BYTE MARKS

I'm baaaaaack!!!

2008-01-06T12:13:00.000-05:00

Wow, after nearly nine months, blogspot and I have finally corrected the issue of my access to this blog. Nine months... A child is born.

I will be shaking off the rust and diving back in to blogspot bloggery soon enough.

It's good to be back.

Byte Marks (vol. 1 / no. 9)

2007-04-09T08:44:00.000-04:00

A Ghost Story by Keith Latch

Keith Latch is a writer with purpose and with a confident prose. Unfortunately, "A Ghost Story" loses focus three-fourths of the way into the tale, deciding that, instead of a ghost story, as the unimaginative title suggests, it is a suspensful thriller. A fine line? Not really. It is such a brutal shift in storytelling that it jars the reader right out of the moment. And it's really too bad. Latch has a lot to offer. He put effort into creating believable characters and has a real knack for setting a mood. As a first novel, it's a valiant effort, but sadly falls short. I think with time, Latch will be a writer to be reckoned with. He has the skills. Right now, he needs experience.

A Ghost Story is available at Shocklines and is a "New Voices Guarantee".

2 out of 5 stars

Byte Marks (vol. 1 / no. 8)

2007-02-20T13:49:00.000-05:00

This is a reposting of a review I did for a wonderful paranormal romance penned by one of my new favorite authors. And I'm not just saying that because my artwork graces the cover of this title's re-release. This review was made before I called its author a friend. So, read on and then, if you've a mind to, order this book. You won't be disappointed...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Queen of Gothic Romance.

Tracy Jones has woven a tale steeped in mystery, intrigue, and romance that will quite simply keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. She hits all of the conceits of Gothic Romance - imperiled heroine, exotic locale, brooding and malevolent castle, devilishly handsome dark hero, labyrinthian family secrets - without any of it seeming cliche.

The characters are well developed throughout, from our protagonist right down to the castle staff. Each comes alive on the page, and each carry a piece of the underlying mystery, but perhaps the most vivid character is the atmosphere itself. Ms Jones breathes dark life into the peregrine landscape and makes you feel like you are there in a way that few authors can.

What sets Scent of the Wolf apart is a palpable evil that lies waiting just beyond the printed word. You are drawn in and expect with each turn of the page to be confronted with your darkest fears. This really is a novel that will carry you along. Its maddening pace leads to but one place, and I guarantee it will not be what you expect. Not by any stretch.

Tracy Jones is able to do what few others have done before and that is to create an authentic Gothic Romance that is filled with true horror. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough.

4.25 out of 5 stars

Order your copy HERE

Byte Marks (Vol. 1 / No. 7)

2007-02-12T19:33:00.000-05:00

The Wide Game: A Novel of Terror and Suspense by Michael West (Publish America, 2003)

One of the first things that jumped out at me about The Wide Game is that it is a book written for horror movie fans. With cinematic pacing, Michael West draws the reader in with a director's touch. With a deft hand, West creates wonderful characters who live and breathe on the page. While some of the dialogue is somewhat forced, it is easily forgiven because of the depth West invokes within them.

The true star of the book is something I'm all too familar with... the Corn. Having grown up in a rural farming community not unlike Harmony, I played similar games in my youth. It was easy for me to allow Michael to lure me into those terror filled rows and make me cringe at what might lurk there in the dark.

A fine first novel, Michael West has crafted a story he can be proud of and one I would encourage any horror fan to take a chance on. There are moments where his inexperience comes to bear, but they are few and far between... and overshadowed by a undeniable potential to be an important voice in the realm of horror fiction.

3 out of 5 stars

Byte Marks (vol.1 / no.6)

2007-01-24T10:04:00.001-05:00

The Dresden Files (SciFi, Sundays 9-10pm)
Episode 1 "Birds of a Feather"

Want a recap? I was going to write a concise overview, but look what the SciFi Channel posted:

I've been having these dreams.

Now, I'm a wizard-for-hire-in the phone book and everything-and I face the stuff of nightmares regularly. Lately, I've been dreaming about me and Dad when I was a kid and he was a lousy stage magician. This was after my mother-a wizard like me-died, and Dad was trying hard to keep me out of the family business.

Bob says having this dream all week means something, and maybe the old spirit is right, but that isn't my biggest concern-it's Scott.

When he hired me, I figured he's a normal kid who let the monsters in his closet get to him, and I blew him off. But Bob kept hounding me to check Scott's situation out just in case. He's persistent, and probably pissed that I ruined a powerful talisman called a Doom Box that he was building.

So I reluctantly asked Melissa, one of my sources, to check High Council records for any mention of Scott. She said she found nothing about Scott. I played it safe, and gave the kid a protection symbol to keep the nasties out.

Along the way, I met Scott's teacher, Ms. Timmons. That last part's important, because right then I got a call from Murphy, the Chicago cop who sometimes hires me to help with the weird cases. This time, it was a woman who'd been skinned, but her clothes had been left intact and bloodless.

Looking at pictures in the victim's apartment, it was clear that Timmons was the victim. She had to have been dead when I met her. She'd been killed and replaced by a skinwalker, who was now wearing a Timmons suit.

I ran to Scott's house, but he'd already been taken-by Ravens, who're neutral, and can't be stopped by my protection symbol. I theorized that the Ravens are working for the skinwalker. Melissa, too. She lied about Scott not being on the High Council's radar. Scott has huge magic potential.

Then the skinwalker herself showed up and blew my theory all to hell by torturing me to find Scott.

Whoops. Bob, who hates the sight of my blood even more than I do, caved and gave up the Ravens. "Timmons" left to track Scott, but it took a while.

I got to the Ravens first, and Bob whipped up another Doom Box. I convinced them to let Scott go home to his mother while I took care of the skinwalker.

She couldn't resist the Doom Box-which lived up to its name and disintegrated her. Bob does good work.

This isn't the last time someone's gonna come after Scott, especially once his powers start to manifest. His mother promises to call me if something else happens, but still, I worry...

All in all a good premiere for this fledgling series. Some of the acting left a lot to be desired, but then it is SciFi... not sure if I should be expecting Shakespeare in the Park. It was intrigueing enough to draw me back next week, and I suppose that's good enough... for now.

2.75 out of 5 stars

Heroes (NBC, Mondays 9-10pm)
Episode 12: "Godsend"

From Yahoo TV: Picking up two weeks after recent events, Nathans determination to save a comatose Peter forces him to turn to Simone for help. Isaacs puzzling "Hiro vs. T-Rex" painting inspires Hiro and Ando to search for the pictured samurai sword. Jessica struggles against Nikis decision to turn herself into police. With his associate Eden dead and Matt on his heels, H.R.G. tries to focus on his orders regarding Sylar. After being offered a choice by the Haitian, Claire struggles with changes her decision has wrought. Taking up his fathers quest, Suresh attempts to share information about who is "on the list" of people with special abilities and the threats to their lives. Meanwhile, a new hero makes a shocking debut.

Could this show be any better? Once again Ali Larter amazes me with her acting chops as Nikki/Jessica deals with life in prison. Hiro steals the show...again... with his breath of fresh air innocence. And we get a new hero: the Invisible Man. Highlight for me was the Cheerleader and the Haitian. Their scene together really throws a curveball into the mix. As the story unfolds, I am glued to ongoing tapestry of television perfection.

Anybody else get the creeps from Radioactive Guy sitting in his shack and setting off little explosions in the palms of his hands?

Awesome stuff.

4.99 out of 5 stars

Byte Marks (vol.1 / no.5)

2007-01-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

As a long time comic fan, I am one of the voices that can be heard decrying the state of the industry. I can offer up a laundry list of all the things I think that are wrong in the four color world. It is always a pleasure for me to be able to shine a light on what is right in comics.

One of the shining examples of what is right is Scott and Benita Story's Johnny Saturn. Take tight storytelling and old school artwork, toss them in a blender with the best of what has come before and the hope of things to come and Johnny Saturn is what is born from that volatile concoction.

Johnny Saturn, for me, is definitely a throwback to those heady days of mid-twentieth century "mystery men", ala The Shadow, Doc Savage, and even The Batman (as originally conceived). He is the embodiment of that spartan work ethic and sure moral center that is largely missing in todays comics.

Johnny Saturn is hard-boiled, tooth and nail heroism that invokes the old school stylings of Jack Kirby, Wally Wood, Joe Simon, and Gil Kane, but matched with that peculier blend of modern angst and classic art that has been the trademark of creators like Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons.

Johnny Saturn is larger than life in a way that can only be showcased by the "street-level" adventures of a man of mystery. It is a snapshot of reality, played out on a grand stage, with all the inner turmoil that is wrestled with by we, the readers, and that's what makes Johnny Saturn tick. We know we are lesser men than Johnny Saturn, but his will and moral fibre are inspiring, and that kids, is what comics were meant to do. Not to be masterbatory fantasies, but inspiring tales that show us what we can be...

Johnny Saturn, in summation, rocks.

'Nuff Said...

Visit Scott Story's MySpace for more information...

4 out of 5 stars

Byte Marks (vol 1 / no 4)

2007-01-14T08:26:00.000-05:00

The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud by Julia Navarro

All right DaVinci Code fans, I know you're out there. Time to stand up and be counted. For me, every time a publisher releases a book like Navarro's Brotherhood, Dan Brown's magnum opus rises a notch. Treading familiar ground, do not expect the roller coaster, adreneline pumping exploits found in Brown's best seller. No, Julia Navarro offers up a dull and plodding epic that bounces between centuries like an epeleptic ping pong game. A monster hit worldwide, The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud is simply dreadful. Originally published in Spanish, I am forced to wonder if perhaps something was lost in translation.

A quick recap: Someone's trying to steal the Shroud of Turin, art cops and Knights Templars are on the case, and I really couldn't have cared less.

1.75 out of 5 stars

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

I was really late to the game on this one. Koontz burned me a long time ago. His books just didn't do it for me and I swore off of them... Finally, after twenty years, I bit the bullet and took up the challenge of reading Odd Thomas. "Oh, it's different from his early works," they said. "You'll love it."

Damn if they weren't right.

If you have not read this book then you are doing yourself a disservice. Koontz breathes the sort of life into loveable Odd and his terrific supporting cast of characters that they will become fast friends. The novel paces itself, building tension here and there like a prize fighter setting up a haymaker. In the end, it's not a preternatural horror that punches you in the gut, but something far more personal and moving.

I fell in love with Odd... I think you will too.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Byte Marks (vol. 1 / no.3)

2007-01-07T11:42:00.000-05:00

The Resurrection and the Life by Brian Keene (Biting Dog Press)

It's a good thing I'm no Christian or I would be overwrought with worry over Brian Keene's immortal soul. I'm pretty sure that if Yahweh had a say in this, Brian would be bookmarked for a one-way ticket to Hell. And that, for we readers, is a good thing. Keene turns the biblical tale of Lazarus on its ear and visits upon the Christ a meeting with Ob, that irrepressable Iburr from his popular zombie novels The Rising and City of the Dead.

As always, Keene delivers the goods with a well thought out yarn that fits well into the mythos of his previous works, even if he writes from a totally different section of his brain. In fact, Keene does a fantastic job of showing us just how much he has grown as a scribe. This is more than a well-written Brian Keene story and much more than another entertaining jaunt through a furtile, albeit dark mind. This is Brian Keene creating a work of art.

And speaking of art, I would be remiss if I didn't mention George Walker's rather sizable contribution to this work. His woodcuts are a thing of beauty and firmly establish this as one of the premiere literary works of the twenty-first century. Walker just might be the real story in this tale as his woodcuts invoke Revere's Club Dumas images diabolique from the fictional Nineth Gate.

The good news: this is the literary equivelant of water turned to wine.

The bad news? It's a signed limited and sold out...

Keene promises to release this in a short story collection in the near future. I only hope that he has the rights to reproduce the art as well, for they go hand in hand.

Kudos to Biting Dog Press for producing an awe-inspiring edition that will leave people talking about it for years to come.

4 out of 5 stars

Byte Marks (vol. 1 / no. 2)

2007-01-04T19:55:00.000-05:00

If asked to describe THE LEBO COVEN by Stephen Mark Rainey in a single word that word would be chilling.

After ten years, Barry Riggs returns home to find that his brother Matt has vanished. The brothers parted company on bad terms, but Barry is intent on figuring out what happened. With the aid of a childhood acquaintance, Jennifer Brand, Barry enters into a world far darker than he realized was possible.

What follows is a spine-tingling, edge of your seat roller coaster ride that conjures up black and white magick that is palpable and real. Rainey is a master storyteller who weaves his own brand of magic with intricate pacing and a delicate hand that just as swiftly knocks you back and leaves you breathless. It is a beautiful thing to bear witness to.

The endgame will leave you stunned and will sit within the dark recesses of your skull long after you’ve put the book away. It is quite simply one of the finest horror novels I've read and is a shining hope for horror's future as we sail into the 21st Century. If Dennis Wheatley and Hugh Cave were to have coupled, this would be their offspring.

If unbridled horror, with a touch of that old Lovecraftian charm, is your cup of tea then look no further. Thrills and chills await within the pages of The Lebo Coven.

4.25 out of 5

Byte Marks (vol. 1 / no. 1)

2007-01-02T07:19:00.000-05:00

Welcome, travelers, to the premiere of Byte Marks... Sit back, have a smoke if you're so inclined, perhaps a nip of spirits to set the mood, and relax. Together we are about to embark on experiment of sorts, an exploration, if you will, of the best and worst that horror has to offer and how it is sifted through the dark recesses of my own gray matter. Sometimes you'll agree. Other times not. Be that as it may, herein lies my examination... Feel free to comment on the subject matter yourself. All opinions are welcome here... Now, are we comfy? Good. Let's get down to the business at hand...

Aegri Somnia (Apex Publications / edited by Jason Sizemore and Gill Ainsworth)

Aegri Somnia, Latin for "fevered dream", is a loose collection of horror shorts from the ambitious Jason Sizemore and his Apex Publications. Anthologies are often very hit and miss, especially when launched by small press publishing houses. I am happy to say that Aegri Somnia more than met my expectations of what a good horror anthology should be.

This is a varied assortment of writing styles from some of the brightest voices in small press. From Angeline Hawkes' mutant mayhem in Chernobyl to Steve Saville's super-hero prison opus, Mari Adkins' thrilling blend of science fiction and Celtic myth to Scott Nicholson's bold telling of plantation life through past life regression.

Aegri Somnia has something for everyone, and while some stories may outshine others, there isn't a bad tale in the bunch. I enjoyed it so much that I recommended it for a Stoker within hours after putting it down.

3.75 out 5

Doorways Magazine #0 (Published by Brian Yount via lulu.com)

Brian Yount's latest foray into publishing, hot on the ashes of Wicked Karnival, is Doorways, a schizophrenic magazine that focuses on horror, the paranormal, and genre-related reviews. Right out of the gate, this magazine has a lot going for it. There is a fascinating interview with Gary Baunbeck and the author provides a nice little tale to boot.

There's a lot to like about Doorways. It's blessed with good fiction, including an intriguing piece by Deborah LeBlanc, and some interesting, if not completely thorough articles on the paranormal investigation front (kudos to Marcy Italiano). As a dabbler in the fields of horror fiction and paranormal investigation, this magazine seems tailor made for someone like me and, though I give it high marks and freely recommend it, there seems to be something missing, something not quite definable.

