Paranormal Librarian

77 Shadow Street

2012-01-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

Once more Koontz looks out the window on the world and writes a chilling, gripping, and all too possible novel. Once the glory of the gaslight era, the exclusive and elite old mansion at 77 Shadow Street is now an exclusive apartment building filled with people in isolated existence mirroring an increasingly dysfunctional society.

From the very first chapter the tension is strong and builds steadily. Bizarre happenings, disturbing people, and the chilling sense of the unknown keep the pages turning to a satisfying and logical conclusion. A sure enjoyment for any Koontz fan, any horror fan, and any who just like a great thrill ride reader.

THE FAMILY OF DOG UNLEASHED

2011-12-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

The Family of Dog Series begins with The Harvest.

Part one of a 3 book series takes you on a journey of Satan who has been raised from Hell by 18 individuals who are suing him for breach of contract after they are displeased with the results of selling of souls!

A hurricane of terror erupts as mankind takes on and creates a war between the deities, critics are saying The Family of Dog is the most dangerous peice of work ever to hit paper and The Family of Dog takes what we know of Hell to an entirely new level

https://www.createspace.com/3645705

For autographed versions send $40 to
The Goat Franchise
C/O Jake Bannerman
718 SW 51st
Okc,Ok
73108
Takes 6-8 weeks to deliver.
Remember Pitchfork Diaries Vol.2 is coming out St. Patrick's Day 2012
Make sure and leave your messages on The Goat Franchise Hotline
580-920-5964
Jakethegoat@me.com

CLASSIC TV HOST FEATURED IN NEW BOOK

2011-12-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Author Tom Fowler has penned the biography of well known late night horror host, John Ferguson. His alter ego, "Count Gregore," entertained Oklahoma audiences from the 1970's into the 1990's and continues to be a popular guest for Halloween parades and horror conventions. Available from the author's website or from Amazon.

Talking to the Dark: Author Cullan Hudson

2011-11-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

Beneath a sprawling canopy of moss-draped oaks, author Cullan Hudson snaps several shots of a weathered old tombstone.
“She was spotted standing near this grave. The witness told me that, although he could tell it was a woman, there really wasn’t anything there more than a free-floating shadow.”

We’re standing in the middle of an old cemetery in the historic heart of Mobile, AL. Ensconced within a lush carpet of green grass are numerous graves dating to before the Civil War. The cemetery is also a refuge for several homeless men who often wander in for a quiet respite beneath the massive trees.

“They’re harmless,” Hudson says. “The worst they do is litter.” A look of mild reproof distorts his face momentarily before, wry mirth he asks if I’ve heard of ‘The Mobile Leprechaun’. I confessed I hadn’t and he launches into a ridiculous story about an Internet sensation from a couple years back. Apparently, some…colorful individuals spotted what they could only describe as a leprechaun (the mythical being of Irish folklore) in the boughs of a tree just outside the cemetery walls.

“I wasn’t living here at the time, but I recall the video on the Internet,” he says with a chuckle. “It had to be the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen—and I have seen my share of ridiculous.”

As the author of Strange State: Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma, Hudson spent years tracking down local ghost stories, UFO sightings, and Bigfoot encounters. Fueled by a passion for the unexplained and a love of writing, he uncovered rare tales and exposed new facts. A recent book,Weird Oklahoma, in fact has labeled the author a "Fortean investigator."

“I’ve also heard some crazy stuff from people. I mean, obviously hard to swallow stuff. But you smile and you listen and you make them feel like at least somebody is taking them seriously. And while the stories might be incredible, I can’t say they haven’t inspired my writing.”

The writing he talks about includes his newly-released novel, The Mound. He easily admits it’s a summer beach read and that he and his co-author (his mother, of all people!) didn’t set out to write the great American novel.

“If someone says ‘What a fun book,’ I feel like I’ve really accomplished something.”

Beach book or not, he managed to slip in some commentary in the over 300 page story about a group of disparate souls that converge on a turn-of-the-century hotel just as an ancient evil awakens. Laced throughout are observations on the field of paranormal investigation, reality TV, and alternative history—even art and architecture.

“The Mound happened because of Strange State. Even before it was published, I was getting all these great story ideas from the different accounts I had been gathering: Indian mounds, haunted hotels, anomalous archaeology….”

Admittedly a novice at writing, he couldn’t quite get it off the ground. He says he had the plot laid out pretty well, but couldn’t quite see how to end it.

Enter mom.

“She has written a lot more than I have—much of it published. Although neither of us had tackled a novel before, I asked her for her thoughts on what I was working on and she came back with some great ideas. The chemistry was there right away and we really fed off that energy to craft the story.”

The same said energy he claims brought one character to life.

“The psychic, Shade, whom we first called Rain—a really overused goth name—began life as just another character, but as we began fleshing her out…. Well, she just came alive for us in myriad unexpected ways.”

But it didn’t all flow from the pen (or computer) in one night. Hudson says it took a frustrating eight years to finish the manuscript. Countless drafts, revisions, redactions, and hair-pullings took place before the two felt the project was done.

“Or maybe we were just sick of it,” he laughs. “You spend too much time with something, perfecting it as much as you can, and you start to resent it. It really helped that we would take breaks from it, come back, and see new possibilities.”

While Hudson admits it was easy to start with a basis of familiar themes (readily acknowledging that the book is an homage to horror masters such as Lovecraft and King) and inspiration in the form of real life Oklahoma mysteries, it all sprang from the two author’s united imaginations.

“The Skirvin, a famous Oklahoma City hotel, was a big inspiration for The Montford Arms (the novel’s fictional hotel); however, we had the concept of renovation years before the Skirvin became revitalized as a Hilton property.”

He says this with an air of pride, as if his work somehow inspired events to unfold in the universe.

“If only!” he laughs. “If I had that kind of power, I’d have more money. No, it’s just that you send a message with your work—intentional or not. That was one of my early messages: Why is this hotel being left to languish? It was just nice to see it spared the wrecking ball. Maybe in some cosmic sense, my good ‘vibes’ had something to do with that.”

Messages aren’t something Hudson is known to shy away from. Strange State is replete with passages where a dispassionate narrative suddenly takes a nosedive into full-on diatribe, attacking everything from sloppy research and paranormal zealotry to salaciously exposing hoaxes and daring various institutions to embrace their haunted heritage.

“I don’t set out to be antagonistic or controversial. I just have opinions and an Irish mouth.” At this, he only manages a half-hearted chuckle, as if to telegraph the truth behind these words.

Controversy has come with a rising profile within the state and the paranormal community at large. While he admits to sometimes being affected by this, he says he tries to shrug most of it off and forge ahead.

“I guess I demand more from those who investigate these mysteries,” he says, launching into an impassioned spiel worthy of his status as a minister’s son. “I often see ‘true believers’ wearing science like an ill-fitting Halloween costume when they’ve little interest in following that discipline’s precepts.”

But it isn’t as dire as all that. Hudson agrees that if you want to go heedlessly chasing ghosts in the dark, “By all means, do it! It’s one of my favorite things. Just don’t call it science.”

From haranguing readers about the evils of the orb-loving, matching t-shirt crowd of paranormal investigators to challenging people to look at the mysterious from new perspectives, Hudson’s blog (the aptly titled “Strange State”) is his outlet for many of his musings and rants—as well as his dark humor.

“Humor—sly, sardonic, and dark—is a big part of my writing. It’s a part of who I am and I simply can’t divorce it from what I say. I think a lot of people appreciate it. At least, I hope they do. It balances what otherwise might be considered a raging bitterness with much needed levity.”

Sharing concerns that sometimes he needs a hard-nosed editor to tell him to keep his mouth shut now and then, Hudson says that, overall, he’s happy with his work and appreciates it when others take notice.

“I was surprised after ripping into a book by cryptozoologist Loren Coleman—during which heated comments were expressed on my blog—that my own book was fairly judged by the man. I was stunned. It would have been easy for him to rip into mine, but he refrained. I learned a lot from that.”

Much of the press Hudson has received has been favorable, which baffles him. “I’m so grateful, but I can’t help thinking there’s some odious journalist just waiting to gut Strange State or The Mound. I wouldn’t blame them.” He laughs at this, admitting he could easily point to the very soft spots such a writer might attack.

“Still, I must be doing something right,” he imparts with a look of bewilderment, as if he can’t believe it when success knocks on his door. “I’ve been asked by three or four production companies to audition for various paranormal reality programs in production.”

He’s turned them all down. When asked why, he shrugs. After a moment of silence, he arrives at an answer that seems too kind to be the whole truth.

“I suppose I’m not comfortable being in front of the camera like that. And I was really hoping they wanted me for research or writing purposes.”

Research is where Hudson excels. The arcanum churned up in his wake could fill a book—two, in fact. 2012 will see the release of Stranger State: MORE Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma. The mountain of notes he shows me is nearly equal to that of the folders in his file cabinet for the first book.

“Growing up with a librarian mother, you learn tricks on how to get the information you’re looking for. And sometimes the information you didn’t even know you wanted. I spent a lot of my youth in libraries. There are secrets in there, if you know how to look.”

It shows. His first collection of strange-but-true tidbits brims with stories that haven’t seen print in more than a century (if ever). Several of the accounts are unique to his work and he’s proud of that.

“I think of them as my ‘babies’,” he chuckles. “It’s my legacy for Oklahoma. I’m not the most….” He scrunches his face, as if trying to squeeze the word out. “Statriotic? I don’t know what you would call patriotism on the state level, but I feel proud of my work. I’ve brought a lot of neglected legends to light and shared them with a whole new generation. I think that’s really cool.”

Many of these orphaned enigmas piqued his curiosity. He wasn’t satisfied to simply retell them; he had to track them down, find out more, uncover the truth, and—hopefully—experience something for himself.

Such was the case at the Overholser Mansion, a stately three-story home in Oklahoma City’s historic Heritage Hills neighborhood long thought to be haunted.

“That place is haunted. I try to keep an open mind and remain skeptical, but there are some experiences you just can’t shake.”

While waiting for a private tour, Hudson says he heard the faint tones of some bygone tune—just a bar or so—as he stood on the porch. The neighborhood was dead quiet, he insists, and the music “wasn’t like anything you’d hear in the 21^st Century.”

“It was just old fashioned chamber music, like you’d hear on a gramophone.”

Later, an unseen presence brushed past him as he crossed the second floor landing.

“I thought maybe it was a spider web, at first, but there was nothing there. Not on the wall, not on my clothes. Besides, they keep that place clean.”

Another account he recalls happened twenty minutes west of the city, in El Reno.

“In the old downtown are a number of buildings dating to the early 1900s. I was asked to help guide volunteers through the sprawling structure as a part of an experiment being conducted by a local investigation team. On the final night of the trials, we had very few people, so we decided to just enjoy the place; do some ghost hunting. As we stood in one darkened apartment above and old store front, we asked the usual EVP questions. If we were lucky, we’d get some great responses on playback. To our surprise, a man’s muffled voice came to us from the doorway nearby. We couldn’t tell what he was saying, but it was crystal clear that it was a man talking—like from inside a box or something. Very garbled. Unfortunately, from what I hear, nothing was recorded of that event.”

His curiosity for investigating these bizarre encounters hasn’t ended at the Oklahoma border. Hudson has investigated such disparate locales as a haunted department store in a small West Texas town to poking around the ruins of mysterious pyramids built by unknown hands on an island in the Canaries; visited Mayan ruins at the heart of 2012 prophecies and examined the famous Chase Vault on Barbados, known for its mysteriously moving coffins. He even spent three years living in and examining ghosts, UFOs, and the legend of the Chupacabras in Puerto Rico.

“You truly come to understand the socio-political influences on how different cultures perceive the paranormal when you spend time investigating these things abroad. For instance, in England and France, I found ghosts under every welcome mat; but in Spain and Portugal, that wasn’t the case.”

I ask him if he will be writing about these ghostly globe-trotting adventures. With a wide-eyed sigh, he tells me, “I try to write about what’s been overlooked. The impetus for Strange State was just that. In as far as I knew, nothing had been written about Oklahoma. I wanted to remedy that.”

Later, while working on the manuscript, he learned another author, David Farris, had beaten him to the punch.

“Once I found his books, I was a bit dismayed. But only for a moment. I decided, I’m going to do it better! More! And I did. I researched the hell out of that book. And I was still finding more.”

That more will be included in 2012’s Strange State: MORE Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma. This volume, he says, will include sections on true crime, mysterious disappearances, and cattle mutilations.

You can look for both Strange State: Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma and The Mound for sale on www.amazon.com, or visit his blog at www.strangestate.blogspot .com to learn more.
__________________

(Stephanie Cahill, 2011, used with permission for this installment in the Paranormal Librarian Blog Author Interview Series)

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PL INTERVIEW SERIES: AUTHOR NICCI SEFTON

2011-11-23T04:02:00.000-08:00

Paranormal Librarian caught up with the youthful author of the paranormal as she prepared for another whirlwind book signing tour.

The author is as much a surprise as her novels: a youthful, petite young woman with a sparkle of life and joy unlike the sometimes moody and mysterious stereotypical author of vampires or similar creatures of the night. Tulsa native, Nicci Sefton, is author of the popular The Deadly Sins Vampire Series.

A dynamic and intuitive character she can often be seen getting into the flavor and fun of an event. Her appearances can be a unique experience. Joining PL on the patio of a local coffee shop, sitting beneath the shaggy umbrella of golden hued leaves from a nearby tree, the author sipped a tall, toffee colored cold drink as she responded to questions.

Like a well-written character, you have a fascinating 'back story' of your own as an author. Tell us how you got started as a writer.

I began writing in 2nd grade when my teacher assigned the class to enter a writing competition. I lost the competition but ever since then I was in love with the fact that I could put my imagination on to paper.

What authors or films have most influenced you as a writer?

The biggest influence on me is probably J.K. Rowling. Her books were the first real chapter books I read and loved how she would make up words and the characters would get in the most peculiar incidents.

In ten years, what themes do you look forward to exploring or what new things do you expect to try in your work?

I would love to write more fairy tale books or even children’s books. I’ve already been working on three completely different books from my Deadly Sins series and I’m really excited to get more involved in them once I feel Annabell and Derrick aren’t demanding my full attention.

Will they be the same genre or will you be branching out?

No. The new books will be fairytale, a true story, and a comic book.

Tell us about your fans and readers.

I love my fans! I especially love how my readers aren’t restricted to one generation. I can literally say my books are for all ages because my youngest reader is a second grader and my oldest is an 89 year old lady. I love how I can see that these characters affect their lives. I get emails every day demanding the next book! Even if the newest one does come out I’ll get an email the next day.

Great problem to have for an author! Sometimes talented people make things seem so easy. Usually, the road to those shining moments are after a tough climb. As an author, what have been your greatest challenges?

My greatest challenge is living in the Bible belt; there really aren’t too many people with open minds about vampires. So, as soon as they see the word, they literally drop the book and run!

If money and time were not an issue, what would you like to do as a person or as an author?

I would love to be able to travel with my books. In my stories the characters travel all around the world, places I’ve never been, but crave to experience.

Sometimes people have ideas or have heard tales of writers who are very picky about how and when they write. When you write do you have any specific rituals or traditions?

I have to be in a crowded area, like a classroom, at one of my signings or something similar. When I’m alone the t.v. or radio must be on. This helps my brain not to wonder. Almost like the noise creates a barrier so my mind doesn't stray off!

