Happy Haunted Halloween from the San Benedetto Paranormal Museum!
Autumn in San Benedetto is harvest time for our famous Zinfandel grapes. So be sure to find us at the Harvest Festival, where we’ll be displaying our newest attraction: a haunted wine press! Don’t worry — no one was actually pressed to death in the press. But the vintage press is connected to a murder…. Curious? Then stop by the museum or catch us at the festival and learn more! Quick! Let’s duck into the Paranormal Museum before it closes! In the Main Room is a rogue’s gallery of haunted photos. If you watch GD Cat closely, he can show you which are the “most active,” spectrally speaking.
“With Halloween candles burning bright Beneath the moon’s bewitching light, May ghosts and goblins grant to you, That all your wishes shall come true.” Rare, colorful, and portable, such charming Halloween greetings once delighted recipients every October. Now, these postcards from the turn of the century are eminently collectible. Many of these postcards picture Halloween traditions and superstitions. The most common is the ritual of looking into a mirror on Halloween to see the man you’ll marry, depicted on the Ellen Clapsaddle card in the top middle of the opposite page. Ellen Clapsaddle was an American commercial artist who became famous for her postcards and greeting cards. Born during the Civil War, she is credited with over 3,000 postcard designs prized by collectors today. Postcards by the English Tuck company are also highly sought after, with their charming pumpkin men (opposite page, top right). Bought for pennies when first produced and sold, these postcards can now fetch hundreds of dollars. As with most vintage items, the less “wear and tear” the cards have, the pricier they become. Unmailed, unwritten upon cards are considered the most valuable. However, this museum curator prefers cards scrawled with romantic nothings and cryptic messages. Ask at the register about our secret, “behind the counter” collection—every vintage postcard is for sale! And as one vintage postcard put it, “May the only spirits that invade your home at Hallowe’en be the happy spirits of friends.”
The Paranormal Museum has an extensive collection of antique Tarot decks. The history of the deck is gradually being pieced together by Tarot historians. (Yes, Tarot historians are a thing!). Tarot decks consist of four “Minor Aracana” suits much like our modern-day playing cards and an extra “Major Arcana” suit, with cards like The Lovers and Death. The earliest citations of Tarot decks come from police reports! Tarot decks were initially used as a card game called Tarocchi, and from card games came… illicit gambling. The image above depicts Tarocchi players, and was painted in 15th century Milan. The Paranormal Museum is growing and evolving, with new exhibits and events. I hope you’re as curious and inquisitive as I am! If there’s anything you’d like to see in the museum, please let me know!
San Benedetto is known for its wine, but that doesn’t mean we can’t experiment. Try these delicious Halloween cocktails!
This two-layer drink is dark and delicious! 1) Coat the bottom of a high-ball glass with 1/2 oz Grenadine; 2) Add ice and 1 oz. Black Cherry Vodka 3) Fill the remainder of the glass with cola. 4) Garnish with Maraschino cherries.
1) Pour 2 oz. UV Green Apple Vodka and 1 oz Butterscotch Schnapps into a cocktail shaker with ice. 2) Shake well. 3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 4) Garnish with a caramel candy and slice of green apple (if you want).
1) Combine 1 part Absinthe, 1 part White Crème de Cacao liqueur, and 1 part coconut milk in a cocktail shaker. 2) Fill with ice and shake until frothy. 3) Strain over ice into a rocks glass. 4) Drizzle black Sambuca down the side of the glass until it floats on the bottom and you get a spooky, diffused effect.
Perfectly pressed. Perfectly proper. Perfectly deadly.
Paranormal museum owner Maddie Kosloski thinks she has the perfect paranormal exhibit for the harvest festival – a haunted grape press. But before she can open the exhibit, she’s accused of stealing the antique press. And when her accuser is found murdered, all eyes turn to Maddie. Solving the crime is the last thing on Maddie’s mind, but her mother insists she investigate. Does her mother have a secret agenda? And why has the local charity, Ladies Aid, seemingly gone gangster? In this light, cozy mystery, haunted houses, runaway wine barrels, and murder combine in a perfect storm of chaos. Facing down danger and her own over-active imagination, Maddie must unearth the killer before she becomes the next ghost to haunt her museum.