Today is Friday the 13th

This Day In History: Today is Friday the 13th, something that happens during any month that begins on a Sunday. The fear of the number 13 is called "triskaidekaphobia" and the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia. Most present two sources for the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition: 13 at dinner during the Last Supper (thank you Judas), and the arrest of hundreds of Knights Templars on Friday, 13 October 1307. Another origin story comes from Norse mythology, because, at a banquet in the Valhalla, Loki, the Scandinavian God of Strife and Evil, made himself the 'thirteenth' guest, where he killed Balder, the God of Peace.

Some say Heavy Metal was born on Friday the 13, 1970, with the UK release of Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album, considered the first true Metal album by many.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt avoided travel on the 13th day of any month, and would never host 13 guests at a meal.

In Paris you can hire a "Quatorzieme," or professional 14th guest for dinner.

According to Cora Linn Daniels, "The Turks dislike the number 13 to such an extent, that they have almost expunged the word from their vocabulary."

Up to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of Friday the 13th, so much so that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. According to John Roach: "It's been estimated that $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day"

See also Superstition of the Number Thirteen by EJ Jones 1906
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/10/superstition-of-number-thirteen-by-ej.html

Examples of Popular Superstition by the J. I. Mombert 1886
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/11/examples-of-popular-superstition-by-j-i.html

The Number 13 & Other Superstitions - 100 Books to Download
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-number-13-other-superstitions-100.html

Lucky and Unlucky Numbers by Cora Linn Daniels 1903
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/04/lucky-and-unlucky-numbers-by-cora-linn.html

Buy : Halloween and the Strange in Story and History for 99 cents (50 Chapters) and Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on Vampires and Werewolves for only 1.99

The Superstitious Abraham Lincoln on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States on this day in 1860.

Did you know that both President and Mrs. Lincoln were superstitious.

From William Eleazar Barton 1920:

They believed in dreams and signs, he more in dreams and she more in signs. When Mrs. Lincoln was away from him for a little time, visiting in Philadelphia in 1863, and Tad with her, Lincoln thought it sufficiently important to telegraph, lest the mail should be too slow, and sent her this message:

"Executive Mansion,
"Washington, June 9, 1863.
"Mrs. Lincoln,
   "Philadelphia, Pa.
"Think you better put Tad's pistol away. I had an ugly dream about him. "A. Lincoln"
—Quoted in facsimile in Harper's Magazine for February, 1897; Lincoln's Home Life in the White House, by Leslie J. Perry.

In Lamon's book of Recollections, published in 1895, a very different book from his Life of Lincoln, he devotes an entire chapter to Lincoln's dreams and presentiments. He relates the story of the dream which Lincoln had not long before his assassination wherein he saw the East Room of the White House containing a catafalque with the body of an assassinated man lying upon it. Lincoln tried to remove himself from the shadow of this dream by recalling a story of life in Indiana, but could not shake off the gloom of it. Lamon says:

"He was no dabbler in divination, astrology, horoscopy, prophecy, ghostly lore, or witcheries of any sort. . . . The moving power of dreams and visions of an extraordinary character he ascribed, as did the Patriarchs of old, to the Almighty Intelligence that governs the universe, their processes conforming strictly to natural laws."—Recollections, p. 120.

In his Life of Lincoln, Lamon tells the story of the dream which Lincoln had late in the year 1860, when resting upon a lounge in his chamber he saw his figure reflected in a mirror opposite with two images, one of them a little paler than the other. It worried Lincoln, and he told his wife about it. She thought it was "a sign that Lincoln was to be elected for a second term and that the paleness of one of the faces indicated that he would not see life through the last term" (p. 477).

As this optical illusion has been so often printed, and has seemed so weirdly prophetic of the event which followed, it may be well to quote an explanation of the incident from an address by Dr. Erastus Eugene Holt, of Portland, Maine:

"As he lay there upon the couch, every muscle became relaxed as never before. ... In this relaxed condition, in a pensive mood and in an effort to recuperate the energies of a wearied mind, his eyes fell upon the mirror in which he could see himself at full length, reclining upon the couch. All the muscles that direct, control, and keep the two eyes together were relaxed; the eyes were allowed to separate, and each eye saw a separate and distinct image by itself. The relaxation was so complete, for the time being, that the two eyes were not brought together, as is usual by the action of converging muscles, hence the counterfeit presentiment of himself. He would have seen two images of anything else had he looked for them, but he was so startled by the ghostly appearance that he felt 'a little pang as though something uncomfortable had happened,' and obtained but little rest. What a solace to his wearied mind it would have been if someone could have explained this illusion upon rational grounds!" —Address at Portland, Maine, February 12, 1901, reprinted by William Abbatt, Tarrytown, N. Y., 1916.