Readers always want to know – where do writers get their ideas? What generates your creative thoughts in a novel?

Anything I hear or see. There will be times I’m just sitting gazing off into space and I’ve just jumped up after seeing a flash of what happens next in a project and I start writing it down. I've done this more than twice with my friends and I scared them by my sudden movements.

In the immediate there are more appearances but what's next? What’s next for you as a writer? Any new titles or topics in the near future?

I’m still deciding what to write next, Gula [the fourth installment] or one of my other books I mentioned that I’m very interested in.

The tall cool drink depleted, the sun setting a little lower in the afternoon, the young author said goodbye and left. The multi-colored carpet of autumn leaves danced about her feet as she walked off down the sidewalk. I hailed the waitress for a refill of my tea. I opened my bag and settled down with a small sigh as I opened the pages of one of the novels of the departing author. It had not been on the required pre-interviewing reading lists but then it would be my own little secret. Only right, after all the series was called, The Deadly Sins and I know you won't tell.

Thedeadlysinsbooks.com

PL INTERVIEW SERIES: BRIAN YOUNG AKA "DR. FEAR"

2011-10-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

PARANORMAL LIBRARIAN settled down with the author, artist, and scholar in his mythic lab tucked away high in the craggy, snow laden Alps, far removed from humanity and its petty toils and trials. Seeing the man sitting in the high backed antique chair it was hard to find words for the surroundings. It was ... a mad scientist’s laboratory as the sparks and sizzling of the energized machinery behind him created an exotic nimbus effect. A white draped shape on a wheeled trolley behind twitching nervously - a mad counterpoint to the electricity dancing in the lab. Every once and awhile the figure concealed by the drapery seemed to move and rise. The good author, however, ignored the slowly reanimating corpse on the gurney nearby but it drew the glance of the interviewer more than once! The strains of Ataraxia, an Italian music group, filled the air as he causually offered me a drink and then sat back in some satisfaction sipping a Code Red Mountain Dew!

Thank you Brian Young aka Dr. Fear for allowing this interview. I know you are busy with your wriitng and other creative activities. Tell me though, when you are not writing or being Dr. Fear, what are your past times?

I usually am designing and running roleplaying games on Friday nights or studying my Celtic studies to some degree, working towards earning my PhD in Celtic Studies someday soon. Mostly my hobbies have become my expertise in things over time and a career but with gaming that isn’t possible. I have been doing that hobby since 1984 and it has been my source of inspiration of ideas, storytelling, etc. to this day. When the season is right I like to camp too and be away from the drama of things and the noise and simply keep things peaceful and serene.

When did you become Dr. Fear, how did it develop, and what was your inspiration?

My love for Halloween and horror was so great during my time in Undergrad School that I had to do something about it and aside from my hobbies and art, I had no other outlet that I could think of until I was about of school.

In 2002, I was working at a local cable station as Board Operator to maintain the auction. I ran the audio, cameras, etc and basically produced it every night. One night for New Year’s we did a Rocky Horror ‘Time Warp’ show and wanted people to participate in costume at the studios. The turn out was not great but the idea suddenly hit me that I had the means to make a horror show and should. My mind leaped back to the days of watching Count Gregore and slowly I, and my (then) and now late ex-wife Jaemi, started to work on the show. I wanted to do something that honored horror in a campy way, a little mysterious and creepy but mainly fun for kids.

So I thought about having the role being played by someone as my mad scientist character and I would produce it. I didn’t want to be on camera but no one was brave enough to take on the role and I was stuck playing my own creation. So we had covered all of the most basic elements of horror: a mad scientist, vampire and ghoul in our core cast. We would have on endless fun characters that would fill the other monster/horror archetypes.

We did six live shows on Friday nights initially at that station and midway went to Saturday nights until things became tense there due to internal problems, but I called the show ‘Dr. Fear’s Friday Fright Show’ at that point. We later moved to the local public access channel called Pegasys and I reworked the show and concept now calling it ‘The Mysterious Lab of Dr. Fear’. Every show is a learning process and still is to this day, the ‘Lab’ being where all of the action happens in the show obviously. It is the nexus point to the strange, demented and weird from show to show, though on its own it has never done a show but maybe someday soon it will…

What are some interesting events from your career as Dr. Fear? Any bloopers?

For our first Halloween event, we hosted a live Trick or Treat for the kids on Pegasys and had over 700 people during our hour and a half show, it was a tough night but very fun. The next year, we and our friend Tammy Wilson, wanted to make a massive Halloween event for the town and over months created Scare on the Square. We had her on the radio show we do on Sunday nights interviewing her about ghost-hunting and one idea lead to another. Needless to say that event is Enid’s tradition now and has unequalled attendance for any and all events in town. After the previous year’s live Trick or Treat, I wanted something that could be epic and bring the holiday back to town in grandeur and this was it!

Another thing we did was give fun hexes and curses to the rival Indoor Football teams that would come to town. Our hexes jinxed many teams, or they thought that we had done so and it was a fun, eccentric period of the show in the early days (2002-3).

In 2005 we shot a show with our inspiration and mentor Count Gregore for the first time and we brought him to Enid in honor of our show’s third anniversary. That caused a fun stir and we even aired the fans speaking to him and getting autographs and giving him gifts of appreciation. Sporadically since, we have filmed with the Count many times over and each time it is magical and very fun to do.

We have hosted Improv acts at Sci-Fi conventions in OKC and I have many panels on horror, and still do to this day. I love doing it because it gets our efforts out to a crowd that is more populous and appreciative to what we do rather than just remaining in Enid. There are many more unique and quirky things we have done to add to the list…

And as for bloopers, we have many of them! One of the first ever was by me shamefully. We had an old luggage crate for the first episode that I had to open to find Mr. Grimly’s body parts that we shipped over from our trip from Germany and I could not figure out how to open it. Again and again during the shoot I was trying to open the latches and could not do it and so we had our first blooper, luckily we were not live anymore and could pick the best take and I can edit it, but this was a humbling blooper.

Next year (2012) is our tenth anniversary and I plan to write a book on the TV show and its history, involvements in events and various functions and just a fun guide through the Mysterious Shows of Dr. Fear. I also will be filming and producing some small documentaries on our local haunted house and other interesting and fun people and things in our state too.

How marvelous! Broadcasting for such a long time you have had many interesting episodes and many stories to share. Something to definitely look forward to in the days and years to come will be both the book and the films. What do you think your impact has been among members of your audience? Your community?

For a while it seemed like we were unknown in town. We had no response or fan-mail and I felt that we were doing it all for nothing but gradually during our Scare on the Square events, haunted house visits and by word of mouth, I found out that people were talking about us. Children spoke of our show during lunch-hour and we were finding out that people would sit up at night and eat popcorn and laugh while watching us, so I know that are being seen by a devoted following after nearly a decade and that feels good.

As for the community at large, it sadly has appeared one of apathy and no appreciation generally. We are skipped over by the local arts magazine and newspaper. Often it feels like the general populace would rather not have us present since we inspire the interest of Halloween and horror in a strongly religious community. But also, the public access channel is only viewed by less than half of the total population as well and that is a factor in some of the ambiguity of why we are not paid attention to.

Our influence will show in time. Maybe someday in the far future some fan will want to do the same thing and carry on the tradition that I inherited from Count Gregore myself? The trends in TV though leave little room for old fashioned horror shows because they are not Reality based or full of ‘real-life’ drama sadly and our way is one that is fighting to remain alive. There are more horror hosts than ever before now spread across the country, most are Shock hosts and not the classy old fashioned style horror shows that most of us have grown up watching, but at least the genre is still existing in some identifying form.

What would you have liked to do with your show had there been more time, money, wider support, funding, staff, etc.

If I had the money and extra means I would have many more sets, characters and editing done by others. But because we are a ‘No Budget’ horror show, we are cast and crew. I had envisioned many sets, new story directions, better acting and production and a consistently well made show. We jokingly call our (not so) special effects group ‘Industrial Cardboard and Duct-tape’.

Where do you see yourself in the coming years? You have a series of books in the steampunk genre being published. in the coming months. Will Dr. Fear remain or transform within the steampunk culture?

I see us still making the shows until our means to show them dries up. Pegasys’ funds are slowly fading due to some dirty business with the City of Enid that happened many years ago, and once that goes away we may move to internet based productions somehow. But so far we have made over a 112 episodes and will keep going.

This season I hope to make a Steampunk themed episode to honor my novel series and merge the two interests for one moment in time. I will play a Jules Verne movie and try to find some way to drag our show into it and make it harmonize with my previous work. There are not enough Steampunk styled movies that were made to make a long running set of episodes after but I will look for what I can.

At conventions and events I will be mixing my booth now and merging the Horror show with my Steampunk Horror novels, meaning that my costume will be the same but with some Steampunk elements.

As a writer, what are your influences? The perennial question of any author is always , "Where do you get your ideas"?

Over the years my influences have been mainly Robert E. Howard and H.P Lovecraft, in both story-telling and writing techniques. My horror influences are derived from several sources. First the dislike of the modern vampires and how influences like Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyers have created vampires that are less frightening and inhuman. They have made the ancient vampire into a pretty, seductive superhero that is still very human and it makes the alien and sinister aspect of them less so. So with this dislike of the modern vampire, I wanted something that is a return to the Old World vampire in its full glory, a hideous, blood swollen pallid corpse that thirsts for more and is sinister through and through.

There are no pretty vampires in my stories and romance is hinted at but the grim and ghastly reality of how awful that would be is emphasized, there is no necrophilia in my stories, at least not directly as a story focus. If you study early European vampire lore and my own books over time you will see how they agree unlike modern vampire literature which has pigeon-holed itself in a way by its assumed limits.

My next influence is music. I do a weekly radio show on Sunday nights called ‘The Mysterious Hours of Dr. Fear’ where I play horror, Halloween and Gothic music and stories, and it has helped me to explore the music in a way that I would never been able on my own. Music is one of my greatest influences ultimately. I see sounds as shapes in my mind that somehow, if it is the right tone and theme, can inspire me greatly.

Another influence was an old set of unused ideas about the origins of the vampires that no author has ever discussed really. Folklore and myth generally use the Bible as their basis for such origins but there had to have been an earlier Pre-Christian set of theories in Antiquity, and I look for those sources or deduce them on my own with some speculative academic hypothesis.

But as my common practice goes with my creative projects, I avoid all other works in the same medium and genre to keep from being an unwilling copyist of their ideas. I haven’t read one book in the Steampunk genre ever, only dabbled in some of the popular works to see what is out there that might be similar to my own. So far there is nothing and that makes me happy and content that what I am creating is original. There was just luck and chance that my ideas had a genre ready and waiting for them that is labeled ‘Steampunk’ and that makes it easy to classify it due to my strange and unusual technologies and inventions.

Readers often like to find authors similar in tone, subject, or style to another. Who would most enjoy your work: readers of Stoker, Lovecraft, Shelley, King, Koonze, etc?

Readers of Robert E. Howard may like my action sequences and how I set them up but I have no idea who would be the most fond of what I do, at least not until the other books in the series comes out. My first novel in the series is minimalist in style due to me writing an unfamiliar perspective and genre but after the first book my style has more depth and color. I am excited to see the following books in the series in print more than the first actually! In book two I am comfortable in this style of writing and genre and let it all go.

My other novel projects have closer ties to many other authors but those books are yet to be written or finished. Once they are, people will see a great change from my current Steampunk Horror style I think, in perspective and story.

When you write do you require a special place, quiet, mood music, a favorite chair or sweater, etc.?

Usually I listen to my iPod in headphones and sit at my laptop with plenty of chips or some snack and something caffeinated to drink and focus. Book one was written in my dining-room over three months bringing my notes and outline to life but in book two I wrote it sitting in my front-room on the coffee-table oddly. Once I get my music going, I can create and it always works.

I believe that I could almost write anywhere if I had my outline, music and laptop.

Who is Brian Young? How similar are the two personas of author and Dr. Fear? In the real world do you like sports or other pursuits?

Most have described me as eccentric and I used to not see it but over the recent years I do so now, it has taken time but I guess they have some truth in what they say. I was always very nerdy and still am to this day very much but until two years ago I didn’t want to admit it. Now I am happy of who I am and have embraced it finally. Personally I am academic and creative, those are the two words that describe me the best I think. Doing the shows and having been in the public eye for so long I try to remain humble and shy because I have never had much of an ego. Many people I have seen over the years are consumed with ego and do not possess much talent or skill and that keeps me grounded well when I am in their company.

Dr. Fear is different. He is a clumsy egocentric mad scientist that wants to conquer the world at any cost and do so without remorse. I wanted him to be the Straight Man in our humor that juxtaposes his evil aims and schemes and is almost normal in his morals in some twisted way compared to the lab assistants Grimly and Trinka and the other list of characters on the shows. I jokingly call Dr. Fear ‘the Doctor that couldn’t’ because none of his plans have ever worked or ever will, but he gets close. I am by no means similar to the Doctor! Once I put on the costume I become him for the shoot or event and then I am me again after it is off and I am away from it all.

Personally I am the furthest thing from a sports fan. I have more to do with my time than the fawn over over-paid jocks that simply move a ball from place to another, it is existential and does not benefit me, the fans or the world in the end. I usually like to pursue purely creative outlets in some degree or another, either with my artwork, writing, TV and radio production, gaming or planning and participating in events. Ultimately I want to live a very productive life and leave a legacy behind of the arts and culture that have influenced others and spawn other derivative ideas and be remembered for what I have done for the world, or my little part of it. I aim to always be a contributor and not a spectator in life...

The music faded and in the silence the hissing of the equipment seemed muted as well. The good author, artist and scholar sipped his drink and the early evening shadows dimmed the snowy glare outside. On the long journey back from the misty mountains of the imagination I contemplated the interview. Brian Young aka Dr. Fear will see published a striking and original trio of works in the near future. They will be unique additions to the mythos of the vampire and the emerging steampunk genre and the astute will no doubt look for them. One thing is very clear, If the books are as complex and deep as their author, they should be a certain hit with readers.

Brian Young will have his Silent War series released starting this spring. A dramatic and intriguing story line is inventively woven through the first book De Civitate Sanguino: The City of the Bloodthirsty. It is set for release on March 1st by Damnation Books. Others, will soon follow. Young holds degrees in history from Northwestern University, Oklahoma and University of Wales, Lampeter.

[The PL Interview Series is a quirky approach to learning more about up and coming authors. For an interview contact whorlbooks@gmail.com. Put "Paranormal Libarian" on the subject line.]

Pass Along a Scary Book for Halloween - All Hallow's Read

2011-10-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

All Hallow's Read is a clever idea with stickers to be printed to mark a book as a read, sample posters, reading lists. Find the link there to follow on Twitter. Encourage reading by hiding books and letting scary readers find them, offer them as an alternative or addition to the candy treats. Great idea! Visit the site learn how to get involved and then make it happen in your community. Have a lot of money in search of a tax write off - check with your local public library to arrange a free book giveaway event or a local bookstore.

Poster sample

THE INDIAN ROCK VAMPIRES

2011-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Author Joe Harwell mines the landscape of Oklahoma to develop a vampire series.

The Legend of Michelle Sands and Upside Down Heart comprise the Indian Rock Vampires story arc to date.

Available in both print and e-format at the website.

'Ghost Teller' At the Overholser Mansion, Oct. 27-28

2011-10-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

Returning for a 3rd year, Oklahoma author and storyteller, Marilyn A. Hudson, aka The Ghost Teller, will share scary tales at the Overholser Mansion. The historic 1903 mansion is reportedly haunted, with many reports of lingering residents.

