Amanda Headlee

A fresh change for It is Always Darkest Before the Dawn was well overdue. The old blog was becoming stagnant and stinky. I was getting tired of all the decaying dead rotting away. I have a high tolerance for gross things, until they start to stink, but I digress. There are two huge changes going on over here today. Firstly, this blog is kicking off with a brand new skin – borrowed of course, because borrowing someone else’s skin is always easier than growing your own.

The second big change is the overhaul in the posting schedule. Mondays shall now be known as “Before I die…” Mondays where we will travel the globe and uncover ghastly locations to add to our bucket lists. My regular post of ramblings on all things writing, weird, and horror will now be on Thursdays.  Saturdays – if I can find the time between here, the Sarcastic Muse, and working on my novel – will be a free-for-all day, where I may post videos, reblog another bloggers post, or post a piece of my (short) creative writings.

I would like to thank the talented Robyn LaRue for the header graphic that will be displayed on all of the “Before I die…” posts.

This adventure is sure to be filled with a lot of frights, and if you have any suggestions, my ears (and coffins) are always open.

ISLAND OF THE DOLLS – Mexico

I hate dolls. I rarely ever played with them as a child. If one happened into my hands, in some way or form it would become dismembered. Sorry, but I was a dinosaur girl! Dolls were always their main course.  However, even though I am filled with disdain for dolls, Isla de las Munecas is on my bucket list. Seriously, who in their right mind would not want to travel to an island that is covered with the corpses of dolls and their various body parts?  It is the uber-creepy fest!

Located south of Mexico City, the island lies between the canals of Xochimico. The Island of the Dolls has a haunted history. It is said that the life of a young girl was taken by the surrounding waters much too soon. Don Julian Santana Barrera had found the small girl’s drowned body. A short while later, he pulled from the waters a doll that he believed belonged to the little girl. As a way to show respect to the girl and her spirit, he hung the doll in a tree.

Over the past 50 years, Don Julian has continued his honoring of the girl by hanging dolls and doll body parts in the trees that cover the island. However, it is believed that there is a more sinister side to this act of honor. It is said that the young girl haunts Don Julian, for he was unable to save her life. And in the attempt to please her, he provided the girl with an outlet to increase her haunting by possessing the dolls, forcing Don Julian to collect and display the dolls up until his death in 2001. Don Julian met his fate by drowning in the same spot where the young girl had died.

To this day, the dolls still haunt the island, and the island can be accessed by boat.