☕️ Witchcraft is in

This newsletter is haunted. [Advertisement] Together with [Prudential]( [October 31, 2021]( | [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( [Zoom costume contest ] Mark Wang IN THIS ISSUE The 10 people you meet at a Halloween party How to sell a haunted house The occult is having a moment   Editor's Note   Good morning and welcome to a special Halloween edition of the Morning Boo. To kick off the festivities, I huddled up with the Brew writers to compile a list of the 10 types of people you will encounter at any Halloween party: - The person who thinks they’re clever with their “cereal killer” pun costume - Banana suit guy - Someone who spent a lot of money on an intricate costume four years ago and keeps re-wearing it - A couple as a hunter and a deer - Sexy [insert prominent figure from the news] - The person who takes Halloween so seriously you’re not even sure if that’s fake blood - Football jersey cop-out guy - The six people who dressed up as the main character of a recent Netflix documentary - The person who has to explain their costume to everyone because it’s super niche - Your friend's new boyfriend who is dressed too scary and is making a terrible first impression Which one are you? —Neal Freyman  CULTURE  [Stock Watch]( [Stock watch graphic ]( � � � mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Stock%20Watch%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F10%2F29%2Fstock-watch-october-31%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  Q&A  [Icebreakers With...Haunted House Realtor Marianne Bornhoft]( [Marianne Bornhoft]( Marianne Bornhoft Marianne Bornhoft is a [real estate agent]( in Spokane, Washington, with a background in selling some of the area’s most haunted homes. In real-estate speak, “stigmatized” is the term for homes rumored to contain a Casper that isn’t memory foam, and the category includes on-site murders, deaths, and a whole series of unfortunate events. We chatted with Bornhoft about this tricky business, and it was a real treat. States have different rules around whether realtors are required to tell prospective buyers that a home is stigmatized. What do you think those rules should be? In Washington state, we do not have to disclose rapes, murders, suicides, illegal gang activity, religious persecution, crime statistics, the list goes on and on. In addition to that, we do not have to disclose if there was ever the presence of a ghost. It's really up to the individual who is researching the property...which personally I like. But there’s a difference between murders on-site versus ghosts. Honestly, as a realtor, I think we should disclose that there was a murder on-site or if there were dead bodies buried on the property. You recently sold a home rumored to have a [friendly ghost](. What’s the difference between selling a home with a friendly ghost vs. one with an unfriendly ghost? It's all about perception. I have been in homes where someone has recently died, homes where a body has been recently found, homes where we have found secret rooms and bomb shelters. I have been in homes with rumors of ghosts and I have personally had very interesting experiences. And I have witnesses for that. Nothing has ever been negative toward me, but I have had the interesting experience of unexplained phenomena that you just can’t make up. Go on... For example, in the Polly Judd house, which is a very famous house that had three suicides in it, when I did that open house, I literally had hundreds of people come by and tell me their stories. The spirits could not let that house go. After I had pictures taken to sell the house, I'm looking at this picture of the dining room, and the chandelier had a shadow behind it on the wall that was three upside down crosses...which is not a very good sign. At that open house, I was standing in the living room telling [my husband on the phone] a story and all of a sudden the chandelier, the one in the picture, started moving. So I turned on FaceTime to show him that it was moving and that there was no wind. Then behind me, the door to the bathroom shut on its own. I couldn't get anyone to come and look at it after that, the market was terrible. So I kind of did a cleanse. And literally the next day I got a call from someone saying, “Hey, we want to show it. We love it. We're making an offer now.” Would you live in a haunted house? 100%. I'm an antique dealer. I’m a historical home specialist, and I believe that we do not own homes. We are caretakers of the past. So it would be an honor and a privilege to be in a historical home at whatever level. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. � � � mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Icebreakers%20With...Haunted%20House%20Realtor%20Marianne%20Bornhoft%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F10%2F29%2Ficebreakers-with-haunted-house-realtor-marianne-bornhoft%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  TOGETHER WITH PRUDENTIAL The Guide to Your Financial Journey [Prudential]( The peanut butter to your jelly. The coffee to your Sunday newsletter. Simply put, [Prudential]( is the guide you need to help make money decisions, no matter where you are on your financial journey. They offer a diverse mix of investment solutions designed to give you a stable financial footing to help you pursue your goals. [You’ll also have access to professionally managed portfolios from leading investment managers](, which means they can work with your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance to diversify your portfolio and streamline your financial decision making. And considering they have $1.6 trillion in assets under management and 90 years of investment management experience, they know their stuff and are just the guide you need to help you navigate your financial future and reach new heights. [Get started with Prudential today](.  WORK LIFE  [When an Old Co-worker Asks You to "Catch Up"]( [Make it work image ]( Each week, our workplace whisperer Shane Loughnane answers a reader-submitted question about work in 2021. Anything bothering you at work? [Ask Shane here](. I recently switched jobs, and an old co-worker keeps reaching out to schedule time to “catch up” with me. We’re not very close and it feels like they’re only reaching out because I’ve landed a job at a prestigious firm and they want an in. I don’t mind chatting with them, but if they outright ask for a referral, how do I politely turn them down?—Anonymous Sure, Halloween can be scary, but is there anything spookier than your email inbox? Deadlines and updates and syncs (oh my). Just when you think you’re safe, an ominous request from an old co-worker reaches out and grabs your leg. Scary stuff. While it’s always great to pay it forward, you are wise to be judicious with your referral capital, as your own brand, by extension, is on the line. So when your ex-colleague pops the question, be honest and direct. While it may be tempting to decline based on your current lack of tenure, for example, how will that play when they ask again in six months? If you’re simply not familiar with them or comfortable enough with their work to serve as a reference, your best bet is to be upfront about it now. In the meantime, consider if there’s anything else you’d be willing to do to help them out. Is passing along their resume without necessarily referring them an option? Perhaps you could offer to keep an eye out for other opportunities, or recommend networking events within the industry. If nothing else, providing some insight on what made you more attractive to your new firm may be a gesture they appreciate. Good luck—and if anyone reading this emerges from tonight with a candy surplus, we should totally plan to “catch up” soon. Have a question about work you want to ask Shane? [Write in here](. And if you’re super interested in how people deal with people, [check out HR Brew](. � � � mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=When%20an%20Old%20Co-worker%20Asks%20You%20to%20%22Catch%20Up%22%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F10%2F29%2Fmake-it-work-when-an-old-co-worker-asks-to-catch-up%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  ANALYSIS  [The Occult Is Having a Moment]( [Hands move across a ouija board]( Giphy Emo kids of the early aughts, step aside: The next generation has one-upped you on the freaking-out-parents scale. Witchcraft has risen in popularity during the pandemic, particularly on TikTok. Actually all occult practices—including astrology and tarot—have seen a big bump in interest since March of last year. Online mentions of the occult increased an average of [4% every week]( since March 2020, when Covid-19 shutdowns started to sweep the nation, despite trending down in the three weeks beforehand. Astrology and ghost mentions also swelled, and the tone of all these occult-themed conversations switched from mostly negative → positive, per Brandwatch. When it comes to getting witchy, TikTok is the new Platform 9 3/4: - The TikTok hashtag #WitchTok has 20.5 billion views. - Top witch influencers have tons of followers: Frankie Anne ([@chaoticwitchaunt]() shares her life as a witch with 1.3 million followers and Val Louiee ([@idiotmantra]() reads tarot cards and sends “signs” to her 75.6k. - And if you take a quick scroll, you’ll see the content isn’t Harry Potter fan edits. It’s witches teaching spells and young TikTokers trying to manifest their dream lives, selves, and lovers by commenting “claiming this” underneath videos. The spells are at least summoning one thing: money. “Psychic services,” which encompass palm and aura readings, astrology, mediating with the other side, and more, is an industry worth $2.2 billion in the US. It's expanded about one-half a percent every year since 2016 and is expected to [more than double]( that rate, with 2.6% growth this year alone. What’s