The benefit event is by reservation and will include two storytelling sessions followed by a staff led tour each evening.

To make reservations, inquire as to costs, etc. visit the webpage for the Mansion. Space is limited and event best suited to those over 10 years of age.

NORMAN AUTHOR AND STORYTELLER SCARES UP A GOOD TIME

Norman author and storyteller, Marilyn A. Hudson, will be performing for a third year at the historic Overholser Mansion in Oklahoma City on October 27, 28 for “Scary Stories and Twilight Tours.” The program will feature two story sessions, at 7p.m. and at 8 p.m., each followed by a museum staff led tour of the mansion built in 1903.

Marilyn A. Hudson is co-author of the recently released paranormal suspense novel, The Mound, set in a fictional eastern Oklahoma community. She is also author of a collection of chilling tales, The Bones of Summer, a historical look at some strange deaths along Oklahoma railroads from 1900 to 1920, When Death Rode the Rails, a collection of historic tales of early Oklahoma City, Tales of Hell’s Half Acre, and a commentary on women and the Bible, Those Pesky Verses of Paul.

Hudson has been active as a storyteller for over ten years in Oklahoma and is a member of the Oklahoma Territory Tellers, the Tejas Storytelling association, and the Network Storytellers Network.

JIM ANTHONY - SUPER DETECTIVE

2011-10-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

Airship 27 Productions and Cornerstone Book Publishers are excited to announce the release of their third Jim Anthony Super Detective book, a full length novel, THE MARK OF TERROR.

From the early days of his crime fighting career, comes this brand new adventure of the man known as Jim Anthony; Super Detective. Half Irish, half Comanche and All American, Jim Anthony finds himself caught up in a world-wide conspiracy of murder and carnage as two ancient Greek cults square off against each other in modern times; each vying for world dominance over the other.

When several of New York ’s leading business men suddenly go insane and begin committing suicide, the police are baffled and reluctantly look to the Super Detective for help. Soon, with the aid of a renowned archeological historian and a spunky, fearless female reporter, Jim Anthony is quickly caught up in a mystery like no other he has ever faced before. With danger from deadly masked assassins at every turn, the famous adventurer’s own life is soon hanging in the balance as he becomes the primary target of both warring cults.

Acclaimed New Pulp scribe, Joshua Reynolds delivers a fast paced, non-stop action thriller that is pure pulp gold. “This is Reynold’s second Jim Anthony story for us,” reported Airship 27 Productions’ Managing Editor Ron Fortier. “It’s very clear in how well he writes this classic hero that he has a genuine affection for the character and that comes across on every page.” Accompanied by nine illustrations from artist Isaac Nacilla and a stunning cover by painter Jeff Herndon, with designs by Rob Davis, JIM ANTHONY – SUPER DETECTIVE – THE MARK OF TERROR is the latest in an on-going series of brand new Jim Anthony adventures.

Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.

In addition to Weird Horror Tales, Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting, and Weird Horror Tales: Light’s End, Airship 27 has releasedSherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in The Green Lam,a and Secret Agent X. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp Fiction for a New Generation!

ISBN 1-613420-16-1

ISBN-13 978-1-613420-16-4

Counting Down to the "The Count"

2011-10-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

In Oklahoma, since 1958 a standard local television personality was John Ferguson aka "Count Gregore." Ferguson was a serious actor and appeared in several stage productions and screen appearances before he ever crafted the vampiric personality of the Count. Once that persona emerged he delighted audiences for decades on the screen and at local events. After 30 years, the regular televison shows died out but Ferguson continued to host specials, make appearances and provide a unique presence at various events. Local station KSBI will bring him back for a special return engagement in "Count Gregore's Nightmare Theater", on Oct. 27, channel 52, at 11 p.m. It is hoped his presence will return on a more regular basis for new audiences to discover and enjoy.

ILLUSTRATOR ERIC YORK

2011-10-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

Michael Vance’s novel, Weird Horror Tales:Light’s End, is “an amazing, page turning suspense thriller”. Artist Eric York turns some ghoulish pages as well.

York is the interior illustrator of Vance’s latest novel. Vance was first attracted by York’s outré, very design oriented, and weirdly beautiful interpretations of the work of world-famous horror writer, H. P. Lovecraft.

“Eric is that rarest of gems,” said Vance, “an original. Since we share a love for Lovecraft’s prose, York’s style seemed a perfect choice for the last novel in my Weird Horror Tales trilogy that was also influenced by Lovecraft’s genius. I was overjoyed by his “deviant” art for my novel!”

York’s distinctive art has also appeared in books, fanzines, and comics including The Fantastical Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Over Santa Susana, Malafact, Besmirched, Terminal Brain Rot and many others.

“I drew the cover for another of Michael's books a few years ago [that was published in England],” wrote the artist. “I enjoy his subdued style of horror as well as his creepy locale of Light's End. I've always been into stories using the common setting of sinister old, small towns, and thought this would be a nice change to collaborate with Michael again. Plus I wanted to draw his morbid old degenerate, Jake Horne.”

York also self-publishes under his Maggot Global Publishing imprint and has published Hungry Maggot, Vermis Rex, Tillinghasts’ Moribund Fairy-Tales, Eldritch Pulp Adventure, the Erebus Tarot, as well as the upcoming Zygote’s Fables, and his 100 plus page graphic novel adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s collection of poems, Fungi From Yuggoth. More than 500 examples of his artwork are available at tillinghast23.deviantart.com.

With the help of several additional artists, Vance unleashes his dark imagination in each of the three books of his Weird Horror Tales trilogy. Often compared to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury, Vance’s work is not for the faint of heart. Weird Horror Tales: Light’s End features a cover by famed painter, Keith Birdsong.

The publisher of the Weird Horror Tales trilogy, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. All three Weird Horror novels are available on-line, at book stores, from Cornerstone, and as E-books. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.

In addition to Vance’s Weird Horror Tales, Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting, and Weird Horror Tales: Light’s End, Airship 27 has released Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in The Green Lama and Secret Agent X. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

ISBN: 1-613420-14-5 ISBN-13 978-1-613420-14-0

BOOK SIGNING FOR PARANORMAL SUSPENSE NOVEL

2011-10-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

WHORL BOOKS announces a book signing with author Marilyn A. Hudson, co-author for the paranormal suspense novel, The Mound. The event will be held at the historic Carriage House at the Overholser Mansion, NW 15th and Hudson, Oklahoma City on Oct. 7 from 7-8 p.m.

The fast paced novel is set in a mythic community in eastern Oklahoma and a hotel under renovation.

NEW STEAM PUNK SERIES

2011-09-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

Brian Young continues his launch into the steam punk genre with the release of news about the expanded Silent War series. A dramatic and intriguing story line is inventively woven through the first book De Civitate Sanguino: The City of the Bloodthirsty. It is set for release on March 1st by Damnation Books. Others, will soon follow. It is sure to be a favorite series of not only Oklahoma Steam Punk followers but any who love Gothic, Vampire, Adventure, and Historical fiction. Young holds degrees in history from Northwestern University, Oklahoma and University of Wales, Lampeter.

WEIRD HORROR TRILOGY NOW COMPLETE

2011-08-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

Airship 27 Productions & Cornerstone Book Publishers are thrilled to announce the release of the third and final book in Michael Vance’s Weird Horror Tales trilogy. Weird Horror Tales – Light’s End, is an amazing, page turning suspense thriller that is one of this author’s finest works to date and a fantastic culmination to this masterful terror filled series.

Welcome to Light’s End, a small, quaint little town on the rugged coast of Maine. It’s a quiet place much like many other such communities throughout New England. And yet there is a presence of evil about the streets and byways of this harmless appearing hamlet. For here, amidst the age old Yankee traditions of its citizens lurks a dark secret, a brooding, religious philosophy which infects every aspect of daily life.

Dare you enter Light’s End and uncover what lies beneath its pleasant, homey façade? Dare you challenge your sanity and confront the sublime horrors that await you here, in this cursed nexus of dementia?

Award winning author, Michael Vance unleashes his dark imagination in this tense, gripping novel of sheer terror that readers will never forget. Often compared to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Vance’s work is not for the faint of heart, featuring a cover by famed painter Keith Birdsong and ten interior illustrations by extraordinary artist Eric York. Bolt the door, lock the shutters and keep the candle lit, the end is near, Light’s End.

Vance has written for national and international magazines, and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers. His history book, “Forbidden Adventures”, has been called a "benchmark in comics history”. He briefly ghosted an internationally syndicated comic strip, wrote his own strip and several comic books. He is listed in the Who's Who of American Comic Books and Comic Book Superstars.

The publisher of the Weird Horror Tales trilogy, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. All three Weird Horror novels are available on-line, at book stores, from Cornerstone, and as E-books. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition. In the past, Airship 27 has released “Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective”, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in “The Green Lama” and “Secret Agent X”. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

ISBN: 1-613420-14-5 ISBN-13 978-1-613420-14-0

Digital copy available

JOIN THE RESISTANCE - PROVE YOUR ARE SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER

2011-08-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

Celebrate your personal freedom of information. Get all kinds of gear....

Dramatic, controversial, informative, and evocative - what better words to describe the role of the library in the life of learning for a person or a community.

Show your support of the library in your world, the people who staff it, and the work it accomplishes.

Join the resistance - fight ignorance!

CHISHOLM TRAIL BOOK FESTIVAL

2011-07-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

Author Marilyn A. Hudson will be attending the Chisholm Trail Book Festival, Sept. 17, 2011 in Duncan, Oklahoma to promote her recent true history books, Tales of Hell's Half Acre, When Death Rode the Rails. In addition, she will have copies of her chilling short fiction, The Bones of Summer and the novel she has co-written with Cullan Hudson, The Mound.

Be sure to stop by and say hello, buy a book, and enjoy the event in the lovely convention center in Duncan, Oklahoma.

'THE MOUND' - DUE AUGUST 1, 2011

2011-07-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Oklahoma rooted authors, Cullan Hudson (Strange State: Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma) and Marilyn A. Hudson (the short fiction collection The Bones of Summer; the nonfiction, When Death Rode The Rails) announce the publication of their paranormal suspense novel, The Mound.

This supernatural thriller centers on a disparate group, comprised of scientists and psychics, that gathers to investigate a historic hotel in eastern Oklahoma. However, something is waking and they will soon find themselves running for their lives.

Due for official release August 1, 2011, the approximately 358 page, softbound book, will be available via Amazon or by contacting the publisher, WHORL BOOKS.

FOR THE BOOKSHELF: Classics Too Good to Die

2011-07-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

In this book, the author lays out ancient records, some pre-Plato, suggesting ancient seafarers were well aware of islands in the distant Atlantic sea. Through the centuries he lays out additional evidences in the form of anomalies, artifacts, maps, and writings suggesting a different way to look at the tale and its location. Like paving stones leading inexorably to its target, the evidences are intriguing and the author never abandons logic as they are examined.

A must for any serious and balanced collection about the concept of Atlantis and alternative views of the development and movements of ancient human society.

Check for it at a library or order it at Amazon.com

FOR THE BOOKSHELF: Classics Too Good to Die

2011-07-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

Ignatius Donnelly was a lawyer, legislator, author, and futurist who created one of the most detailed looks at the potential validity of the Atlantis myth prior to the 20th century.

Although often subjected to ridicule, he was one of few people to take a global look at civilization rather than a nationalistic view. He accepted that there was cultural diffusion as one culture influenced another, ideas, stories, and beliefs were thus spread widely in a time without nation states or nationalistic boundaries. He was definitely one to think outside the box rather than become too root bound into the contemporary and rigid thinking of the science of his day. While lacking in some skills, and a tendency to accept too much at face value, his ' what if we look at it this way...' is the epitome of what true science should do. Despite his being derided by some he did bring up intriguing questions and examples that seem to reveal what modern science is only now being to accept - ancient society was more mobile and far traveled than previously thought.

Available from a library or Amazon.com

THE WEREWOLF SAGA

2011-07-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

Oklahoma author Steven E. Wedel used a little known local tale to craft the beginning of a saga of the werewolf which has haunted its readers. Book one of the Werewolf Saga is Murdered by Human Wolves.

Story collection, Call to the Hunt, sets up many of the characters later revisited in Shara and Ulrik.

Ready to run with the pack and howl at the moon? Pick up Wedel's work today.

The Book That Wasn't

2011-07-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Recently via several sites and especially the work of Linda Moulton Howe, a book has been mentioned as one stolen away by mysterious men in black, NSA, or other clandestine agency. A search of WorldCat (a catalog of library catalogs), the Library of Congress, and the British Museum failed to bring up any copies of this book anywhere. Not all collections or titles are found in these search tools but chances are excellent any major work of that age still in a library would be listed in one or more of these indexes. Too arcane or rare would have it in a special collection.

Public libraries - such as the one alleged in this story - deal with popular works and a book of that subject, from that date, would be a very unusual on a public library shelf due to frequent updating of the circulating collection. The simple truth is books get worn out with use, become unappealing to readers, or have outdated images or content. They have to be in print to be replaced and this should leave a trail....

Theoretically this mysterious book recounts the name of the "OLTISSIS" who have some connection to mysterious drones reportedly seen in California and the south. Yet, in 2010 that name was apparently being found in an online game... Hmmm, I feel a tug on the collective leg of those investigating and reporting this witness' strange tale.

Some may claim every single copy of the book was confiscated and destroyed. They were burned or taken to some sinister underground location where they are also keeping other secrets.... It is also possible it never existed in this universe outside someone's imagination.

So keep an eye open when walking the dank aisles of that forlorn book shop on the corner of the Twilight Zone - that may be the only place to locate this particular book. It may be a book about mythology but it may also be a total work of fiction, in more ways than one. If you do run across it, or proof of an author by that name, however, drop me a line...

The book is alleged to be Ancient Greek Gods and Lore Revisted by Fredico Ionnides (1962).

Oklahoma Author Announces New Book

2011-06-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Bones of Summer: A Collection of Chilling Tales by Marilyn A. Hudson.

They lay scattered between the vernal flourish and winter's icy grasp. These are the bones of summer... A collection of short tales to chill you to the bone on even the hottest days. Find out what monsters fear in Erebus. Flee sinister silhouettes in When Shadows Move. And witness revenge slip from death's grip in When I'm Stronger.

"Marilyn uses a darkly poetic writing style to create atmospheric character-driven stories. The result: chills and a need to read the next." Keith Pyeatt, award winning author of Struck and Dark Knowledge. "[She] has a way of captivating your senses and making you feel the emotions of her characters. The Bones of Summer demands your attention and leave you wanting more." Terri French White, author of Tulsa's Haunted Memories.

Adult and Young adult audiences.

Oklahoma Author Announces New

2011-06-18T17:25:00.001-07:00

Developed from an intriguing monograph which excited interest among law enforcement and amateur sleuths alike, WHEN DEATH RODE THE RAILS questions if a serial killer may have worked the rail systems of early day Oklahoma. Her ongoing research has uncovered some very interesting additional finds and some possible out of state links to similar deaths. The manuscript explores early railroad history and chronicles intriguing deaths reported from 1900-1920 along Oklahoma rail roads. Along the way, other fascinating historical details emerge including a series of multi-state ax welding killings where the assailant also used the rails. Whorl Books, 'Haunted By History' series.

About the Author

Marilyn A. Hudson is the Director of Library Services at Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma. Prior, she served as public services librarian for the Metropolitan Library System and as a library media specialist for Norman Public Schools. Listed in the 1997 Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, she was the 2002 recipient of the OLA Outstanding New Librarian Award, and member of the Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society, Golden Key, and Phi Kappa Phi. Her general research interests are in history, especially social, religious, and church history; women’s studies; mythology, folklore and storytelling. Hudson was lead writer and editor of the book, One Night Club and A Mule Barn: The First 60 Years of Southwestern Christian University and authored, Those Pesky Verses of Paul: Examining Women in the New Testament, The Bones of Summer, Tales of Hell's Half Acre, Elephant Hips are Expensive, and others. She received a B.A. in History and an M.L.I.S. from the University of Oklahoma.

VANCE NOMINATED FOR AWARD

2011-03-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

The novel “Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting” by Michael Vance has been nominated for two Pulp Ark Awards, one for Best Book of 2010, and one for Best Cover Art.

“Pulp” magazines featured genre literature and had their heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, introducing characters like “The Shadow”, “Doc Savage” and magazines like “Weird Tales” to the world.

Pulp Ark , the Convention/Creators’ Conference scheduled in Batesville , Arkansas , May 13-15, 2011 will be presenting the awards. According to Tommy Hancock, Pulp Ark Coordinator, there will be ten awards given at the event in May, 2011 recognizing excellence in various areas within the pulp field.

“A local Arkansas businessman,” Hancock said, “wanted to contribute something to pulp artists and writers. Being a fan himself, he wanted to let writers and artists know of his appreciation for what they do. So, he’s funding the design and manufacture of the ten awards.”

“Weird Horror Tales – The Feasting” is a braided novel and the second in a planned trilogy that follows the first book in the trilogy, “Weird Horror Tales”. The trilogy centers around the eldritch town of Light ’s End, Maine , a remote and isolated little corner of New England where dark secrets haunt the streets and homes of this quaint, supposedly innocent setting.

The nominated book features a macabre cover by Christophe Dessaigne, nominated for Best Cover art, and was edited by Ron Fortier and designed by Rob Davis.

Vance is the author of three books, hundreds of articles and interviews, several comic book titles, and two comic strips. He founded the Oklahoma Comics Collection in Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma , and helped create the “Okie Cartoonists” Exhibit at the Oklahoma Museum of History in Oklahoma City .

“Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting” is discounted at http://www.gopulp.info/
Electronic version at http://homepage.mac.com/robmdavis/Airship27Hangar/index.htm
Interviews with author available on request at miklvance@yahoo.com

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCED

2011-02-27T04:59:00.000-08:00

WHORL BOOKS announces the forthcoming book, THE MOUND, will be released this summer. The novel is by authors Marilyn A. Hudson (The Bones of Summer: A Collection of Chilling Takes) and Cullan Hudson (Strange State:Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma).

KOONTZ KNOWS THE NIGHT

2011-02-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

Once more author Dean Koontz delivers with his novel, What The Night Knows. From the opening lines, rich with a mastery of language that borders of narrative prose and that insures the reader is drawn quickly into the story.

"In the late summer of a long ago year, a killer arrived in a small city. His name was Alton Turner Blackwood, and in the space of a few months he brutally murdered four families. His savage spree ended only when he himself was killed by the last survivor of the last family, a fourteen-year-old boy.

Half a continent away and two decades later, someone is murdering families again, recreating in detail Blackwood’s crimes. Homicide detective John Calvino is certain that his own family—his wife and three children—will be targets in the fourth crime, just as his parents and sisters were victims on that distant night when he was fourteen and killed their slayer.

As a detective, John is a man of reason who deals in cold facts. But an extraordinary experience convinces him that sometimes death is not a one-way journey, that sometimes the dead return."

Koontz has elevated the genre to something more than mere horror in several of his works, but in What the Night Knows he has achieved new heights. His works are often multi-layered social commentary, complex and compelling fiction, and full of charged scenes that find our fears and expose them ruthlessly. Here, he takes the ghost story and makes it frighteningly real, entirely human, and uniquely his own.

Be cautioned though, don't start it unless you can devote time to it. It is hard - very hard - to put down once begun.

Rendezvous Rock. Ricky Bray

2010-12-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

See a video trailor for the book.

PROFESSIONAL TITLE FINALLY RECOGNIZES A GENRE

2010-12-09T06:22:00.001-08:00

Fang-tastic Fiction is a bibliographic book listing paranormal reads and is designed for book geeks and professional librarians. It is sold via ALA for $55. The titles listed will tend to embrace traditional literature and outlets- if previous incarnations of such works are a guide.

Smaller presses, independent publishers, or quality self-publishing may be left to molder in a literary grave. Never fear, however, the above may send their information, books, events, etc. to the "Paranormal Librarian" who believes information needs should be met regardless of state being or non-being.

PARANORMAL AMERICA - New Book

2010-10-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Two sociologists from Baylor University have spent several years researching and studying the people who support or believe in the paranormal and the result is Paranormal America. The result is an easy to read but highly scholarly work that brings some surprises including the fact that this once outlaw point of view is more common and that instead of supporters being easily identified by fitting into some stereotypical caricature - they are more and more mainstream and frighteningly 'normal'.

Review
While this [book] showcases an astounding amount of research, [i]t is accessible to any reader with an interest in the convergence of paranormal beliefs and religion... Highly recommended. --Library Journal

"Paranormal America is an authoritative but extremely readable analysis of an important but often ignored subculture. This fine book explains how many people seek personally-relevant meaning in a chaotic and often alienating world. In these pages we learn much not only about believers in ESP, Bigfoot, and astrology, but also about the general ways in which all human minds make sense of our perplexing position in the universe." William Bainbridge, author of Across the Secular Abyss: From Faith to Wisdom

Product Description
A significant number of Americans spend their weekends at UFO conventions hearing whispers of government cover-ups, at New Age gatherings learning the keys to enlightenment, or ambling around historical downtowns learning about resident ghosts in tourist-targeted “ghost walks”. They have been fed a steady diet of fictional shows with paranormal themes such as The X-Files, Supernatural, and Medium, shows that may seek to simply entertain, but also serve to disseminate paranormal beliefs. The public hunger for the paranormal seems insatiable.

Paranormal America provides the definitive portrait of Americans who believe in or have experienced such phenomena as ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs, psychic phenomena, astrology, and the power of mediums. However, unlike many books on the paranormal, this volume does not focus on proving or disproving the paranormal, but rather on understanding the people who believe and how those beliefs shape their lives.

Drawing on the Baylor Religion Survey—a multi-year national random sample of American religious values, practices, and behaviors—as well as extensive fieldwork including joining hunts for Bigfoot and spending the night in a haunted house, authors Christopher Bader, F. Carson Mencken, and Joseph Baker shed light on what the various types of paranormal experiences, beliefs, and activities claimed by Americans are; whether holding an unconventional belief, such as believing in Bigfoot, means that one is unconventional in other attitudes and behaviors; who has such experiences and beliefs and how they differ from other Americans; and if we can expect major religions to emerge from the paranormal.

Brimming with engaging personal stories and provocative findings, Paranormal America is an entertaining yet authoritative look at a growing segment of American religious culture.

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: NYU Press (October 12, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0814791352
ISBN-13: 978-0814791356

TALE OF THE BAGMAN

2010-10-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

Airship 27 Productions & Cornerstone Book Publishers are happy to announce the release of their thirtieth title, “Tale of the Bagman” by B.C. Bell . This book features the debut of a brand new pulp hero, the Bagman, and he’s unlike any other crime buster ever seen before.

In the 1930s, Chicago was one of the fastest growing metropolises in the country. Situated on mighty Lake Michigan , it was the home to millions of hard working Americans looking to better themselves. The Windy City was also shackled by its bootleg history, a time of violent gang wars that had permanently established a brutal underworld empire second to none. Corruption was the order of the day and both the police and government were in the pay of the mob bosses.

Frank “Mac” McCullough was a foot-soldier in one of the city’s toughest families until he was ordered to rough up his uncle; a decent man with a gambling problem. The innate decency in Mac rebelled and suddenly he found himself up against the very men he had once admired and followed. Determined to put an end to their lawlessness, he put a bag over his head as a crude disguise only to become labeled the Bagman by the press.

Now writer B.C. Bell tells the amazing stories of old Chicago ’s most unique hero. Aided solely by a tough, black WW I veteran named Crankshaft, Mac wages war against the mobs in these fast pace, non-stop action tales pulp fans will cheer.

“ Bell ’s writing is a terrific mix of pulp action and wry humor,” applauds Airship 27 Productions’ Ron Fortier. “It’s really a breath of fresh air in the pulp genre and we know our fans are going to love the Bagman.”

Designed by Rob Davis, the book features nine illustrations by Kelly Everaert and a gorgeous cover by Laura Givens. Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to present pulpdom’s newest avenger, The Bagman.

ISBN: 1-934935-76-X

ISBN 13: 978-1-934935-76-7

Produced by Airship 27

Published by Cornerstone Book Publishers

The White Goddess.

2010-10-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

This classic literature book provides some intriguing explorations of the role of the poet, myth and creative expression in European history. In the 1948 White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, poet Robert Graves, makes some interesting notes that are suitable for recall in this season of ghosts, goblins and witches galore.

Graves saw the Goddess of ancient times as a "lovely slender woman with a hooked nose, deathly pale, lips red as rowan-berries, startlingly blue eyes and long fair hair..." (pg.24). Her ability to transform herself into other forms is well known and in Ghost tales, he says, "she often figures as the "White Lady" and in ancient religious traditions "from the British Isles to the Caucasus" she is the 'White Goddess'.

He says every true poet from Homer forward has expressed some encounter with her because:

"The reason why the hairs stand on end, the eyes water, the throat is constricted , the skin crawls, and a shiver runs down the spine when one writes or reads a true poem is that a true poem is necessarily an invocation of the White Goddess or Muse, the Mother of All Living Things, the ancient power of fright and lust - the female spider or the queen-bee whose embrace is death."(pg. 24)

It is interesting to note the prevalence in ancient myth of damsels, sirens, and characters of note who match that description. In some of the myths the Grimm brothers collected can be heard the faint echo of that ancient presence in the lovely maiden or the plotting vicious queen. Always there is the lingering element of respect and strength of woman and the Goddess she reflects.

For Graves the ancient poetry was the wild spinning top, an art form less concerned with form than experience. The further one progresses into the controlled and pedantic period of Rome forward into modern times, the greater the emphasis on form and content. In claiming to 'master' the art form, the guardian child of the ancient Muse and Goddess, the more soulless and lackluster the works, according to Graves, and the more dependent they become on over romanticism and long sections of poetic atmosphere. He wrote his own paen to her in The White Goddess, a poem found in a collection of his work.

So, as one explores the classic ghostly legends, Wilkie's Woman in White, and so many others, give a nod to the ancients whose poets, storytellers, bards, fili, derwydd, and ollaves, in poems, songs, and recitations at court and in humble hearth preserved the symbols and the stories. The great goddess who wooed humanity for centuries. In seeing those infamous flying witches and hooked nose women with rosy lips recall that the Muse who may have inspired them all also had a less friendly side. This duality of nature, so reflective of the male and female and the human psyche itself, it no doubt what has driven this mythic core for so long. We do not understand ourselves and so the Goddess remains an elusive, tantalizing, mystery.

Graves, Robert. The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth. Amended and enlarged version. Farrar, Straus, and Girous, 1948. However, a version is still available at Amazon.).

HOUSES AS METAPHOR

2010-10-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

For many eons the house has been a metaphor of the workings of the inner being, what today might be glibly termed the psyche or the ID. Dreams of houses were intuitively understood to be houses inside the mind or the soul, reflections of a larger world writ small enough to examine and control.

The dream:
The dream was a study in black, white, and yellow. A pitch black night, a long grey sidewalk, a pool of amber light from a old iron light, large shiny black double gates with a large golden crest of indeterminate design, a grey mansion in the distance with lights glowing warm in butter tones of welcome and warmth. The girl is dressed extremely fashionable and senses the clothing means something but has no glue why; sports hounds-tooth jacket dress, shiny yellow shoes, and headband. She senses she must go to the house, but has no clue how to enter the gate. She looks around but sees no one and stands alone in a vast dark night in a glowing circle of golden lamplight looking through gates at the gray mansion with its inviting muted lights.

The dream:
The dream always started by going into the house via the old fashioned sidewalk, crossing the white rail ringed porch to enter the tidy front rooms. Over the course of the dream, the woman went up stairs, up other stairs into spaces cramped and clogged by furniture and boxes. Into an attic filled with boxes, trunks, and things. Then ladders rose high into wooden beamed ceilings with more attic space and then more ladders….

Many have seen this metaphor as useful for exploring social taboos and the thin line separating mad from bad. Some have seen it as a therapeutic means for self-discovery or personal development. Authors have applied it to many works. From Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting” to Stephen King’s, ‘Salem’s Lot and ‘Rose Red’, the house is portrayed as an active main character both concealing and revealing plot.

The dream:
Each night when I want to calm down and get some sleep, I picture a dream house. This is usually an old bungalow or Victorian. I begin the process of cleaning it, painting it’s tan walls, adding curtains or rugs. Sometimes I find that my mind has sought out discovery of hidden panels or secret stairs; vast rooms and treasures are unearthed. Beauty hidden waiting for me to discover and value it…

How ancient the draw of the soul to the home? Homer’s hero sought nothing so much as to finally just reach his home. The entire journey can be seen as a peon to individualism and, as a metaphor, for all personal journeys of self-discovery, one of self- actualization as well. Homer penned his work ca 800 B.C. indicating the deep and long lasting desire of the human mind for its own journey home, to enter the gates, gain welcome, and dive deeply into the inner self to clean away cobwebs. Or, as the last dreamer reveals, we set about gaining control to manipulate (improve) the houses. We are all, regardless of starting place or destination, seeking to put our own personal houses in some sort of order.

#links

2010-10-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

#links
Outstanding list of 'meaty' books to read.

VAN ALLEN PLEXICO'S 'GIDEON CAIN - DEMON HUNTER'

2010-09-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Airship 27 Productions & Cornerstone Book Publishers have teamed up with noted fantasy, science fiction author, Van Allen Plexico to bring to life a brand new sword wielding adventurer; Gideon Cain – The Demon Hunter. Originally conceived on an internet forum, this swashbuckling, globe trotting avenger is the result of half a dozen creative minds pooling their ideas and imaginations into bringing forth a tortured hero cast in a classic pulp mold.

During the famous Salem Witch Trials (1692-93) British born Puritan soldier, Gideon Cain, aided the inquisitions, believing them to be just. Soon thereafter, God revealed to Cain that he and the righteous citizens of Salem had been duped by a cunning, ageless demon from Hell known as Azazel. The guilt of his actions weighs heavily on his conscience and rather than be driven mad by it, Gideon chooses to make atonement. Taking up his sword, the blade inscribed with holy runes, he bids farewell to his wife and children and departs on his sacred mission. Now he wanders the earth doing God’s work and destroying evil in whatever shape or guise it appears; his one consuming goal, to find and destroy Azazel.

Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to be bringing pulp fans this great new character written in the tradition of Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane. Here are seven exciting, action packed tales of the Demon Hunter by Scott Harris, Brian Zavitz, K.G.McAbee, Ian Watson, James Palmer, David Wright and Van Allen Plexico. Design and interior illustrations by Art Director Rob Davis with a painted cover by Davis and Shane Evans.

The book also features a special introduction by co-creator, Kurt Busiek. (Marvel’s – Astro City

WEIRD HORROR TALES: THE FEASTING

2010-08-19T18:25:00.001-07:00

Picture this: a man’s head explodes into leaves thrown up and away into a hoary midnight.

That is the cover of the second of a trilogy of novels from author Michael Vance, “Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting”. Like the first novel in the series, this second braided novel of fifteen interrelated horror, SF, and fantasy stories was written in the style and tradition of pulp magazines in the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, and will be released in the fall of 2010.

The cover was done by France’s Christophe Dessaigne, a journalist, scenarist for role playing games, and photographer. Mainly influenced by the science fiction, horror, and fantastic genres, his atmospheric, surreal creations combine digital photography and manipulation in a dark and post-apocalyptic future. Dessaigne’s creations are fantastic surrealist photomontages. His work is desolate, vast and dream-like featuring huge structures and visions. His work has appeared in cover art books, on music CD covers, and in magazines including Advanced Creations and PSD Photoshop.

“I was immediately drawn to his outré work which I originally found on Flickr, a shared community on-line for images,” said the author. “His dark, subtle visions capture the heart and atmosphere of my own stories which try to capture the something other in an otherwise normal world instead of a slavish use of graphic horror.”

The interior illustrations are by artist Earl Geier, best known for his horror, fantasy and science fiction artwork.

"The response to volume one in this series by the pulp-horror community has been tremendous," commented Ron Fortier, Managing Editor of the series for Airship 27 Productions. "We know there is strong anticipation for this follow up book and I'm here to say Michael's fans will not be disappointed. This is a truly marvelous collection."

“My stories are founded on the premise that there is something larger than our narrow view of reality,” said Vance. “Each interconnected story is set in Light’s End, a creepy little burg of the coast of Maine.” These stories about the fictional town have been favorably compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury.

Vance has written for national and international magazines, and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers. His history book, “Forbidden Adventures”, has been called a "benchmark in comics history”.

The publisher of “The Feasting” and “Weird Horror Tales”, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. The braided novel, “Weird Horror Tales, is available on-line, at book stores, and from Cornerstone. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.

In the past, Airship 27 has released “Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective”, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in “The Green Lama” and “Secret Agent X”. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

FACT OR FICTION: Short Cuts in Approaches

2010-08-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

The new SyFy series, Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, is off to a good start with some solid research and some logical approaches. One enduring urban myth that pops up in several locations was treated in one episode. The so-called gravity hill of San Antonio (there is one claimed in several other locations around the country as well). This is the one that could have been better by simply following their own rules.

The group seeks to provide scientific testing to prove or debunk such videos as the one provided from Texas. They did a good job on the hill itself but on the claimed paranormal fingerprints they fella little short. The basis of the show is to test if results can be replicated with the same results (i.e. the 'scientific' experiment model). One aspect of the claim of the gravity hill locations is that if you put baby powder on the car fingerprints of small children emerge to reveal it was they who pushed the car.

"Fact or Faked" short cut that aspect by simply using fingerprint powder to see if prints emerged. They were therefore not replicating the conditions of the accounts or the video. They were basing their results on a product designed to pick up the traces left by oils on skin on a surface. Therefore, if something other than an oil based source provided trace the process would not pick it up. The claim is spectral presences created the fingerprints so is it logical to assume they would leave an oil based impression? What would have happened had they replicated the original with the baby powder as well?

They eventually brought out the transit proving the laws of gravity were still firmly in place but that nagging substitution is bothersome. Such shortcuts or shellgames are noticed when they happen, and despite allowances made for entertainment or time constraints, the expectations are that such shows never make assumptions about the intelligence level of their audiences. I will be waiting for new, and even more exciting, explorations by this team.

'DAYBREAKERS': HORROR FILM WITH ARTISTIC BITE

2010-07-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Another vampire film? Vampires, zombies, werewolves will they ever reach a saturation point? Popularity of subject matter inevitably leads to ham handed approaches to overworked plots or themes. "DAYBREAKERS" have the premise of the plague of vampirism successfully took over the world, using humans as blood farms until they are bled dry. Then the inevitable happens when demand supersedes supply. With the human population dwindling a crisis nears with the certainty of the next sun rise.

Actually, despite the many offerings in this genre this one was surprisingly well done. The film was of high quality in level of story, acting, and direction. A fine, light, and skillful hand was well used to avoid tipping the scales at any time toward easy action or stereotypical caricature. The result was a movie with subtexts, layers, nauances, and restraint so often missing from horror films.

This is one now available on DVD and cable. Although it came out in 2009, I discovered it on a day when I too was hiding inside in the shade well away from the sun ; what can I say, it was summer and hot. Anytime of year, this is one to have a look at and keep nearby when in the mood for some good horror.

Koontz "Lost Souls" Begins Great New Story Line

2010-07-07T05:57:00.001-07:00

Remember when you were small and your parents said you could not have that extra cookie or you had to put that light out and go to sleep? That is the feeling after reading, "Lost Souls", one of Dean Koontz's newest Frankenstein series. This particular cookie was savoured in delight, suspense, and awe at the creativity found in its pages. As always Koontz' creates complex characters with great soul and humanity and villians who strip bare to revel the human potential for evil. At the last page, knowing more was coming, the desire for another...and another....are great.

Koontz has imaginatively retooled the great classic and smoothly transferred it into the matrix of a modern society that is itself Frankenstein in nature and choices. As always in heroic tales, a small cadre of souls band together to fight for the right, or in this case, human existence.

Shelly originally challenged readers to question who was the monster in her great novel and to search out the sources and goal of consuming ambition; Koontz continues that tradition with skill, daring, and more than a few shivers.

Hurry....I can hardly wait for the next book....and the next.

Mexico's Mysterious Saint of Death

2010-07-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

Spoken of in only whispers, iconic symbols etched in flesh, strange rituals, or hidden in secretive locations it is Santa Muerte. Superstition run amuck, gothic devotion to and fear of death, just what is behind this strange devotion and where is it leading? Uncovering the truth of the history and meaning of the mysterious Mexican saint of death, adopted by drug cartels and assassins alike, Kail illuminates one the puzzles of modern times.

http://anthonykail.weebly.com/ and available at Amazon.com

NOW THAT THE WHOOPLA HAS DIED DONE...

2010-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

"Paranormal Activity" was a low-budget phenomena that utilized novel marketing techniques and a film style designed to evoke reality TV and the immediacy of real events. It tapped into the public interest in all things paranormal.

Did it work, though, as a paranormal movie?

On one level the film did draw in the view with a raw sense of the frustration and couriosity abot what was going on. Some of the scenes were truly spine tingling, especially those taken as 'night vision' video...

Yet, I found myself very disappointed at the rather hackneyed and heavy handed descent into a demonic rationale and a 'been-there-done-that' cliff hanger ending.

A less stereo-typical ending, more questions, and a lot more suspense would have helped the ending to rise above the 'YouTube" realm of supernatural suspense and the 'Got Cha' cliche ending....

But do view it, especially with someone who has not seen it before....that can be entertaining.

PERSPECTIVES

2010-05-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Cropping, shading, out of context: anything can be extraordianary in those circumstances...

WEIRD HORROR TALES: THE FEASTING

2010-05-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

“Run!” he screamed. “It’s still alive!!”

Yes, Tulsa author Michael Vance is still alive and writing, and has signed with Cornerstone Book Publishers and Airship 27 for publication of the second of three novels, “Weird Horror Tales: The Feasting”. His second braided novel of fifteen interrelated horror, SF, and fantasy stories was also written in the style and tradition of pulp magazines in the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, and will be released in the fall of 2010.

"The first volume of this collection was simply the unnerving appetizer. Vance and Geier now offer up the main course and it's a terror filled delight!” said Ron Fortier, editor of “The Feasting”.

“My stories are founded on the premise that there is something larger than our narrow view of reality,” said Vance. “Each interconnected story shares setting, history, prominent families, and a macro plot. The stories also focus on the Azrealites, a religious cult that works tirelessly to reinstate that ‘Other’ on Earth through science and the occult.”

These stories about the fictional town of “Light's End” in Maine have been published in dozens of magazines in three countries. Vance’s influences on these stories are H. P. Lovecraft, William Faulkner, and Ray Bradbury.

The cover was done by France’s Christophe Dessaigne, a journalist, scenarist for role playing games, and photographer. Mainly influenced by the science fiction, horror, and fantastic genres, his atmospheric, surreal creations combine digital photography and manipulation in a dark and post-apocalyptic future.

The interior illustrations are by artist Earl Geier, best known for his horror, fantasy and science fiction artwork. In the role playing game industry, his work includes art for “Battletech”, “Call of Cthulhu”, and many others. He has illustrated books for “Cemetery Dance” magazine, Chaosium, Gryphon and Subterranean Press. For comic book, he's had work published by Dark Horse Comics, Comiczone, Now, Innovation and DC Comics Paradox.

Vance has written for national and international magazines, and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers. His history book, “Forbidden Adventures”, has been called a "benchmark in comics history”. He briefly ghosted an internationally syndicated comic strip, wrote his own strip and several comic books. He is listed in the Who's Who of American Comic Books and Comic Book Superstars.

The publisher of “The Feasting” and “Weird Horror Tales”, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. The braided novel, “Weird Horror Tales, is available on-line, at book stores, and from Cornerstone. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.

Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.

In the past, Airship 27 has released “Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective”, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in “The Green Lama” and “Secret Agent X”. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

KOONTZ' FRANKENSTEIN OPTIONED FOR MOVIE

2010-03-06T03:41:00.000-08:00

Dean Koontz, master of the macbre and steller writer of the meaningful, has made a rare deal with Hollywood movie makers to bring his reimaged tale of Frankenstein's monster to the big screen. The popular and imaginative series has also been adapted as a graphic novel.

Envisioning a potential series of films based on the intriguing and awesome tales (in several volumes) of a modern mad man with money and a twisted dream of correcting humanity, the project shows great potential if movie makers can truly tap into the genius of Koontz to present a gripping tale that challenges and inspires at the same time. Time will tell. In the meantime, pick up the first book, or the graphic, in the Frankenstein series and enjoy......

Book Review: Messages: The World's Most Documented Extraterrestrial Contact Story

2010-01-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Messages is a disturbing account of alien abductions. I feel really sorry for the author, Stan Romanek. He and his family have simply been terrorized, and sadly, this man has no where to turn for help. What official government agency would even believe his tales, let alone offer any assistance or protection?

Like so many stories of alien abduction, Romanek's Messages illustrates some common themes that we see again and again in this genre. First, his history with UFOs began when he was child. Some researchers assert that one will often find a military connection to the abduction scenario, and indeed, Romanek's father served the United States as a career military man. Screen memories were implemented, and this means that the abductee will recall a completely different memory than what is actually experienced. The theme of an alien-human hybrid program is also outlined in this story. Finally, while Stan has not fathered any human children, his step-son has also experienced alien abductions. It seems that families are studied by aliens generation after generation, but to my knowledge, it is rare that step-children also suffer from this phenomenon.

The book begins with the accounts of a most unusual "woman" who terrified Stan a handful of times with telepathic messages when he was a boy. These subsided, and Romanek did not, to his knowledge, have any unusual encounters until he was well into adulthood in 2001. Progressively, his sightings and paranormal experiences accelerated throughout the decade. It appears that aliens invade his home with great regularity.

Hypnotic regressions have aided Stan in gaining clarity about his experiences. During these sessions, Romanek has produced intriguing mathematical equations relating to physics and interstellar travel. Despite being harassed by both aliens and human surveillance, overall Stan asserts that this has all been a positive experience for him. He believes that he is meant to share his messages, and that he is one of seven specially selected individuals to bridge knowledge from these entities that haunt him, to the general public.

An incredible account of high strangeness...

2010-01-15T22:25:00.000-08:00

Next week, I will be posting a review of Stan Romanek's book: Messages. Until then, please enjoy this article and video clip.

Since UFO Sighting, Stan Romanek Claims Extraterrestrials Haunt Him - ABC News

Book Review: Ghosts Among Us: Uncovering the Truth About the Other Side

2009-12-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

Experiencing my first ghost encounter with the spirit of my father at the age of 32, my entire concept of the after life changed. Being one who thought that once you were dead, you simply ceased to exist, I am now absolutely certain that this is not true. Still, I was curious if anyone had ever witnessed anything similar to what I had observed. Happily, I was drawn to this book, and it has certainly answered some of my nagging questions.

With his life-long ability to communicate with ghosts, author James Van Praagh describes in this work what happens to an individuals spirit after death. Also, he states that the most common reason a ghost will make contact, is to help their loved ones while grieving. It was indeed a tremendous comfort when my father contacted me several times after his death.

Ghosts Among Us offers many fascinating accounts of spirit encounters. In addition, Van Praagh describes in detail how readers can attempt to contact the spirit world. The author has lived a unique and gifted life, and this book provides readers with a glimpse into his world.

Paranormal Internet Radio

2009-12-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

I just love Internet Radio, and there are quite a few great paranormal radio formats that you can listen to free-of-charge. I have put together a short list of my favorite programs. I hope that you will enjoy them too.

The Jerry Pippin Show: http://www.jerrypippin.com/ Jerry Pippin is such a nice man, and he always treats his guests with great kindness. Check out the UFO-FILES and the PARA-ZONE.

BoA Audio: http://binnallofamerica.com/boaaudio.html/ Tim Binnall is a younger enthusiast of the paranormal, but he interviews legends in Ufology like a seasoned broadcaster. You will enjoy his latest interview with veteran researcher Stanton Friedman.

Kevin Smith Show: http://kevinsmithshow.com/ Another great interviewer, Kevin Smith offers access to his most recent broadcasts for free, and you have the option to just listen, or watch his latest show.

As a note of thanks to these broadcasters, I know it takes a considerable amount of time to produce your programs, not to mention a substantial amount of money. Thanks for keeping the information free to those of us who are not quite in a position to afford access to paid archives. Knowledge is power.

'LIGHT' WORK

2009-12-09T18:53:00.000-08:00

Well known late night talk show host, George Noory (Of Coast to Coast radio show fame) has a new book out that continues the story of the book, "Worker in the Light". The new title, "Journey to the Light" focuses on personal stories of self-empowerment.

Enlightening, challenging, and inspiring, the book is a must for every self-improvement collection and for everyone searching for ways of becoming more as a human being. Available from Amazon.com.

THE UFO FILES: THE INSIDE STORY OF REAL-LIFE SIGHTINGS by David Clarke

2009-11-30T08:19:00.001-08:00

What a treat to read. Frankly, it's rather astonishing that this book even exists. No matter where you stand on the issue of UFOs, there is no question that the British Government was perplexed as how to manage UFO reports. All sightings and accounts offered in this book were once locked up and tucked away in the National Archives in the United Kingdom. These very reports were likely never intended to be read by the public. At one point, reports held in the Archives prior to 1960 were destroyed, but then later reports were saved, and now all remaining documents are available to the public. What a curious turn of events.

I commend the author for sifting through a myriad of reports to publish fascinating accounts from school children, diplomats, pilots, and police officers. The book begins with sightings in the early 1900s of scare ships and phantom airships. Could these craft have been misidentified Zeppelins? Or perhaps they were the very same cigar-shaped craft people the world over report seeing today.

Accounts are presented in a concise manner along a timeline of events familiar to a U.S. audience ranging from Foo Fighters to Flying Saucers and Roswell to RAF Bentwaters.

The UFO FILES is a quick read, and one need not be a Ufologist to enjoy this book. Any researcher will appreciate viewing the many reproduced primary resources featured throughout the text.

1ST ANNUAL URBAN FANTASY COVER ART AWARDS 2009

2009-11-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

All Things Urban Fantasy Presents
The 1st Annual Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards 2009
Nominations will run throughout the month of November and voting will open up to the public beginning December 1st. Winners will be announced on December 30th.

AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com
Questions? Email Abigail at AllThingsUrbanFantasy@gmail.com

SCARY TALES TO RAISE FUNDS FOR OKLAHOMA HISTORIC HOUSE

2009-10-27T13:55:00.001-07:00

“Scary Tales and Twilight Tour” at the Overholser Mansion:Thursday October 29th7:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m. & Friday October 30th 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.hear scary stories told by Oklahoma storyteller Marilyn Hudson (aka The Oklahoma Ghosteller) followed by a twilight tour of the mansion.

MAKE RESERVATIONS NOW as space is limitedCall 525-5325 to RSVPAdmission:$10.00 for Adults / $5.00 for childrenOverholser Mansion is located at 405 NW 15th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73103Note: Event may not be suitable for younger children
[photo by Cullan Hudson, used by permission

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2009-10-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

From graphic artist Cullan Hudson of Strange State blog. See his Halloween t-shirts at Fresh Eire Design.

IKnowWhatISawTheMovie

2009-10-18T17:29:00.001-07:00

IKnowWhatISawTheMovie

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UFO Documentary

2009-10-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

A new UFO documentary!"I Know What I Saw," directed by James Fox will appear on the History Channel, Monday, October 19: 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. Check out the trailer below.

Video of haunting courtesy of CNN

2009-10-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Recent Ghost Photos - Articles - Coast to Coast AM

2009-10-10T03:18:00.001-07:00

Recent Ghost Photos - Articles - Coast to Coast AM

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OKLAHOMA'S 'DR. FEAR' PUBLISHES NEW BOOK

2009-10-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

Description

John C. Malcolm was not prepared for his new line of work. He and three others were chosen by President Lincoln to infiltrate Indian Territory in the year 1865 to simply ‘cleanse’ it. Their orders loosely followed the procedure that all agents in the Department of Indian Affairs must use to fine and evict anyone that should not be in the designated region but was vague. Caught in the middle of the Civil War, John and his companions must enforce the Indian Intercourse Act of 1835 with special badges and paperwork and nothing more.

Barely a hundred miles into the territory had the dysfunctional team of agents discovered that things are not what they should be. They find small settlements and a city that should not exist and the existence of strange cults, witchcraft and monsters. Each new discovery takes John and his team into a much darker and disturbing world of secret technologies and horror that Mankind does not know about. They are eventually lead on a bloody trail to the City of Immortals where another world seems to exist in private behind mighty walls and where the privilege of living at all is a rare luxury rarely granted by the Immortal lords within.
The startling revelations found inside the city’s walls will open up new eyes for the agents and begin a long nightmarish ride to survive. John and his companions will discover a secret society that has been in an ancient secret war against the Immortal inhabitants of the mysterious city and those elsewhere in the world and must help to wage the war. While dealing with their own personal issues, the agents fight to survive and discover the meaning of life and living and what it means to be Human in the end. De Civitate Sanguino is a tough, fast paced story about the mysteries in the world and the darker side to mortality and what the living will do to remain alive.
This is part one to the series of The Silent War that will cover various moments in global history during the 19th century and beyond from a fresh Steampunk Horror perspective.
Author Biography

Born in Okeene, Oklahoma in the early seventies, Brian was quick to get interested in the arts by the age of four. The two influences were watching the Godzilla cartoon and the band KISS; both gave his imagination the needed stimulus to begin drawing. These influences somehow fed on an over active imagination until one thing led to another and by the early eighties he was drawing fantasy and Science Fiction regularly, this love for warriors, dragons and wizards was fired strongly by the fantasy/medieval rock groups strong at the time.
Even school was no obstacle to get in the way of more ideas, concepts and themes. By Junior High his goal was to become a professional artist by his twenties. Taking on a job in radio in the late eighties, the fun and sometimes stress of show business was now common-place. The greatest influence was discovering role-playing games as a hobby in the early eighties, this outlet brought Brian’s mind into new places undreamed of before.

This hobby was a means to explore many limitless genres of ideas: Sci-Fi, horror, historical and obviously fantasy. From this hobby came a catalyst to so many other outlets such as reading novels, script-writing, etc. One of the earliest attempts at writing was during this period as the multitude of ideas were almost unstoppable and had to be put to paper in some form, unfortunately these early projects never flowered. The possibilities for stories, unusual characters and settings now grew into a plethora of endless ideas due to the gaming influence. By the early nineties a friend had published a role-playing game and Brian was able to submit artwork into it making him into a professional artist as hoped.

This began a long trek of producing many works; at first strictly fantasy based but later Celtic. His artwork was shown and many times sold out at Science Fiction/Fantasy conventions across the state of Oklahoma. Brian’s interest in Celtic studies was initially started by owning a few role-playing games that shared that theme. From the early nineties on Brian’s interests became completely Celtic. This lead to curiosity about King Arthur and a life-long study in the field culminating in earning the world’s first Masters of Arthurian Studies from the University of Wales Lampeter in the summer of 2007.

The research of Celtic languages, mythologies, history, and art was now academic and by 1998 Brian illustrated and wrote the book ‘Lyver-Lywans Bukkyas Keltek’. The world’s first tri-lingual Celtic language book, though directed towards children for the sake of coloring, it was a project new to the world. He took an active part in helping the Cornish language scene in writing and participating in journals and organizations as well working towards becoming a teacher to further educate on the vast subject. By the Fall of 2001 Brian has earned a BA in History from NWOSU and later that next spring started working at a local TV station. The six month stint at the TV station was the birthplace of his horror shows that are still going strong since 2002. Changing stations in the Fall of that year the show ‘The Mysterious Lab of Dr. Fear’ was born.

Being inspired from watching the Oklahoma legend Count Gregore in his youth, now Brian and his friends and family film campy horror skits while playing old horror classics and not so classics every Saturday night for fans everywhere.

Gradually this inspired Halloween events locally and taking part in many related events from Enid to Oklahoma City. By the end of the six month stint Brian became a professor teaching the Humanities at a local college, a job that he is completely happy with and loves to this day. The TV show itself gave birth to a radio incarnation called ‘The Mysterious Hours of Dr. Fear’ which airs every Sunday night and plays the weirdest mix of horror, Halloween and Gothic music and is streamed online worldwide for all to hear now. Because of the constant exposure to all things dark and gothic along the way Brian started to look at the horror scene, in both movies and books and naturally wanted to contribute in some way more.

The Silent War series is planned to be written so long as there are devoted readers of this unique style literature. Beginning in 1865 and ending with the end of World War II, this series will explore a ‘hidden’ history to recent world events that deals with weird sciences, conspiracies and horror but laced with plenty of gripping action. Mr. Young’s greatest literary influences are Robert E Howard and H.P Lovecraft with some Tolkien and L. Sprague D. Camp.

Source: www2.xlibris.com
ISBN: 1-4415-6544-2 (Trade Paperback 6x9)
ISBN13: 978-1-4415-6544-0 (Trade Paperback 6x9)
Pages : 224
Book Format : Trade Book 6x9
Subject : FICTION / Science Fiction / General

Ghost stories from San Luis Obispo County - Halloween - San Luis Obispo

2009-10-08T03:34:00.001-07:00

Ghost stories from San Luis Obispo County - Halloween - San Luis Obispo

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Paranormal/Strange Stories Solicited

2009-10-07T09:45:00.001-07:00

The OKLAHOMA PARANORMAL RESEARCH PROJECT is soliciting stories of real events that could be labeled 'strange' or 'unexplained'. They are looking for people willing to go on the record with a detailed narrative of their experience. They are looking for several layers of experiences.

TYPE A : The event must be verifiable (others must have experienced it, it was written about in a family history or local history, etc.) The report must contain who, what, when, where, etc. in some detail. Details may include things like the date, location, weather conditions, time of day, reason for being in the area, etc. The submitter acknowledges that by submitting the story they will allow their name and story to be used in an anthology of such accounts.

TYPE B: The event is a personal experience but may be tied to the history or experiences of people in the location or setting. The submitter must provide some details of who, what, when, and where. A name must be submitted, however it can be kept anonymous if requested.

Experiences can include but are not limited to:

Ghostly, haunting or shadow people encounters or sightings
Unidentified flying objects
Unexplained experiences
Sightings of anomalous animals or places
Strange, bizarre, or mysterious events or experiences
Locations can be Oklahoma, but also from other areas are welcome

Please send your submissions in the following form:

PRP

Type of Submission (Ghost, UFO, etc.)

Narrative of your submission (who, what, when, etc.)

Your name

Your address

One of the following:

__Yes, I give permission for this story and my name to be used

__No, I give permission for this story to be used but do NOT want my name printed.

Send to:

marilynahudson@gmail.com

Place: Paranormal Research Project in the subject line

WILLING TO GO ON RECORD?

2009-10-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

A writing project is underway right now and seeks stories from people willing to 'go on the record' with their paranormal experiences. The projects are divided into three sections:

1) General paranormal, strange, and unexplained (including BIGFOOT) experiences in OKLAHOMA.

2) General paranormal, strange, and unexplained experiences ANYWHERE.

You will need to be willing to include your name (although you can ask for a pseudonym), include dates, places, and names that can be verified and allow for expanded research.

Send your submissions to author Cullan Hudson at strangestateok@yahoo.com

GHOSTS OF THE MCBRIDE HOUSE

2009-09-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

"What is it about the McBride House that serves as a beacon to the dead? Built in the oldest town in Oklahoma by physician George McBride in 1895, this Victorian home is rife with ghosts from the past. Ghostly parties at 2:00 a.m., spirits calling family members and houseguests by name, dolls that talk even after the batteries have been removed...The Back family has been subjected to impossibly bright lights, loud crashing noises, weird shrieks—even ominous odors such as decaying matter.

Each ghost in the McBride House has a personality of its own, including one entity whose antics are downright terrifying. But instead of fleeing, the Back family remained and gradually got to know their "spirited" residents. This is their story. "

The book by Celia Back is a true accounting of her family and their experiences in this historic and haunted house. This 192 page book is easy to read and at times engaging but at other times slightly disturbing. Living in a house with sometimes cankerous spirits pushes the bounds of being a good neighbor! There is no gore or deep mystery but rather a family's open acceptance that the house they had purchased was considered home to those no longer living. All in all a worthwhile read as history and as metaphysical journey.

Available on Amazon and from Llewellyn Worldwide http://www.llewellyn.com/

Product details.

WEIRD TALES WINS REVIEWS

2009-09-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

Vance offers up thirteen tales of Lovecraftian horror with a deft sense of suspense and heart-pumping terror. His grasp of terror is second to none, and delivers nightmarish scenes with incredible, horrific feelings. Ron Fortier

“I'm a-skeered just lookin' at that!! Woooooooooooooo” Van Allen Plexico.

“Scary!” Guglie

“Nice, spooky cover.” Bobby Nash

“That cover is to die for (from?)! This looks to be a great anthology and a great start to this year's wave of Airship titles. A must have!” Andrew Salmon

“You said the magic word, Ron..."Lovecraft". It is now on my wish list to buy.” Mike Schau

“Oooh, that IS a scary cover! It would even make a good sword-and-sorcery type cover.” Duane Spurlock

I did get a chance to read "Picked Clean". As you requested, I am going to be completely honest!

So far as the story goes -- I especially liked the pressurized atmospheric effect that you describe during the two men's encounter with Caleb's island environment. This was very effective. Caleb is a very unnerving character, desperate and deformed, with strange agendas. Ezekiel is brutal and greedy, and operates in a very clearly defined manner with no ambiguity, a nice offset to Caleb. Hiram seems like he's been dragged along for the ride, and provides the necessary sympathetic character, and the hint of a continuation of the story with his survival.

The suspense built up by the end, when Hiram enters the cave chamber, is palpable, and the dread approaching is wonderfully crafted, especially as the ultimate denouement doesn't occur until after Hiram's fate is settled for the reader. Meanwhile, the reader sits, their mind imagining what the horror could have been.

The giant maggot kind of threw me. It seemed like ... well, the spider leg reference was disorienting, and the biological method necessary to encourage Caleb to create a maggot monster offspring baffled me, and distracted me from how well the suspense had been built up to that point, until I had reread the story a couple of times and regained that sense of dread prior to the monster's reveal. I think I had been expecting something oceanic, since it lived in a sea well -- that might part of it. So for me, the suspension of disbelief got thrown at this point because of the extremism of the monster, which was a pity after the build-up of historic mood and setting.

But overall, I enjoyed the story! While I was out at lunch, it occurred to me that in a pulp-story sense, the creature was perfect for that genre -- over the top and hideous, an amalgamation of evil and man's warping influence.
Michelle Souliere

Mark Orr
Michael Vance has produced a terrific cycle of tales, inspired by but not slavishly imitative of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. He seems to draw from some of the same tainted wells that Lovecraft did, and from those drilled after Lovecraft passed on, but has assembled those traditions in a new and deliciously creepy way. Frissons abound in his tales of Light's End. Highly recommended.

By Frank Creed

After King and Poe, Lovecraft is widely acknowledged as one of the top three horror writers to impact American horror. Lovecraft's horror world even has its own name: the Cthulhu (Kuh-Thoo-Loo) Mythos. Fans of Howard Phillip Lovecraft's style, rejoice--there is an author you simply must meet. Algernon Blackwood and August Derleth have a stylistic contemporary in Michael Vance, a professional writer of non-fiction for over thirty years, who has mastered the short story form.

The award-winning Vance does not write in the Cthulhu Mythos itself, but his Lovecraftian style features patiently built suspense rich in setting and character, usually with short vivid climaxes and resolutions. Properly written, the effect puts a reader into the story, with page flipping curiosity.

Vance paints portraits of fated personalities in an eerie little town on Maine's northern Atlantic coast. Light's End can also be found on brink of madness. Deep spiritual influences and events, guilty evils, and ancient lore are scrimshawed into memorable tales centered on the moral implications and consequences of personal actions.

Vance's voice is distinct from Lovecraft's on several points. Horrors of the dark human heart, rather than horrific alien mysteries, are the center of each work. Readers are snatched from madness' edge by an overall Christian worldview, which gives horror, and moral choices, context.

Weird Horror Tales' thirteen short stories, and a few non-short story treats, showcase a Lovecraftian sins-of-the-fathers theme. The collection is what's known as a braided novel. The tales, all in and around Light's End, are set chronologically from the early twentieth century, to present day and near future. Common threads of symbol and prophecy progress through the stories. Any of the stories could be enjoyed individually, but read sequentially, there's a bigger tale.

Vance's fiction does not cower from language and subjects that most Christian publishers avoid. Vance uses dark imagery and language in a tasteful and literary sense. Pre-teens would see examples of good literature, but graphic content is appropriate for high school and older maturity levels

Sadly, Vance's literary level may be too high. I fear readers won't like Random Pairings: a literary dialog, boldly written without quotation marks, with one of the most dramatic endings in the braided novel.

