As Halloween approaches in a flurry of fiery leaves and gathering gloom, the cold air crackles in the shivery wake of Autumn and her restless spirits. The Season of the Ghost is upon us, and Central Valley podcast Ghosthropology, hosted by folklorist Matthew Armstrong and produced by his wife Kaylia Metcalfe, is here to tell you a ghost story.
Blood saturated every surface: splattered across the walls, soaking through the bedsheets. Arterial spray darkening from ruby to rust, placing the precise time of the murder-suicide some twelve hours prior. The nude forms of a young man and woman faced one another on the bed, their expressions serene despite the gaping mess of their flayed throats. Hers had been cut just above the clavicle, his severed at the Adam’s apple. A bone-handled razor lay at his side, slick with clotted crimson.
Threading the digital byways of paranormal blogs and websites, ghostly urban legends spring up with surprising regularity. And for every alleged supernatural encounter, there is a Woman in White—or a Vanishing Hitchhiker. These legends linger and mingle in the comments of anonymous storytellers around a virtual campfire, blurring the boundaries of fact and fiction, life and death.
As the weather warms and the spring arts season kicks into full bloom, Scarab Creative Arts in downtown Fresno welcomes the return of ArtHop after its yearlong hiatus, offering up a variety of art exhibitions, classes, and other events, in addition to the ArtHop’s first-Thursday receptions. Kings River Life reached out to Scarab’s founder Maggie Boyajian Courtis to get the scoop on what the one-of-a-kind creative space has in store for Fresno’s bustling arts community.
And there she was.
Almost exactly twenty-four hours after nine-year-old Esther Lee Lewis went missing on her walk to the school bus the morning of Tuesday, March 11, 1947, there she was. They found her beneath a weeping willow in a dry creek bed near the Kings River, blanketed in blackberry vines—dress torn, skull crushed.
Nostalgia is the musical mood of the moment here in the Central Valley, as the coronavirus pandemic stretches on into its second, devastating year. And bringing back that iconic pop-punk sound is Fresno band Mindless Society, including lead vocalist/guitarist Vic Cappelletty, bassist/vocalist Josh “Shua” Lara, and drummer Nico “Wizzle” Jacinto.
December 1941: as Pearl Harbor burned and the United States marched headlong into its second World War, the Sisters of the Holy Cross took up residence at 1050 S. Street in downtown Fresno, a grand Colonial Revival home crowned by a widow’s walk.
It always begins with a girl—usually nameless, always dead.
How she died doesn’t matter so much as the fact that she met a violent fate because she made a perceived mistake of some kind: her clothes were too tight, she went out alone at night, or caught a ride with the wrong stranger.
Becoming a band in the middle of a pandemic might seem like a long shot to some, but to the members of Fresno band LaVida, it’s been more of a sure shot instead. Weaving together a variety of musical styles and beats, vocalist/bassist Jared Cato, guitarist Christian Viscarra, and drummer Miguel Padilla have crafted a genre of their very own.
For as long as she can remember, Fresno musician and actress Rebecca Potts has been creating and performing her own music. And from appearing on Netflix to performing the National Anthem for the NFL, she’s not about to let the pandemic bring her down. Kings River Life recently spoke with Potts about her time on TV, the release of her first single, “Like Home,” and how the challenges of living through the pandemic have spurred her creativity to new heights.
