This season's rope collection

The well-appointed gallows has a selection of ropes for discerning customers. The one above is 1/2 inch braided nylon, fairly well made, soft (at first) but tough when it counts.

 Perhaps a more natural rope is more suitable. This one is 3/4-inch hemp, in a raw state (could use boiling or oiling, unless you really like it rough).

This one-inch braided nylon is thick and the knot is a hefty one. It, too, has a soft feel when merely snug.

I have a box in my bedroom that I call the "death box." It's where I keep stuff related to nooses and snuff fantasies — copies of the Noose Letter, letters from members of the old Hangman's Noose Club, stories and photos gathered from the WWW and printed out, and my own partial and finished stories and notes. Right now the bed is covered with papers relating to my stories, as I'm trying to sort out what I can throw away and what I will keep. There's probably no reason to keep printouts of the first five versions of "Mark and I" anymore, right?

It's been a fun couple of hours on this organization project so far, since I have a lot of snippets of text I wrote and set aside, and years later I get to find them again. For instance, there's one about a guy who (somehow) trains himself to hang by his neck for far longer than one usually can without snuffing it. (No, his name is not Odin...) That one is pretty complete; I should type that up and post it, maybe.

Just having a "death box" is kind of risky, in a way. If I die or am incapacitated in any way, someone will have to open it as my affairs are wrapped up, and something shocking may result. On the other hand, if I'm somehow found at the end of a rope, it'll explain a few things, perhaps. I suppose a lot of people have this sort of skeleton in their closet, though. Would be safest to shred all the contents, but it's still too much fun.

We're not even going to think about all the stuff on the computer.....