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April 18

Victorian-era servants in haunted houses

Why are modern haunted houses often portrayed in a Victorian-style house with Victorian servants? Apparently, poor people can't haunt their own houses. And the servants are white, even though To kill a mockingbird actually had a black servant for the Finch family. There were likely more black people then, because I remember watching a documentary about soul food and how black servants influenced American cuisine. 50.4.236.254 (talk) 11:53, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This article has a good overview. --Jayron 32 12:20, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Jayron's article, though interesting, principally references ghost stories written and set in Victorian Britain (where of course, there were relatively very few Black people, servants or not*) and more recent stories also set in Britain which reuse the older tropes. Your query appears to focus on ghosts in the USA (with which, being British, I am less familiar), but your first sentence is unclear – do you mean that the houses supposedly haunted in the USA today disproportionally date from the 19th century?

*From relevant Wikipedia articles, the USA's population in 1890 was very roughly 12% Black (7¹/₂ million out of 63m total): I haven't found a good source for the equivalent UK figures, but out of a total around 35m I'd be surprised if the Black population was as much as 100,000 or 0.3%. {If delving into this, be aware that US and UK definitions of "Black" were/are not equivalent and were historically fluid.)

{The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.217.249.244 (talk) 14:39, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

A haunted prairie-style house or mobile home wouldn't have the dramatic effect of a Victorian mansion. Just imagine if Norman Bates' house was a one-story stucco. Just wouldn't seem as foreboding. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:57, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The novel, Holes, takes place in Texas, I think. Camp Green Lake used to be a lake, until it got cursed for racism. 140.254.70.33 (talk) 21:24, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Movie scene which I shouldn't have been watching

So, back in the early to mid 80s when I was a kid, I saw on either HBO or the Movie Channel a movie I most certainly should not have been watching. The scene I remember was these men spying on a house, I think they were hiding across the street in another house but also have memories of something involving a helicopter. Anyway, they are watching this couple have sex and the guy is horny, not wanting to wait until the woman is turned on. Over the spy audio, they hear the woman start moaning, "No! I'm not ready!" Fill in the rest. Does anyone remember this movie? I should add that for a while after that, being a smart kid that I would was, I would respond "No, I'm not ready!" in the same as the tone as the movie whenever my parents asked me to do something I didn't want to do. -O.R.^Comms 21:19, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Is List of films featuring surveillance of any help ? StuRat (talk) 22:51, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It is "Let the good times roll" followed by surveillance saying "Not yet! Not yet!" followed by "I'm not ready!" 71.85.51.150 (talk) 00:24, 19 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Blue Thunder came out in 1983. It has a helicopter. And the pilots of it use the "whisper mode" to spy on various people. Sometimes private citizens. Though, I can't remember the specific "I'm not ready!" line. †dismas†|^(talk) 00:03, 19 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

OMG, it was Blue Thunder! I saw the film last night, almost exactly halfway through the spy helicopter sees a highway patrolman who has pulled into a house to have an affair with this other man's wife who is home alone. The audio mics pick up his aggressive grunts as she exclaims, "No! I'm not ready!". The spy helicopter then broadcasts her cries on its loudspeaker. Great detective work! Great memories! Amazing that I was able to see that at 9 or 10 years old, no parental control I guess at my house back in those days. -O.R.^Comms 16:30, 20 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Glad I could help! I remember the scene, now that you mention it. †dismas†|^(talk) 20:05, 21 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Song cover

Hi, just wondering if anyone can help. A cover version of the Tears for Fears song "Shout" was used in a party election broadcast for the Green Party of England and Wales earlier this evening. Does anyone know who the singer is? I tried to get Shazam to recognise it, but without success, so thought I'd try here. It was quite a haunting rendition, I thought. Thanks in advance, This is Paul (talk) 22:35, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure because I didn't hear what you heard, but I have a version playing in regular rotation by Duncan Sheik which is fairly recent (2011) and could be described as "haunting". Its from his Covers 80's album. Maybe that is it?--Jayron 32 01:22, 19 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The video is here [1]. In the comments below the singer identifies herself, her name is Georgia Grace and the band is called Goodbye Grace. The song is not available anywhere except on this vid. --Viennese Waltz 08:20, 19 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Good find! --Jayron 32 13:38, 19 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Going with VW's link, I found the band's facebook page here. Maybe if you write them, they can tell you where you can get another recording of the song. --Jayron 32 13:42, 19 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Or you can just download the audio using keepvid. It won't be stellar sound quality, but it'll be perfectly listenable. --Viennese Waltz 13:54, 19 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for tracking this down guys. Perhaps they'll consider giving it a commercial release now it's been featured on something. This is Paul (talk) 18:20, 20 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]