And now for a little me time
THE POWER OF ... SERIES
The power of scaring yourself ! by Lorna Gordon
Since we were able to tell a story round a fire , tales of monsters , ghosts , dangerous people and other things to scare us have been told . The dark was full of danger , predators we might not be able to see , but could easily see us so staying near the safety of the group was important .
Sometimes the stories were to keep children in check , adults understood water ways were dangerous , so we told the children that monsters lived in them to keep them away and safe . We knew that caves could have wild animals living in them or old houses could have unstable floors , so we would say they were haunted to keep the kids away .
Times may have changed from telling tales round the fire , but our interest in everything dark , spooky and terrifying is still the same , except now we have movies , books and podcasts , as well as creepy tales to scare the living daylights out of ourselves , but why do we continue to enjoy things that go bump in the night ?
There are a lot of reasons we will happily sit in the dark to watch a horror film , or read something spooky at bedtime , some of which might surprise you . Psychologists believe that horror or true crime allows us to safely experience emotions and situations that we would not normally encounter in our daily lives , we get a rush from the hormones produced when we are frightened , but quickly realise we are not in any real danger so can relax . The same goes for larger cultural events like Halloween where we can deliberately spook ourselves in a light hearted way .
Sharing a scare with your friends , like visiting a haunted house , watching a horror movie or true crime show together , can make great memories that you can talk about for a long time . This is one of the reasons why telling spooky stories or watching scary shows as kids was so much fun , you bonded with your friends over jump scares , silly screams and hiding under blankets together as you peeked out to see what was happening to the hero .
So , this spooky season grab a blanket , put on a spooky show and enjoy the rush of being scared . Just remember to look under your bed before you go to sleep … Mwahahahahah !
PODCASTS
Get ready to be terrified !
by Lorna Gordon
We can ’ t let Halloween go past without highlighting some podcasts to scare yourself with ! Here are a few favourites which will put a chill up your spine and make you check under your bed before you go to sleep . Lights Out Covering everything from strange true crime , cryptids , shadow men , hauntings and alien encounters , this podcast is guaranteed to have something to scare you with . New episodes are uploaded weekly and are also available on YouTube as a video . The Witch Farm This podcast is based on a true story of a family who move into a secluded farmhouse in Wales , only to find it might not be as idyllic as they first thought .
A mixture of drama and investigation , this will give even the most hardened horror fan the chills .
They also have a sister podcast called Uncanny which features more stories submitted by listeners .
Paranormal Activity with Yvette Fielding
If you are a fan of ghost hunting TV , you might recognise the host of this podcast as also being the host of Most Haunted . Yvette carries on her interest in the paranormal which combines real life experiences of listeners who have written into the show with paranormal investigations by Yvette and her team . The Australian Ghost Whisperer If you want to listen to something closer to home , then this podcast brings you tales from all round Australia . Caterina Ligato and James Jennings bring you stories of haunted houses , and Caterina ’ s experience of clearing houses of spirits which have taken residence in them .
These podcasts have content that may be frightening to some people , so listen with caution !
Chorella : making their own kind of music
by Greg Martin
The COVID epidemic put the brakes on normal life for many of us but as life returns to some normalcy , the buds are again beginning to bloom .
One of those “ buds ” is Hawkesbury ’ s popular Chorella Community Choir , with the a ’ capella group making its comeback performance at the 2023 Hawkesbury Art Prize awards presentation evening .
The HAP awards were announced and presented at Robyn Williams ’ renowned Purple Noon Art Gallery at Freemans Reach on September 2 .
The 14-member choir entertained a packed house of art and music enthusiasts with hit songs such as Fats Waller ’ s Ain ’ t Misbehavin ’, Moon River , which was performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany ’ s , and Billy Joel ’ s Lullabye .
For those of you too young to know or too old to remember , a ’ capella music is a performance by a singer or group without instrumental accompaniment .
And believe you me , the Chorella Community Choir does make its own kind of music !
Chorella is a word devised by one of the group ’ s founding members , Marjorie Doran , back in 2003 when members were discussing a name for the new group .
“ Marjorie came up with ‘ chor ’ as in chorus , ‘ ella ’ as in a ’ capella and those at the inaugural meeting also liked the reference to the noisy corella birds which inhabit our region ,” explained fellow choir founder , Josephine Blue .
The popular singing group went into COVID hibernation at the epidemic ’ s outbreak but through the wonders of technology had been able to continue rehearsals online .
“ We all synced our computers to musical videos on YouTube , turning off the sound and making music with our voices ,” Josephine laughed .
The choir currently has 14 ardent members whose ages range from Generation X through to octogenarians .
Members of the Chorella Community Choir recently celebrated the group ’ s 20th anniversary with a high tea at Grose Vale ’ s Enniskillen Orchard Cafe .
Theirs ’ is a cross section of society - retirees and others still at the coalface such as teaching and nursing . The glue that melds them together is their voices . And those voices can be heard when the choir next performs , which will be at the Richmond Club on Sunday , October 15 , from 2pm . Tickets
can be obtained at : www . trybooking . com / events / landing / 1104475 . Also on the program will be the Sydney Balalaika Orchestra , ensuring music lovers are in for a wonderful afternoon ’ s entertainment .
The Chorella meets each Thursday night for rehearsals in the Richmond RSL Hall , 24 West Market Street .
14 ISSUE 161 // OCTOBER 2023 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT