The Boy Under the Bridge

When I was a teenager one of my favorite things to do was drive around at night with my friends.

Listening to cool songs under the moonlight left me plenty of warmhearted memories.

One night, while listening to Moonlight Drive by The Doors, someone in the car told a story as we drove over a small bridge. It was about a boy who drowned in the lake below.

The story says if you stop on the bridge at midnight on March 19th, the last full day of winter, and throw a penny in the water and make a wish, a milky eyed boy will float up from the depth and try and take the coin.

Rumor has it the boy's brother held him under the icy water just a bit too long, and was not able to pull him back out after his game backfired.

It's a terrible tale, but supposedly true.

Please tell me any urban legends that YOU know--I love them all.

xo

Coffin Hop Day 4~~TELEKINESIS

Welcome to Day 4 of the COFFIN HOP!

The Stephen King movie Carrie is about a girl who discovers that she had telekinetic powers, but her mother thinks it is the work of the devil. Telekinesis, along with telepathy, psychokinetic abilities, the ability to levitate, and good old-fashioned mind reading are powers we all wish we could acquire.

Always buzzed about, but never quite legit, we think these abilities would help us, but we can't be sure.


There have been many studies to try and test mind reading and the other powers, but the results are vague to say the least.

It seems that some DO have supernatural abilities, but they are not something we can control...or are they?

Today we will do the Telekinetic Trial, and see if any of us have the ability to use our minds to move light. 

What you will need today is a candle or a flashlight. Place the candle or flashlight on a table with the beam either shining toward the ceiling or straight across the table.

Let the candle or flashlight glow for about 30 seconds to make sure there is no breeze to upset the flame, and ensure the battery is not dying in the flashlight.  Now for the next 30 seconds focus all of your thoughts and energy into changing the flame or beam. Make it move or make it brighter or dimmer.

If you are really feeling powerful, try and make it turn off or blow out. I did this experiment during the day, and even though I was in a dark room the feel was different from doing it at night. I will add the evening results tonight after dark.  Another version of this involves a pendulum, or even a necklace with a heavy medallion. Hold the necklace by the end of the chain, letting the medallion hang motionlessly over a table or flat surface. Ask it a question that you know the answer to, like, "
Am I a woman?"

Be patient, because in a few moments the pendulum will begin to swing in a specific direction...east to west, north to south, in a circle, or anywhere in between. If you know the answer to the question you asked is YES, you now know the pendulum will move in the same direction each time the answer to one of your questions is YES. Ask questions for NO, MAYBE, NEVER, or anything else you would like to add.

For some reason people have more luck with the pendulum than the candle or flashlight, but I would love to know what happens during your experiment.

**Scroll down for Day 1 and the Candle and Mirror Experiment, Day 2 for Evil Writing, and Day 3 for Weakening the Veil.  

 

Welcome to the 2012 COFFIN HOP!

Terror by Red Death--My First Horror

Edgar Allan Poe was a brilliant and possibly mad poet and writer.

The genre of horror cannot be mentioned without including him in the conversation. He may have been depressed, alcoholic, and lovelorn--all of which provide fertile ground for all sorts of terrors. He also happened to be a master of words, and the combination makes for gorgeous and horrible tales.

When I was in third grade our teacher told us we were going read Masque of the Red Death in her class, and I was ecstatic, not because I was a fan of Poe and that young age, but because we were going to read something that had the word 'death' in it.

I considered myself a ghost story and horror fan at that age, but my interest leaned more to Tales from the Crypt comics from Oh! Johnnies, a store that sold everything from magazines to fountain sodas, and Dracula with Bella Lugosi. But then Mrs. Walsh, my third grade teacher that had a plastic peace sign on the chimney
of her house, gave us a thin books of Poe's stories right before lunch on an overcast spring day.

I read the first page and was astounded there was this kind of writing in the world. It resonated with something dark in me, even at eight years old. I walked home for lunch with my nose in the book, and told my mother all about it over a bowl of macaroni and cheese. She listened carefully as I told her of the colored rooms and how the matching glass windows infused the rooms with gorgeous light. I told her of the black room with the blood red window, and she told me she did not like that, and wrinkled her nose.  This tickled me.

By the weekend I had enlisted my poor five year old sister to be a victim in my Off-Broadway edition off the book. Being the director, I had to tell her a little bit about the plot, but she was not old enough to process the details, and heard only--blood, death, and monsters. She basically had a fit and cried for the next hour, and I got into a bit of trouble. All this drama somehow made the whole scenario more delectable to me, and I have never been the same. I ponder why I love the fear, the nerve-wracking tension, and the constant search for a book or movie that will actually scare me.

I read the story at least three more times before the teacher made us turn in the books. I went to the library to look up other stories from Poe, and although I liked others, especially The Black Cat, none affected me like dark tale of Prince Prospero, his opulent surroundings, and eventual demise because of the Red Death.