I trust that this phantom will be reckoned with and that Doorways will find its stride and have a bright future ahead of it.

3 out of 5

All right, ghouls and boils, that's all for today. Upcoming reviews include The Lebo Coven by Stephen Mark Rainey, The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, Johnny Saturn by Scott and Benita Story, and much more...

Until next time,

~BF

Byte Marks

2006-12-21T14:56:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to tune in on January 2 for the official launch of Byte Marks.

Change is good for all of us...

2006-12-14T07:56:00.000-05:00

Bob Freeman's blogspot is getting a facelift...

Coming Tuesday, January 2 2007

Scent of the Wolf

2006-11-29T06:53:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Queen of Gothic Romance.

Tracy Jones has woven a tale steeped in mystery, intrigue, and romance that will quite simply keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. She hits all of the conceits of Gothic Romance - imperiled heroine, exotic locale, brooding and malevolent castle, devilishly handsome dark hero, labyrinthian family secrets - without any of it seeming cliche.

The characters are well developed throughout, from our protagonist right down to the castle staff. Each comes alive on the page, and each carry a piece of the underlying mystery, but perhaps the most vivid character is the atmosphere itself. Ms Jones breathes dark life into the peregrine landscape and makes you feel like you are there in a way that few authors can.

What sets Scent of the Wolf apart is a palpable evil that lies waiting just beyond the printed word. You are drawn in and expect with each turn of the page to be confronted with your darkest fears. This really is a novel that will carry you along. Its maddening pace leads to but one place, and I guarantee it will not be what you expect. Not by any stretch.

Tracy Jones is able to do what few others have done before and that is to create an authentic Gothic Romance that is filled with true horror. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough.

Order HERE

A Comic Book Legend Passes

2006-11-26T14:01:00.000-05:00

Comic legend Dave Cockrum died in his sleep early this morning after a long battle with diabetics and its varied complications.

Dave is perhaps best known for his work in helping to create the "New X-Men", especially the character of Nightcrawler, and his two runs on that title. A more than 30 year veteren of the industry, his impact was heavy on the crop of modern artists in the field.

He will be missed.

There are no details of services at this time. Dave asked to be cremated and his widow Paty is burdened with the news, so well wishers are asked not to call. Email can be sent to magnetorampant@yahoo.com

Now on Ebay: The Book of the Law

2006-11-25T11:09:00.000-05:00

It is one of my most prized possessions, but times are tough and it can do me more good by being liquidated than by sitting in a place of honor on a shelf.

The Book of the Law Liber Al Vel Legis Sub Figura Ccxx by Aleister Crowley

Published by Magickal Childe, in conjunction with the Ordo Templi Orientis in 1990. It is a Pocket-sized Hardcover (12mo, 93pp) in red leather with gilt title and designs on upper board and a ribbon bookmark. I would classify this book as being in Near Mint condition.

I trust that it will find a good home.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE EBAY LISTING

Tool Time in Theory and Practice

2006-11-22T07:33:00.000-05:00

The Great Beast crops up in the strangest of places:

In episode 168 'Taking Jill for Granite' of the television show "Home Improvement" we find Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor seeking advice from his neighbor Wilson, a common conceit of the show. Wilson is played as a sage-like figure, a living and breathing encyclopedia of wisdom and knowledge, armed with an arsenal of quotes to fit any oocasion. Tongue firmly in cheek, of course.

Wilson, face obscurred, offers this to his bumbling neighbor: ''...I am reminded of the English writer Aleister Crowley who said that "falsehood is invariably the child of fear."

As I said, the strangest of places.

An early Thanksgiving feast for the horror starved

2006-11-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

Pillow Talk
A Short Story by Bob Freeman
www.cairnwood.net

"What if there was a pillow in that window? Just an ordinary old pillow in a slightly dirty cotton slip? And suppose somebody curious about why such an item would be on display — a writer like you, maybe — went in and asked about it, and the guy who ran the pawnshop said it was H.P. Lovecraft's pillow, the one he slept on every night, the one he dreamed his fantastic dreams on, maybe even the one he died on."
~Stephen King, 2005

I recall the white capped waves crashing against the shore and the thunderous roar of surf and distant storm. Light rain was falling upon me and I was lost within the complex tumblings of a mind beset by the trials of a life unfulfilled. My prospects seemed as bleak as the weather’s temperament, leaving me with thoughts of dark and sinister actions that I could take to end the overwhelming sense of dread and despair. Depression is a mire from which escape is difficult. In the end, we are all alone with our thoughts, and when they take the course of the morose then to sink even deeper often seems the only recourse. Such was my state of mind in what I call the Weekend of my Discontent.
I left the haggard Rhode Island shore and plunged into Providence and the artificial comforts and faux charms of the historic city. They had taken great lengths to maintain the architecture of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century giving the city an old world feel, but there was no disguising the undercurrent of malediction that inflicted itself upon the city’s inhabitants. Something lurked beneath the surface. You could see it in their eyes, something unnatural, unholy, and inhuman. It crawls inside your mind and caresses your gray matter with flailing tentacles, whispering insidious desires to the depraved and indifferent. It was a city of the damned and I had the odd sense that I had at long last come home.
I strolled along Orange Street and grabbed a coffee in the Arcade, an indoor mall built under the influence of the Greek revival architectural movement that had swept through New England. It was a blight to my current mental state with its obvious facade of normalcy. I knew better. I could taste the wrong as surely as I could taste the whiskey I’d added to my cup of java. They couldn’t fool me. My eyes had been ripped wide open and the truth was becoming more and more evident the longer I spent in the coastal city.
Time is a funny thing. Five days ago I was a supervisor overseeing acquisitions for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Preparing an exhibit on the life of H. P. Lovecraft, in celebration of the seventieth anniversary of his death, we received a collection of crated items from his hometown. It was to be personal items, those things with which the author would have had contact with on a daily basis. There was one crate however unmarked and with no return address. Little did I realize as we cracked the seal how my life would change. Little did I realize that when the veil was lifted from my eyes that the world would be born anew and white would become black, day would turn to night, and all that was right would suddenly become wrong.
Five days ago I was a son and a husband. Four days ago I became an orphan and a widower. Was I to blame? Assuredly. It was I, after all, who chose my profession, majoring in History and Literature at Chicago University and following my Master’s Degree into the posh employment of the Field Museum. It was I who gave the order to uncrate the Lovecraft artifacts. It was I who removed the pillow with its dirty and soiled slip cover. It was I who touched the pillow to my head and had the first inkling of the god awful truth. It was I who heard the whispers from within and again I who heeded their call. And, to my shame, it was I who was the instrument of their intent.
Five days ago I awoke from a night of restless sleep and now that the sleeper has awakened there can be no return to the realm of dreams and nightmare. The nightmares are now real and have slain the dreams of youth. Reality wears a new yet ancient face and it stares at me from behind the facade of everyone I see. Truth is liberating even when it is revealed to be uninhibited evil. The mask is cast aside. The world is bathed no longer in the afterglow of false hope and promise. I have been reborn into the world and it is a world of darkness unfettered.
I crossed the street and stumbled into a shuffling maniac, grimy and unclean. He of the great unwashed. He mumbled something unintelligible and to my dismay I was forced to retort.
“Excuse me?” I questioned. It came out half choked. I realized I hadn’t spoken aloud in four days, perhaps because I feared I would be tempted to scream and never stop. Even at the coffee shop I had merely pointed at the menu, paying wordlessly with ne’er a thank you, fuck you, or how do you do.
“I said,” the man responded, “the sleeper must awaken.”
“And your inference?”
“My what?”
“What do you mean by what you said, the sleeper must awaken?” I was angry and a touch maniacal myself. I mean I was, after all, responsible for three deaths in four days by my reckoning and so was in no mood to banter with a homeless vagabond of limited means. That he should issue forth a message of such a cryptic nature, or one so obviously personal was fitting. There was little doubt that I was in the midst of a preternatural communication from beyond the realm of reason.
“Beyond the Wall of Sleep, a shadow grows and its shape is not unlike the shadow you cast.” The beggar man said through his crumb filled beard and crooked little mouth filled with broken, blackened teeth.
“What does that mean?” I pleaded, dropping my travel bag and grasping Aqualung by the shoulders of his thread bare coat. We were standing in the near lane of Orange Street and a taxi honked and swerved to avoid us, but I was oblivious to the danger. This man was somehow connected to the wraith like tendrils that was stroking my fracturing psyche and I would not be denied.
I called out to the taxi, begging for it to stop and I forced the man inside. The homeless man muttered something but a quick elbow to the ribs quieted him down. He doubled over, head into his lap, gasping for breath in a raspy fashion. The cabby was unperturbed.
“Swan Point Cemetery,” I said calmly.
Swan Point was located on the northeast side of Providence, on an estate of some two hundred acres, extending from Blackstone Boulevard easterly to the shore of the Seekonk River. The grounds were comprised of an odd combination of lawns and drives, with sporadic copses of forest, and an undergrowth of laurel, rhododendrons, azaleas and other shrubs that attempted to flower within this city of the dead. Steep banks and deep ravines populated the river side, and in the open places were deceptive vistas of the river and the surrounding country… deceptive in that I could see the true face of Providence and its unholy and unnatural surroundings. This was a land neck deep in filth and evil and the vileness seeped from the very ground itself, so pervasive was its malignancy.
With the shambling one and my package in tow, we exited the taxi and marched across the soggy lawn and toward He Who Waits. The package weighed heavy, like Marley’s chains I suppose. It was all I had brought from my Evanston townhouse. The only thing to which I could not bear to part, not since I had uncrated the prize five nights before and had put it to good use but a night of restless sleep later. It whispered to me from within its wrapping, encouraging me in my quest for truth.
After ten minutes we arrived at our destination, nestled in perpetual shadow. The icy rain fell harder here, was colder by far than any rain I’d felt before. The ominous storm to which I had viewed from the coast a few hours earlier had decided to take root over Swan Point. A vortex of tumultuous energy swirled overhead, black clouds pulsating with eldritch dynamism, lightning dancing back and forth across the darkening sky.
“Alright,” I called out above the wind and rain, “here we are. Now you will tell me what you know.”
“Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness,” the vagabond replied, his eyes gone feral like a caged animal.
“You speak in the same riddles as that which I hold in my hands. Are you a conduit of the Ancient Voices that once ruled this place?” I was tearing at the package and let the scraps of brown parcel float away on the savage wind. I held the pillow tightly. Spittle stained and yellowed with age, dark brown stains had been added to the slip cover’s menagerie of filth. I released it and it fell heavily like lead, coming to rest at the base of the headstone we stood before, the monument to an artist passed.
I am Providence it read. I am Providence. How very egotistical of the author, to claim himself to be his own birthplace. What could Howard have meant by this? Was it even his desire for it to be placed there? Was it his way of stating that Providence was the home of his dark dreams, those same dreams dreamt upon the very pillow now lying like an enigma at the very spot of its former owners final resting place? Was it a cryptic clue revealing the location of the Ancient Gods that once called this world their realm? The raging storm overhead thought so.
I struck the vagabond hard in the face and he fell to the ground like a tree felled in the forest. I fell upon him, straddling his chest and I could see in his eyes that the truth was his. He was a follower of the denizens of the deep and must be quieted. I hefted the heavy pillow from its place of rest and forced it down upon the dark pilgrims face. He struggled beneath me, much more than my parents had, but oddly, not as violently as my wife had struggled.
I released the pillow from my grasp and it was lifted up by the dark winds and carried away, now as light as the feathers that filled it. It sailed up and away from my sight, becoming but a speck to my enfeebled vision. Tears had chosen to join the rainwater that cascaded down my face. I was still straddling the vagabond when they came and drug me away from Lovecraft’s grave.
For months now I have languished within this cell, its walls padded against my attempts at self destruction. I have written my tale in my own blood and inscribed it upon these walls, hoping that it would reach ears that would find the truth within the words I’ve scrawled. Such is the nature of the damned and forgotten.
Somewhere, out there, an ill wind blows and carries with it Lovecraft’s pillow. Somewhere, out there, someone will find it and if they should perchance lie upon it to dream, then they too will know what I have come to know. They will have the veil lifted and their eyes will be ripped open and then they will see what I have seen and what I continue to see each night when sleep overtakes me. Such is the nature of the damned and forgotten. Such is the nature of restless sleep.

FIN

IHWA

2006-11-21T08:42:00.000-05:00

Last night, I made the moderate drive to the big city and joined the Indiana Horror Writers at the 71st Street Starbucks on the edge of Indianapolis. This was the second meeting I'd ventured out for. The first, a month previous, was a "boy's night out" as President Michael West, Secretary Maurice Broaddus, and myself settled down for a night of convention gossip and craft discussion. Last night's meeting was a much different affair.

Enter the ladies of IHWA.

All of the members were in attendance for the November meeting, the group's last of the year. I was welcomed by Tracy Jones, Sara Larson, and Lauren David, as well as Michael and Maurice. The women added a playful nature to the night's proceedings that mixed well with the serious critique of one of Michael's stories and the discussions of past and future cons.

The membership of the IHWA is a solid group, with talented and thoughtful writers. I believe I will be very comfortable with these fine folk. They are honest and care about their craft, but they aren't afraid to let their hair down and that's refreshing.

I can hardly wait for January and the first meeting of 2007.

My thanks to everyone for welcoming me into their group. It is an honor and a pleasure for me to be counted among them.

Flying Fists at the Icehouse

2006-11-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

In a brief exchange with one of my favorite writers, Jack Kincaid, I mentioned that I had once done time as a bartender and bouncer. It was a fact he was unaware of and this inturn set my wheels to churning, cobwebs shaking loose memories of long gone days.

Irony being what it is, and considering my infinite fondness for Robert E. Howard I think this equates, I did a seven year tour of duty in a nightclub called the Icehouse. I was tailor made for bouncing in bars I'm afraid. I was tall (6'2"), so I could see over the crowd, and I was big (at the time I weighed in at 245#), so I could move the crowd. I was also hard headed, which is probably the most important skillset to have in a bouncer's arsenal.

I've been stabbed, had chairs and bottles broken over my head and back, shot at, clawed, bit, punched, kicked, and mauled. Oh, and maced.

When I started, back in 1991, I was being paid $25 a night, three nights a week. That generally equated to about $8 per fight. Can you imagine? Here's eight dollars, now go wade through 500 people and disarm a crazy drunk with a broken beer bottle.

It was a rough life, let me assure you. Seeing as how the pay was rather poor, it was a second job. My "day job" was as a construction worker. I'd spend 12 hours Monday through Saturday roofing barns and houses, or framing additions... then on Thursday through Saturday I would bounce from 8pm to 4am. I usually got about three hours of sleep on those weekends. And had to fight on top of the lack of sleep. Like I said... a rough life.

Luckily, I never got hurt and never lost a fight. It often helps being a sober man in a drunken brawl. One of the things most people don't realize about bar security is that rarely are you just throwing down with one guy... most often it is the primary drunken idiot quickly followed by a melee with that idiot's friends. Rarely did I ever have to fight one on one with a guy... It was usually a two or three on one deal. But I survived... and I had fun.

Fun?

Really?