Overall, Weird Horror Tales is a must-read for genre fans, especially those who of the Christian worldview. Note that one tale, The Lighter Side, should be saved for a reader's zany reading mood. When you want something fun, the humor in this piece rivals Douglas Adams and Stephen Leon Rice.

OKLAHOMA AUTHORS VISIT ENID

2009-09-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

Two new Oklahoma authors will be visiting the Enid, Oklahoma public library on Oct. 10, 2009. The 10 a.m. program will feature Cullan Hudson, author, artist and blogger,whose book STRANGE STATE: MYSTERIES AND LEGENDS OF OKLAHOMA, has been cited as "the premiere collection of stories about the strange and the marvelous in Oklahoma."

Also featured will be TAMMY WILSON, one half of the dynamic duo that keeps the paranormal (and those who research it)in Oklahoma hopping. Longtime paranormal researcher, she and her writing collaborator, Tonya Hacker, recently published GHOSTLAHOMA, a collection of ghost stories from the Sooner State.

OKC'S BBQ AND BANSHEES

2009-09-22T05:29:00.000-07:00

Oklahoma City's legendary "County Line" resturant is uniting with GHOULI to present a series of select evenings of "BBQ and Banshees". Enjoy fantastic food, legendary conversation from authors, researchers, and storytellers. Stick around to see if the ghosts in the storied resturant reveal themselves....space is limited! Information:http://www.ghouli.org/countylinedinner

OKLAHOMA GHOSTTELLER

2009-09-07T15:55:00.001-07:00

Marilyn A. Hudson is the "Oklahoma Ghost Teller" who shares legends, folklore, literary and original stories that go "bump in the night".

marilynahudson@yahoo.com

'SHADOW TALES' SOON TO AVAILABLE

2009-08-25T15:30:00.001-07:00

Author Marilyn A. Hudson announces that soon her collection of short stories will be available as print on demand. Many of the tales were inspired by the folklore and stories of Oklahoma and some from the imagination of the author. Leave a light on..and keep an eye on the shadows...

'CIRCLE OF SOULS' A THRILLING READ

2009-07-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

This novel by new author Preetham Grandhi is a riveting work of strong and unique characters. A delicate young girl begins to have strange dreams, a horrific killer strikes a peaceful community killing a young girl, and the genesis of a story of love, human corruption, and struggle are revealed with the an artist's touch.

Can the caring doctor help the young girl in his care? Can he make sense of her troubling dreams before something happens to her? More importantly, can he really believe what her dreams seem to imply about the nature of reality and of life and death?

Strongly recommended as a welcome addition to lovers of suspense, the paranormal, crime stories, and a good read. Set aside time to read with this one....you will not want to put it down until the last page.

Webpage: http://www.acircleofsouls.com/

'RELENTLESS' IS UNFORGETABLE

2009-06-14T07:35:00.001-07:00

Author Dean Koontz has become a great favorite of mine. Emerging from the often mindless horror and suspense genre - where reason and motive are less important than new imaginative ways to destroy a human life - his works over the last decade have transcended the common and become extraordinary. 'Relentless', his latest, contains an almost lyrical beauty within its text and a rare strand of hope for the dark of life. Like a lighthouse, his works send out search beams that remind that we are not alone. They encourage the willing heart to reach out and connect - before it is too late - with the better part of ourselves in those around us. We are in the middle of a herd of lemmings rushing toward the cliff - but catch the eye of those around and escape the doom of a soulless future.

With heavy doses of natural humor, a keen insight into the logical goal of thoughtless philosophies, and a mild touch of the supernatural - this is a book for the intelligent, thoughtful, and human among us.
--The Paranormal Librarian

BOOKS I'D LOVE TO SEE AS MOVIES

2009-06-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

With limitations. I would hope that they would first come to truly understand the book and the story, grasp the layers and the depth of these authors in presenting a good old fashioned story that just happens to be one to give you chills. Both of these have great use of character and mood in a story. "Ammie, Come Home" was made into a awful television film in the 1970's, I think the cast just walked on the set and read the script and five minutes later they filmed it. No understanding of the story, a lot of cheesy aspects, and little to no suspense. "Lightening" - just grabs from the first lines....like most authors Koontz has had bad luck getting his stories translated with understanding and vision into a film media.

WEIRD HORROR TALES GARNERS FOLLOWING

2009-05-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Interviews with author or artist available; email MiklVance@Yahoo.com
Cover art is available on request.

The reviews are pouring in on Michael Vance’s Weird Horror Tales, the recently published braided novel of horror, science-fiction, fantasy, and mainstream short stories set in Light’s End, Maine.

Tim Walters: Michael Vance's “Weird Horror Tales” is a collection of thirteen stories set in Light's End, Maine. Vance has created a fascinating and detailed background and cast of characters for his continuing Light's End series.

"Billie Hell" is a harrowing tale set in the sordid Light’s End district dubbed "The Alley", an underbelly of rough-and-tumble dance halls and bars, circa 1914. Bishop’s Alley is teaming with drunkards, drug addicts and prostitutes and, of course, is secretly frequented by some of Light's End's most prominent and respectable citizens. From this squalid and decadent scenery emerges the tale's aptly-named title character, Billie Hell. A highly effective story, and one of the more unsettling chapters in the Light's End oeuvre. "Unhinged" features Schlomo Nantier and Charlie Azreal, two boys growing up in the Light's End of the 1920s and 1930s. There are comic strips and pulp magazines (“Weird Tales”, “The Shadow”, “Doc Savage”) and movie matinees, but it's far from an idyllic portrait of childhood friendship in a small town. Issues of race, class and religion are woven throughout this poignant coming of age saga. The timeline extends into the 1940s with Schlomo Nantier shipping out to fight the war in the Pacific, then returning home to Light's End. This tale offers a vision of small town America that, beneath the surface, is much darker than the wholesome Norman Rockwell images often associated with the era. Other tales in this collection include "Face Off", "Random Pairings" and "The Zoo". Michael Vance is a writer in the finest tradition of H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury and other masterful purveyors of the imaginative genre. I highly recommend that readers climb aboard and take a trip to the small but unforgettable town of Light's End, Maine. You won't regret it.

Cover artist Keith Birdsong painted the cover for “Weird Horror Tales”, which is an homage to the horror pulp magazines of the ‘30s and ‘40s, and interior illustrations are by artist Earl Geier who is best known for his horror, fantasy and science fiction artwork

The publisher of “Weird Horror Tales” is Cornerstone Book Publishers. Airship 27 packaged the anthology. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

ANCIENT TALES OF GHOSTS

2009-04-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

In ancient Greek writings, there was a tale recounted as true by Pliny of a haunting. The story was that dreams revealed the death of someone and when the body was found it was just as the dreams had said.

In ancient China there is a story of a girl thrown down a well who haunted the location - especially any men who came by - until someone solved the mystery of her death and disappearance.

In the Bible is the story of King Saul going to the "Witch of Endor" - a medium or discerner of spirits - to get advice from his deceased mentor, Samuel. The act is frowned upon by Judaic-Christian teachings, but nonetheless, even though the woman was probably a fraud, on this occasion the woman apparently brought up something that scared even her!

THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR

2009-04-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

One of the myths of every Hollywood movie and more than one story is that a haunted house must look the part. Author Ann Rivers Siddon challenged that years ago with a novel, The House Next Door. The story is about a brand new house that... from its inception is somehow...not right. It's glossy, modern lines hide a perversion usually only seen in musty, cankered castle walls. Somehow, this genesis in the normalcy of modern life is worse and Siddon's work balances the modern complexities and neuroses with ancient fears. Check out a public library, book store, or the book club page for more information.

DREAM SHARE

2009-04-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

What happens to people in a coma? Can our dreams be real? Do 'alternate realities"' exist?

"Dream Share" is a book for older elementary and middle school readers. It's the story of a twelve year old who accidentally enters the comatose state of his elder brother and the two begin exploring the mystical realms between life and death. Fun soon turns to fear the boys find themselves fighting for their lives in a place where your worst nightmares come true, and each is forced to confront their own demons in order to survive.

Author, Rita Milios, is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and workshop presenter. Rita Milios, known also as The Mind Mentor or The Dream lady, is an expert in the subconscious mind and in the use of the mind, Rita has been researching and writing about dreams, intuition, meditation, visualization, creativity, and other mind-related topics for more than twenty years.

The book is an engaging and very human story told with energy, understanding of human nature, and sympathy for the real anxieties and fears youth face. The theme of the paralyzing influence of fear is predominant and as the protagonist of the story, Sam, learns to "see more deeply", the boys begin to understand that reality is often what you perceive it to be. This truth is what will lead them safely home.

A bonus section at the back of deals with the the "story behind the story" as the author discusses the real life and real science inspiration for the books paranormal themes: what happens when a person is in a coma? What are "out-of-body" experiences? Do alternate realities truly exist? A special glossary to understanding dreams and a "Dream Journaling" section is included.

Milios, Rita. Dream Share. Rose Heart Publishing/Cypress Imprint (www.roseheartbooks.com), 2009. ISBN: 978-982233728 Cover Price: $12.95 (U.S.)

SPIRIT OF OKLAHOMA STORYTELLING FESTIVAL IS HAUNTED

2009-04-03T05:13:00.001-07:00

Not really. But it got your attention! The 3rd annual storytelling festival on the campus of Seminole State College in Seminole, Ok will have an intensive workshop on telling ghost/scary stories on Friday June 5 with nationally known storyteller, Dan Keding.

Dan Keding, storyteller of international acclaim, is well known for his telling of traditional world folktales, personal narratives of his boyhood in Chicago, ghost stories and dark tales, and superbly crafted original pieces.

As a child he learned the traditional stories that his grandmother brought to this country from Croatia. A well-respected ballad singer, he accompanies himself on guitar, banjo and spoons. This combination of dynamic storytelling and powerful ballad singing has made him a festival and concert favorite throughout the US, Great Britain and Ireland, endearing him to audiences of all ages.

Workshop description: "Why are we fascinated by ghost stories? When do they fit into our working repertoire? In this workshop we'll discuss researching, tellling, and interpreting the scary story. This workshop will focus on ghost stories, horror stories and ghastly tales from around the world. They're not just for October."

There will also be a late evening ghost story session with the keynote tellers. For registration, costs, etc. go to http://www.territorytellers.org/

--"The Oklahoma Ghostteller" aka Marilyn A. Hudson

THE PARANORMAL MUSEUM

2009-03-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

John Zaffis, of the Paranormal Research Society of New England, has many photos related to his "Paranormal Museum". This web page holds images of numerous objects taken from homes, or given by people, because of negative energy or unexplained occurrences related to their presence. Dolls, books, paintings, organs, clothes, and statues are on display.

Celebrating World UFO Day

2009-03-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

World UFO Day is coming! It will arrive in our atmosphere July 2, 2009.

I am producing an article for Stories for Children Magazine, which has UFOs as one of their themes for the July issue. I find it interesting and promising that such a professional and well-received online magazine is taking part in the UFO discussion.

The article will be a Q/A interview with Dr. Richard Boylan, a former university professor and psychotherapist who has presented at conferences at MIT and other respected venues regarding UFOs and "space visitors".

Does anyone else have plans for celebrating World UFO Day?

Rita Milios, The Mind Mentor
Latest book: Dream Share, a paranormal "tween" novel
Visit www.DreamShareBook.com (coming May 09)

GHOST HUNTING 101 AND 102 WORKSHOPS

2009-03-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

P.I.T.T. (The Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa) hosts two informative workshops created to aid and support paranormal research. "We will advise from years of experience, and field knowledge, "states the group, " on the latest trends, data collection protocals, and so much more." Discover how to apply scientific and technical procedures to research into the paranormal phenomena.

101 Workshop is Saturday, June 13th, Tulsa Little Theater (1511 S. Delaware), 9:30am -5:00pm. There is a cost.
102 Workshop is Saturday, July 25, Tula Little Theater (1511 S. Delaware), 9:30am-5:00pm. There is a cost.

The workshops provide opportunities to learn to eliminate and identify false positives, learn to verify accurate historical research, and apply theory, ethics, and techinal procedures. Learn proper video and audio analysis, data collection, correlation, and more!

Must pre-register to attend, and some proceeds will go to the Tulsa Little Theater.

Questions - call Teri 918-694-7488 or visit www.PITTok.com

KOONTZ "ODD"

2009-03-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

No, the author is not odd but his character of Odd Thomas is both odd of name and odd of talent. The popular novels about the fry cook with a fey skill of seeing the dead and sensing things often best left unseen, have won a following. There is a haunting beauty under the horror and the happenings of this character, a rare fabric of the hero lost amid the jumble sale polyester of so much of modern life, and a shining light of hope in the polluted air of the horrific. Not everyone's cup of tea, but for those who have found in Odd a favorite read, these are eagerly awaited books. Visit Odd's page at http://oddthomas.deankoontz.com/

GHOSTLAHOMA: Over 100 Years of Oklahoma's Haunted History

2009-03-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

In El Reno, at the historically haunted Elks Lodge, during Paracon Oklahoma 2009, the book, GHOSTLAHOMA, featuring Oklahoma's true ghost stories was unveiled. Authors Tonya Hacker and Tammy Wilson present over forty tales that cover the state. The work salutes the familiar ghost stories of "Dead Woman's Crossing" but also lesser known tales such as the "Bricktown Banshees" and present fascinating reports of their first hand investigations into such places as the Woodward Hospital and the old Skirvin Hotel. The 128 page, illustrated, permabound book is published by Whitechapel Press (Dark Haven Entertainment )and available from Amazon.com Link: Ghostlahoma webpage

13 NIGHTMARES DELIVERS

2009-03-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dennis McDonald's recently released story collection, 13 Nightmares, delivers on the chills and thrills scale. A tagline from one of the stories is featured on the back of the book : "Horror is best written in the dark." McDonald was surely in the deepest bowels of subterranean dark when penning these tales because they will satisfy the most supernaturally starved, macabre munching, horror hound around. So sit back - do not try to get comfortable because these will keep you on the edge of your seat - and do read "13 Nightmares". Find it on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com

KEITH BIRDSONG TEAMS WITH MICHAEL VANCE

2009-03-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Something big just got bigger. Legendary cover artist Keith Birdsong has painted the cover for “Weird Horror Tales”, an homage to pulp magazines from the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s “Weird Tales” and “Horror Stories”. The collection was written by Michael Vance, and is now available.

Birdsong, amous for his extremely realistic covers for “Star Trek” novels, featuring the actors from the movies and television series, has also done work for “Star Wars”, the cyberpunk role-playing game “Shadowrun”, and children’s books like “The Halloween Hex”. Additionally, Birdsong’s work has been featured in films, on Hamilton Collection collectors’ plates, and on U.S. Postage stamps.

"Vance offers up thirteen tales of Lovecraftian horror with a deft sense of suspense and heart-pumping terror,” said Ron Fortier, editor of the title. “Earl Geier’s art for these stories is as stark and brutal as a cold knife’s edge. His grasp of terror is second to none, and delivers nightmarish scenes with incredible, horrific feelings. Whereas Keith Birdsong’s cover is simply creepy to the max. It is a work of intense imagination that will pull you into this collection like a twisted siren’s song.”