I considered doing a similar color theme as the chambers of Prince Prospero's castle to the bedrooms in my previous home, but there was something just a tick too dark for even me to live with, and the stained glass windows would certainly be tough to recreate.

Although I have read endless horror books, poems, and stories, The Red Death was my first love, and remains one on my favorite pieces of literature--and a clock chiming at the midnight hour will forever send a chill down my spine.

I wonder if it has anything to do with my love of short stories--and germ-phobia...

Please read the short but terrifying tale below.

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/

My short and bloody tale Absorbed on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Absorbed-ebook/dp/B005SUBYYI

Total LOVE or Total HATE--My Reviews.

My short story Absorbed has been on Amazon for almost a year.

It is only 16 pages long and listed under horror, and has always sold at a decent clip. It is listed as a short story and states that along with the number of pages three times on the Amazon lising.

Amazon listed it as free for several months because they saw it several other places free. Then MANY  people got the story and started to review it. Thankfully it has received many (31 five star) good reviews, including a five star Amazon Vine review.

It has also received five ONE star reviews.

These reviewers hated the story so much that it inspired them to create Amazon profiles for the sole purpose of telling everyone how much they disliked the story. The one star reviewers called the story anti-men, too violent, too short, morbid, unsettling  and disturbing. One of them said a horror reader would probably love it.

That is why I wrote it. Because I love horror, and I know there are plenty of horror readers out there.

One wrote although the story was well-written, it was not their type of book.

Another wrote that she thought the book was great and full of surprises, but the story took a dark turn. She would have preferred it stayed on it's original path.

The story is for people who like the dark, the macabre, and the shivery feeling of fear. It is for that slightly off-center group who want to wonder what is around that next shadowy corner, and revel in chill as they wait. It is not for the weak-of-heart. That is why it is listed in the horror catagory.

If you like happy endings, my books are not for you--unless you would put bloody revenge, evil, and psycological mind-twists in the happy ending catagory.

Absorbed is a short intro to my writing--it is not a long and winding epic novel. Although I do not write to specifically offend, I will NOT avoid writing something if it is true to a character or will enhance the story. I do not think horror is a catagory that is concerned with political correctness. My characters will not say "Oh foo when another F word is more appropriate--and more real. This is not for everyone! And that is fine with me.  There are certain genres I do not like, and I usually do not look for books in this catagory.

I do not expect everyone to like my stories. On the contrary, I think it will be a mixed bag. But I would hope that our stories will be reviewed for what they are, and not what the reviewer expected or did not like because they were reading in the wrong catagory.

And if you are reading horror, keep that light on.  :)

Absorbed is currently free on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Absorbed-ebook/dp/B005SUBYYI

Delicious Revenge

Do you recall the last time someone did you wrong?

If it was a minor infraction, you were probably mad for a bit and then let it go.

If it was a bit more serious you probably had to say something, or possibly even felt like yelling a screaming a bit.  The more volatile of us may even punch something.

But if someone did something terrible to you or someone you love, or you were to witness atrocities of the innocent, chances are you would want revenge.  Not giving the evil-doer a good talking to or helping them get on the right track, most likely you would want to see them suffer.Or at least hear something relatively wicked happened to them.

We hate the endings of books or movies that leave us hanging, especially if the bad guy does not get his due.

Oh the lovely feeling of satisfaction when a cheating husband is caught, and it is even more lovely if he is caught by not only the wife, but a film crew, and his other girlfriend.  Same with a cheating wife.  Or one of those vile people who neglect or abuse their animals.  Of course we love to see the animal saved and in the arms of a new and loving owner, but it's so much better when they hunt down the abuser and he has to pay.  I think one of the reasons reality television is gaining popularity is we get to experience the satisfaction of the bad guys going down.

It does not mean we are awful to love the thought of revenge. In fact according to the following article it is unusual for a person to NOT feel vengeful when they are wronged--it is probably a sign they are repressing true feelings.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2831618&page=1

I do not think I could personally injure someone who has done me wrong, but I have never been pushed to my limits. I've attached a link to my short story Absorbed that is listed as free for the next week on Smashwords.  It is a dark and twisted tale of a love gone very wrong, with a few tricks.

Hope you like it.  :)

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/96160

Sequel Alert! Stephen King Writing Sequel to the Shining

I don't know about you, but I get excited every time I hear Stephen King is putting out another book.  After reading his short story, Mile 81, a Tales from the Crypt-like visit to an abandonded rest stop, I was ready for more.

I was thrilled to read a sequel to The Shining, called Dr. Sleep, will be about a grown -up Danny Torrence, of REDRUM fame, and a pack of traveling  psychic vampires called The Tribe.

What this book will develop into is to be seen, but whatever it is, I'm ready and waiting.

The link below shows Stephen King at an appearance at George Mason University last week, reading a chapter from his new book.

http://dailydead.com/stephen-king-announces-the-shining-sequel-dr-sleep/