Other incidents which relate to Mr. Lincoln's faith in dreams, including one that is said to have occurred on the night preceding his assassination, are well known, and need not be repeated here in detail.

It is not worth while to seek to evade or minimize the element of superstition in Lincoln's life, nor to ask to explain away any part of it. Dr. Johnson admits it in general terms, but makes little of concrete instances:

"The claim that there was more or less of superstition in his nature, and that he was greatly affected by his dreams, is not to be disputed. Many devout Christians today are equally superstitious, and, also, are greatly affected by their dreams. Lincoln grew in an atmosphere saturated with all kinds of superstitious beliefs. It is not strange that some of it should cling to him all his life, just as it was with Garfield, Blaine, and others.

"In 1831, then a young man of twenty-two, Lincoln made his second trip to New Orleans. It was then that he visited a Voodoo fortune teller, that is so important in the eyes of certain people. This, doubtless, was out of mere curiosity, for it was his second visit to a city. This no more indicates a belief in 'spiritualism' than does the fact that a few days before he started on this trip he attended an exhibition given by a traveling juggler, and allowed the magician to cook eggs in his low-crowned, broad-rimmed hat."—Lincoln the Christian, p. 29.

I do not agree with this. Superstition was inherent in the life of the backwoods, and Lincoln had his full share of it. Superstition is very tenacious, and people who think that they have outgrown it nearly all possess it. "I was always superstitious," wrote Lincoln to Joshua F. Speed on July 4, 1842. He never ceased to be superstitious.

While superstition had its part in the life and thought of Lincoln, it was not the most outstanding fact in his thinking or his character. For the most part his thinking was rational and well ordered, but it had in it many elements and some strange survivals—strange until we recognize the many moods of the man and the various conditions of his life and thought in which from time to time he lived.

See also Killing Abraham Lincoln - 40 Books on CDrom (Plus Garfield & McKinley) and The Dark Side of Abraham Lincoln - Over 50 Books on CDROM and 220 Books on the American Civil War on DVDrom 1861-1865

For a list of all of my disks and ebooks (PDF and Amazon) click here

Buy : Halloween and the Strange in Story and History for 99 cents (50 Chapters) and Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on Vampires and Werewolves for only 1.99

Valentine's Day (and its Strange Past) on This Day in History

The Strange History of Valentine's Day by Cora Linn Daniels 1903

For more see The Number 13 & Other Superstitions - 100 Books on DVDROM

For a list of all of my digital books on disk and digital books (ebooks) click here 

St. Valentine's Day is the 14th of February and singularly ominous to lovers. Saint Valentine is said to have been a bishop who suffered martydom under the Roman emperor, Claudius, or else under Aurelian in 271. Like many another semi-Christian custom the day set apart to the memory of Saint Valentine in the Christian Calender is an old pagan festival, upon which our ancestors believed that the birds chose their mates for the coming year. This, at least, is the commonly received version of our modern custom of "choosing a valentine" on the 14th of February, and of sending a billet-doux or a fancy "valentine" through the mail to some favored one. Valentine is by several authorities believed to be a corruption of galantin (a lover, a dangler) and St. Valentine was chosen as the patron saint of the lovers on account of his name.

In old Rome the 15th of February was the festival of Juno Februata (Juno the fructifyer), and the Roman Church substituted St. Valentine for the heathen goddess. At that festival, called "Lupercalia", it was customary among other ceremonies, to put the names of young women into a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed. The Christian clergy, finding it difficult or impossible to extirpate the pagan practice and in accordance with their general principle to eradicate the vestiges of pagan superstition by retaining the ceremonies, but modifying their significance, gave it a religious aspect by substituting the names of particular saints for those of the women. The saints whose names were drawn were proposed for imitation to the persons who received the slips of paper whereon they were written, and in many religious houses, where this custom still prevails, each member of the community preserves his billet during the year, as an incitement to imitate the virtues and invoke the special intercession of his holy Valentine.

This innovation, however, namely the substitution of the names of saints for the names of lovers, could not please the young people forever. Though the clergy repeatedly forbade the custom of Valentines and ordered the use of cards with Saints' names, the old pagan custom could not be abolished. The boys and girls triumphed over the Saints, and in the end the girls triumphed over the boys wresting from them their exclusive privilege of choosing mates.

This old custom of drawing names is to this day observed in many parts of England and Scotland in the following manner:

A number of slips of paper with the names of an equal number of men and women are shuffled and drawn, so each young man has a valentine in the person of a young maiden, and each maiden draws a young man whom she calls hers. The valentines give each other gifts, and often this little sport ends in love and marriage.

