There are many strange things happening in this town. Strange things indeed.  To survive the people have had to adapt.  Make their own twelve not so superstitious superstitions.

Twelve: Do not spill salt. Sure in most places spilling salt isn't a big deal.  It is just a silly superstition made up.  Not here though.  Here if you do spill salt,  no matter the amount,  onto the ground,  any dead creature buried underneath comes up with a craving for blood.  Not brains, blood.

Solution:  after three years of fighting off the undead three mayor of the town outlawed the consumption of salt. It is no longer sold in the town limits,  and if it is found the seller shall suffer his consequences.

Eleven: Never walk under a ladder. The horrific event that will occur is too gory to describe. Just whatever you do,  if you are in this town,  never,  under any circumstances,  walk under a ladder.

Solutions:  there aren't very many solutions that could be done to prevent this. Eventually someone decided to just keep everything low to the ground,  as to not have a need for a ladder.  There are still some ladders scattered about,  and sometimes a group of moronic teens will find a ladder and dare a friend to walk underneath it.  The kids who witnessed the horrendous sight become mentally insane and are put inside the insane asylum.

Ten: Never wish someone happy birthday too early.  For one it is just plane silly,  but it also is the cause of a very early death.  The day that is supposed to represent their death will soon be their death day. 

Solutions: the mayor and co-mayor have come up with the plan to stop celebrating birthdays all together. Instead of accidentally saying "oh happy early birthday" Or even saying it the day before can cause their death,  therefore the leaders of this town have come to the decision to not let anyone celebrate a birthday.  They remember who was born what year,  so at the end of that year (December 31)  there is a ceremony to say you are older.  By how many months,  they don't know,  you are just a year older. They took that idea from a dystopian novel written some years ago.

Nine: Don't whistle while you work.  At least not when you are inside that is.  Whistling inside invites all kinds of evil,  including demons,  evil spirits,  ghosts,  poltergeists,  and even the devil inside your house.

Solutions:  There have been many failed attempts at stopping this horrible fate. The thought of cutting out their tongues was considered a real possibility not twenty years ago. The now-mayors father thought that it would not work because they would no longer be able to speak,  and tried to make sure no kid learns how to whistle.  So far this superstition is one of the main factors of death in the town.

Eight:  Never fall asleep with your head pointing North.  If you ever do,  your family has thirty minutes to turn your head so that the horrible fare will not reach you.  If you are unlucky enough to fall asleep like that,  after thirty minutes you wake up,  unable to move your body,  and you start to die a slow painful death.  You will die before sunrise.

Solutions:  As the mayor doesn't have any control of how people sleep,  he made it a law to have the four cardinal directions labeled in every room of every house. When a person is decorating a room,  they must make it impossible for someone to lay on a bed with their head pointing North. Monthly the towns police come to check on the house to see that all beds, and couches are placed so heads are pointed either east or west.

Seven: Never walk backwards!  This is  bad for a multitude of reasons.  First there is a possibility that you could violate stepping on a crack (see superstition two).  Even if they have gotten a way to prevent it for the most part,  there is always a possibility they can step on one.  Secondly it is showing the devil a way to your house,  your work,  your life.  It is showing him where you have been and where you will be.  It is giving him another way of entering and destroying your life.

Solutions: Just like whistling while you work,  this one is not so easily stopped.  They have no way of stopping people from doing it if they are moving furniture,  or moving out of the way for someone else. They just posted up many signs in hopes that people would follow them.

Six: Stay inside on full moons!  Of course there are no werewolves in this town,  and believe me they have checked and checked again.  They used all of their tests to check and they were golden.  Full moons cause death and chaos. If you are in the light of a full moon you become someone else,  and many have been found to have hung themselves,  drowned themselves,  eaten themselves and much worse.

Solutions:  Be aware of the moon cycle.  Students are taught to watch the moon in school,  and teachers remind students every day. Parents and adults must keep close watch on the moon cycles.  To keep away from moonlight they all put up blackout curtains on wind does,  and tape them tightly short.  Once the full moon goes down,  every TV turns on with a message from the mayor,  giving the a clear.

Five: Never say the same word as someone at the same time! Most places it is a game where you get a pop or the other person can't speak if you win,  but here if you"jinks" someone it is a cause of becoming a widow (if already married)  or of never marrying at all. 

Solutions: This one is actually pretty easy to fix.  All you need to do if you get "jinks"-ed is to touch your right middle finger to your nose,  then hug the person that you got jinks-ed with and it will be removed. But make sure to use the correct finger on the correct hand.  If you do any other finger you will both be cursed.

Four: Don't sing while sitting at a table! This invites demons and spirits to the house to eat your food and possess your bodies.  Once your body is possessed there is no chance of being returned back to normal.

Solutions: We already got rid of the horrid happy birthday tune that is sung to kids and adults alike,  so all that is needed now is to get rid of all other singing.  Welp that is pretty much not gonna happen.  If anyone knows of anyone that is singing at a table must alert the authorities right away so the spirit may not get into any more trouble.

Three: Don't wear red during a storm!  It attracts the lightning and afterwards if you are not charred to death,  you will stay wet and in the condition you were in at the middle of the storm.

Solutions:  The mayor had an easy solution to this problem. He got rid of every single piece of red clothing. Red is no longer sold in any store, farmers market,  or hanging on any hanger in the entire town.

Two: Don't step on a crack! Everyone knows the rhyme "step on a crack and you'll break your mommas back" and everyone thinks it is false.  I'm here to say those people are false.  Stepping on a crack hurts your mom in many different ways.  If it is a shallow crack,  then the woman will not be hurt as bad.  Just a minor fracture that can be easily healed in two to three weeks.  But if it is a deep crack she can be paralyzed from between anywhere from the legs to the neck.

Solutions: The mayor thought he found an early solution.  He filled up every single crack in the ground.  The sidewalks,  streets,  boardwalks, docks,  stores,  and anywhere cracks could possibly step on.  The only problem with his solution was that many cracks are made by idiotic people,  natural disasters,  and just by time. Everything is constantly needing repairs causing more cracks to appear.

Now if you have listened or learned anything I have said in this time,  remember this! The most important superstition.

One: Never break a mirror or walk in front of a broken mirror! Mirrors are told to have trapped lost souls in the Mitford,  and that is why during funerals mirrors are covered,  but here it is slightly different. If you walk by a broken mirror your soul will be taken from your body,  causing your existence to vanish.  You will always be there,  just unable to communicate until the mirror breaks again and traps someone else's soul.  Only one per mirror and once a mirror traps a soul the mirror is fixed up again.  Some people are trapped for days,  but others for centuries.

Solutions:  never look at a mirror.  Don't touch one,  don't even unpack it from your moving truck.  Let it keep driving out of the city.  Just whatever you do do not look at it.  There is no solution for this problem.  Thousands are taken daily,  and you can easily be next. 

Heed my warnings,  and enjoy your stay in our wonderful town.