The Blog Where Horror Dwells: Spirits of the Dead

It's been a busy danged Halloween season, I can tell you. And only one more day to Halloween, Halloween, Halloween...

Last week, Ms. B. and I went to the Bonez & Booz event at the Virginia Museum of Natural History here in town, and last night, we attended the museum's Spirits of the Dead soirée and exhibit. Whereas Bones & Booz featured attractions for all ages, Spirits was a welcome, adults-only gathering with — sure enough — a variety of intriguing spirits (most notably, a concoction called "Venom"), hors d'oeuvres, and an informative tour of numerous museum exhibits dealing with the dangerous, the deadly, and the dead.

We plagued several friends and acquaintances with our existence, which made us smile. These included Scott & Jamie Crites, with whom we have frequently dined, drank, and sang karaoke; Joe Keiper (the museum's executive director) & his wife, Callie Hiatala; Ms. Kerry Tillery, my seventh-grade history teacher and a huge supporter of my writing over the years; and a couple of my mom's former compadres from her church whom I hadn't seen in a long while.

The exhibits truly fascinated me. We learned about the history of embalming; how dead critters can prove critical for more aspects of science than most folks could ever guess; the horrors — and benefits — of parasitical monsters; and the surprising environments of various creatures of oftentimes unearthly aspect. One highlight was a rooftop visit, which offered a nice view of the neighborhood. Here, Joe related an intriguing — and to some, an unsettling — account of his work as a forensic entomologist at a crime scene some years ago.

At the end of it all, we hung around at the museum with several of the attending folks and killed a few more spirits. The thing about this event that struck me most powerfully is how seriously and rigorously the scientific community pursues its work, whether it be forensic, medical, environmental, or what have you. It puts into vivid perspective why the views of climate-change deniers, anti-vaxxers, and others who are either ignorant of science or horrendously cynical about its pursuit and applications are in fact detrimental to society's well-being, especially those whose "sources" don't even reach the level of questionable (Re: a number of individuals of my acquaintance). It's very difficult to influence such stubborn, immovable mindsets, but my feeling is they should freaking visit this museum, observe, understand, and learn. It would do all of us a hell of a lot of good.