Yeah, it was. When the adreneline's flowing and your life is on the line, well, you feel alive in a way that you don't get elsewhere. Would I have preferred to have the night pass quietly, laughing and joking with the patrons? Sure. But looking back now, I miss it. The chest thumping. The bravado. The crushing blows.

But that shit's for young men, and I'm not the iron warrior I was then. Not by a long shot.

But there's some life in me yet.

An old scapper always got one more fight in 'em... :)

Puritan: A Devil of a Good Idea

2006-11-11T07:47:00.000-05:00

By Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 09.11.06

Here's a strange horror thriller.

Swathed in a kind of luminous darkness throughout, it has Nick Moran as Puritan, an alcoholic writer on the paranormal researching the links between ghostly goings-on in Whitechapel and the several churches built by Hawksmoor.

He lives in a house designed by that eccentric and possibly wicked architect, and works on the side as a medium for the bereaved.

He is visited by a disfigured man called Grey (Pete Hodge), whose wife (Georgina Rylance) has left him for the pseudo-fascist head of a doubtful think-tank (David Soul); Puritan then meets Grey's ex-wife and he too falls for her. Grey tries to warn him off but murder most foul is the result.

The killing comes as no real surprise, since it transpires that Aleister Crowley once lived in Puritan's house and was said to have summoned up the Devil there.

Hadi Hajaig produced, directed, wrote and helped to edit this weird and sometimes rather wonderful film which is original, if pretty uneven.

He's distributing it himself, and you have to wish him luck.

SLAYER is coming...

2006-11-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

No, not the band, nor the novel by Karen Kohler... Just one of the most highly anticipated DVD releases in ages.

Check it Out:

Every year, new species of creatures are discovered within the world's jungles, just as others become extinct.

On November 21st, Anchor Bay Entertainment will release Slayer , a story of a company of soldiers sent on a mission into the South American jungle where they discover a new breed of vampire, deadly by day as well as by night!

Written and directed by Kevin VanHook (Voodoo Moon , The Fallen Ones , The Damned) and starring Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, Sleepy Hollow ) and Jennifer O'Dell (“CSI: Miami,” “The Closer,” “Nip/Tuck”), Slayer is a terrifying update on the vampire legend and with an SRP of $19.98, it won't drain you.

Slayer begins when a peace-keeping army is dispatched to a remote jungle in South America to investigate a series of horrific attacks. Headed by Captain Tom ‘Hawk' Hawkins (Van Dien) and his second-in-command Grieves (Kevin Grevioux – Underworld , “Angel”, Bowfinger), the squad finds itself in a deadly confrontation with a nest of vampires impervious to daylight.

And these vampires are growing in number, for they have gone beyond preying on the local villagers. Now they are directing their thirst towards Hawk's fellow officers, intent on absorbing their military knowledge for their own bloody campaign!

Slayer co-stars Lynda Carter (“Wonder Woman”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Sky High ), cult movie favorite Danny Trejo ( The Devil's Rejects , All Souls Day: Dia de los Muertos ) and former Miss Puerto Rico Joyce Giraud (“Joey”, Dude, Where's My Car? )

The Slayer DVD also hosts a slew of sinister supplements including:

Widescreen presentation (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions
Audio commentary by Writer/Director Kevin VanHook and Star Casper Van Dien
Photo and concept art gallery
Script ( DVD -ROM)

Filmed on location in Puerto Rico, including the famous Rio Camuy Caves , Slayer presents an epic battle between the living and the undead against a suitably savage landscape. With its unique interpretation of one of horror's most popular legends, anyone with a stake in vampires will want to take a bite out of Slayer !

SLAYER

Street Date: November 21, 2006
Pre-Book: October 11, 2006
Catalog #: N9000
UPC: 0-1313-89000-8 1
Run Time: 87 Minutes
Rating: Horror
SRP : $19.98

The Passage of Time

2006-11-07T08:40:00.000-05:00

Monday Morning Grab Bag

2006-11-06T07:46:00.000-05:00

A Monday Morning Grab Bag of Links to Stories of Interest:

Stonehenge in trouble

Harrassment at Glastonbury

More Glastonbury Fall-out

A Visit to Avebury

And for something completely different...

Colts Win!!!

Oh, what could have been...

2006-11-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

Spectre was created, written, and produced by Gene Roddenberry for airing on NBC May 21, 1977. This supernatural thriller starred Gig Young and Robert Culp as two paranormalists battling a great and powerful force plaguing a wealthy London financier. Directed by Clive Donner, Spectre had little in common with Star Trek or any previous Roddenberry project.

The concept promised "horrors unimaginable, a descent into a corner of hell" but rattled off as an anemic, talky 1970's melodrama.

Joel Eisner remarks, "I always liked Spectre, it had sort of a feel like a Hammer film and a Kolchak episode mixed together. I thought Gig Young was miscast, in fact I think Darren McGavin would have been a better choice, and, in lieu of the fact that Young killed himself shortly after the film aired, they would have had to recast if the show sold."

"I recently found something interesting about this film which I and several other film historians I know never knew." Eisner continued. "There was a European version of this film with extra footage and, in particular, nudity. It has always been known that many films added nude and violence for the European market. It was also known that many us TV movies were aired theatrically in England and Europe, but the addition of nudity to a TV movie is rare. In the case of this film, unknown, until recently when the Fox Movie Channel aired the film several times - mostly overnight - I hadn't seen the film for years and was surprised when I found that the print they were airing must have been the overseas version because of the several nude women that appeared in the black mass scene at the end of the film. Not just in the background but in full topless and bottomless (from the back) closeup. Not that it hurt the film, in fact, it made the scene less choppy as it originally appeared. I guess to cut out the nudity, they had to splice the scenes closer together. I hope they get around to releasing this version to disc."

After Spectre, Gene Roddenberry gave up on getting another TV series off the ground.

Shadows Over Somerset

2006-11-03T14:44:00.000-05:00

Just a friendly reminder that

Shadows Over Somerset,

first in the Cairnwood Manor series,

is available from several sources.

You can order from:

BLACK DEATH BOOKS

SHOCKLINES

BARNES & NOBLE

BORDERS/WALDENBOOKS

AMAZON

or order directly from your favorite

brick and mortar location.

Shadows' ISBN # is 0976791447

Look for me to be signing in person on December 2

at the Waldenbooks in the Mounds Mall, Anderson IN

Hope you can make it.

Neil Gaiman's Halloween Post

2006-11-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

Ghosts in the Machine by Neil Gaiman

WE are gathered here at the final end of what Bradbury called the October Country: a state of mind as much as it is a time. All the harvests are in, the frost is on the ground, there’s mist in the crisp night air and it’s time to tell ghost stories.

When I was growing up in England, Halloween was no time for celebration. It was the night when, we were assured, the dead walked, when all the things of night were loosed, and, sensibly, believing this, we children stayed at home, closed our windows, barred our doors, listened to the twigs rake and patter at the window-glass, shivered, and were content.

There were days that changed everything: birthdays and New Years and First Days of School, days that showed us that there was an order to all things, and the creatures of the night and the imagination understood this, just as we did. All Hallows’ Eve was their party, the night all their birthdays came at once. They had license — all the boundaries set between the living and the dead were breached — and there were witches, too, I decided, for I had never managed to be scared of ghosts, but witches, I knew, waited in the shadows, and they ate small boys.

I did not believe in witches, not in the daylight. Not really even at midnight. But on Halloween I believed in everything. I even believed that there was a country across the ocean where, on that night, people my age went from door to door in costumes, begging for sweets, threatening tricks.
Halloween was a secret, back then, something private, and I would hug myself inside on Halloween, as a boy, most gloriously afraid.

•
Now I write fictions, and sometimes those stories stray into the shadows, and then I find I have to explain myself to my loved ones and my friends.

Why do you write ghost stories? Is there any place for ghost stories in the 21st century?

As Alice said, there’s plenty of room. Technology does nothing to dispel the shadows at the edge of things. The ghost-story world still hovers at the limits of vision, making things stranger, darker, more magical, just as it always has ....

There’s a blog I don’t think anyone else reads. I ran across it searching for something else, and something about it, the tone of voice perhaps, so flat and bleak and hopeless, caught my attention. I bookmarked it.
If the girl who kept it knew that anyone was reading it, anybody cared, perhaps she would not have taken her own life. She even wrote about what she was going to do, the pills, the Nembutal and Seconal and the rest, that she had stolen a few at a time over the months from her stepfather’s bathroom, the plastic bag, the loneliness, and wrote about it in a flat, pragmatic way, explaining that while she knew that suicide attempts were cries for help, this really wasn’t, she just didn’t want to live any longer.
She counted down to the big day, and I kept reading, uncertain what to do, if anything. There was not enough identifying information on the Web page even to tell me which continent she lived on. No e-mail address. No way to leave comments. The last message said simply, “Tonight.”
I wondered whom I should tell, if anyone, and then I shrugged, and, best as I could, I swallowed the feeling that I had let the world down.
And then she started to post again. She says she’s cold and she’s lonely.
I think she knows I’m still reading ....

•
I remember the first time I found myself in New York for Halloween. The parade went past, and went past and went past, all witches and ghouls and demons and wicked queens and glorious, and I was, for a moment, 7 years old once more, and profoundly shocked. If you did this in England, I found myself thinking in the part of my head that makes stories, things would wake, all the things we burn our bonfires on Guy Fawkes’ to keep away. Perhaps they can do it here, because the things that watch are not English. Perhaps the dead do not walk here, on Halloween.

Then, a few years later, I moved to America and bought a house that looked as if it had been drawn by Charles Addams on a day he was feeling particularly morbid. For Halloween, I learned to carve pumpkins, then I stocked up on candies and waited for the first trick-or-treaters to arrive. Fourteen years later, I’m still waiting. Perhaps my house looks just a little too unsettling; perhaps it’s simply too far out of town.

•
And then there was the one who said, in her cellphone’s voicemail message, sounding amused as she said it, that she was afraid she had been murdered, but to leave a message and she would get back to us.
It wasn’t until we read the news, several days later, that we learned that she had indeed been murdered, apparently randomly and quite horribly.
But then she did get back to each of the people who had left her a message. By phone, at first, leaving cellphone messages that sounded like someone whispering in a gale, muffled wet sounds that never quite resolved into words.
Eventually, of course, she will return our calls in person.

•
And still they ask, Why tell ghost stories? Why read them or listen to them? Why take such pleasure in tales that have no purpose but, comfortably, to scare?

I don’t know. Not really. It goes way back. We have ghost stories from ancient Egypt, after all, ghost stories in the Bible, classical ghost stories from Rome (along with werewolves, cases of demonic possession and, of course, over and over, witches). We have been telling each other tales of otherness, of life beyond the grave, for a long time; stories that prickle the flesh and make the shadows deeper and, most important, remind us that we live, and that there is something special, something unique and remarkable about the state of being alive.

Fear is a wonderful thing, in small doses. You ride the ghost train into the darkness, knowing that eventually the doors will open and you will step out into the daylight once again. It’s always reassuring to know that you’re still here, still safe. That nothing strange has happened, not really. It’s good to be a child again, for a little while, and to fear — not governments, not regulations, not infidelities or accountants or distant wars, but ghosts and such things that don’t exist, and even if they do, can do nothing to hurt us.

And this time of year is best for a haunting, as even the most prosaic things cast the most disquieting shadows.

The things that haunt us can be tiny things: a Web page; a voicemail message; an article in a newspaper, perhaps, by an English writer, remembering Halloweens long gone and skeletal trees and winding lanes and darkness. An article containing fragments of ghost stories, and which, nonsensical although the idea has to be, nobody ever remembers reading but you, and which simply isn’t there the next time you go and look for it.

Neil Gaiman is the author of the novel “Anansi Boys” and “Fragile Things,” a collection of stories.

Cool enough to drive this man to drink...

2006-11-03T09:49:00.000-05:00

Bottoms Up!!!

Writers write.

2006-11-02T07:16:00.000-05:00

Writers write. It really is that simple. That being said, I have to admit that I feel myself struggling right now. My head is bursting with ideas, and I have several shorts, novellas, and even a couple of novels in the beginning stages... but I find that time, and quite frankly, time management is failing me.

I long to just lose myself in verse, to unfetter the words, letting them to dance upon the page and lead me to wherever they will. But time...

Work is not the bastion that it once was... increasing responsibilities there are keeping me unfocused. And I'm putting in near 50 hours a week. Now, my wife is working more hours as the holiday season rears its ugly head and my son and I spend our evenings in play.

This blog is not about my failure to tackle my problems, but an affirmation and a recognition. Writers write. Time to find a way through this dark forest and embrace that which I know in my heart is my True Will Manifest.

Writers write, dammit. Bury the excuses in the backyard next to the excess baggage and get on with it Freeman. There is a blank page waiting and stories began that need finishing and new ones begging for release.

Writers write...

I guess it's time to let the fingers fly and the muse to soar.

After all, I am a writer... that's what we do.

Samhain 2006

2006-10-31T11:16:00.000-05:00

Blessed Samhain to everyone...

'Tis the time of year once more, as the veil thins, that we honor those that have passed over. As always, the patriarch's of Clan Freeman are foremost in my thoughts, from Col. Lafayette to Greenberry and finally to my dear Grandfather, Walter. There are others of course that I pay tribute to, cherished souls such as my grandmother Leila, my great grandmothers Arnold and Qualls, and more recently my late mother-in-law Lana... This year I have added my cousin Richard to those remembered, and of course Christina will be in my thoughts...

We have all lost people dear to us, but the key is, they are not really lost, just seperated from us by a short distance... tonight that distance is even less.

Honor their memory and in turn you to will be honored.

Blessed Samhain and Happy Hallowe'en one and all.

Live Science's Top 5 Haunted Places

2006-10-30T07:35:00.000-05:00

http://www.livescience.com/othernews/top5_haunted_places.html

Love is the Law

2006-10-27T11:17:00.000-04:00

This just in from the OTO US Grand Lodge...

The long-delayed August 2006 issue of Agapé (volume VIII number 2) is now available:

http://lib.oto-usa.org/agape/agape.8.2.pdf

Investigation of the Woodcarvers Building 10/21

2006-10-26T07:26:00.000-04:00

The Eastern Woodland Carvers Club Investigation
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

Time for my reflections on the Nightstalker/WPIRG investigation of the Eastern Woodland Carvers Club on October 21st. You can read the reactions of some of the other investigators at the following links:

JOY ANGELINA CHRIS

It was a dark night, moonless and overcast, with a chill wind blowing out of the south east. The evening started on a few high notes. We had some "ride alongs" making their first venture into the realm of paranormal investigation, Mark and Trish Sullivan, from Elwood, and Fireman Doug (who brought along a thermo-imaging camera for us to play with). We did our best to make them comfortable and explained the basics to them. I then had the pleasure of presenting WPIRG co-founder Jason with an exclusive, one-of-a-kind, special edition of SHADOWS OVER SOMERSET(his prize for winning Insidious Reflections' Shadows Over Cairnwood contest). I gave Joy a belated birthday present and she in turn gifted me her latest collection of dark poetry. I was thrilled. We wrapped up our prelimany discussions and "official" business and then took our leave of the ground floor... ascending to the upper levels where the paranormal activity occurs.

I gave our guests a quick tour of the second and third floors of the Carvers Club.

The second story had housed a doctor's office and surgery, a lawyers office, offices for the Ku Klux Klan, and apartments in the past. This floor now served as overnight guest rooms, storage, and the clubhouse for the Crafty Ladies, a sewing circle made up of local residents.

