Real Eyes

The Golden Age of Board Gaming – A Niche Hobby Becomes Mainstream Since its development in the 1970s, pen and paper tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons have inspired people to create their own stories. Pens, paper, dice, and a little creative energy are all that is needed to play through hours of adventures. However, for many years, the hobby was since as niche, the territory of nerds and social outcasts. In the 1980s in particular, Dungeons and Dragons amassed a great deal of negative press that spawned from “Satanic Panic” – the notion that the game was promoting Satanism and witchcraft. For decades, being a tabletop gamer was almost seen as a source of shame, something to hide or risk being ridiculed over. Although the stigma did reduce over the years, the hobby itself maintained a limited audience. However, in recent years, the hobby has seen a massive amount of growth, entering the mainstream. Perhaps as a result of nostalgia, or a desire for a more social gaming exp...

Haunted Kansas City: The Ghosts That Roam Our Town Like any city with a storied history, Kansas City is home to many local legends and odd happenings. Stories of hauntings span the entirety of the city, and the surrounding area. From Independence’s Lady in Gray on Nolan Road to Freeman’s Gravity Hill, strange rumors are abound. The nearby Stull Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas is even said to be one of the seven entrances to hell, and the devil has been said to appear there twice a year. The rumor was so well known that it drew in large crowds, who caused a great deal of chaos on their own. Several other buildings have claimed to host otherworldly tenants, including the Folly Theatre, Union Station, the John Wornall house, and the Alexander Majors Home. Many of the local schools in the area seem to have their own resident ghost, as well. The Epperson House at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has its own ghost following, with the building being dubbed one of the top five ha...