Autumn Lives Here
Vol. 91: We're whipping up a devilish cocktail and wandering through the house, because I'm pointing out all the haunted stuff you own! But first, we're diving into an infamous plane crash.
Crash Course
“The Crash in the Andes” is all you need to hear to know what I’m talking about. There are bound to be many other plane crashes between Uruguay and Chile, but this is the crash to end all crashes. Fifty years later, the horrific experience of having to choose cannibalism in order to survive that freezing mountain still fascinates us. Or maybe it’s the fact that the passengers endured so much, yet treated each other with humanity and kindness, which ensured that more would survive.
Briefly, an Uruguayan Air Force aircraft, a Fairchild FH 227 D, was chartered by the president of the Old Christian’s Club, an Uruguayan rugby team, to fly from Montevideo to Santiago, Chile to play a match against the Old Boys Club rugby team. Flight 571 was scheduled to leave Montevideo the morning of Friday, October 13, 1972, but the flight was delayed several hours due to weather.
The pilot, Colonel Julio Ferrandas, was an Air Force veteran with extensive experience. This was to be his 30th flight over the Andes.
The co-pilot was Lieutenant-Colonel Dante Lagurara, who was still considered to be in training. Lagurara’s lack of experience on this flight route is often sited as a pivotal reason for the crash, but we should also note that this aircraft was nicknamed “the lead sled” among pilots because of its lack of sufficient power. It was the wrong plane to be making this flight, especially in bad weather.
The flight left Carrasco International Airport with forty passengers and five crew members, and had a brief stopover in Mendoza, Argentina. We don’t know why Lagurara seems to have had complete control of the navigation, but the heavy clouds disoriented him. The navigation system was working and would have shown that the plane was over the Andes, but this must have been ignored because the co-pilot, or both pilots, believed they were over Santiago and began the descent, dropping into the mountain range. Someone at the controls realized the mistake and tried to raise “the lead sled”, but they were too deep in the range and the attempt to right the plane failed. The tail of the plane hit a mountain top, shearing it off, while the wings broke off and the fuselage of the plane, containing most of the passengers, landed in a valley between mountains, fifty miles off course. It came to rest at an elevation of 11,710 feet.
The survivors endured severe injuries, freezing temperatures, and an avalanche. Finally, out of rations, they ate the dead. Of the forty-five who left Montevideo, sixteen would return. They were rescued after two of the survivors climbed 38 miles through the Andes to reach help. The news of their survival broke on December 22nd.
Let’s take a look at all the sources of information there are. I’ve watched and read many of these, and what stands out across the board is the focus on empathy and determination.
View:
Alive- This is the 1993 film that made Ethan Hawke a star after his portrayal of survivor Nando Parrado. It’s a big budget Hollywood movie directed by Frank Marshall, yet the cast was almost entirely unknown and the story focuses on the tight bonds of the team who did everything they could to help each other.
Society of the Snow- This is Netflix’s 2023 version. It’s more low-key and the personalities aren’t as strong as Alive. The cast is Uruguayan and Argentinian with the English version being dubbed.
Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors- a 2009 PBS documentary.
I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash- a 2011 History Channel documentary.
The Andes Tragedy: 50 Years Later- A 25 minute 2023 Apple documentary
Prisoners of the Snow- A 2023 Hulu documentary that also aired on ABC’s 20/20.
Read:
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read, 1974
If you’ve read one book about the crash, it’s likely this one. With more than 5 million copies sold worldwide, the book is a classic of disaster stories, on par with A Night To Remember by Walter Lord.
Read, the son of esteemed art critic Sir Herbert Read, had experienced great success as a novelist before Alive, which was his first published work of nonfiction.
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home by Nando Parrado and Vince Rause, 2017.
Parrado was a survivor, one of the men who hiked out of the Andes, and he was instrumental in saving the survivors who remained at the crash site. His version of the events shows grace and determination.
I Had to Survive: How A Plan Crash in the Andes Inspired My Calling to Save Lives by Dr. Roberto Canessa and Pablo Vierci, 2017
Another of the hero survivors tells events from his perspective. Canessa was a young medical student at the time of the crash, so he shouldered the care of the injured.
After the Tenth Day by Carlitos Paez, 2003
Also sometimes known as “Carlitos Paez Rodriguez”, he was just eighteen year old when the plane crashed. His book was a best-seller in his native country and has been through many re-prints.
Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Eduardo Strauch and Mireya Soriano, 2019
Written decades after the crash, Strauch has a crystal clear memory combined with an older person’s desire to ponder the magnitude of life-altering events. He also discusses the difficulty he had in the aftermath of his rescue. So often, the rescue is mistaken for the end of the story.
DRINKIEPOO!
The Jersey Devil- recipe from The Diner’s Club Cookbook, 1959
What we have here is a signature cocktail served at the Smithville Inn of Galloway, N.J. Once you gather the ingredients, it’s a simple shake. Note that the flavor profile is very close to the Cosmopolitan, which would come along much later.
