From the Hollow

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities—a collection of gothic history, strange traditions, haunted places, forgotten folklore, dark symbolism, and the stories hidden behind art and books.

Here you’ll find ancient festivals, eerie legends, Victorian oddities, supernatural inspiration, book reviews, collector features, and the beautifully strange details that shape my worlds. From haunted Pittsburgh to poisonous gardens, from ravens and roses to old rituals and whispered ghost stories, this is where mystery, history, and art meet.

If you love gothic atmosphere, dark fiction, and the allure of the unusual, you’re in the right place.

The History of Protective Herbs and Magical Gardens

Long before the modern garden became a place of ornamental flowers, raised beds, and carefully chosen landscaping, plants were valued for something far more practical. They could feed a household, flavor food, scent a room, treat an injury, ease an illness, repel unwanted creatures, mark a religious occasion, or, according to the beliefs of the people who cultivated them, protect a home from forces that could not be seen. The history of the magical garden is therefore not rea

Aug 3012 min read

The Dullahan: Ireland's Headless Horseman

Few creatures in Irish folklore are quite as visually unforgettable as the Dullahan. A headless rider dressed in black, galloping through the countryside on a dark horse while carrying his own severed head beneath one arm. The Dullahan sounds almost too perfectly designed for a Gothic horror story. Yet the legend predates modern horror by centuries—or at least, the ideas behind the legend do. Over time, stories of headless riders, death coaches, supernatural horses, and omino

Aug 156 min read

Mirrors as Portals: Folklore, Horror, and the Symbolism of Reflections

Few objects have earned as much suspicion throughout history as the ordinary mirror. Every home has one. We use them without thinking, trusting that the reflection staring back belongs to us. Yet for thousands of years, cultures around the world have treated mirrors with caution. They have been covered after deaths, avoided during certain rituals, blamed for trapping spirits, and imagined as doorways between worlds. Perhaps that is because mirrors challenge something fundamen

Jul 246 min read

Jorōgumo: Japan's Beautiful Spider Demon

Beauty has always had a way of lowering our guard. Some of the world's oldest stories remind us that danger rarely announces itself with claws and fangs. Instead, it smiles. It charms. It invites us a little closer before revealing its true nature. Few legends embody that idea more perfectly than the Jorōgumo. Part beautiful woman, part monstrous spider, the Jorōgumo has woven her way through Japanese folklore for centuries. She is seductive without being romantic, terrifying

Jul 224 min read

Witch Bottles: The Strange History of Protective Magic & Hidden Charms

Long before security cameras, alarm systems, and motion sensors, people protected their homes with something far stranger. They buried bottles filled with nails, pins, hair, urine, herbs, and other mysterious ingredients beneath fireplaces, thresholds, and walls, believing these hidden charms could trap evil before it entered the home. These curious objects, known today as witch bottles, have puzzled archaeologists for decades and continue to fascinate historians, occult enth

Jul 205 min read

The Banshee: Ireland’s Messenger of Death

Few figures in folklore create such an immediate image as the banshee. A woman in white or gray, wandering beneath the moonlight. Long hair blowing in the wind. A haunting cry echoing across the countryside. A warning that death is near. For centuries, stories of the banshee have captured the imagination of storytellers, artists, and writers. She has appeared in ghost stories, horror films, fantasy novels, and popular culture as a terrifying supernatural being. But the origin

Jul 153 min read

Cosmic Horror: Why the Unknown Terrifies Us More Than Monsters

Monsters have rules. They may be impossible to kill. They may lurk in the shadows or emerge beneath a full moon. They might hide beneath your bed, stalk the woods, or wait in abandoned buildings. But even the most terrifying monsters usually have a motive. Hunger. Revenge. Survival. Territory. We understand them. Cosmic horror doesn't give us that comfort. That's why it frightens us. I've always been drawn to science fiction horror. Whether it's through books, movies, or tele

Jul 64 min read

The Kitsune Folklore: Trickster, Protector, and Master of Illusion

Some legends refuse to fit neatly into a single category. The Kitsune is one of them. I've always been fascinated by fox spirits. Like the Black Dog and many other legendary creatures, the Kitsune eventually found its way into one of my own stories in Pandora's Legacy. What drew me to the legend wasn't simply its supernatural abilities, but the complexity behind it. Depending on the story, a Kitsune can be wise or mischievous, compassionate or cruel, a loyal guardian or a dan

Jul 34 min read

Black Dog Folklore: Death Omen, Guardian, or Trickster?

There are few creatures in folklore that can silence a room quite like the black dog. Unlike werewolves, vampires, or witches, the black dog doesn't always arrive with violence. Sometimes it simply appears at the edge of a lonely road, standing motionless beneath the moonlight. Sometimes it's seen sitting quietly in an abandoned churchyard. Other times it's heard before it's ever seen—a heavy padding of paws behind a traveler who turns around to find...nothing. Is it coming t

Jun 294 min read

Tarot: Renaissance Symbols and Modern Visions

When people hear the word Tarot, they often think of fortune-telling, mystery, or something vaguely supernatural. But historically, Tarot began in a far more grounded place: Renaissance Europe, where it functioned as a card game, a visual art form, and a reflection of the symbolic thinking of its time. Over the centuries it has shifted shape repeatedly, moving from aristocratic entertainment to a complex system of interpretation that now lives in both spiritual and artistic s

Jun 264 min read

The Woman in White Legend: A Haunting Global Ghost of Grief and Loss

There are certain legends that don’t feel like they belong in the same category as “monsters” at all. The Woman in White is one of them. Even across the cultures where she appears, she rarely comes across as something purely frightening. Instead, she feels like a story the world keeps telling to explain grief that never fully leaves. What makes the Woman in White so compelling is how widely she appears. She is not confined to one region or one tradition. You’ll find her in Eu

Jun 243 min read

Inside a Victorian Cabinet of Curiosities

A Victorian cabinet of curiosities was not simply a display of objects. It was an attempt to contain the world inside a room. These cabinets, popular in the nineteenth century among educated elites, collectors, physicians, naturalists, and wealthy travelers, were deeply shaped by the Victorian desire to classify, understand, and simultaneously marvel at the complexity of existence. What they collected reveals as much about their worldview as it does about the objects themselv

Jun 103 min read

The Symbolism of Ravens in Art and Literature

Few creatures have captured the imagination of humanity quite like the raven. Intelligent, mysterious, and often associated with the supernatural, ravens have appeared throughout mythology, folklore, literature, and visual art for centuries. Their glossy black feathers and haunting calls have inspired fascination and fear in equal measure, making them one of the most symbolically rich animals in creative expression. Across cultures and artistic movements, the raven has repres

May 224 min read

Poison Gardens and the Beauty of Dangerous Flowers

There is a peculiar allure to danger when it is wrapped in beauty. Few places capture this paradox more vividly than poison gardens—carefully curated spaces where some of the world’s most toxic plants are grown not for harm, but for education, fascination, and a quiet kind of awe. These gardens challenge our instinctive trust in beauty, reminding us that nature is not designed with human safety in mind. Poison gardens are not chaotic jungles of menace; they are deliberate, of

May 183 min read