The first young man or maid you meet on the morning of St. Valentine's day will be your future husband or wife.

On St. Valentine's eve pin five bay-leaves on your pillow one in each corner and the other in the middle and you will dream of your Valentine.

If on St. Valentine's day the first person you meet is tall of stature and you sow flax that year, it will grow long and tall, but if the person is short, the flax will grow short and low.

All young ladies should be warned not to entertain gentlemen on the eve of St. Valentine's day, for if they do, they will lose their social position.

If you look down the well on the 14th of February you will see your sweetheart.

If the girl peeps through the keyhole on St. Valentine's Day and sees a cock and hen together, it is a sign that she will be married before the year is out.

If a girl looks out into the street the first thing on St. Valentine's morning, the number of animals which she sees, will tell her just how many years it will be before she marries.

If a girl in old Derbyshire did not have a kiss from a sweetheart the first thing on St. Valentine's morning, it was because she was "dusty" and they swept her well with a broom. This would bring her a lover.

All who walk on St. Valentine's day should wear a yellow crocus; it is the Saint's special flower and will ward off all evil in love.

If you chance on that day to meet a goldfinch or any yellow bird it is extremely lucky.

If you meet a bird in a scarlet vest on St. Valentine's day, you will follow your love to the beat of the drum.

It is very lucky to find your Valentine asleep. If you can steal a kiss, you will surely wed him or her.

If a girl receives a valentine and wishes to find out who sent it, let her write her name on the back of it and right below, the names of the persons whom she imagines might have sent it, then say the following verse:—

"If he who sent this valentine
Is named above with mine,
I pray good saint that by this line
I may his name divine."

Place this under the pillow and she will surely see the one who sent it.

If a maid walks abroad in the morning of St. Valentine's day, she may decide her future husband's position by the aid of the birds. If she first sees:

A blackbird: she will marry a clergyman.
A redbreast: a sailor.
A bunting: a sailor.
A goldfinch: a millionaire.
A yellowbird: a rich man.
A sparrow: love in a cottage.
A bluebird: poverty.
A crossbill: a quarrelsome husband.
A wryneck: she will never marry.
A flock of doves: good luck.

Never sign a valentine even with your own name, it will not be successful.

My Kindle book, The Dark History of Christmas, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only $1.99

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Witch-Hunter Cotton Mather on This Day in History

The Wonders of the Invisible World, Tryals of the New England Witches

This Day in History: American minister Cotton Mather died on this day in 1725, who was known famously for being at the heart of the Salem Witch Trials. Many have heard of the Witch Dunk test to determine whether someone was a witch, but there was also the Lord's Prayer test.

"George Burroughs, the only minister to be executed during the Trials, ran across this problem. He was standing at the gallows to be executed when he recited the Lord's Prayer to prove his innocence—it was believed that a witch (or warlock, in this case) would be unable to utter the holy words. People were momentarily convinced that the jury had wronged him, until...Cotton Mather told the crowd that the Devil allowed George Burroughs to say that prayer to make it seem as if he was innocent." ~Mental Floss

Nineteenth-century historian Charles Wentworth Upham put the blame on both Cotton and his father Increase Mather for the Salem Witch Trials:

"They are answerable… more than almost any other men have been, for the opinions of their time. It was, indeed a superstitious age; but made much more so by their operations, influence, and writings, beginning with Increase Mather's movement, at the assembly of Ministers, in 1681, and ending with Cotton Mather's dealings with the Goodwin children, and the account thereof which he printed and circulated far and wide. For this reason, then in the first place, I hold those two men responsible for what is called 'Salem Witchcraft.'"

However, Cotton Mather did believe in inoculation against the small pox epidemic whilst most did not. His scientific writings would go on to inspire Benjamin Franklin. It's too bad that the good he had done will always be overshadowed by the superstition that doomed the lives of many.

See also:

The Occult History of America by Lewis Spence 1920
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-occult-history-of-america-by-lewis.html

200 Books on DVDROM about Satan the Devil & Witchcraft
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/100-books-on-dvdrom-about-satan-devil.html

Over 100 of the Freakiest, Creepiest and Scariest Books to Download

Only $3.00 -  You can pay using the Cash App by sending money to $HeinzSchmitz and send me an email at theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com with your email for the download. 