2 tbs lime juice
½ tsp sugar
3 tbs applejack
1 tbs Cointreau
2 tbs cranberry juice
Shake all ingredients, pour into a glass and garnish with an apple slice.
SPOOKY BOOKY
The Visitors by Catherine Burns
Gallery/Scout Press, 2017
Marion and her brother John live together in their childhood home in a coastal English town. Their parents died decades ago, but docile Marion never left home, never experienced life, and in middle-age, is full of regret for what might have been. John did leave home for a few years and became a teacher, but returned long ago with a ruined reputation.
Marion both loves and fears her manipulative brother. She’s frightened every time she hears those screams coming up from the cellar, where John is teaching math and science to the string of Eastern European women who arrive at the house but never leave.
Marion takes the reader from pity to horror in this highly recommended twisted tale that keeps unwinding more dire information as Marion relays more about her daily life. Scare Scale: 2.5
We’re going way, way back to Volume 10 for this next one. I’m dusting this off because I had just a handful of readers then, so occasionally I’m going to show you what you missed before you were hip enough to land here.
The Five Most Haunted Items in Your House
If you’re seeing something like this in your home, I can’t help you.
Do you own something haunted? Stop wondering, the answer is yes. Rid yourself of the idea that you are the only soul in your house, because if you have any of these five items there’s an 88% chance that it's haunted. The more haunted the item, the better the chance that you can get big bucks! Here's what to look for and how to cash in.
Holding the chair she will swing at you
5. Clothing- Do you own Grandma's wedding dress or Grandpa's fedora? Items of clothing are often reliable receptacles for a spirit with unfinished business. Put it on and see how long it takes you to use the phrase “hot diggity” or to start craving potato salad. Are you suddenly engulfed in a cloud of Tabu perfume? Ka-ching! You’ve got haunted clothing.
4. Jewelry- Slip on that antique Art Deco engagement ring and start your second life, 'cause Beatrice-the-suicidal-flapper is back in town. And by “town”, I mean your body. It could be worse, you could have bought “Icepick” Tony's class ring.
3. The Bed- How often are people found to have ‘passed gently in their sleep’? Beds are serial killers that always get away with it.
If you buy an antique headboard, you earned your haunting. In fact, double the overall haunt percentage if your bed has ornately carved cherubs anywhere on it. Oh. You've already figured that out yourself.*
You know he’s a bad child if he’s painted holding a note from the teacher
2. Portrait Oil Paintings- Highly likely to be haunted by the person depicted, who doesn’t like you or your crappy house and wants you dead. Remember all the fire damage on the house where you found this beauty out at the curb?
Fyi, artists always mix a little of the blood of executed murderers into their oils. It's how they get the moody backgrounds.
1. Dolls- Obviously. To hold a sweet-faced porcelain doll is to look into the face of Satan. Rating a whopping 92% haunted, this common household item has been further tested and found to rate as “pure evil” 73% of the time! And that number goes up another eight percent if the doll was handmade. It's like owning a garden sprinkler of death.
Making cash from these items is easy if you follow some simple rules.
1. Keep your mind as dull as a rice cake as you sidle up and casually take a few pics, front and back, no big deal. Don't make eye contact.
2. Post online. Make it clear that the item is haunted. Zac Bagans eats that crap up.
3. When it sells, put in ear buds and play loud music so you don’t hear the screams. Belly crawl over to the item and envelop it in layers of bubble wrap and packing tape, fast.
4. Put the item in a metal box, then put that box into a wooden box, then put that in a cardboard box that has been sprinkled with holy water. Tape the hell out of that lid.
5. Mop the sweat from your eyes. Put the name and address of the weirdo who has won your eBay auction on the box, but DO NOT put your own name or address on it. You don't want it finding its way home. If it can't be delivered, let it haunt the post office's lost and found.
6. Finally, get it out of the house. Set it on the sidewalk for pick-up or theft. Whatever, it's out. Do not drive it anywhere yourself. You crazy?
7. Have your house cleansed by a professional from your choice of belief systems. Why not take try them all?
*A bed is too cumbersome to sell online. Drive it to Stephen King's house, throw it on the lawn and see if he wants it. He usually does.
Welcome to our newest Autumn Lives Here subscribers! We’re all happy you joined (Larry, put that hammer down) and hope to see you around here often.
Next week: We’re talking 19th Century spooky art, and we’ll discover what kind of creepiness you like best.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, what’s the hold-up? Even better, why not become a Gloriest Goriest member and get twice as much of…this. Autumn Lives Here is basically the dark corner of Substack’s basement where the jack o’ lanterns, serial killers and aging rum are kept. Yeah, it does smell awful, but we get through a lot of books and movies down here.
Doesn't even have to be an antique. My kids wouldn't go down to the basement during the months that their aunt's American Girl Doll was seated on a pile of boxes at the bottom of the stairs.