The third floor was the former IOOF Lodge serving Converse... now used as rough storage (with future plans of turning it into a woodshop), this level has a macabre feel to it, with the large hall and towering windows, long streams of wallpaper hanging like flayed flesh from the ceiling, and the ancient chandeliers looming overhead.

I'll tap dance around what others have blogged about... they have more than adequetely covered their experiences, therefore I'll concentrate on my own experiences...

I felt a presence in the third floor cloak room right from the get go, as they say. It was noticably colder in that room and the air was thick and hard to breathe. I could feel it swarm around me, for lack of a better term.

On the second floor, in the back carving room, I had a similar feeling of dis-ease. Something moving in the shadows. I have been captivated by the piano in that room ever since my sister-in-law and I heard it play sans musician some weeks previous... the feeling I got was that there was a playful spirit about... a playful haunt, michiveous and somewhat mean-spirited.

Later in the evening we split up to meditate in different locations. You've read the others experiences... here is mine:

Sitting in the former physician's waiting room, while unbeknownst to me Joy was being choked by an unseen assailant, I was attempting to astral project. I immediately met with resistence... something was trying to keep me grounded. I felt the layers of the physical realm slowly slipping away, I was in a vortex of psychedelic imagery, then suddenly I was thrust into an alien landscape, a dreamlike realm littered with the ruins of some fallen empire. Off-lit, I sensed a dark presense, malevolent and hungered, somewhere within the ruined cityscape... I was snapped back into my body, somewhat shaken. I went downstairs and out the doors to smoke a cigarette in the misty rain. I recovered slowly.

The rest of the night I was more observer that participant... though I did experience the flirting images of shadowy forms in the corners of my eyes.

All in all, it was one of the more surreal investigations I've undertaken... something, just under the surface, festering... I'm still not confident that I can put a label on the experience.

I'm just thankful that we will have the opportunity for a return visit.

The IOOF and I have unfinished business.

The Masters of Horror Return...

2006-10-26T07:06:00.000-04:00

The Masters of Horror is set to return just in time for the Samhain season...

On October 27, Showtime will unveil “The Damned Thing” by R.C. Matheson.

An unknown monstrous force descends upon a small Texas town, turning husband against wife, brother against sister, parent against child. Tortured by his own tragic past, Sheriff Kevin Reddle (SEAN PATRICK FLANERY) must overcome his horrific rage if he is to restore order. MARISA COUGHLAN and TED RAIMI also star in this apocalyptic tale of terror.

Tobe Hooper
(“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Poltergeist”)
is set to direct.

Prepare to FREAK OUT

2006-10-24T14:24:00.000-04:00

Freak Out

So chilling… you'll laugh yourself to death.

Anchor Bay Entertainment, an IDT Entertainment company, gives cult film fans yet another treat with the November 7 th DVD premiere of Freak Out , director Christian James's first excursion into stomach-clutching, bloodcurdling and drop-dead hilarious horror. Winner of numerous accolades including the “Commendation Award” for Feature Films at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films, “Best Genre Cross-Over” Award at the Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, and an official selection at the Montreal Fantasia Festival, Freak Out is set up to please both “serious” and “spoof” horror fans alike. SRP for the 2-disc Special Edition DVD is $19.98 and pre-book is September 27 th 2006 .

Turning the great horror movie clichés on their severed ears, Freak Out opens like all great slasher films -- with a flashback of an incidental character. Young Cliff is being dropped off at school by his alcoholic mother, only to be tormented by his teacher and peers. Thirteen years later, Cliff escapes from a mental institution to find that the school that he vowed revenge on is no longer standing. Disappointed and with nowhere to go, Cliff wanders onto the doorstep of horror film addicts Merv and his best friend Onkey. With visions of slashers and maniacs and box-office grosses (oh my!) dancing in their heads, wannabe schlock kings Merv and Onkey fit Cliff with a potato sack on his head and cover his face with a hockey mask, transforming him into the ultimate homicidal filmaniac. Things soon take a turn for the worst after the killer “finds his groove,” dispatching shoppers and employees alike in a supermarket. With their Frankenstein officially out of control – killing everyone in sight -- Marv and Onkey start to have second thoughts. Can they stop their own creation or are they – and the town -- doomed?

Freak Out has already created a buzz among comedy and horror aficionados. The film has been critically acclaimed by Rue Morgue, calling Freak Out “one of the finest indie horror-comedies of the year,” All Things Zombie who raved “a winner, destined to be a fan favorite,” and Arrow-in-the-Head who dubbed the film “A high-rolling, non-stop laugh fest.”

Freak Out is stuffed with an asylum-full of bonus features including:

Two audio commentaries with Director/Writer/Producer Christian James, Actor/Writer Dan Palmer and Actor/Producer Yazz Fetto (#1); Christian James, Dan Palmer and Actors James Heathcote, Nicola Connell and Chilli Gold, moderated by BBC Radio 1 movie critic James King (#2)

“Making Out” Behind The Scenes Featurette“Geek Out” Featurette – Internet movie critics expressing their views on the movie“Bum-Feeling 101” Sketch featuring the characters of Freak Out“5 Minute Film School” Humorous and informative film school-type tips“Honey, I Blew Up The Looney” Featurette“The Video Store” Spoof films17 Deleted ScenesZaniac Music Video

Freak Out

Street Date: November 7
Pre-Book: September 27
Catalog #: DV13320
UPC: 0 131313320-9 4
Run Time: 103 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $19.98

Fan Boy Moment

2006-10-23T07:46:00.000-04:00

Doctor Strange & the Black Knight by Paul Smith

Saturday

2006-10-21T10:36:00.000-04:00

For those interested, time is running out on my eBay auctions. If you are into comic books you may want to take a peek: CLICK HERE

This evening, Kim and I will be taking Connor to participate in Sweetser's annual Pumpkin Walk. Should be a helluva good time. Any chance to see my boy in a Hallowe'en costume is worth the price of admission :) He'll be dressed as Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and loving every minute, I guarantee...

Later I'll be joining WPIRG in a follow-up investigation of the Converse IOOF Lodge. This time we'll be armed with a $25k Thermo-Imaging Camera, on loan from a local Fire Department... Curious to see what comes of it...

Well, until Monday. I hope your weekend is as fun filled as mine looks to be...

~Bob

Check out my eBay auctions

2006-10-16T09:35:00.000-04:00

For those of you who might be interested...

Huge Lots of Comic Books for sale now on eBay: RIGHT HERE

Ruse, Sojourn, Witchblade, Rising Stars, Cyber Force, the Magdalena, and more...

My Weekend

2006-10-15T11:49:00.000-04:00

Friday Night I visited with old friends at Shannon Driver's Costume Party ( I went as an overweight horror novelist). I had a fantastic time. It is always a treat to see Shannon and I had the added bonus of seeing my favorite songbird, Sammy Edmonds and her husband Greg. I caught up with Shannon's ex, Andy, and was thrilled to learn that he's written a book and I get the pleasure of giving it a look over. Definately looking forward to that. Alex, Shannon's first born, struck me as being far too smart and witty for a kid so young... that boy is going to be dangerous. All in all, a wonderful couple of hours that passed far too quickly, but we had big plans for Saturday morning, so...

Saturday found Kim, Connor and I attending the Mississinewa 1812 Re-enactment Festival. Traditional crafts, music, dress... and of course the battle itself. Turns out my favorite vendor, Father Son & Friends, was in a bit of disarray what with the ir patriarch undergoing quadruple bypass... I wish him the best and a speedy recovery. We had some decent food and enjoyed the sights and sounds then stopped on the way and rented a couple of movies...

That evening we watched the remake of the Stepford Wives, which was a pale shadow of the original, but fun nonetheless. The real treat was watching the director's cut of the Butterfly Effect. A great film in my opinion, and the director's cut was even better. Much to recommend about this flick. Capped of a great day nicely.

Sunday finds Kim at work and me and the boy spending the day together. We've already went out and made some extra money by doing some manual labor on behalf of the Eastern Woodland Carvers Club by hauling about 150 cans of paint down from their second floor. Connor had a good time playing on an old, out of tune piano (the same one that hauntingly played for Cassie and I a month ago, if you recall the story from a previous blog entry)...

What now? An afternoon of Disney Channel for the boy and some harried writing for his dad... Wish me luck. :)

Tomorrow will be my first meeting with the Indiana Horror Writer's Association. Now that's something to look forward to.

Till later...

~Bob

Happy Horror Day

2006-10-13T08:18:00.000-04:00

DAVID MORRELL’S AWARD-WINNING BESTSELLER CREEPERS EMBARKS ON A NATIONAL BOOK TOUR – ONLY THIS TIME WITHOUT THE AUTHOR. CAN YOU FIND A COPY IN YOUR CITY?

For the paperback release of David Morrell’s highly popular dark-suspense thriller

CREEPERS (CDS Books, October 2006),

a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller which earned the celebrated Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel of 2005, his publicist decided to try something new –

a book tour without the author.

Coined “The CREEPERS Book Tour,” the campaign blends the book-exchange concept and the Internet into a literal book tour. The tour is being hosted and sponsored by HorrorWorld.org, and will launch on Friday, October 13, 2006

(designated as Horror Day by the Horror Writer’s Association).

Created by Morrell’s publicist and daughter, Sarie Morrell, “The CREEPERS Book Tour” literally sends the book on tour. Instead of the traditional method of sending the author on tour, as was done for the debut of the hardcover, actual paperback copies of CREEPERS will be sent out on a nationwide tour.

The books will be tracked through a message board on HorrorWorld.org, which also will feature unique contests. Prizes include signed copies of CREEPERS and advance review copies of Morrell’s upcoming thriller, SCAVENGER.

To get the “CREEPERS Book Tour” started, Nanci Kalanta, owner and editor of HorrorWorld.org., posted a request through various message boards for volunteers who wanted to help launch a unique new promotional campaign. Within hours, dozens of eager recruits responded to what Kalanta described as a “special project which is not illegal, immoral, or fattening.”

On Horror Day, Friday, October 13, volunteers nationwide will deposit 50 specially prepared paperback copies of CREEPERS in busy places where people mingle and read, such as coffee shops, donut shops, parks, train stations, and malls. The front cover of each paperback tour copy of CREEPERS is clearly marked as a tour copy, and the inside front page of the book describes the campaign. Those who find the copies are asked to log on to http://www.horrorworld.org and go to the CREEPERS Book Tour Page to learn more about the tour and contests. After reading the book, participants are asked to leave the tour copy where someone else can find it and enjoy it. Each book’s adventures will be charted on-line.

Hailed by Stephen King as “chilling and hypnotically readable,” CREEPERS is ideal for Horror Day and the Halloween season because it dramatizes the secret underground world of urban explorers. Five “creepers” infiltrate a long-abandoned hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey, only to discover that some buildings are abandoned for a reason. The book was named one of the ten best thrillers of 2005 by the Chicago Tribune and one of the top five thrillers by the Providence Journal.

Considered the father of the modern action thriller, David Morrell is the award-winning author of First Blood, the 1972 novel in which Rambo was created. Co-president of the International Thriller Writer’s organization, he holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from the Pennsylvania State University and taught in the English department at the University of Iowa. “The mild-mannered professor with the bloody minded visions,” as one reviewer called him, Morrell is the author of 28 books, many of them bestsellers. With more than eighteen million copies of his books in print, his fiction has been translated into 26 languages.

Morrell describes his next novel, SCAVENGER, as “a desperate high-tech scavenger hunt for a hundred-year-old time capsule.” It is scheduled for publication in March 2007 (Vanguard Press, a division of the Perseus Books Group).

Visit the author at www.davidmorrell.net.

Visit CREEPERS at www.theparagonhotel.com.

To track the “CREEPERS Book Tour” beginning on

Horror Day, October 13, 2006, visit www.horrorworld.org.

As one of Horror World's Creepers Book Tour Volunteers

I'm tossing in a signed copy of my novel

Shadows Over Somerset

as well as some literature pertaining to the

Wabash Paranormal Investigation & Research Group

You can find both books at

STARBUCKS

3101 S. Western Avenue

Marion Indiana

Happy Horror Day & Happy Hunting

The Nativity of the Beast

2006-10-12T14:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Crowleymas to you all!!!

May your day be filled with MAGICK!!!

Do What Thou Wilt is the Whole of the Law...
Love is the Law, Love Under Will.

Dark Muse

2006-10-11T21:37:00.000-04:00

A fell wind blows across the harvested fields that surround my home, foreshadowing winter's promise.

The chill wind brings with it an old friend, one who comes 'round with the turning of the leaves... It is my own personal demon, a malefic creature who burrows into my skull and wraps icy fingers around my heart.

Its stranglehold is unforgiving, fettering me to the lettered keys that even now my fingers dance across.

What tales has it brought to me this Samhain season?

What verse shall flow like blood from an eviserated wound and spill across virgin paper?

Already they have begun to take shape, rising up on dark wings and enveloping me like a hallowed shroud.

Will they find an audience?

Is there anyone out there waiting to take a peek into the darkest recesses of my demon-haunted mind?

We'll see...

I mean, you're reading this now.

Aren't you the tiniest bit curious as to what witches brew of sinister delights is being stirred within the caliginosity of my gray matter?

You've got to be kidding me, right?

2006-10-10T11:31:00.000-04:00

This almost made me choke this morning...

A SWORD-MAKER who creates weapons for Braveheart-style battle re-enactments is to take up the fight against tough new restrictions on the sale of swords.

Paul MacDonald, who owns MacDonald Armouries on Brunswick Street Lane, presented a petition of more than 2000 signatures to the Scottish Parliament last year.

The sword-maker is angry that he will face tough new restrictions on the sale of swords under a Bill, introduced last week and expected to receive parliamentary approval early next year.
Commercial sellers will have to comply with strict new licensing conditions such as keeping full records of all sales and buyers, and complying with restrictions on displaying items.

Now Mr MacDonald has collected another 500 signatures and plans to re-submit his Save Our Swords petition to parliament.

He claims his campaign has gained widespread support from other sword retailers, antique dealers and historical fencers.

Mr MacDonald makes swords costing between £300 and £2000 for collectors, museums and theatre companies. He also makes historically accurate reproductions of swords, mainly with blunt edges for the historical fencing market.

The sword-maker said he now faced having to buy a licence to sell swords which he does not consider any more of a menace to the public than kitchen or Stanley knives. He said: "My concern is that this is red tape for no reason when dealers having a licence will not affect street crime in any way."

The 34-year-old said people who commonly bought swords, such as Highland dancers, auctioneers and museum curators, had signed his petition.

"This is placing an unnecessary burden on sword-makers and I plan to officially resubmit my original petition to parliament with more signatures."

His concerns were echoed by Edinburgh antiques dealer Murdo McLeod, owner of Bow Well Antiques, on the West Bow. He said: "I think this is a knee-jerk reaction by the parliament and it is completely pointless."

"Politicians have said they do not know why people would want to own a sword in this day and age – and the answer is that they are part of our nation’s history and are very beautiful objects."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said knife-carrying was all too prevalent in certain parts of Scotland and had cut short and scarred too many young lives.

He said: "It is simply far too easy for these weapons to be bought and sold. That is why we intend to make it an offence for anyone in Scotland to sell a sword, subject to a number of exemptions, and require businesses to be licensed to sell non-domestic knives."

