic description remains the same: large, hairy, ape-like humanoid creatures with immense strength and horrid body odor. A few reports from the 1800s exist, and people have reported seeing an ape-like creature as recently as last year. The boys at Australian Yowie Research do their best to keep track of sightings and evidence in an effort to prove its existence.

In 1997, Cadbury began marketing Yowies... or at least a line of collectible, cute tins of chocolate resembling the legendary animal (personally, I'm partial to Crunchies... though I'm normally not crazy about Cadbury chocolate). They are, in fact, still collected today though they were discontinued in 2005. While the Yowie remains a cultural icon, it is still an almost comical idea in the minds of most Aussies.

But who knows. Concrete evidence could be near a billabong somewhere, just waiting to be discovered...