Knock Knock question

blood sisters oath taker here! lordy there was something deeply ritualistic and binding about pricking ones finger and then mingling it with the blood of your BFF. once you sealed your sisterhood with blood, shit got real. hahaa. also my mother read tarot so i grew up around all things occult, tis probably why i'm so immersed in hoodoo now.

When I was a kid I loved to draw monsters. When I was finished with a drawing I would fold it up, put it in an envelope, and seal it with fancy sealing wax. I’m not so old that I was alive for the heyday of sealing wax, but I was always fascinated with the sticks of wax and metal implements sold in the stationery store. I convinced my little sister that opening the envelopes would bring real monsters to life. Turns out that never did work no matter how many magic words I said, but it did do a pretty good job of scaring my little sister.

I didn't, but I love the protagonist in 'We Have Always Lived In The Castle' and how she is always conducting protection rituals.

The first thing that comes to mind was a brief, painful flirtation with the concept of becoming "blood brothers." My cousin Keith and I had seen something about blood brothers on...Grizzly Adams, I think it was, and decided that even though neither of us had brothers, we could be each *other's* brothers if we just cut our hands and pressed them together. Being about 10 and 8, respectively, we chickened out on the hand-cutting, instead using thorns from a blackberry bush to poke our thumbs.

The consequences? A gobsmacked pair of moms who didn't understand why their boys where bleeding all over each other. Fortunately this was in the '70s, so that was the extent of the freakout.

Another time was a little weirder. I was a little older--about 13, I think--and another friend and I had found a small, abandoned cabin about a mile into the woods behind his family's property. We would hike out there once in a while, armed to the teeth with hunting knives and BB guns, but rarely went inside. We were pretty sure someone had been murdered in there or something, and so we left that alone. Except the one day we went out there and saw the door had been opened a crack.

I still didn't go in. My friend did, but came right back out again. In retrospect, it would have been awesome if he'd "felt a presence" or something, but basically it was dark and smelly and scary, filled with empty soda and beer cans. Sadly, it was not haunted. But it remained damned scary.

Phil - We Have Always Lived In The Castle came into my mind too. Such a great character, and all her strange little rituals really enhance it. I love it when she says things like "today will be a day of reflective things" or whatever.

First of all, I must say I haven't read Knock Knock yet, but it is on my TBR list. ;)

Kate - I too, loved the sealing wax implements at the stationary store, but often created my own. lol I and 2 of my friends formed an All Girls Club and met nearly every summer morning at the corner of our backyard fences. (One girl lived right behind me and one was caddy corner.) At our 'secret' meeting place, we would write down our plans for the week and 'seal' it with melted candle and press of our fingerprints into the hot wax. Anne, the president, would take the sealed papers home and hide them under her mattress. One day her little brother found them. For some reason, it was a tragic day when our 'secret' minutes were revealed. lol Such fond memories.

Phil - I've never read We Have Always Lived In The Castle, but love the title! I'll have to look that one up!

Cory - I did the 'blood sister' thing as a child. :) I'm loving this Goodreads topic. It's bringing up fabulous childhood memories I haven't thought of in quite some time. Ahh...