How very sad... freaking freedom-hating, PC-lapping imbeciles.

Connor Landon Freeman turns 3 years old

2006-10-09T08:10:00.000-04:00

Today is my bouncing baby boy's third birthday. I'm almost at a loss for words. I mean, look at him. He is as close to perfection as a father could ever hope for. Rosy cheeks... Long golden curls... Sparkling blue eyes... Rapier smarts... oh, and an enviable imagination.

Connor Landon Freeman

Three Years Old

Wow... it flies by so fast.

This little boy fills me with unimaginable joy. He is virtually my whole world. My love for him is unbridled. As a father is apt to do, I worry so much... I want the best for my little guy. He deserves all that I can muster on his behalf.

He is my little buddy.

He is my son.

I love you boy. Happy Birthday.

Okay... I get it.

2006-10-04T07:09:00.000-04:00

Alright already. I get it. Someone out there is trying to pass along a message. I get it. Really. But maybe, just maybe, you might need to pull out a big hammer and smack me with it, because I'm not wrapping my head around it yet.

Okay, here's the latest:

Last night, as per my wife's wishes, we went to bed early. Long story short, I don't typically get a lot of sleep. This concerns my better half. So, I've been trying... Anyway, after less than five hours of restless sleep my eyes pop wide. I check the alarm clock. 3:15 am. Damn.

I get up, hit the bathroom, have a glass of milk... Yep. Wide awake. I check my email. It's now 3:45... I think, I should go back to bed, despite not being tired. I have to leave for work at 6:30 and I have the nagging suspicion that by the time that hour rolls around I'll be zombie material. But still, I feel something pulling at me... So, what the hell, I'll smoke a cigarette, then hit the mattress.

I grab a Marlboro and my lighter and step outside the front door and... BAM... there it is. Streaking from North to South, a comet or meteor lights up the sky, arcing over the house and past the horizon.

It was a marvelous sight.

One of those moments where the majesty of the universe unfolds before you...

But what the Hell? All of these Jungian synchronistic occurrences have been raining down on me for months now. Unlike the good doctor, I have a more open mind to the reality of the paranormal and to cosmic entities and esoteric intelligences operating within our existence.

Trouble is, the signs are there, but I'm not grasping the message.

Maybe I should send the universe my email address...

RAW needs your help

2006-10-03T09:13:00.000-04:00

From author Douglas Rushkoff's blog yesterday:

I hope people I've inspired with my work would band together to help me out in my later years if I needed it. Which is at least part of the reason why I'm sending what I can to support cosmic thinking patriarch Robert Anton Wilson, whose infirmity and depleted finances have put him in the precarious position of not being able to meet next month's rent.

In case the name doesn't immediately ring a bell, Bob is the guy who wrote Cosmic Trigger - still the best narrative on how to enter and navigate the psycho-spiritual realm, and co-wrote the Illuminatus Trilogy, an epic work that pushes beyond conspiracy theory into conspiracy practice. Robert Anton Wilson will one day be remembered alongside such literary philosophers as Aldous Huxley and James Joyce.

But right now, Bob is a human being in a rather painful fleshsuit, who needs our help. I refuse for the history books to say he died alone and destitute, for I want future generations to know we appreciated Robert Anton Wilson while he was alive. Let me add, on a personal note, that Bob is the only one of my heroes who I was not disappointed to actually meet in person. He was of tremendous support to me along my road, and I'm honored to have the opportunity to be of some support on his.

Any donations can be made to Bob directly to the Paypal account olgaceline@gmail.com.

You can also send a check payable to Robert Anton Wilson to
Dennis Berry c/o Futique Trust
P.O. Box 3561
Santa Cruz, CA 95063.

In his own hand...

2006-10-02T07:55:00.000-04:00

"...All these old letters of my Book are aright;

but Tzaddi is not the Star.

This also is secret..."

Aleister Crowley - The Book of the Law

93 / 93

It's Horror Month!!!

2006-10-01T10:07:00.000-04:00

Ah, it's here. My favorite time of year. There's a chill in the air. Can you feel it? 'tis the Season of the Witch, when the leaves put on their autumnal dress and magick permeates the night. It's October at last, my friends, and that can only mean one thing...

It's Horror Month!!!

That's right, guys and ghouls. Horror month has decended on us once more and my oh my but this month has a lot in store for yours truly... A quick check of the calendar and what do I see?

For starters, my son Connor has a birthday party scheduled for the 7th and, on Leif Eriksson Day, the 9th, Connor gets to celebrate his actual birthday once more at Chucky Cheese. My darling boy turns three years old. This is the highlight of the month for me... three years old... man, where has the time gone?

Friday the 13th, International Horror Day, will see me playing Santa Claws as I leave gifts throughout Marion for the Horror impaired ;) This will be followed by an appearance at Shine 99 host Shannon Driver's Costume Party.

The 14th will find me and the family taking in the sights and sounds of the annual War of 1812 reenactment along the Mississinewa River. Buffalo burgers, Elk chili, Saspirilla, Bagpipes, Fiddles, and period encampments and costumes... Who could ask for more?

I'll be taking in my first Indiana Horror Writers meeting on the evening of the 16th.

On the evening of the 28th we hope to have a WPIRG Gathering...

And finally, the icing on the proverbial cake:

October 31st... Samhain... All Hallow's Eve... Hallowe'en

Sprinkle in a couple of radio interviews and a book signing or two, add a dash of frightful television programming from Disney, Family, and TCM (not to mention Lost's season premiere on the 4th)... well, I think you get the picture. My cauldron will be overflowing with a devilish stew...

May your Horror Month be as fruitful.

Happy Hauntings.

The Lake House

2006-09-30T07:23:00.000-04:00

My wife and I settled down on the couch last night and plopped in The Lake House starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Allow me to preface this review by stating that I am a sucker for time travel romance films... Somewhere in Time is one of my all-time favorite films, and you can add such chestnuts as Kate & Leopold and The Butterfly Effect.

Yahoo! Movies describes the movie like this: An independent-minded doctor (Sandra Bullock) who once occupied an unusual lakeside home begins exchanging love letters with its newest resident, a frustrated architect (Keanu Reeves). When they discover that they're actually living two years apart, they must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

I truly enjoyed this film. I thought both stars brought their A game and made each character come to life. The Lake House did suffer from many of the same problems that most time travel stories do: the paradox. It's something you learn to swallow as a caveat of the genre. The movie maintains an emotional resonance, even when temporal physics is on the verge of splitting at the seams. There's not a lot in here to keep the average man interested... no action, nothing going boom... but overall? The Lake House is smart and compelling and deserves 3 out of 5 stars.

Spoiler Warning for those who have not seen the movie:

Where the movie lost me, costing it 2 stars was the ending. This movie fell short of the home run by not following through with their swing. A nice, sweet, and contrived ending left me feeling cheated... when the perfect pitch was hanging there waiting to be knocked out of the park.

Let Keanu die!!!

There I said it. Hammer home the tragedy... then, if you must, pull a Somewhere in Time and kill off Bullock as well and allow their spirits to meet at last in the afterlife. Don't sugar coat it for me.Hey, we're all big kids, okay. We can take it. You had me on the verge of tears and then dried them up quicker than you can say "tacked on happy ending".

I liked the movie. I liked the movie a lot.

If the filmmakers would have had some guts I could've loved it.

Maxine Sanders: "Queen" of the Witches

2006-09-29T09:12:00.000-04:00

My first taste of organized coven-work was through an Alexanderian group known as the Coven of the Northern Star. Its High Priestess had studied with Alex and Maxine Sanders in London during the late sixties and brought the Craft with her to the Midwest.

Alexanderian Witchcraft owed more to medieval ceremonial magic than to any Margaret Mead-influenced pagan / witch-cult, though, as with most Wiccan gatherings of that time period, it dressed itself up in that historic disguise.

The Alexanderian Book of Shadows was a copy of the one developed by Gerald Gardener and as such Gardenerians and Alexanderians were more alike than not. I have a deep appreciation for my "Wiccan" roots. Those were my formative years and I learned a lot about myself... I still have a fascination with the history of the rise of modern witchcraft and with the Sanders' in particular, especially Maxine who was a vivacious champion of the Craft of the Wise, as they say. She, along with Janet Farrar, was the face of Modern Wicca. Here is a brief bio on this enchanted lady, taken from her website:

Maxine Sanders was initiated into the Circle of Witchcraft in 1964. The High Priest of that Coven was Alex Sanders, known throughout the world as 'King of the Witches'. Maxine and Alex were Handfasted in 1965, and legally married in 1968.

The Sanders became household names during the sixties and seventies, dramatically bringing Witchcraft, its practices and reality into global consciousness.

It is widely acknowledged that the intense publicity surrounding the Sanders precipitated those with a leaning towards Paganism to break away from the bonds of the then rigid Christian ethic. Despite the extreme interest of the paparazzi, the many sincere Initiations performed in Maxine and Alex's Covensteads during and since that period, saw the inception and fashioned a lineage of Witchcraft that has since spread throughout the world.

Maxine is a highly respected Priestess of the Sacred Mysteries. She has encouraged, enabled and inspired students of the Priesthood to take on the conscious mantle of their spiritual potential. She believes the catalyst for that inspiration comes from the Cauldron of the Goddess in all its guises.

Among Maxine's students and Initiates are those who have written authoritative books and informative works on Modern Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Gods and Goddesses, Seasonal rituals, Sabbats, Ceremonial magic, Cabbala and The Sacred Magic of the Angels.

Several of Maxine's pupils have become accomplished teachers of esoteric knowledge and work internationally. However, most follow the traditional path and pass on the Sacred Mysteries within the hidden Inner realms of the Temples of the Goddess.

Today, when she is not travelling or giving talks, Maxine practices the Art Magical and celebrates the Craft’s rituals either in the mountains or in her stone cottage, Bron Afon. Maxine practices her Magic’s alone; she has retired from the work of teaching believing this is better performed by younger priesthood. Her vocation as a Priestess includes talking to audiences who wish to listen and counselling those who are in need of kindness, truth and hope.

Unleashing my inner fanboy...

2006-09-27T09:40:00.000-04:00

It's nostolgia time...

On my eleventh birthday (March 1 1977) I was parked in front of the television anticipating a show that I was sure would be a thing of greatness. I was not disappointed. On that night, NBC aired the pilot episode of "The Man from Atlantis" starring Patrick Duffy (Dallas' Bobby Ewing) and the lovely Belinda Montgomary.

After a violent storm a young man is washed up on a Californian beach where he is discovered by the beautiful Dr Elizabeth Merrill. The doctor rushes him to a naval hospital and soon realizes that this is no ordinary male. With piercing green eyes, gills instead of lungs and webbed hands and feet, this amnesia-plagued patient also has abilities that make him very useful to the doctor - he can swim faster than a dolphin and has superhuman strength and senses. When his health returns she christens him Mark Harris and recruits him to join her and her colleagues at the Foundation for Oceanic Research.

I was so sold on this show. It became a series that lasted all of 17 episodes, mainly due to the fact that it fell victim to the same thing that plagued most shows in the late seventies (ie Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk, etc)- it was poorly written, had a low budget, and was quickly reduced to camp.

That being said, I bought the novelizations, I bought the comics, I had the lunchbox... as with a lot of kids, I was able to look beyond the dretch they were spoon feeding me and embrace the overall concept.

And it was one helluva concept...

Shows that deserve to be remade? This one's at the top of my list.

Congratulations Roger & Alison

2006-09-26T07:08:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the World Little Harry...

Harrison Christopher York
6:38 pm Sept 25, 2006
8 lbs. 12 oz.
20" long

A Murder Mystery brews in my neck of the woods

2006-09-25T10:47:00.000-04:00

Wabash IN - It's the talk of the town in Wabash. Police this week found bones in the basement of a downtown building. The victim was possibly murdered. But it's not just the crime that's drawing attention. It's the man who once owned the building.

It's a whodunit that's drawn forensics teams from as far as Indianapolis. "We're just looking for any kind of forensic evidence that may be found in this area," said William Hartley, Wabash County prosecutor.

Police in Wabash on Wednesday found a clothed human skeleton in the basement of the building at 75 Canal Street. They're not identifying the body, nor are they saying who might have put it there.They do say they found the body after someone phoned in a tip to police in Speedway, some 85 miles away.

At this point it's still an ongoing investigation. There's a lot of things that we need to do. A lot of statements we need to take," said Hartley.

If the discovery of the body wasn't enough to stir intrigue, curiosity about the building has. 75 Canal Street, according to police, was once owned by the career criminal Arthur Curry, the man who kidnapped the wife of Bloomington billionaire William Cook. Curry spent twelve years in prison for the crime, and in 2002, moved to Wabash, where be began buying buildings, including the one at 75 Canal Street. A year later, police arrested him on a car theft charge. He left the city, only to find himself in the crosshairs of law enforcement after FBI agents tied him to almost a dozen bank robberies in multiple states.

Arthur Curry, since his capture by the FBI in North Carolina this year, has been in the custody of US marshals. If he has a connection to the body, authorities Friday night are not saying.

Six Years

2006-09-22T07:11:00.000-04:00

Six years ago today, Kimberly Kaye Moore and I stood before a Justice of the Peace, in my backyard, and said "I will"...

Betrothed, we became a single entity with a shared purpose: to make each day special and to love one another until the end of time.

Six years.

Time, it seems, presses on at a break-neck pace.

So much has happened in such a small span of time: our marriage, our adventure in Scotland, our trek to Salem, the loss of my wife's mother, the illness of my father, the birth of our son, taking custody of my wife's sister...

Through it all, we have remained steadfast in our love for one another.

She is my most treasured friend, my light when all else is dark.

I love her today so much more than I did

when I spoke those official words that

bound us before God and Man.

I want to take this moment to declare before the world that my love for my dear Kim is stronger than ever... that without her I would be but an empty husk.

She is a fabulous mother, a trusted friend, a loving wife and I am damned lucky to have her in my life.

I love you, my sweet... you are my beloved... a gift from the gods, you are my muse... you are my wife... forever and ever... it is you and I...

For Kim

Softly, a whisper

I feign mystery

Though its course might change

The river always meets the sea

In silent reflection

A love most sincere

When words of love are spoken

They always reach your ear

Joined everlasting

We have become one

And as the years drift slowly by

So much stronger we've become

You cast away the darkness

But allow the rain to fall

Because our true love everlasting

Is the greatest gift of all

It shines across the world

Lifted high 'pon autumn's wing

And from my heart to yours

It begs the world to sing

Showered with the blessing

Of the love you give to me

And in return I give to you

Love for eternity...

Happy Anniversary Kim.

I love you.

A Quick Note...

2006-09-21T21:49:00.000-04:00

Just came back from the IOOF Building in downtown Converse.

With my fouteen year old sister-in-law in tow, she and I clearly heard the piano located in the second floor carving room play a few notes while we stood on the third floor stairwell.

Thrilling :)

A Tale of Two Pics

2006-09-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

OKIE PINOKIE

click on the pics to see them full size and you decide.

Perhaps I spoke too soon?