Books Scanned from the Originals into PDF format

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Contents:

A Book Written by the Spirits of the So-called Dead with their own materialized hands, by the process of independent slate-writing 1883 (Communications with Washington, Lincoln, Swedenborg, etc)

Phantasms of the Living, Volume 1 by Edmund Gurney 1886

Phantasms of the Living, Volume 2 by Edmund Gurney 1886

An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch by Martin Van Buren Ingram 1894

Bell Witch Article in McClures Magazine 1922

The Trials of Betsy Bell, Poem

Talks with the Dead, Luminous Rays from the Unseen World, Illustrated with Spirit Photographs by John Lobb 1907

True Ghost Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle 1919

An Adventure by (pseudonyms) Miss Morison and Miss Lamont 1911 (this book made quite a splash in its time. It was written by 2 Oxford academics who claimed to have seen the ghost of Marie Antoinette)

THE WRECK OF THE TITAN - Futility, by Morgan Robertson 1888 (this is the book that was written decades before the Titanic, a fictional story a maiden voyage of a transatlantic luxury liner named the Titan. Although it was promoted as being unsinkable, it strikes an iceberg and sinks with much loss of life. Sound familiar?)

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allen Poe 1838
"Another eerie coincidence: One scene in this fictional book visits a whaling ship lost at sea, taking with it all but 4 crewmen. Out of food, the men drew lots to see who would be eaten, the unfortunate decision landing on a young cabin boy named Richard Parker (and here it gets really weird)....46 years later there was an actual disaster at sea involving the Mignonette wherein the men drew lots and decided to eat their cabin boy...a boy named Richard Parker."

Fasting for the Cure of Disease by Linda Burfield Hazzard 1908 (this book attracted many to Hassard's retreat in Washington state, where her patients were starved, and then subsequently died. Linda Hazzard is the subject of many true crime books, including _Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen_.)

On Murder as a Fine Art by Thomas De Quincey 1887

The Unknown Guest by Maurice Maeterlinck 1914

Ghosts in Solid Form - An Experimental Investigation of Certain Little-known Phenomena (materializations) Gambier Bolton 1919

Poltergeists by Frank Podmore 1897

Realms of the Living Dead: A Brief Description of Life After Death by Harriette Augusta Curtiss 1919

Where are the Dead - Proof that the Dead are Still Alive, by Frederick Altona Binney 1873

The Haunted House, a true ghost story by Walter Hubbell 1879

How to Speak to the Dead - a practical handbook by Sciens, 1918

Haunted Houses - Tales of the Supernatural with some account of hereditary curses and family legends by Charles Harper 1907

More Haunted Houses of London by Elliott O'Donnell 1920

Some Haunted Houses of England by Elliott O'Donnell 1908

Myths and Legends beyond our borders by Charles Skinner 1899

Inferences from haunted houses and haunted men by John Harris 1901

The Coming of the Fairies by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1922 (has photographs of fairies)

The Existence of Evil Spirits Proved by Walter Scott 1853

Spirit World and Spirit Life - Automatic Writing, by Charlotte Dresser 1922

Proofs of the Spirit World by Leon Chevreuil 1920

Signs before Death. A Record of Strange Apparitions by John Timbs 1875

Cock Lane and common-sense by Andrew Lang 1894 (Haunted houses, Apparitions, ghosts, and hallucinations, Scrying or crystal-gazing, The second sight, Ghosts before the law, A modern trial for witchcraft, Presbyterian ghost hunters, The logic of table turning, The ghost theory of the origin of religion)

The Religion of the Spirit World written by the spirits themselves (Seances in the Bible) by George Henslow 1920

Occultism and Common-sense by B Willson 1908 (Science's attitude towards the "supernatural," The hypnotic state, Phantasms of the living, Dreams, Hallucinations, Phantasms of the dead, On "hauntings" and kindred phenomena, The dowsing or divining rod, Mediumistic phenomena, The materialisation of "ghosts," Spirit photography, Clairvoyance)

Psychic Research in the Animal Field (The Elberfeld Horses), article in The American journal of Psychology 1914

Psychic Research and Gospel Miracles - a study of the evidences of the gospel's superphysical features in the light of the established results of modern psychical Research by Edward Duff 1902

Remarkable Apparitions and Ghost Stories, Or Authentic Histories of Communications with the Unseen World by Clarence Day 1846

Psychical Investigations - some personally-observed proofs of survival by JA Hill 1917

Adventurings in the Psychical by HA Bruce 1914 (Ghosts, Telepathy, Clarivoyance and crystal-gazing, Automatic speaking and writing, Poltergeists, mediums)

A Book of Ghosts by S. Baring-Gould 1904

The Books on this disk are also included on a larger collection I sell called _The Paranormal and Supernatural - 400 Books on DVDrom_

Apparitions and Thought-transference by Frank Podmore 1894

The Naturalisation of the Supernatural by Frank Podmore 1908

Letters from the Spirit World by C Petersilea 1905

Ghosts I have met and some others by John K Bangs 1899

Contact with the Other World - the latest evidence as to communication with the dead by James Hyslop 1919

