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THIS PAGE IS ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY
INDEX TO EVENTS ON THIS DAY (CLICK TO GO):
1870 [MON] Weird Stuff From The Sky (A yellowish Substance, Genoa, Italy)
1900 [WED] Mysterious Disappearances (Legend, Joan Lindsay, Picnic At Hanging Rock, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
LOCATION:
Genoa, Italy
WHAT HAPPENED:
On the morning of this day in 1870, a yellowish substance was found falling on the town of Genoa in Italy.
An interesting side note is that events like this inspired the premise behind the 1958 movie The Blob starring Steve McQueen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Page 196 from Mysteries of the Unexplained
Volume 90, Issue 1, July 1870, Page 11 from Journal of the Franklin Institute
entitled A Rain of Solid Matter.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AND A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION...
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LOCATION:
Hanging Rock, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
WHAT HAPPENED:
While on a school picnic, in full sight of everyone there, four teenage girls and a female teacher vanished when they took off to explore a rock face in the bush. To add to the mystery, a cloud of pink substance was seen floating near where the party disappeared.
Three of the five were never seen from again. One girl returned and seemed to be in a state of shock, a very deep shock. Another, in the same state of shock, returned a week later.
A 1975 movie, Picnic at Hanging Rock, directed by Peter Weir, based on a 1967 novel of the same name by Joan Lindsay, was supposedly based on this disappearance.
Did this event actually happen or is it all just fiction?
Some folks swore by it, but more called it all bullshit.
I don't think it's true, but it's still worth mentioning because the movie itself is really spooky and worth watching for that reason alone.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE ALLEGED EVENT
The novel was set on Valentine's Day, February 14th, 1900 on a Saturday. The actual day, in real life, was a Wednesday. This would perhaps, to most people, be the first clue that the story wasn't at all true.
The characters in the story never existed. There are no records of their births, deaths or existence anywhere within Australia or overseas. Any similarities to live people is purely coincidental.
There are no police records of the events on Hanging Rock. However there was a story that the Police Station at Woodend had burnt down, destroying all records. This never happened and was a little too convenient for the story. Another clue that the story isn't real.
There is one record of a young man falling and dying from Hanging Rock in the early 1900's. But this was recorded and solved by Police and had no connection to the Hanging Rock Story.
Appleyard College itself does not exist but was based on the school from Lindsay's childhood in Melbourne.
During the filming at Hanging Rock itself, Peter Weir tells how the effect where the light streamed down through the trees at Hanging Rock was only visible for one hour of the day when the sun was in the exact spot. They would have to film in one hour lots every day.
Hanging Rock still suffers from its Haunted story to this day. But the visitors are many and most suffer small accidents such as scrapes and scratches. There are no mysterious disappearances up on the rock.
There is an exhibit dedicated to the story of Picnic at Hanging Rock located at the site itself. This also gives the impression it's a true story and does not make a statement anywhere that its pure fiction.
WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE IT'S A TRUE STORY?
Its human nature to repeat strange stories about places we know. How many times have you heard about the local "axe murder house" up the road, where there actually was no axe murder or in fact any murder there, but there sure is one heck of a story about that house, a story that never dies.
These stories are part of our makeup and we relish telling them to others, gaining that sense of satisfaction of telling a spooky story and seeing the shocked and slightly unnerved reaction from our friends or family.
Picnic at Hanging Rock has now gained Urban Legend status, even though its based on a novel, its a story to be told when visiting the area or speaking of Hanging Rock itself, being a true site that any person can visit and climb for themselves. What could be more fun, to visit the ancient monolith and tell the spooky story of how the girls disappeared up on top and were never found.
People have also been slightly mislead by the author herself.
"Whether (the book) is Fact or Fiction, my readers must decide for themselves. As the fateful picnic took place in the year nineteen hundred, and all the characters who appear in this book are long since dead, it hardly seems to matter".
Lindsay also shrewdly mentions a newspaper report of 1914 in the end of the book, giving one the impression there are actual articles on the disappearance to be tracked down and found.
Unfortunately these articles do not exist.
Later on, when talking about the novel, Lindsay ambiguously stated in an interview with the Melbourne Herald "I can't tell you whether the story is fact or fiction ...but a lot of very strange things have happened around the area of Hanging Rock - things that have no logical explanation".
Of course statements such as this imbedded the story as a true one in people's minds.
It was well known that Lindsay became tired of people writing to her asking about the ending, but she continued to guard the secret of the last chapter until after her death.
Yes there have been searches for articles, police records, and other information relating to the story. Once again, none exist.
The characters were an invention for the Novel, the places are based on memories from Lindsay's childhood and do include some actual real places, but most, such as Appleyard College are completely fictional.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE BOOK
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE MOVIE
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AmyStrange & the Criminal
©Copyrighted by David P. Ayotte
THESE BOOKS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN
Q: WHY SHOULD I BUY THESE BOOKS?
A: WHAT I TELL FOLKS:
"Because, it'll help, when the Cats take over."
WHAT I REALLY MEAN IS:
"Come on! Help a buddy out. Buy my books."
BUT, THE TRUTH IS:
They're really good stories,
and to prove it, Part 1 is FREE!:
Go HERE to read it on THIS WEBSITE!
Part 1: the ESCAPE
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Part 5: the KILLINGS
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Part 6: the END?
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COMING SOON:
Part 7: the FINAL EPILOGUE
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