SPOOKY HOLIDAY LINKS ARE PLENTIFUL

www.freakylinks.com

One of the newest Web sites is tied into the television show from Fox. It's brought to you from the same folks that did the Blair Witch Project. It has a very long disclaimer on the front page, which gives you notice that the content of the Web site, like the show, may be frightening to young children.

You can tell by the spooky music that this site is a little out of the ordinary. Let's start with the FAQs, so we can learn more about this freak show. The show centers on Derek Barnes, who has a Web site to try to explain weird happenings. Here's how Derek explains it: "The Web site is concerned with but not limited to; monsters, freaks, ghosts, demons, psychic powers, anti-gravity, teleportation, unknown animals, things from space, unexplained natural phenomenon, and if you can boil gasoline."

The show follows Derek's adventures and his work with the Web site. It's odd because the Web site seems real, although you're really getting sucked into the plot of the television show. Freaky, huh? It seems a bit like X-Files for 20-somethings. The show airs Friday nights on Fox.

You can also download screensavers or desktop icons. If you're not sure if this is real or not, talk with others in the Discussion Board or sign up for a free e-mail updates.

When you leave you get a pop-up window that warns you are about to leave the world of Derek Barnes and enter the all-too-normal "real" world. If you're ready, you can click on the "Accept Reality" button.

www.soweird.com

How about something a little tamer? "So Weird" is a similar show, but it involves teen-agers chasing unusual and abnormal happenings. It airs on the Disney Channel on Thursdays, so it's safe for your kids.

I really like the show.

It centers on a mom who is a rock star, her band and their children. They all travel the country in their bus and come across all kinds of strange happenings. Just your typical American family.

When you come to the opening page, click on a room in the tour bus.

I was disappointed to see that the main character, Fiona, has been replaced with another girl, Annie. How do they explain that in the show? All the rest of the characters, including McKenzie Phillips as the rock star mom, are back.

In the community room, you can view digital photos taken on the tour. You can also take a 360-degree look around the interior of the bus. The Internet has always taken a front seat in the show. I hope that continues.

www.theholidayspot.com/halloween

Here's a site with a little bit of everything for Halloween. There are spooky tales, history of Halloween, games, greeting cards and more.

A word of warning: This site plays music. You'll probably get some looks if you stop by at work. The opening page offers a jazzy version of Ghostbusters.

You can also find Halloween costume and craft ideas, along with recipes. You can also download screensavers, fonts and spooky music clips.

www.halloween-online.com

This is a good site that provides lots of links to other Halloween sites. It will also provide some Halloween humor and even "Horrorscopes." You can also take a look at haunted headlines, creepy comics and macabre music.

You can link over to sites that teach you how to carve pumpkins, find haunted houses and even view Halloween Web cams.

Let's jump off to the 13thTrack.com. It's Halloween Radio.

www.13thtrack.com

Now this is something truly different the Halloween Music Authority You'll need Real Player to jump aboard, but there's lots of choices for your listening pleasure.

You can listen to fun ghoulish songs from 1930 to 1969. There are also creepy songs from 1970 to the present.

There's a channel called Instrumental Halloween Radio, and some Ghost stories, rated PG-13 for their scary nature. They also have a number of the greatest Halloween sound effects online.

Do you believe in ghosts or haunted houses? You might want to check out Real Haunted Houses.

www.realhaunts.com

Do you believe? This site wants to convince you. It gathers stories from people across the country about specific houses that people claim are haunted.

You can read their theories on causes of the haunts or learn more about Ghost Clubs. There's also a glossary of terms, and stories from haunted houses categorized by states.

One of the stories from Missouri is on the Lemp Mansion in St. Louis. It has a mysterious past.

www.lempmansion.com

You can learn more about the Lemp family story from their Web site. Click on history and you'll find a pretty sad tale. The Lemps were considered America's first lager beer brewers, and their fortune topped millions of dollars. By the mid 1800s, their brewery was the largest in St. Louis, and the facility covered five city blocks.

The problems began when the heir apparent died of mysterious circumstances in 1901. Several other Lemp family members committed suicide. By the Prohibition, the brewery business was in shambles and closed.

The mansion's owners, who have operated the property since 1975 as a restaurant and inn, capitalize on its mysterious past, offering Halloween haunted tours and mystery dinner theatre.

One of my favorite Halloween sites is brought to you by the folks at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.

www.benjerry.com/halloween

They offer up some Halloween history and links. You can find craft ideas and a Halloween coloring book. You'll find online games and print 'n play games. There are also Halloween desktop decorations.

You can visit their online haunted house, but you need to have the "Flash" plug-in.

There you can visit the haunted house or Flavor Graveyard flavors that were once made, but are now defunct.

You can find such flavor twists as Banana Walnut or Black Russian. You can add your own epithet to the graveyard flavors.

What's your favorite spooky site? E-mail it to me at jonia@sehosp.org.

See you in spooky Cyberspace.

Joni Adams is the Webmaster at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, www.southeastmissourihospital.com.