Modern Ghosts by GW Curtis 1890

Phenomena of materialisation: a contribution to the investigation of Mediumistic Teleplastics by Albert Schrenck-Notzing 1922
(A lost of Strange pictures of Ectoplasms during Seances)

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 1 by Joseph French 1922

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 2 by Joseph French 1922

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 3 by Joseph French 1922

Masterpieces of Mystery, Volume 4 by Joseph French 1922 (About 36 tales in all)

True Ghost Stories by H Carrington 1915

Real Ghost Stories by WT Stead 1921

Four Ghost Stories by Mrs Molesworth 1888

The Best Psychic Stories by Joseph Lewis French 1920 *

The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce (Can Such Things Be?) 1909

Border Ghost Stories by Howard Pease 1919

True Irish Ghost Stories by St John Seymour 1914

Scottish Ghost Stories by Elliott O'Donnell 1911

St Andrews Ghost Stories by WT Linskill 1921

The Haunted Hour - an Anthology by M Widdemer 1920

Sea-Faring Superstitions (The Flying Dutchman, Sirens), article in The English illustrated magazine 1906

Great Ghost Stories by K Girard 1913

Famous Ghost Stories JW McSpadden 1918

Mysteries of the Sea, article in Munsey's Magazine 1905

Greek and Roman ghost stories BY Lacy Collison-Morley 1912

Seeing Things, article in Pearson's magazine 1909

The Empty House and other Ghost Stories by A Blackwood 1915

Black Spirits and White - a book of Ghost stories by Ralph Cram 1895

The Old English Baron a Gothic story. Also The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (The Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole that is generally regarded as the first gothic novel)

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe 1836

In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Le Fanu. Volume 1 1872

In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Le Fanu. Volume 2 1872

In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Le Fanu. Volume 3 1872

Real Ghost Stories, in Pearson's magazine 1899

True Tales of the Weird - a record of personal experiences of the supernatural by S Dickinson 1920

A Relation of Apparitions of Spirits in the County of Monmouth and the Principality of Wales by Edmund Jones 1813

Too Strange not to be True, Volume 1, by Lady Georgiana Fullerton 1864

Too Strange not to be True, Volume 2, by Lady Georgiana Fullerton 1864

Too Strange not to be True, Volume 3, by Lady Georgiana Fullerton 1864

Modern Family Skeletons, article in The Harmsworth monthly pictorial magazine 1899

Posthumous Humanity - a study of phantoms 1887

Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness by Selma Lagerlöf 1922 (has its own wikipedia entry and was made into a movie called The Phantom Carriage)

The Evidence for Communication with the Dead by Anna Hude 1931

A Mysterious Experience, article in The Strand magazine 1896

Not Yet Solved (true ghost story), article in The Argosy 1886

Little Manuel - A True Ghost Story, article in The Overland monthly 1894

The Shape of Fear, and Other Ghostly Tales by Elia Wilkinson Peattie 1898

Ghostly Phenomena by Elliot O'Donnell 1910

Byways of ghost-land by Elliot O'Donnell 1911

The History of Burke and Hare and of the Resurrectionist times by George MacGregor 1884 (Burke and Hare were infamous graverobbers/body snatchers)

Burke and Hare by William Burke 1921

Observations on the Phrenological Development of Burke and Hare & other Atrocious Murderers by Thomas Stone 1829

Where Ghosts Walk - the Haunts of familiar characters in history and literature by Maron Harland 1898

The Banshee by Elliot O'Donnell 1920

Twenty years' Experience as a Ghost Hunter by Elliot O'Donnell 1917

WERWOLVES BY ELLIOTT O'DONNELL 1912

Ghostly Visitors, a Series of Authentic Narrations by "Spectre Stricken" 1882

The Supernatural in Modern English fiction by Dorothy Scarborough 1917

The History of Magic, Volume 1 by Joseph Ennemoser 1854

The History of Magic, Volume 2 by Joseph Ennemoser 1854

Spirit Life, or Do We Die by William Dunseath Eaton 1920 (The Ghost of Philip's Mother, The Ghost of Mrs. Conwell, The Spectre Monk, The Indignant Ghost, A Ghost of Tragic Memory, The Banshee of the O'Neills, Lady Fanshawe Sees a Banshee, The Beresford Ghost, The Famous Wynyard Ghost, The Ghost that Killed Marshal Bliicher etc)

Devils, by JC Wall 1904 (Legends, Exorcisms, etc)

The Watcher and other Weird Stories by JS Le Fanu 1894

Tales of Men and Ghosts by Edith Wharton 1910

Tales of fantasy and Fact By Brander Matthews 1896

Historic Oddities and Strange Events by S Baring-Gould 1891

Freaks of fanaticism and other strange events by S Baring-Gould 1891

The Problems of Psychical Research; experiments and theories in the realm of the Supernormal by H Carrington 1921

Spiritual Manifestations by Charles Beechers 1879

Our Hidden Forces - an experimental study of the Psychic Sciences 1917 by Emile Boirac

Shakespeare's Revelations by Shakespeare's Spirit, Through a Medium by Sarah Shatford 1919

A Strange Story - The Haunted and the Haunters (1857) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The Diary of a Resurrectionist by James Bailey 1896

The Two Magics: The Turn of the Screw, Covering End by Henry James 1898

House on the Borderland (1908) by William Hope Hodgson (The book is a milestone that signals a radical departure from the typical gothic supernatural fiction of the late 19th century. Hodgson creates a newer more realistic/scientific cosmic horror that left a marked impression on the people who would become the great writers of the weird tales of the middle of the 20th century, most notably Clark Ashton Smith, and H. P. Lovecraft. ~wikipedia)

THE STORY OF THE MOOR ROAD - A Flaxman Low Story - Pearson's Magazine (1898)

The Story of the Spaniards - A Flaxman Low Story, Pearson's Magazine (1898)

The Story of Baelbrow -A Flaxman Low Story, Pearson's Magazine (April 1898)

The Story of Yand Manor House -A Flaxman Low Story, Pearson's Magazine (1898)

The Story of Konnor Old House -A Flaxman Low Story, Pearson's Magazine (1899) [Flaxman Low is a psychic detective, the Sherlock Holmes of the Supernatural]

John Silence by Algernon Blackwood 1908 (psychic investigator)

THE GHOST FINDER by William Hope Hodgson 1912 (Detective stories in which the great Thomas Carnacki investigates the supernatural using scientific tools such as photography)

The Case of Mr. Lucraft, and other Tales 1876 by Sir Walter Besanet, Volume 1

The Case of Mr. Lucraft, and other Tales 1876 by Sir Walter Besanet, Volume 2

For a list of all of my books click here

The Number 13 & Other Superstitions - 100 Books to Download

Only $3.50 -  You can pay using the Cash App by sending money to $HeinzSchmitz and send me an email at theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com with your email for the download. 

Books Scanned from the Originals into PDF format

Join my Facebook Group - Contact theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com for questions

Books are in the public domain. I will take checks or money orders as well.

Contents:

A Defense of Superstition, article on The Living Age magazine 1921

Kentucky Superstitions by Daniel Thomas 1920 (CONTENTS: Birth and Child Life, Family Relations, Lost Articles, Wishes., Divinations, Marriage, Death and Burial, The Human Body, Saliva, Sneezes, Cures and Preventives, Fire, Dreams, Moon and Signs of the Zodiac, Crops, Vegetables, Fruits, Trees, Witches, Hoodoos, Haunted Houses, Ghosts, Evil Spirits).

Signs, Omens and Superstitions by Astra Cielo 1918 (Contents: CONTENTS: Popular Superstitions, Wedding Superstitions, Lucky Periods for Marriages, Bridal Cake — Bridesmaids, Shoes and Weddings, Rings, Engagement and Wedding Rings, Lucky and Unlucky Days and Seasons, New Year's Superstitions, April Fool's Day, Ascension Day, Easter Superstitions, St John's Eve, Candlemas Day, St. Valentine's Day, Hallowe'en Customs, Harvest Superstitions, Christmas, Signs of Good or Bad Luck, The Sign of the Cross etc.)

What they say in New England; a book of signs, sayings, and superstitions by Clifton Johnson 1896 (Contents: The Weather, Tea-Grounds, Dreams, Charms, Fortune-Telling, Odds, Friends, Wishes, Medicinal, The Farm, Luck, Snakes, Folks, Money, Death, Warts)

Superstitions about Animals by Frank Gibson 1904

Philosophical Essay on Credulity and Superstition by Rufus Blakemen 1849 (Witchcraft, Dreams, Ghosts, Empiricism and Quackery — Credulity in Medicine, Homoeopathy, Mesmerism, Animal Fascination)

The Superstitions of Witchcraft by Howard Williams 1865

An Essay on Demonology, Ghosts and Apparitions, and popular Superstitions by James Thacker 1831

Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India by John Oman 1908

Superstition Unveiled By Charles Southwell 1854

The Fairy Mythology by Thomas Keightley 1884

A World of Wonders, with anecdotes and opinions concerning popular superstitions by A Poyntz 1845 (INCOMBUSTIBLE MEN, POPE JOAN AND THE WANDERING JEW, THE FABLES OF HISTORY, MELONS AND MONSTERS, LAST WORDS OF DYING PERSONS, PERPETUAL LAMPS AND ARCHIMEDES, FORTUNE-TELLERS AND CHIROMANCY, ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND NOSTRADAMUS, Philosopher's Stone, GIANTS AND DWARFS, ASTROLOGY, THE MOON AND LUNAR INFLUENCE, APPARITIONS, COMETS, DREAMS, PREJUDICES ATTACHED TO CERTAIN ANIMALS, THE DIVINING ROD, THE INFLUEXCE OF BELLS UPON THUNDER STORMS, SORCERERS AND MAGICIANS, GHOSTS AND VAMPIRES, APOCRYPHAL ANIMALS, SUPERNATURAL HUMAN BEINGS)

The Popular Superstitions and festive amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland by William Grant Stewart 1851 (Ghosts, Fairies, Brownies, Spunkies, Witchcraft, Weddings etc)

Bygone Church Life in Scotland by William Andrews 1899

Brand's Popular antiquities of Great Britain. Faiths and folklore; a dictionary of national beliefs, superstitions and popular customs, past and current, with their classical and foreign analogues, described and illustrated, Volume 1, 1905

Brand's Popular antiquities of Great Britain. Faiths and folklore; a Dictionary of National Beliefs, Superstitions and popular customs, past and current, with their classical and foreign analogues, described and illustrated, Volume 2, 1905

The Evil Eye, Thanatology, and, other essays by Roswell Park 1912

The Evil Eye by Charles Yale 1898

The Evil Eye. An account of this Ancient and Wide Spread Superstition by FT Elworthy 1895

Curious Questions in History, Literature, Art, and Social Life By Sarah Hutchins Killikelly Volume 1 1886

Curious Questions in History, Literature, Art, and Social Life By Sarah Hutchins Killikelly Volume 2 1886

Curious Questions in History, Literature, Art, and Social Life By Sarah Hutchins Killikelly Volume 3 1886

What's what in America by Eugene Brewster 1919 (Christian Science, Phrenology, Superstitions, Ghosts, Occultism etc)

Superstitious Beliefs Among College Students, article in The American Journal of Psychology 1919

The "Thirteen" Superstition Among the Fair Sex, article in the Belford Magazine

Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult sciences of the world; a comprehensive library of human belief and practice in the mysteries of life, Volume 3 by Cora Linn Daniels 1903

The Origin Of Man And Of His Superstitions by Carveth Read 1920

Essay on Superstition being an inquiry into the effects of physical influence on the mind, in the production of dreams, visions, ghosts, and other supernatural appearances 1830 by W. Newnham

Essays on Subjects connected with the Literature, Popular Superstitions, and history of England in the Middle Ages by Thomas Wright Volume 1 1846

Essays on Subjects connected with the Literature, Popular Superstitions, and history of England in the Middle Ages by Thomas Wright Volume 2 1846

Handbook of Freethought - Evidences against the Superstitions of Christianity by WS Bell 1891

Philosophy of Popular Superstitions, and the effects of credulity and imagination upon the moral, social, and intellectual condition of the human race 1853 by Samuel Emmons

Friday an Unluck Day? Article in Emerson's magazine and Putnam's monthly 1857

Thirteen, article in Chamber's Journal ("Sitting down as the thirteenth at dinner was, we are told in the old Norse mythology, deemed 1 unlucky' by the Scandinavians, because, at a banquet in the Valhalla, Loki, the Scandinavian God of Strife and Evil, intruded himself on one occasion, making the ' thirteenth' guest, and succeeded in his desire to kill, with an arrow of mistletoe, Balder, the God of Peace.")

A Handy Book of Curious Information - comprising strange happenings in the life of men and animals, odd statistics, extraordinary phenomena and out of the way facts concerning the wonderlands of the earth by William Walsh 1913

Credulities Past and Present by William Jones 1898

Superstition in all ages by Jean Meslier (Roman Catholic priest who, after 30 years, wrote this anti-religious book to be published after his death) 1920

The Magic of the Horseshoe by Robert Lawrence 1897 (Fortune and luck, The Folklore of Salt, The omens of sneezing, Days of good and evil omens, Superstitious dealings with animals, The luck of odd numbers)

Fallacy of Ghosts, Dreams, and Omens with Stories of Witchcraft, Life-in-Death, and Monomania by Charles Ollier 1848

Sibylline leaves, wherein are to be found the omens of fate (Poems and artwork) 1884

Apparitions or The Mystery of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, and Haunted houses developed by Joseph Taylor 1814