“My stories are founded on the premise that there is something larger than our narrow view of reality,” said Vance. “Each interconnected story shares setting, history, prominent families, and a macro plot. The stories also focus on the Azrealites, a religious cult that works tirelessly to reinstate that ‘Other’ on Earth through science and the occult.” These stories about the fictional town of “Light's End” in Maine have been published in dozens of magazines in three countries, including “Dark Corridor”, and have also been recorded by renowned actor William (“Murder She Wrote”) Windom.

Vance’s influences on these stories are H. P. Lovecraft, William Faulkner, Alfred Hitchock movies, and The Twilight Zone television series. The interior illustrations are by artist Earl Geier who is best known for his horror, fantasy and science fiction artwork. In the role playing game industry, his work includes art for “Battletech”, “Call of Cthulhu”, and many others. He has illustrated books for “Cemetery Dance” magazine, Chaosium, Gryphon and Subterranean Press. For comic book, he's had work published by Dark Horse Comics, Comiczone, Now, Innovation and DC Comics Paradox. Vance has written for national and international magazines, and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers.

His history book, “Forbidden Adventures”, has been called a "benchmark in comics history”. He briefly ghosted an internationally syndicated comic strip, wrote his own strip and several comic books. He is listed in the Who's Who of American Comic Books and Comic Book Superstars. The publisher of “Weird Horror Tales”, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections.

For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com. Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition. In the past, Airship 27 has released “Witchfire”, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in “Brother Bones” and “Secret Agent X” and the WWII/SF thriller “The Light of Men”. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.

'GHOST STORIES' Theme of Paracon 2009

2009-03-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

In historic El Reno, Oklahoma, Paracon 2009, Sat. March 21, will focus on ghost stories: why we love them and why they linger on. Various personalities will address the topic from a variety of viewpoints: storytellers, television personalities, skeptics, researchers, historians, and others...

For info:

Tonya Hacker, Tammy Wilson, or Amanda Wagamanokparacon@gmail.com(580) 402-6732www.ghouli.org or www.eerieok.comOklahoma ParaCon 2009 Hosted by the “Ghost Divas” and the El Reno Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is set for Saturday, March 21, 2009 at the Historical & Haunted Elk’s Lodge No. 743.El Reno, OK – The 4th annual Oklahoma Paranormal Conference will be held at the historic Elks Lodge in El Reno, Oklahoma on March 21, 2009. This year’s event will feature many speakers from across the nation and Oklahoma. 2009 speakers include nationally recognized ghostologists such as Oklahoma favorites Troy Taylor, author, and TruTV’s “Haunting Evidence” star Patrick Burns who will headline the conference.

Other speakers are Oklahoma’s very own skeptic, Dr. Bryan Farha, Paranormal Deep Sea Diver Lee Ehrlich of Florida, Georgia Ghost Society founder Bob Hunnicutt, Oklahoma story-teller Marilyn Hudson, Oklahoma’s only TV horror host Brian “Dr. Fear” Young, and Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa and Tulsa’s Spirit Tour coordinators Teri French and Russ White. The event is being emceed by internationally known Brian and Anna Marie of Ghostology! - internet radio powered by CBS.

This year’s theme is “It was a dark and stormy night…Celebrating the ghost story!” Ghost stories have intrigued everyone for centuries, so we invite everyone to explore, share and understand the power of the ghost story. From the psychology behind why we like to be afraid to the ghostly tales of yesterday and today, it will all be discovered in a fun and educational setting.

Ghostlahoma, the only book solely dedicated to Oklahoma ghost stories will be released at the Oklahoma ParaCon. Written by para-historians Tonya Hacker and Tammy Wilson, Ghostlahoma will chill your bones and warm your heart with over 40 true tales of hauntings from the Sooner State. From the first published ghost story in Oklahoma to present day phantom hitchhikers, this book will take you through over 100 years of Oklahoma’s haunted history.

HAGER HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST, EL RENO, OK

2009-03-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

Feel in the mood for something different? Visit the Hager House Bed and Breakfast in the future. Two different teams have been in the B&B and have found a great deal of activity according to owner , Raelyn Grant .

The Hager House Bed and Breakfast

619 S. Hoff Ave.El Reno, OK 73036

405-262-2565

1905 Weatherford, Oklahoma

2009-03-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

In 1905, Mrs. Katy James and her baby went missing while out in a buggy. Frantic family members searched the area around Weatherford but found no sign of her, the baby, or the buggy. Eventually it came to light she had been murdered by Mrs. Fannie Norton of Clinton, Oklahoma. Her baby had been left with a family. Investigating the disappearance and the murder was the noted Sam Bartell, Deputy Sheriff in Oklahoma Territory and one time U.S. Marshall. Finally, Norton was identified and trackd to Shawnee where she attempted suicide. It was a crime that captured the attention and imagination of the entrie region. Some investigators in years to come would muse that Mr. James, seemed a little distant in the affair and perhaps did not grieve as much as a man in his position might be expected. Rumors of possible divorce and perhaps loss of property and land have been discussed and caused many to wonder if Norton had been hired to do the dirty work, as their appeared so little motive otherwise.

Later, pranksters from the local university in Weatherford would confuse the story and terminally cloud exact locations, the truth of "Dead Woman's Crossings", and generally everything else about the story. It is interesting to note that in the region are several hillocks named "Dead Woman" as well as the water realted site. Is it possible there is an older back story that helped confuse the two events into one? Definitely something to consider and research.

The Skirvin - The Real Story

2009-03-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

Over the years, around this romantic and marvelous hotel, have grown many legends. Many of the 'facts' reported have perpetuated errors in the historical record of the building. Some paranormal groups have profiles of the hotel's past with these errors. It is time to clear the air.

The Skirvin Hotel - gem of Oklahoma City for decades and recently reopened in rennovated glory - was inspired by the Southland Hotel in Dallas. Galveston native and capitalist, W.H. Skirvin bought land in 1909 at the corner of Broadway and First in Oklahoma City and announced his plans in 1910 to build a "modern hotel" ("Work Starts Soon on the New "Skirvin House". The Oklahoman. (Feb.27, 1910; pg. 5).

The architect for the hotel, Solomon A. Layton, oved the classical styles and incorporated them into many of his buildings. That location was also where a delapidated landmark was falling down, the old Richardson Real Eatate Office, known from very early days ("Landmark Demolished..." The Oklahoman (May 1, 1910;pg. 39). The Skirvin House was being called the SKIRVIN HOTEL by April of 1911 when a story advertized the "ten-story hotel". It opened September 26, 1911. Within about months additional floors were being added and expansion continued at a good pace. ("Add Five Stories to Skirvin Hotel", The Oklahoman (July 10, 1912:pg. 1). The hotel soon became one of the stellar facility hosting events attended by politicians, the wealthy, and large conventions. As early as 1913, it could honestly claim in its ads that it was "one of the great hotels of America" (The Oklahoman, Dec. 21, 1913:pg. 14).

In 1913, manager Fred Scherubel died, "Health Troubles Cause of Suicide of Skirvin Manager (Oklahoman, April 18, 1913:pg. 1) followed a day later by an article indicating bullet trajectories and other issues had the police looking more closely at the death ("Officers Probing Scherubel Death", ibid, April 19, 1913, pg. 5) and two days later he was "tenderly laid to rest" in full Masonic rite splendor ("Fred Scherubel Funeral" ibid., April 21, 1913, pg. 1).

Is it haunted? Over the years nebulous stories of phantom and frisky ghosts had emerged but lack any real substantive historical basis or quantative evidence. Until someone can supply some dates, names, and facts - or can do a quantative study of the facility - they should probably remain in the arena of urban legend. That is perfectly fine as well. Stories give the past its depth, romance, and appeal.

The hotel is a survivor, a lovely old building that somehow dodged the bullet of the mis-guided movement called "urban renewal" that stole so much of the past from the future.

Some excellent old images of this historic site:
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/PhotoSkirvin.htm http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-02-26-skirvin-hotel-reopens_x.htm http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/vintage/1.skirvin.htm http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/08/skirvin-hilton.html

Vanishing Hitchiker - Oklahoma

2009-03-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

The vanishing hitchhiker may be a tale of truly ancient origins. A Chinese story tells of a ghost of woman killed in a well haunting the travelers along a stretch of road until her body is found. A few stories and poems from the middle ages may also hint at the concept.

A version dated to the civil war was collected in the Ozarks in the late 1800’s. Chicago in the 1920’s with its bootleg, fast autos, and “flapper” lifestyle, saw the rise of the definitive Vanishing Hitchhiker in the form of Resurrection Mary. Through all of these is the thread that the normal (therefore virtuous) present is going to “hell in a hand basket” because of the “loose” and “antisocial” behaviors of the young. They must, the stories all agree, be cautioned and brought back to the “straight and narrow” path of acceptable social behavior.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker motif again achieved great notoriety during the late 1960’s and 1970’s across America, no doubt in response to the cataclysmic social changes occurring in society. The Vanishing Hitchhiker seems to have always had an element of cautionary notice about the shortness of life. In the hippie culture of the 1960’s this aspect was very visible with a few new wrinkles. These disappearing riders were often labeled as runaways, angels, demons, Jesus, and victims of drug overdoses, or serial killers. They reflected the fears in society about the dangers to be found on the road by those who ran away, they reflected the values of the “Jesus People”, and other evangelical movements, and early New Age spirituality in a personification of the rider as a spiritual or mystical figure. No matter when it is found, the story keeps its strong message as a cautionary tale about the safety of the family and of the risks of departures from the social norm.

Oklahoma has reported sightings of a “lady in white” or sometimes the “Lady in yellow” in the Ardmore area and the roads around the lakes. Explanations have ranged from drunken visions to clouds of bioluminescent insects. No images proving the truth of either the claim of the apparition or the insects has been seen by the author. There is also, to my knowledge, no song such as the one described in this story. Every good legend deserves a theme song though.

She is sometimes glimpsed strolling along the old blacktop roadways around the lakes. A few people have described her dress as being slightly in the style of the 1930’s with a longer skirt that flapped about the knees and a cloche hat. Others however have merely cited the faint blurred form or the slightly luminescent image by the roadside in the dusk or evening hours. Who she is and why she walks is apparently unknown. Or, if anyone does know…they aren’t talking

Preacher Girl of Healdton, Oklahoma - 1918.

2009-03-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Many strange stories recount the simplicity and innocence of an earlier day. Some underscore the things accomplished since and some seem to remind of the things lost in the swelling tidal wave called progress. South Central Oklahoma was a hive of change as the oil industry boomed and Healdton would become known as the birthplace of noted television personality, Rue McClanahan. There was a female of note there much earlier however. Meet Miss Annie Browne Dollar, ten-year-old daughter of a carpenter in Healdton, Oklahoma. For twelve days in 1918, she had suffered from some malady that had her in a rigid state, talking only in a whisper. Then one day she was perfectly fine and restored to normal physical activity. There was, however, a new light in her eyes as she shared she had “talked with Jesus” and the “Angles.” Soon she requested a Bible and was soon preaching on the streets, going were the “Spirit” directed. Reading aloud from the scriptures, far above her known reading ability, she would bolding preach the Word of God, and then lapse into the mystery of “unknown tongues”. She seemed very concerned for the soldiers on the battlefield in those days of WWI and felt certain the war would be the last followed quickly by the end of the world. The era was also one that saw a plague sweep across the globe and thousands became ill with Influenza. Searching for more on this amazing story it was learned that Annie Dollar, in 1920 along with a Willie and Vernon Dollar, was an inmate of the Oklahoma Methodist Orphanage in Oklahoma City. It can be assumed that she, like so many other children in this period, lost her father to this illness.

Hearth & Home?

2009-03-08T07:10:00.001-07:00

The ancient Germanic tribes would build a fire to welcome the home goddess Hertha into their homes for the winter soltice. evergreens came into adorn walls and other surfaces, bringing good aromas and splashes of colors. A large flat stone was placed in the home just for this time and branches would be burned there because it was believed the action would bless the home, bring good luck, and health over the cold days into the warm ones. People would walk through the smoke to help insure this would happen. These altar stones of Hertha would later become simply "hearth stones" and eventually refer to the stones in and around the fireplace of a home.

UFO's - EARLY GREY ALIENS

2009-03-03T04:20:00.000-08:00

The archetypal "small grey aliens with large eyes" may be much older than some believe. An Australian blogger finds a 1960's mass market paperback referring to them (http://theozfiles.blogspot.com/2007/04/gray-aliens-1963.html) and it has been suggested by some that the 1891 book , Meda: A Tale of the Future by Kenneth Folinobly, may be the first to use the "big headed" concept ( ). Various covers from pulp magazines, such as Amazing Stories!, do show large headed aliens and "bug eyed monsters" that might be considered precursors of the classic large headed, small bodied, and grey alien of more recent cultural mythology. Stephen King in his Dance Macabre noted the similarity of the alien image with the fetus. Were the horror film works of the early 1950-80's, a cultural reflection of the fear of our future, or perhaps, awareness of social responsibility for the future?

Liars All

2009-02-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

There was a tide of sightings by people across the country in the 1890's of mysterious "airships" that predated dirigibles and similar flying machines. These have long been used to support the pre-Roswell existence of "UFO's". Other researchers, however, citing the known tendency of some newspaper reporters to be less than truthful, or more kindly put, more inclined to not let an opportunity to pull a prank escape, question the validity of these stories. In 1897 there came a report of a visit of one of these mysterious craft to LeRoy, Kansas.

"An account by Alexander Hamilton of Leroy, Kansas supposedly occurred about April 19, 1897, and was published in the Yates Center Farmer’s Advocate of April 23. Hamilton, his son, and a tenant witnessed an airship hovering over his cattle pen. Upon closer examination, the witnesses realized that a red “cable” from the airship had lassoed a heifer, but had also become entangled in the pen’s fence. After trying unsuccessfully to free the heifer, Hamilton cut loose a portion of the fence, then "stood in amazement to see the ship, cow and all rise slowly and sail off." (Jacobs, 15)."

"In 1982, ....UFO researcher Jerome Clark debunked this story, and confirmed via interviews and Hamilton's own affidavit that the story was a successful attempt to win a Liar's Club competition to create the most outlandish tall tale). "

Once again, we see the "Liar's" angle from Kansas - which must have had a very strong storytelling heritage to support such tall tales and outright lies! One prank or hoax does not necessarily eliminate all such reports, but it does underscore the necessity of doing full background research when looking into any mystery of history.

Read the full and excellent report on the entire mystery airship phenom at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_airship.
Also, Publications International, Ltd., the Editors of. "The 1897 Cow Abduction Hoax." 07 February 2008. HowStuffWorks.com. 27 July 2008.

'WICHITA'S LIARS" : 1903
Early judge and newspaperman, David Leahy, spoke in Wichita in Feb. 1903 calling it the "hot air Emporium" and stating that "Wichita sends out more newspaper fairy tales than any place of like size on Earth." He referenced a story where a fake story was supported by forged telegrams and as a result a NY paper was defending itself in court. In another, he told of a tale that a 2 year old had fallen into a bored well and numerous requests for updates flooded the newspaper office. Another tale involved a farmer in the Cherokee Strip and a tornado funnel. According to the Kansas Historical Society, Leahy was an Irish born newsman who was in the first government in Kingfisher, Oklahoma and was in Wichita on the newspapers in 1890's. So, he presents alikely candidate as the "Kansas reporter" for the story of the "all woman town" in Oklahoma . "Wichita's Liars". Oklahoma (Feb. 14, 1903)David Leahy at http://www.kshs.org/research/topics/kansasn ewspapers/Leahybio.htm