2006-09-21T08:34:00.000-04:00

Pics from Okie Pinokie

Alright, first let me apologize. I was quite dismissive of this site in my post on Sunday. The location was crawling with people... lots of traffic in them there woods. We also had the misfortune of not getting any good EMF due to the presence of the huge power terminals that ran through there... the audible hum was an annoyance... add to that som other misfirings such as trying to take EVP and discovering there was no tape and then having the only batteries we had brought with us being dead... lots of things working against us.

We did get some definite impressions... cold chills, pendulum activity, some odd noises (at least two people thought they heard a female child's voice). Two of us had the strong sense that there was something there, but that it was being purposefully elusive. One of us believed it to be a female child playing with us, like a game of hide and seek. There were many factors working against us in this backwoods area and if it weren't so over-run with kids looking for a place to hang out, we might have actually got some good evidence.

Regardless, the pics above denote some activity... some orbs, mists, and an odd shape in the woods.

I would be hard pressed to call the site haunted... but it is active. I fear however that there is to much interference to ever come away with anything conclusive...

Anyway back to pimping Widdershins.

Have you ordered your copy yet?

Lilith Night is coming...

2006-09-20T14:26:00.000-04:00

Embrace the Dark Side

www.cairnwood.net/widdershins

A SHADOWS OVER CAIRNWOOD CONTEST

2006-09-18T08:14:00.000-04:00

A SHADOWS OVER CAIRNWOOD CONTEST

The wolves of Cairnwood are coming for you.

"The herded wolves, bold only to pursue;
The obscene ravens, clamorous o'er the dead. "
~Percy Shelley, “Adonais”

It started with SHADOWS OVER SOMERSET when a man named Bob Freeman unleashed a dark underworld that is not suppose to exist in which formidable creatures that are not suppose to be real not only dwell, but actually battle and reign upon the very thread of human existence. It’s with these bloodletting fascinations for things that go bumping and screaming in the terrible dead of night that we of Insidious Reflections are pleased to present you with an original Shadows Over Cairnwood contest.

This is your opportunity to sink your teeth into the rich meat that is the new order of Bob Freeman’s imaginative world and tear away with an exclusive prizes brought to you by Bob Freeman’s début novel in the Cairnwood Manor volume: SHADOWS OVER SOMERSET.

For the folks who enjoyed this monster of a book the first time around, this is a chance to add to your collection a very special offering. Playing is easy and the prizes are sure to have you howling all the way to the core of the dark and fantastic.

Rules of engagement:

We will post a daily question in our Insidious Reflections forum which can be located through our website at www.InsidiousReflections.com, as well as this message board and on MySpace - www.myspace.com/supernal_insanity - from Monday to Friday for the next three weeks. Some questions will be quite easy while others will force you to hunt a little deeper.

Answers can be found on our main website in the review section, in the forums within the author Q&A sub section, and of course in the current issue of the magazine in which yours truly conducts an interview with Bob Freeman. You’ll also want to check out Bob’s personal resources such as his Cairnwood Manor blog for further resource: www.myspace.com/cairnwoodmanor and I’m sure you can find a few more places of wisdom of your search is true and steadfast.

Please send all answers to contest@InsidiousReflections.com For every question answered correctly, entrants receive one ballad. After the first and second week respectively, a winner will be chosen to receive a personally inscribed copy of SHADOWS OVER SOMERSET which also includes prose from the author exclusively added for this contest.

After the third and final week all ballots will be tallied for the grand prize and the entrant with the most ballots over all shall win a personally inscribed special copy of SHADOWS OVER SOMERSET with an alternative cover PLUS an exciting peek into Bob’s next book: KEEPERS OF THE DEAD, book two in the Cairnwood volume.

It gets better. If you happen to miss a day or five of playing, Bob is offering you a way to catch up on ballots and move ahead of the pack. Check out his website at www.cairnwood.net and look close, real close. Hidden within the site are four secret words. Find them all and unravel the mysterious phrase and ye shall receive an additional fifteen ballots! Just like that, because having a busy lifestyle should never get in the way of winning cool stuff. If you keep an eye out you may even get a clue or two thrown your way to help you in your noble quest of unlocking the secret.

Nothing so difficult about that, eh? The prizes are but a single ballot away, but the more often your wisdom prevails, the closer you get to stepping off this contest field victorious and well rewarded. Winning is closer than you think so get ready to have fun and play safe, for the eyes of Cairnwood are upon us all. This contest will commence beginning on Monday with the first question.

May the best warriors win!

Sunday Grab Bag

2006-09-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

I can hardly wait for Halloween... oh sure, Samhain is a sacred day and one I hold in reverence... but for all the seriousness of the holiday I still get giddy over the commercialized aspects of the night as well.

My son, who turns three on Lief Eriksson Day, has already got his costume for a glorious night of trick-or-treating on All Hallow's Eve. Last year, some of you may remember, the boy was a skeleton (and a damn cute one, I might add). This year, with a fully realized imagination in tow, Connor Landon Freeman will brave the night, surely battling ghosts, monsters, and alien entities as BUZZ LIGHTYEAR of STAR COMMAND!!!

"To Infinity...and Beyond! "

In other news...

The great Charles L. Grant passed away from a heart attack the other night. A truly talented and inspirational writer, Grant was on the Horror communities most prolific voices. He will be missed.

The lovely and talented KYM held a little contest over at lashtal.com. The objective was to come up with comedic title for a biographical film on the life of Aleister Crowley. Grand prize was the 93rd issue of Classic Rock magazine celebrating Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame. As luck would have it, I was the winner. And what was the winning entry? Boleskine for Columbine.

I went out with members of the Nightstalkers and WPIRG last night to investigate "Okie Ponokie", the current teenage haunted wood, full of the usual folklore and urban myth that seems to ebb and flow with the times. All in all, I would call the trip a wash... "Okie Ponokie" is no more haunted than any other place where teens and tweens gather to do drugs, drink, and rebel against authority. The only thing going bump in the night in Okie Ponokie was the couples coupling in the backseats of their parent's cars :)

Strange and Dangerous Dreams

2006-09-15T11:26:00.000-04:00

The book "Strange and Dangerous Dreams", by author Geoff Powter, is aptly subtitled "The fine line between adventure and madness". The book is published by The Mountaineers Books, the publishing arm of The Mountaineers Club, founded in 1906. Not too surprisingly, one chapter is dedicated to the Great Beast.

From the inner sleeve:
"Every culture, in every era, has its adventure myths - the golden hero willing to walk through fire elevates us all beyond our fears and limits. But more often than commonly recognized, there are darker reasons for dangerous pursuits. When do mountains, poles and oceans become merely an incidental stage for a troubled psychodrama? Where, truly, falls the line between adventure and madness? Psychologist Geoff Powter looks into the lives of eleven adventurers he calls The Burdened, The Bent, and The Lost, presenting previously unpublished information provided by witnesses, friends, and family."

Of course, the chapter on Aleister Crowley is to be found among The Bent, and is introduced like this:

"For better or worse, we are most often creatures of the collection of habits, experience and biology that we call personality. In most people, this predetermination is rarely an issue. [...] There are exceptions, however, where someone's personality structure is clearly odd or grating, to the extent that it causes trouble for the person or for others, and these 'personality disorders' can be found in the world of adventure just as they are anywhere else. Of the many varieties of personality disorders classified by psychiatry, the two types that are most salient in a book about the line between 'normalcy' and 'madness' in adventure are the narcissistic and the sociopathic disorders."

Then follows the chapter itself, more or less a pretty well-written and informed (post-Perdurabo obviously) 20-page biography sketch, which focuses on Crowley's mountaineering career, and the author - probably the Mountaineering Club also - pays astonishingly approving respect to Crowley's achievements in this area, even presenting proof that the British Alpine Club was well amazed by this powerful and avant-garde climber while explaining why he was banned from that society for life. Unfortunately Mr. Powter is of the opinion that after the disaster at Kangchenjunga in 1905, Crowley's best days were over, as a mountaineer as well as in every other respect - but obviously he is not interested in the magickal achievements of the Beast, and that is okay considering the objectives of this book.

"Strange and Dangerous Dreams"
by Geoff Powter,
1st edition 2006,
hardback with dustjacket,
published by The Mountaineers Books,
ISBN 0-89886-987-0,
$22.95 U.S.

All Hail Discordia!!!

2006-09-14T08:05:00.000-04:00

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 14, 2006
Filed at 12:03 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A distant, icy rock whose discovery shook up the solar system and led to Pluto's planetary demise has been given a name: Eris.

The christening of Eris, named after the Greek goddess of chaos and strife, was announced by the International Astronomical Union on Wednesday. Weeks earlier, the professional astronomers' group stripped Pluto of its planethood under new controversial guidelines.

Since its discovery last year, Eris, which had been known as 2003 UB313, ignited a debate about what constitutes a planet.

Astronomers were split over how to classify the object because there was no universal definition. Some argued it should be welcomed as the 10th planet since it was larger than Pluto, but others felt Pluto was not a full-fledged planet. After much bickering, astronomers last month voted to shrink the solar system to eight planets, downgrading Pluto to a ''dwarf planet,'' a category that also includes Eris and the asteroid Ceres.

Eris' discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, said the name was an obvious choice, calling it ''too perfect to resist".

In mythology, Eris caused a quarrel among goddesses that sparked the Trojan War. In real life, Eris forced scientists to define a planet that eventually led to Pluto getting the boot.

Soon after Pluto's dismissal from the planet club, hundreds of scientists circulated a petition protesting the decision.

Eris' moon also received a formal name: Dysnomia, the daughter of Eris known as the spirit of lawlessness.

Eris, which measures about 70 miles wider than Pluto, is the farthest known object in the solar system at 9 billion miles away from sun. It is also the third brightest object located in the Kuiper belt, a disc of icy debris beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Voodoo Moon is coming...

2006-09-14T06:56:00.000-04:00

Now here's an upcoming release I'm really excited about:

From renowned special effects artist Kevin VanHook (I, Robot, Daredevil) comes a new excursion into the beating heart of evil with the October 3 rd DVD release of Voodoo Moon from IDT Entertainment's Anchor Bay Entertainment. Starring Charisma Carpenter (TV's “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”) and Eric Mabius (Resident Evil ), Voodoo Moon promises viewers a horrifying journey into the netherworld of satanic rituals and voodoo rites! SRP is $19.98 and pre-book is August 23rd. Distribution pre-book is September 5th.

Twenty years ago, a demonic massacre in a sleepy Southern town left two young siblings as the lone survivors. But for adult Cole (Eric Mabius) and his younger sister Heather (Charisma Carpenter), an obsession with their parents' satanic slaughter has lasted a lifetime. Now through Cole's psychic connection with a group that includes an outlaw biker (John Amos , “The West Wing”, DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER), a traumatized cop (Jeffrey Combs , RE-ANIMATOR) and a mysterious healer (Dee Wallace , CUJO and THE HOWLING), vengeance is about to take a very unholy turn. Tonight they will all be brought together in a place where depraved secrets are exposed, legions of the damned are unleashed, and the final battle between Good and Evil will be fought beneath the VOODOO MOON…

In addition to his previous visual effects credits, VanHook also wrote and directed the 2005 cult film shocker “The Fallen Ones.”

Viewers will find the following chilling special features on the Voodoo Moon DVD:

Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 TVs
“You Reap What You Sew” Making-of Documentary
“Black Magic”: The Stunts, Makeup and Visual Effects of Voodoo Moon featurette
Deleted Scenes
Poster and photo gallery
Trailer

New Novel by Donald Tyson

2006-09-12T07:58:00.000-04:00

Starfire Publishing Ltd announces the first publication in October 2006 of Liber Lilith, a novel by Donald Tyson.

Limited to 1000 copies, printed on high-quality paper, it is 320 pages long, bound in sewn sections. The standard edition (ISBN 0 9543887 9 8) is a sturdy paperback with an attractive laminated front and back cover design, and the price is just £14.99.

The first 81 copies comprise a deluxe issue (ISBN 0 9527824 8 0), available only from the publishers. The deluxe issue is hardbound in an attractive and good quality red cloth, with top and tail bands to the binding and black endpapers. The spine design is stamped in black and white on the red cloth. There is also a design on the front board, stamped in white on the red cloth. Each copy is individually numbered and signed by Donald Tyson, and includes a colour frontispiece utilising the front cover design of the soft-bound standard issue. The deluxe comes with a matching slip-case, bound in the same red cloth. The deluxes are not expected back from the specialist binders until the end of October 2006, but orders are being taken now. The price of the deluxe is £90.00 and, due to anticipated demand, orders are restricted to one per person. Both editions can be ordered directly from the publishers...

Starfire Publishing Ltd
BCM Starfire
London WC1N 3XX
England

Postage and packing is extra, and varies according to destination.

A rediscovered Gnostic grimoire contains the stunning revelation that it was Lilith, Queen of Hell and Mother of all Demons, who fashioned Adam from the clay of the earth, and who visited Eve in the form of a great serpent to teach her the secret wisdom of Heaven. The grimoire reveals in seductive detail a system of sex magic taught to mankind by Lilith, by which she may be summoned as a lover and teacher. The working journal of the ill-fated German magician who rediscovered this lost necromantic text, and put into practice its obscene rituals, provides terrible evidence that some books are too dangerous to be permitted to exist.

Liber Lilith is a powerful and disturbing novel which charts the disintegration of a German occultist, Karl Steiger, who comes across an ancient grimoire which sets out rites by means of which the great demoness Lilith may be called forth. The novel opens with an introduction by the editor of the journal kept by Steiger, and then follows with a reproduction of the grimoire itself. Next comes the working journal of Steiger, and we follow the progress of the ill-fated occultist as he discovers the grimoire, steeps himself in its shadows, and is beguiled by the glamours of Lilith. He is compelled to enact the rites as set out in the grimoire, and he gradually succumbs to madness as Lilith answers his call and he is enmeshed ever deeper in her dark and sinister web.

LINK

In the Wight Room

2006-09-11T11:18:00.000-04:00

The owners of Steel Magnolias (a fitness center/beauty salon/candle shop) contacted me recently and asked if I, and the Wabash Paranormal Investigation and Research Group, would be interested in investigating their place of business. Located in the former train depot that served the tiny community of Converse (formerly known as Xenia), this historic landmark has a rich history, and an even more recent history of a different kind... the kind that goes bump in the night.

An earlier owner of the Depot reported being followed home one night by the sounds of "phantom footsteps". Upon arriving at her house she laid out a blouse she had purchased, intending to wear it after a quick shower. Afterward the blouse was missing, only to be found some months later in the attic.

More recent occurances of possible "paranormal" activity included reports of a light bulb mysteriously being removed from its socket and found elsewhere, the "ghostly" sounds of period music, and other "relocation" type phenomena.

Oddly enough, when I called to confirm our vist, the receptionist took my name and number and left a note for one of the owners. That message disappeared off of the owners desk, only to reappear in another location.

Needless to say, we were intrigued enough to take a look.

We descended on the Depot in the late evening of September 9th. Investigators present were WPIRG founder Jason, his wife Angie, Tim, Chris, Josh, and myself. Also in tow were a half dozen of the co-proprietors that invited us.

Inital readings were sporatic. A few EMF spikes, odd temperature fluxuations... nothing substantial, but enough to maintain our interest for sure.

