The Haunting of Old Cliff Path

Since it's Halloween, here's another ghost story I wrote, inspired by a hike through Howth and the evil birds I swore were going to eat me. Have fun.



“Some people say this Old Cliff Path is haunted.”

“Who says that? There’s no warnings in this book,” Kelsey said, eyeing the guide in her hands.

“At that pub by the train station, some old guy started talking to me, told me a story.”

“A scary story?” Kelsey asked.

“Yep, about this very path we’re hiking on and planning to camp on. We shouldn’t be here after dark.”

“I didn’t see signs,” Jake said.

“Isn’t everything in Ireland haunted anyway? And here, one wrong step and you land with a smack on those rocks,” Ella said.

“Then those creepy seagulls eat out your eyes.”

“Eww!” Kelsey screeched.

“There’s something about how those things fly in circles by the cliffs, dive into the water to catch food, or sit, stacked on top of one another, that really makes my skin crawl,” Ella said.

“Actually, those birds are part of the story,” Kyle said.

The four briefly stopped talking of ghosts to pitch their tent and grill some food.

“Get to that story,” Jake said.

Kelsey whined, but Ella didn’t care either way. It was now dark and of course the boys wanted to scare them.

“Well, many years ago, on this path, someone fell and died. What was weird about this was that the young woman who died wasn’t someone the locals knew. In fact, no one seemed to know her. There had been no news of someone missing, so when she came up dead, people were stunned. When she was found, her body was bloated from seawater and half eaten by birds. Her identity was never discovered and her death was never solved. Was it suicide? An accident? Murder? No one knew.”

The Hunger Games

I recently finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It reminded me of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson -- that story where there's a lottery drawn every June 27th, and the lucky winner gets stoned to death. And then there's that Japanese movie, Battle Royale (it was a book first, written in 1999), about high school kids having to fight to the death until one is left standing in the span of 24 hours. Suzanne Collins' vision is a little different. The Hunger Games take place each year in this fictional world, in a place once known as North America, to instill fear and enforce power over the people. 24 boys and girls -- ranging from 12 to 18 -- are chosen at random to enter the games and fight to the death until only one is left standing. Sounds juicy, right?

What I liked most about this book was the fact that once you started reading, you couldn't seem to put it down. Though it almost seems obvious what will happen in the end, it's the little things that comes up that keeps you flipping pages. And though Katniss at times can be too technical and thinking of strategy that she can't see feelings, she is easily forgiven because she's smart, likable, and not like a lot of heroines. I wish the reader could have seen things from multiple angles, but since the story was told in 1st person, that would have been impossible. Oh well. I still liked the book, and have already started reading the second in the trilogy, Catching Fire.

Like I previously said, The Hunger Games will soon be a movie. Check out the lackluster trailer!



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Intrigued by Battle Royale? Well, here's their trailer, too. I think I know which movie I can expect more gore from.

Blerp the Alien

Do you like aliens and government conspiracies? Then have I got the short story for you:

            Blerp knew he was in trouble as soon as he entered the underground base. Blerp was not his real name, but the incompetent humans could not pronounce his real one. Not that he blamed them. Their brains could not comprehend his language.

            1947 was the Earth year his small fleet crashed into the planet. It was not his mission to make contact. Observe. Listen. Take note. Those were his tasks. But then that damn asteroid shower hit out of nowhere.

            Out of the four ships in his small patrol, only one was captured. Blerp could have easily used his technology to get it back, but authorization had not been granted. Besides, it was probably too late. The ships were most likely already taking root in the soil. Instead, he did what any other sensible creature would do. He went to the politicians.

            But his grey exterior and yellow glow screamed suspicion.

            “Alien!”

            “Get him!”

            Twenty soldiers surrounded him.

            “I come in peace. Take me to your leader.”

            The big one in front waved his gun and snorted. “Yeah, right.”

            Blerp grunted. But in the end, his many escorts took him to an isolated base in the desert.

            Next came hours of waiting while soldiers stared and poked until he was finally taken to some place of importance. He was then introduced to two men. Both were older with appalling silver hair. One wore glasses and had his hair combed to one side. Everyone called him Mr. President. The other, called Sir, was obviously the ass kisser.