Dante
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real Estate |
| Occupation | Gravedigger |
| Location | Witches' Grove, Iowa, United States |
| Introduction | Persons not acquainted with Iowa can not be blamed if they do not think to use the word ‘haunted’ when describing their notions of the state. They are more likely to picture lush cornfields, red barns, and freckled children with popsicles on the 4th of July. And it’s true, these images can be readily found. But where I live, in Witches’ Grove, there is something more. My name is Dante, and Witches’ Grove is my hometown. To those who do not consider the Iowa landscape haunted, I must insist that they have never experienced the winter snow swirling across a deserted highway like ghosts; nor have they stood at the edge of a rural cemetery in summer when suddenly the drone of the cicadas go still and there is no sound left but the rustling of leaves in the highest treetops. Certainly these people have never approached a deserted farmhouse and felt that unnatural chill when a crow suddenly caws and a hundred blackbirds take flight from a decrepit tree. Here, the dead far outnumber the living. In Witches’ Grove, we acknowledge our place, and always say our prayers. |