I had stepped outside to take a cigarette break when I was joined by Josh. He had just come from the "massage room" located in the west loft of the building. He told me that the temperature was outragously warm in the room and that it had seemed to get warmer as he was in there. I told him I'd check it out. When I ascended the loft I felt the warmth immediately. Inside the room was Jason, Angie, Chris, and one of the owners. They were taking readings and curious as to the odd temperatures. Suspecting a preternatural presence, I agreed to try and make contact. The gathering disbanded and I was left alone, in utter darkness, within the massage loft.

I meditated for a few moments and then began. Accessing my Astral Temple, I visualized myself performing the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, using its power to create a sacred space within the small massage chamber. My intent, confident that something was in my presence, was to ensnare the entity within the space and I could divine its purpose.

The room became unbearably hot. My mind reached out and for the briefest of moments I connected with the troublesome spirit. It was, IMO, what I call a land wight... a natural entity tied to the land. It is not dissimilar to what many people refer to as brownies, pixies, or faeries. In some instances they can be prankish, as was the case with this spirit. Their presence is often marked by a marked increae in temperature, which led to my suspecting the nature of the entity in question.

I released the spell woven to maintain the entity and fled for fresh air. It took me a short while to cool down, but I was somewhat drained. I sat and talk with the shops owners and explained to them that a wight was essentially harmless, if somewhat playful.

Meanwhile, the investigation continued inside. More EMF oddities were recorded and so WPIRG went to work setting up recording equipment to further delve into the mysteries of the depot. After doing some EVP in three locations (the massage chamber, the gym, and the main entry) we took our leave, chatted up the locals, made some contacts for future investigations, and discussed further our findings thus far.

Then it happened.

The security light shut off.

We may have thought little of it if it weren't for the stunned looks on the owners faces. They had changed the light within thelast month, replacing the one that had burnt there for over a year. We all took this as odd, but not unexplainable, per say... but...

After an hour we decided to break down our equipment. As we neared the building, the security light suddenly came back to life, bathing the front doorway in its artificial illumination. We asked the obvious questions, of course. Was it a motion light? No... it was a dusk to dawn light, active based on time, not motion.

Taken aback, we were doubly intrigued by this occurance.

Now, we are faced with the task of mulling over photographs, video tape, and other collected data. As more on this investigation develops I'll be sure to pass the information along.

Personally, I suspect that we are going to find more than just the presence of the land wight. There is more going on than a single land wight can account for... but, only time, and the persistence of the WPIRG team, will tell.

I feel very fortunate to be working with this crew of investigators. They are professional and steadfast... I am proud to be counted among them.

~BF 9/11/06

Because it has been the topic of discussion lately...

2006-09-08T07:22:00.000-04:00

"I grow old, I grow old... I wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled."

It happens to all of us, I suppose. We get old. Once young, vibrant, alive, and full of vim and vigor, the cruel hand of fate sweeps in and wipes it all away and leaves behind aches and pains and the responsibilities of adulthood.

One thing I learned a long time ago is that age has nothing to do with candles on a birthday cake. Take a good look around you. People age at different rates. You'll take notice of it when you get together with your mates from high school. As you get twenty to thirty years removed from graduation you'll begin to notice that while you look in the mirror and appear 50 (when you're actually forty), your old playground comrade looks thirty-five.

We all have in us an inner clock that ticks away toward its final destination. Oh, you can try to fight it, and some of your battles will even be successful. Diet and exercise will retard the aging process, but the cold hard truth of hereditary genetics is the final judge.

So what do we do about it?

Nothing.

Be calm.

Be still.

It is a part of life, the aging and eventual dying. It is all part of the cycle. Why waste time on something inevitable? The simplest truth is that every one of us is born, we live and love, and we die. Fretting over our age and our headlong trek toward the great unknown is a waste of the time we do have.

So be calm. Be still. Enjoy each moment. Do you think for one second that in my mind I am not essentially the same twelve year old boy that was obsessed with the Knights of the Table Round and the spell-casting wizardry of Merlin? Am I all that different from the kid that thrilled at the sights and sounds of professional football, thundering rock and roll, and B-grade horror movies? Is not that youngster that poured over comic books, pulp literature, and esoterica still inside me?

You can bet your ass he is.

True age, for me, is the age of your heart and mind.

Me? I plan on being twelve years old until the day I die. ;)

Coming Soon: The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. I

2006-09-05T07:50:00.000-04:00

Fantoma have announced that they will be releasing Volume I of The Films Of Kenneth Anger on 28 November 2006, "painstakingly restored and presented on DVD for the first time".

Volume I will include:

Fireworks (1947)
Puce Moment (1949)
The rare 16 minute version of Rabbit's Moon (1950)
Eaux d'Artifice (1953)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)

Special Features as listed are rather exciting:

Audio commentary by Kenneth Anger
"Rare outtakes" and behind the scenes photographs
36-page hard cover book

Price apparently a very reasonable $24.98

Available September 21

2006-09-01T12:31:00.000-04:00

watch this blog for details on

how you can order your copy

I WANT THIS BOOK!

2006-09-01T09:57:00.000-04:00

http://www.amazon.com/Conan-Ultimate-Worlds-Savage-Barbarian/dp/0756620953/sr=8-31/qid=1157118350/ref=sr_1_31/104-7049485-8944716?ie=UTF8&s=books

Friday Potpourri

2006-09-01T08:51:00.000-04:00

Pass the day with some interesting reading:

Asatru Folk Assembly founder Steve McNallen interviewed on beliefnet.com

Witches weigh in on "Wicker Man"

Did a woman pen the Iliad and the Odyssey?

And, just for fun...

Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil

Coming Soon to DVD: Left in Darkness

2006-09-01T07:17:00.000-04:00

Anchor Bay does it again! Horror fans take note:

Stuck between a rock and a hard place?

Try being stuck between Heaven and Hell!

Poets have written about it. Painters have tried to imagine it. But exactly what does happen after we die? Is there a Heaven? Or perhaps the question to ask is: Is there a Hell?

From the fertile mind of legendary television producer Stephen J. Cannell ( Demon Hunter , “21 Jump Street”) and Steven R. Monroe, the director of It Waits , comes the provocative new horror film Left In Darkness , materializing on DVD September 19 th from Anchor Bay Entertainment, an IDT Entertainment company. SRP is $19.98 and the DVD features enough value-added supplements to occupy this life – and the next!

Starring Monica Keena ( Freddy Vs. Jason, “Entourage”), David Anders (“Alias”) and veteran horror actor Tim Thomerson ( Trancers, Dollman ), Left In Darkness illuminates the story of Celia (Keena), a troubled girl whose tortured past places her in spiritual and physical limbo. Her mother died in childbirth, and she always felt responsible for the tragedy. When her father disappeared, her grandparents raised her. As she got older, her sense of guilt grew deeper. And on the night of her 21 st birthday, Celia is drugged, raped and dies of an accidental overdose at a wild college frat party. But for her, it's just the beginning: Trapped in a netherworld between sanctuary and damnation, Celia must now battle the demons – including hordes of horrific Soul Eaters – that prowl the Afterlife.

Is the spirit of her recently deceased grandfather ( Thomerson ) trying to lure her to an eternity of suffering? Can her guardian angel ( Anders ) safely lead her to the other side? Is there any way to go towards the light when your soul is Left In Darkness ?

Viewers should find the following special features on the Left In Darkness DVD enlightening:

Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 TVs
“Inside The Darkness” Making-of Documentary
Director Commentary “In The Trenches” with Director Steven R. Monroe and Line Producer John Duffy
“My 21 st Birthday”: Cast and crew interviews
Trailer

LEFT IN DARKNESS
Street Date: September 19, 2006
Pre-Book: August 9, 2006
Catalog #: DV14359
UPC: 0-1313-14359-9 3
Run Time: 88 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP : $19.98

Today's Quote

2006-08-27T20:12:00.000-04:00

"My observation of the universe convinces me that there are beings of intelligence and power of a far higher quality than anything we can conceive of as human; that they are not necessarily based on the cerebral and nervous structures that we know , and that the one and only chance for mankind to advance as a whole is for individuals to make contact with such beings." -Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears

Paranormal Investigating is dangerous business...

2006-08-24T16:47:00.000-04:00

Ghost-Hunting Teen Shot Near Spooky House
Wednesday, August 23, 2006

WORTHINGTON, Ohio — A teenager out looking for ghosts with friends was shot in the head and critically wounded near a house considered spooky by local teens, police said Wednesday.

A man who lives in the house, Allen S. Davis, 40, was charged in the shooting and told reporters from jail Wednesday that he was trying to drive off trespassers and did not intend to hurt the teen girls, whom he called juvenile delinquents.

He said he fired his rifle out his bedroom window Tuesday night after hearing voices outside the home, which is across the street from a cemetery and blocked from view by overgrown trees and shrubbery.

"I didn't know what their weaponry was, what their intentions were," he said. "In a situation like that, you assume the worst-case scenario if you're going to protect your family from a possible home invasion and murder."

The 17-year-old girl, Rachel Barezinsky, and two of her friends got out of their car parked near the home about 10 p.m. and took a few steps on the property, police Lt. Doug Francis said. They jumped back in when a girl in the car sounded the horn, and they heard what they thought were firecrackers as they drove away.
The girls — all students at a suburban Columbus high school— drove around the block, and Barezinsky was struck while sitting in the car as they passed the house again and heard a second round of what turned out to be gunshots, Francis said.

Barezinsky, who also was struck in the shoulder, was taken to Ohio State University Medical Center in critical condition, police said. The hospital would not provide an update on her condition Wednesday.

Davis, a self-employed nonfiction writer, said he had prepared the rifle after numerous previous instances of trespassing but he did not know until Wednesday that teens considered his house haunted. Police should charge the teens with trespassing, he said.

"It's really something how homeowners defend themselves and the way the laws are written, we're the ones brought up on charges while the perpetrators get little or nothing," he said.

Davis, who was charged with five counts of felonious assault, told officers he had been annoyed by trespassers and that he was aiming for the car's tires from his first-floor bedroom, police said.

Francis said police do not intend to pursue criminal charges against the girls.

Francis said Davis' home had a reputation at the high school for being haunted by ghosts and witches, and students have been daring each other to knock on the door or go in the yard.

R.I.P. Ed Warren (1926-2006)

2006-08-24T16:04:00.000-04:00

Famed Paranormal Investigator Ed Warren passed away at Noon on Wednesday, August 23, with his wife, psychic Lorraine Warren, by his side. He was 80 years old.

Ed Warren was a pillar of the paranormal investigative community. He and his wife published nine books relating their adventures, the best of which, "The Haunted", a gut-wrenching and horrific tale, was made into a made-for-tv movie back in 1991. They were also the first investigators ever allowed into the house of "Amityville Horror" fame.

The Warren's contribution to paranormal investigation should not be taken lightly. For more than thirty years, they were at the forefront, bringing to the public eye the importance of the study of the supernatural.

Ed will be missed by all of us in the paranormal investigative community. My best wishes to Lorraine, his family, and his many, many friends. Fair winds and following seas Ed Warren. May you rest in peace.

Quote-of-the-Day

2006-08-23T09:12:00.000-04:00

"What is there in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? ... Even in ruin and in degradation it remains a thing apart: its victims wear a ghastly aureole all their own, and in their peculiar hell yet gloat with a sinister perversion of pride that they are not as other men." -- Aleister Crowley

Happy Birthday Mac

2006-08-23T07:09:00.000-04:00

Shannon Marie McBride is one of those rare triple threats... she's got looks, brains, and talent.

I met Shannon in 1978 and we've been close friends, dare I say the best of friends, pretty much from day one. Together we shared a love for music and Magick, art and theatre... For countless hours we would sit and discuss myth and legend, life, death, and rebirth... When life threw us curveballs, we leaned on each other. I always tried to be someone she could count on. The gods know full and well that she was often there for me.

Oh, we had fun.

With a fervor unmatched by Bacchus, we relished in drunken revelry. With Fleetwood Mac playing in the background, we peeled back the layers of life's rich offering and we reinvented ourselves. We embraced life as only young people can.

Today, my dear friend turns forty, a milestone I passed a few months back. She wears it well. Shepparding over four beautiful children, Shannon is the quientessential Mother/Goddess, alive with a thirst for life's dark pagentry, which she embraces, remaking it in her own image.

We don't see each other as much anymore. We both have families and lives that require our attention... but that's alright. Our bond is unbreakable. Forged in our youth and tempered by the trials of angst-ridden evolution, our friendship is everlasting.

Shannon Marie McBride is my sister. We share not blood, but a spiritual kinship. I love her like only an older brother could.

Happy Birthday Mac... may this day be filled light and laughter.

You deserve it.

Fan Boy Alert

2006-08-21T14:03:00.000-04:00

Doctor Strange by John Byrne

8-21-06

(click the pic for a larger image)

Anyone else looking forward to this?

2006-08-21T07:52:00.000-04:00

With a release date of October 3rd, Evanescense's forthcoming album, the Open Door, looks to pick up where their previous multi-platinum hit, Fallen, left off. What tracks I have heard are as majestic and theatrical as their previous outings, though I find Amy Lee's voice to be even stronger. You can catch the video for "Call Me When You're Sober" in rotation on MTV and VH1.

I, for one, can hardly wait.

An interesting quote

2006-08-19T23:17:00.000-04:00

"Yeats led me to the Golden Dawn, and from the Golden Dawn to Aleister Crowley- and to a whole metaphysical system based on magick. Which I took terribly, terribly serious. I was trying these experiments, putting things under my pillow in the belief they would influence my dreams in a certain direction. For a couple of years there, Mom was saying. What are these things I keep finding under your pillow... Magick and the idea of magick- that the will works upon the world in some way to change it - is a really interesting, isn't it? Because it is what we are hoping to do with our words."

~Clive Barker

Odd that I came to the Hermetic Arts in much the same way... W.B. Yeats, the "gateway drug" to the occult?

Up for the challenge?

2006-08-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

Alright all you vampire lovers...
time to put your money where your fanged mouth is.

Click HERE to take the Vampire Quiz and
see if you can score as well as I did.

The Cover to Rose's Kiss has been delivered

2006-08-18T13:07:00.000-04:00

Well, I delivered the artwork for the revised edition of Joy Ann Harber's Rose's Kiss today. Look for the book's release soon. It was a lot of fun working on this art project for Joy and I think the cover turned out great. Hot on Rose's Kiss' heels will be the sequel, the Compass Rose, which I also did the cover for.

If you enjoy historical novels with a touch of mystery, the supernatural, and romance, then you should really give Rose's Kiss a look. The battle scene in the stories prologue is worth the price of admission alone.

Watch this blog for information on the release date and a link to where you can purchase it.

And if you happen to be in the market for a cover artist on an upcoming project, drop me a line and we can discuss it. My rates are more than reasonable and the work, I feel, speaks for itself.

Email me HERE.

Man, I wish I was in Maine (and packing some serious firepower)!

2006-08-17T20:49:00.000-04:00

TURNER, Maine (AP) - Residents are wondering if an animal found dead over the weekend may be the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and been the subject of local legend for half a generation.
The animal was found near power lines along Route 4 on Saturday, apparently struck by a car while chasing a cat. The carcass was photographed and inspected by several people who live in the area, but nobody is sure exactly what it is.

Michelle O'Donnell of Turner spotted the animal near her yard about a week before it was killed. She called it a "hybrid mutant of something."

"It was evil, evil looking. And it had a horrible stench I will never forget," she told the Sun Journal of Lewiston. "We locked eyes for a few seconds and then it took off. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I've never seen anything like it."