Curious Church Customs and Cognate Subjects by William Andrews 1895

Curiosities of Superstition by WHD Adams 1882

Superstitions of the Churches, Ancient and Modern by William R. Sunman 1874

Superstition in Medicine by Hugo Magnus 1908

Observations on the Character, Customs, and Superstitions of the Irish and on some of the causes which have Retarded the Moral and Political improvement of Ireland by Daniel Dewar 1812

Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain Volume 1 by John Brand 1853

Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain Volume 2 by John Brand 1853

Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain Volume 3 by John Brand 1853

Chinese Superstitions by Joshua Vale 1906

Tales of Superstition and Chivalry by Anne Bannerman 1802

The Superstition called Socialism by G. Tunzelmann 1911

Studies of Contemporary Superstition by WH Mallock 1895 (Cowardly Agnosticism, Amateur Christianity, Marriage and Free Thought, A Catholic Theologian on Natural Religion, Science and Evolution, Fabian Economics, Socialism)

Warnings against Superstition - 4 Sermons by John Llewelyn Davies 1874

Science and Superstition by Samuel Eugene Stevens 1914

The Struggle between Science and Superstition by Arthur Lewis 1916

On Superstitions connected with the history and practice of medicine and surgery by Thomas Peddigrew 1844

The Wedding-ring: Its History, Literature, and the Superstitions Respecting By Joseph Maskell 1868

The Darker Superstitions of Scotland by John G Dalyell 1834

Archaeological Superstitions 1876

Epidemic Delusions: Containing an Exposé of the Superstitions and Frauds by Amos Norton Craft 1881 (Spiritualism, Animism, Crusades, Alchemy, Witch-Mania, Mormonism, Haunted Houses etc)

Christian Science and Kindred Superstitions by Charles Winbigler 1901

Legends and Superstitions of the Sea and Sailors by Fletcher Bassett 1885

The Book of Were-wolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition by Sabine Baring-Gould 1865

On the Truths contained in Popular Superstitions with an account of mesmerism by Herbert Mayo 1851

Sea-Faring Superstitions 1906

The Origin of the Werewolf Superstition by Carolina Taylor Stewart 1909

Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans by Edwin M Fogel 1915

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 1, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 2, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 3, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 4, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 5, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 6, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 7, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 8, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 9, 1914

Researches into Chinese Superstitions by Henri Dore, Volume 10, 1914

Traditions Superstitions and Folklore chiefly Lancashire and the north of England by Charles Hardwick 1872

The Book of Christmas (Customs, Traditions, Superstitions etc) by Thomas K Hervey 1888

Current Superstitions Collected from the Oral Tradition of English Speaking Folk by Fanny Bergen 1896

Omens and Superstitions of southern India by Edgar Thurston 1912

Myths and Myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions by John Fiske - 1882

The Origin of Primitive Superstitions by Rushton M. Dorman - 1881

The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Kunz 19123

Charms or amulets for some diseases of the eye, and a few ancient beliefs about the eclipse by Jivanji Jamshedji Modi 1894

Plant Lore, legends, and lyrics. Embracing the myths, traditions, superstitions, and folk-lore of the plant kingdom by Richard Folkard 1892

Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire, Volume 1 by Anna Eliza Bray 1838

Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire, Volume 2 by Anna Eliza Bray 1838

Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire, Volume 3 by Anna Eliza Bray 1838

Popular Romances of the West of England - The drolls, traditions, and superstitions of old Cornwall by Robert Hunt 1881

Were You Born under a Lucky Star? by A Alpheus 1901

Illustrations of Scottish History - life and superstition by William Gunnyon, 1877

A complete Refutation of Astrology by TH Moody 1838

Hebrew Idolatry and Superstition by Elford Higgens 1893

Essays on Christianity, Paganism, and Superstition by Thomas De Quincey 1877

Popular Fallacies by A.S.E. Ackermann 1908

Signs and symbols illustrated and explained, 12 lectures on Freemasonry by George Oliver 1826

The Import of the Name Jehovah, article in The Biblical Repository 1833

A Misunderstood Jehovah by Heinz Schmitz (there were superstitions around the Divine Name)

Curious facts in the history of Insects including Spiders by Frank Cowan 1865

Popular Superstitions, article in Scientific Tracts 1832

The Myths of the New World - a Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the red race of America by Daniel G Brinton 1896

The Witchcraft Delusion in New England by Samuel Gardner, Volume 1 1866

The Witchcraft Delusion in New England by Samuel Gardner, Volume 2 1866

The Witchcraft Delusion in New England by Samuel Gardner, Volume 3 1866

Folklore of Women as illustrated by legendary and traditional tales, folk-rhymes, proverbial sayings, superstitions by TF Thiselton-Dyer 1906

Algonquin legends of New England by Charles G Leland 1884

Gypsy folk-tales by Francis H Groome 1899