Freestyle Friday: the dark side

Last Friday tipped us from summer to fall, to days with less sunlight, more shadow.

This Friday marks the eve of Kiss in the Dark.

Daniel was cursed by an ex with a dark side. Eloise has seen some dark deeds. Can two dark sides spark a light?

Check out Sharon Ashwood’s Kiss in the Dark tomorrow – it’s perfect reading for a fall day. Or night.

Kiss in the Dark cover hi-res

Ghost Ships

So, Kiss in the Dark is about a ghostly pirate, but what about ghostly ships? There are plenty of legends, but here is a story about a real ship that inspired any number of supernatural theories.

Mary CelesteA merchant brigantine called the Amazon was built in Nova Scotia in 1861. She took timber to London, sailed the West Indies, and eventually ran aground in Glace Bay in 1867. She was then salvaged, fixed up, and sold to American owners in 1868. They renamed her the Mary Celeste. On November 7, 1872, the ship sailed for Genoa with a cargo of denatured (and undrinkable) alcohol. All indications were that the captain, crew, and the ship itself were in perfect condition. Captain Briggs was accompanied by his wife and baby daughter.

On December 4 a Canadian vessel named the Dei Gratia encountered the Mary Celeste far from land between the Azores and the coast of Portugal. The ship was abandoned, with a single lifeboat missing. There was some slight damage to the ship, but the cargo and ship’s provisions were intact. There was no evidence of damage by foul weather or collision with another vessel.

Theories of what happened to the ship abound—from a giant squid to aliens—but no decisive answer has ever been found.