going on? [Adam Wethington](, who reads tarot on TikTok to 1.5 million followers, [told USA Today](, “WitchTok content is so relevant right now because we learned last year we can't control (things). ...Many of us are looking inward.” And in times of uncertainty, people have historically looked [to the occult]( to “get some kind of answer about the future...something that’s reassuring in some way,” Yale psychology professor James Alcock explained to CNN. Not to mention that the aesthetic of occult items (think: crystals, tarot cards) are Urban Outfitters-esque eye candy, and with sparse G-Cals, people spent record amounts of time seeking inspiration on social media last year. Zoom out: Baking banana bread, buying a Peloton, learning to knit...the list of ways people tried to cope with the pandemic is endless. A little “double, double toil and trouble” is just one method, regardless of whether it’s your personal cauldron of tea.—JW � � � mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=The%20Occult%20Is%20Having%20a%20Moment%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F10%2F29%2Fthe-occult-is-having-a-moment%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  TOGETHER WITH THE VENETIAN RESORT [The Venetian Resort]( Stylish + safe = a great space . [The Venetian Convention & Expo Center]( is sharing its Venetian Clean best practices from recent groups that have met in those sleek yet cushy chairs. You can get in on their tips from many successful programs and gatherings, from digital health passes to verification of vaccination. [Learn to host events in safety and style here](.  REAL ESTATE  [Open House]( Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that isn’t giving in to any Halloween hullabaloo and will be doing things completely normal. No ghosts, ghouls, or monsters. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price. [House that inspired The Conjuring movie] Blueflash Photography for Mott & Chace/Sotheby’s International Realty That was a trick—today’s [home]( is obviously haunted. So haunted, in fact, that it’s the inspiration for the 2013 movie, The Conjuring. The current owners of the 3,109-square-foot farmhouse in Burrillville, Rhode Island, say their experiences with the spirits haven’t been quite to the movie’s level, but there’s definitely something in the house. Amenities include: - 3 beds, 1.5 baths - 8.5 secluded acres of land - Spirit of Bathsheba Sherman, rumored witch who was buried in the cemetery four miles away - Vintage wood fireplace How much to live your Ghost Adventures fantasy? � � � mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Open%20House%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F10%2F29%2Fopen-house-not-a-haunted-house-if-that-s-what-you-re-thinking%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A  RECS  # 1. Culinary detectives try to recover the formula for a deliciously fishy Roman condiment. ([Smithsonian Magazine]() 2. Katie Couric is not for everyone. ([The Cut]() 3. Inside Amazon’s worst human resources problem. ([New York Times]() 4. Real-time reactions to the introduction of the iPod 20 years ago. ([Slashdot]() 5. What is it about Peter Thiel? ([The New Yorker]() 6. CarbonCapture is one step closer to pulling CO2 from the atmosphere. ([Emerging Tech Brew]() 7. A podcast series exploring the untold story of one of the biggest mistakes in Olympic history. ([Blind Landing]() 8. An economist chats about the Great Resignation. ([Harvard Gazette]() 9. The man who discovered 162 bowling balls under his house. ([ESPN]() 10. Good gourd content. ([Gourdlandia]() Behold bootiful boots. Cole Haan’s [fall boot guide]( features a splendid swath of men’s and women’s options, which will get you through any weather in style. [Become a member]( and get 10% off your first order today.* *This is sponsored advertising content  CONTEST  [Meme Battle](#) Welcome back to Morning Brew's Meme Battle, where we crown a single memelord every Sunday. Today's winner: Kyle in Virginia [Meme of The Shining ] This week's challenge: You can find the [new meme template here]( for next Sunday. Once you're done making your meme, [submit it at this link for consideration](.  ANSWER  # $1.2 million � � � � � Written by [Neal Freyman](, [Jamie Wilde](, [Max Knoblauch](, and [Matty Merritt]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here]( WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → - [Marketing Brew](: the buzziest happenings in marketing and advertising - [Retail Brew](: retail trends from DTC to "buy now, pay later" Tips for smarter living → - [Money Scoop](: your personal finance upgrade - [Sidekick](: lifestyle recs from every corner of the internet Podcasts → [Business Casual]( and [Founder's Journal]( Accelerate Your Career → - [MB/A](: virtual 8-week program designed to broaden your skill set [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. 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