For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal with chilling monstrous cries and eyes that glow in the night. The animal has been blamed for attacking and killing a Doberman pinscher and a Rottweiler the past couple of years.

People from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods. Nobody knows for sure what it is, and theories have ranged from a hyena or dingo to a fisher or coydog, an offspring of a coyote and a wild dog.

Now, people are asking if the mystery beast and the animal killed over the weekend are one and the same.

Wildlife officials and animal control officers declined to go to Turner to examine the remains. By Tuesday, the carcass had been picked clean by vultures and there was not much left of the dead animal.

Loren Coleman, a Portland author and cryptozoologist, said it's unlikely that the animal was anybody's pet.

After reviewing photos of the carcass, Coleman said he was bothered by the animal's ears and snout. It reminded him of a case years ago in northern Maine in which an animal shot by a hunter could not be identified. In the end, wildlife officials got a DNA analysis that showed the animal was a rare wolf-dog hybrid, he said.

Mike O'Donnell, who is married to Michelle O'Donnell, said the animal looked "half-rodent, half-dog" to him.

It was charcoal gray, weighed between 40 and 50 pounds and had a bushy tail, a short snout, short ears and curled fangs hanging over its lips, he said. It looked like "something out of a Stephen King story."

"This is something I've never seen before. It's an evil-looking thing," he said.

A History of the Necronomicon

2006-08-15T13:16:00.000-04:00

The Doom that Came to Chelsea

by Alan Cabal

My ex-wife died back in March, after a long and heroic bout with cancer. She walked out on me in 1997, but we remained on good enough terms that I hosted her first and only visit to Vegas in October of 2001. Las Vegas was a refuge from the maudlin hysteria of the time. She was dazzled by it. I got to spend a week with her last year, just before I drove to California. I didn’t think I’d be coming back, and we both knew that this would probably be our last time together.

She had just enough strength to walk down the driveway to the mailbox, so we spent the week just hanging out, smoking pot and watching television, going over old times. The pot counteracted the nausea from the chemo and kept her appetite up. I brought her a stuffed toy camel from the Hard Rock Cafe in Bahrain and a keffiya from Beirut, and offered pep talks about spontaneous remissions and her old Lotto habit.

"The odds on Lotto are pretty bad," I said, "but you played it twice a week. Your chances of beating this are much better."

I managed to hold back the tears until I got back to my apartment in Manhattan. I had a tricky moment in the airport bar, but then again, I always do in those places.

I first laid eyes on Bonnie at a bar called the Bells of Hell on 13th St. just west of 6th Ave. where the Cafe Loup now resides. The Bells of Hell was a hardcore Irish joint with a bar in the front and a good-sized performance space in the back. The location and name made the place a natural watering hole for the customer base of Herman Slater’s Magickal Childe, up in Chelsea at 35 W. 19th St. The Magickal Childe was ground zero for the occult explosion in New York City in the 1970s.

Herman Slater and his lover Ed Buczynski had a little occult emporium on Henry St. in Brooklyn, just off Atlantic Ave., back in the early 1970s. They mainly sold herbs, candles and oils, but they also carried a modest selection of books. The Warlock Shop was just a hole in the wall, but despite its humble appearance, it was a true cash cow. In 1976, the duo pulled up stakes and moved the operation to Chelsea.

At the Magickal Childe, there was enough space to dramatically increase the merchandise offered, and since Herman had the cash and the connections, the new store became, in effect, the one-stop-shop for any and all conjuring needs. In addition to herbs, oils, candles, books, robes, swords and other accoutrements of the Art, one could find human skulls, dried bats, mummified cat’s paws and a wide variety of unusual jewelry, a large portion of which was created by Bonnie, my ex-wife-to-be. A room in the back of the store served as a temple and classroom for the various strains of wicca that began to gravitate to the place.

That temple also served as the launching pad for the explosive growth of Aleister Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) in the city in the late 70s and early 80s.

Herman had vigorously encouraged and supported the creation of the Schlangekraft Necronomicon, edited by "Simon." No doubt he’d grown weary of explaining to customers that H.P. Lovecraft’s fabled forbidden tome was a fiction, a plot device for great horror stories and nothing more. He was savvy enough to sell leftover chicken bones as human finger bones to wannabe necromancers, so he surely knew that the market for a "genuine" Necronomicon could be huge–with the right packaging. In 1977, the book made its debut in the window of Herman’s little shop of horrors in Chelsea. It generated a scene of its own, a scene bursting with mad, unfocused creativity and slapstick mayhem.

Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea had just published their Illuminatus trilogy, and interest in secret societies and occult lore was sweeping through counterculture circuits. Grady McMurtry was attempting to jumpstart the long-dormant OTO in California and had just succeeded in having Aleister Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck published. Punks and proto-goth/industrial types searched out obscure Satanic treatises and rare tracts from the seemingly defunct Process Church of the Final Judgement. Unrepentant hippies and uber-feminists found common ground in the gentle, woodsy eco-cult of the wicca, available in enough variant "traditions" to suit any palate with an appetite for sweets.

None of the wiccan "traditions" were any older than the electric light bulb, and the OTO had its origins in a very dubious Masonic lineage of no greater antiquity than aniline dyes, but that didn’t stop any of us from having a good time. The Necronomicon was not merely the icing on the cake: It was the hideous formless mass that squatted gibbering and piping where the bride and groom should be.

This was the 1970s, and the whole scene was awash in drugs and crazy sex. Herman had an appetite for rough trade and kept a steady stream of dope-crazed street hustlers flowing down from the Haymarket Saloon up on 8th Ave. above Port Authority. He’d keep them around until they ripped him off, then give them the boot and move on to the next one. He liked them big and stupid, a total contrast with Eddie’s graceful and intelligent demeanor.

The differing wicca groups were squabbling over the supposed validity of lineage, and there were no fewer than four established OTO groups internationally, each claiming exclusive dominion over the brand and trademarks. As a lifelong student of what Crowley termed "magick" (the "k" inserted to distinguish the practice from prestidigitation), I have never been a big fan of what I call the "booga-booga" school of magick. I tend to see the practice more as a form of radical self-help and advanced covert sales technique than any kind of actual traffic with disembodied critters and goblins. That said, between the copious amounts of hallucinogens ingested and the spells and counterspells hurled around, there were times when the vibes around the store congealed and quivered like a great Waldorf Salad.

Into this bubbling swamp of spiritual fecundity stepped Peter Levenda, aka "Simon." Charming, soft-spoken and aloof, well-versed in all aspects of occult theory and practice, he eased his way to the center of the scene. The Necronomicon was a team effort. Herman provided the sponsorship, while the design and layout were the work of Jim Wasserman of the OTO, a raving cokehead from Jersey named Larry Barnes whose daddy had the production facilities and a fellow who called himself Khem Set Rising (who also designed the sigils). The text itself was Levenda’s creation, a synthesis of Sumerian and later Babylonian myths and texts peppered with names of entities from H.P. Lovecraft’s notorious and enormously popular Cthulhu stories. Levenda seems to have drawn heavily on the works of Samuel Noah Kramer for the Sumerian, and almost certainly spent a great deal of time at the University of Pennsylvania library researching the thing. Structurally, the text was modeled on the wiccan Book of Shadows and the Goetia, a grimoire of doubtful authenticity itself dating from the late Middle Ages.

"Simon" was also Levenda’s creation. He cultivated an elusive, secretive persona, giving him a fantastic and blatantly implausible line of bullshit to cover the book’s origins. He had no telephone. He always wore business suits, in stark contrast to the flamboyant Renaissance fair, proto-goth costuming that dominated the scene. He never got high in public.

In short, he knew the signifiers and emblems of authority, and played them to the hilt. He hinted broadly of dealings with intelligence agencies and secret societies operating at global levels of social influence. He began teaching classes in the back room, and showed a genuine knack for clarifying and elucidating such baroque encrypted arcana as John Dee’s Enochian magick system in such a way as to make it understandable even to a novice. He also lacked the guts to let a woman know when he was through with her, or so Bonnie said. She was positioned to know at the time, despite her failing marriage to Chris Claremont, the comic book author who put the X-Men on the map. Chris was her third husband. I was her fourth, and last.

As Simon, Levenda threw parties with various forms of live entertainment and staged rituals presented by the various groups that swarmed around the shop. He had no political enemies on the scene, owing to his adamantine and resolute refusal to affiliate with any one group. There has always been a very heavy crossover factor between the Renaissance fair/Society for Creative Anachronisms crowd, the science-fiction fan circuit and the occult/wicca scenes. Simon had friends throughout all of these arenas, and they all showed up to support this effort at unity.

The house band for these affairs was Turner and Kirwan of Wexford, whose sound was primarily influenced by Irish traditional folk music, Pink Floyd and the esoteric "Canterbury School" of so-called "progressive" rock inspired by the band the Soft Machine, which school included Mike Oldfield; Hatfield and the North; McDonald; Giles, Giles and Fripp. Connor Freff Cochran (known then simply as "Freff") was nearly always in attendance, juggling and entertaining, ornamental and always a hit with the women.

Copernicus–second only perhaps to G.G. Allin on the obnoxious meter–had his performance debut at one of these events, and occasionally even Norman Mailer would pop in, with his assistant Judith McNally in tow. Judith and Simon were rumored to be an item, and it was also rumored that she had done the bulk of the work on Mailer’s big hit, The Executioner’s Song. She’s listed in the acknowledgements of the Necronomicon.

Certain theories have it that even a bogus (or, to be kind, synthetic) grimoire will work if it is internally consistent, but that means following the rules to the letter. Simon’s Necronomicon contains a manual of self-initiation in the form of a series of "gates" that are to be "walked." Following the instructions given in the book, walking these gates should take just shy of a year. One certain Martin Mensch–an adepti who had received the book in manuscript form for examination, as had Bonnie due to her status as a Gardnerian wiccan high priestess of some repute–decided to accelerate the process, and ran the gates in a matter of weeks. Shortly after completing the final gate, he stepped out of a cab at 10th St. and 1st Ave. and got capped in the head in one of those random acts of mindless violence that were coming into vogue at that time.

Simon decided to start a group of his own, one that would span the different traditions and merge the gentle current of the wicca with the rigorous scholarship of the Golden Dawn/OTO trend under the umbrella of the Necronomicon. Heavily inspired by the Illuminatus books and Timothy Leary’s exopsychology theory of the eight-circuit brain, he launched Stargroup-1 at these parties.

As the 80s dawned and the Reagan era began, the Berkeley-based Caliphate OTO swelled to become the dominant force among the Crowley crowd, and the internal politics of that group morphed into a drug-soaked, sex-crazed caricature of I, Claudius. The wicca continued their ongoing disputes regarding the validity or lack thereof of the various "traditions," and Stargroup-1 issued the New York Tarot, a genuinely cute endeavor to replace the traditional tarot card images with photographs of New York City and certain members of the group. People were having mad sex of every conceivable variety in every imaginable combination. Turner and Kirwan of Wexford streamlined their sound and turned into a new-wave effort called the Major Thinkers.

Simon was finding Larry Barnes increasingly difficult to tolerate, an understandable position given the man’s outrageous level of cocaine consumption. Simon refused to attend a book signing, so Wasserman recruited me to impersonate him and forge his signature on a run of hardcover reprints. Barnes kept laying out rails of blow until I simply had to refuse any more; I thought I was going to have a stroke. His skin had that bluish tinge one usually associates with corpses; he couldn’t shut up and made no sense at all. He was completely obsessed with numerology, a classic symptom of incipient paranoia. Shortly thereafter, Larry snitched out his suppliers and entered the Federal Witness Protection Program, never to be seen again. In 1980, Avon released the paperback version of the Necronomicon, which remains in print and has been selling very steadily ever since.

For me, the scene peaked at a reception thrown by a prominent tax attorney from DC at the Plaza Hotel honoring Grady McMurtry, filmmaker Kenneth Anger and Simon. There was a screening of Anger’s film, Lucifer Rising, a splendid buffet, rivers of free booze and a full range of sense-deranging substances. It was the last time that particular crowd got together on friendly terms.

Not all of us took Simon’s hints of dabblings in intelligence work all that seriously, but apparently the Feds did. An agent infiltrated the OTO with the apparent intent of getting close to Simon, who was doing a great deal of consulting for the local lodge and seemed to be flirting with affiliation. As the noose tightened, Simon became more and more critical of the OTO, finally denouncing it as "fascist" and vanishing, some said to Singapore. Other reports placed him in Hong Kong or Shanghai. The truth is, no one knew.

Bonnie and I headed out to San Francisco, where we were married by a Justice of the Peace on October 6, 1983. Grady McMurtry led the Caliphate OTO through a series of court battles aimed at establishing it as the one true OTO and died of congestive heart failure on the day the judge granted his victory. Stargroup-1 quietly disintegrated, and the wicca made peace with one another as fundamentalist Christians took control of the White House. The Major Thinkers broke up. Pierce Turner went solo, and Larry Kirwan formed Black 47.

Herman Slater sailed his little pirate ship through it all, indomitable and ornery, the very fairy godmother of the entire scene. Every now and then the issue of unpaid sales taxes would pop up and he’d threaten to sell the shop, but he never did. The books, such as they were, consisted mainly of scraps of paper stuffed into shopping bags. There was no earthly way anyone but Herman could make any sense of it. The cranky old fucker fired me no fewer than three times in the course of my tenure there, but Bonnie’s jewelry sold, and he eventually bought the line from her. She never had much business sense, not that I consider that a flaw. She was an artist, first and foremost, and a damned fine one at that.

In 1989, Ed Buczynski died of complications from AIDS. On July 9, 1992, Herman followed him into the Western Lands. He left the shop to a handful of employees who had managed to avoid pissing him off. Unfortunately, he also left an incredible tax debt. The shop limped along for a few years, deteriorating gradually and finally closing its doors for good in 1999. The space remains vacant as of this writing.

During the last ten years of her life, my wife embraced Tibetan Buddhism, specifically the variant known as Dzogchen. In our last conversation, she mentioned that my picture was sitting next to the Dalai Lama in her makeshift shrine in the hospice where she was spending her final days.

"I am honored by the gesture," I told her, "but I’m not so sure I belong there. It might give His Holiness weird dreams."

She left me her Necronomicon, number 141 of the first edition of 666 hardcover copies, inscribed by Simon: "To Greymalkin, As per the missing page of the Nec… ‘Blessed Is, Blessed Was, Blessed Will Be…’"

She was a wonderful woman. It was a very colorful scene, a very colorful time. We were all naive and completely insane, but we had a good time together. It was, in a word, magick.

The New York Press
Volume 16, Issue 23

First their guns, now their swords... Is it the days after Culloden again?

2006-08-14T11:54:00.000-04:00

Sale of swords to be outlawed under new measures to fight blade crime

LOUISE GRAY

Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister will announce move today
Exception made in case of religious, cultural or sporting purposes
Recent amnesty saw 12,500 blades, machetes and swords handed in

Key quote
"They are certainly among the range of weapons that are used by people. This reduces their availability except for legitimate reasons. I think if it saves one life or permanent disfigurement it is worthwhile." - RUDI CRAWFORD, A & E CONSULTANT

Story in full SWORDS will be banned from sale in Scotland in a new effort to tackle the country's "booze and blades" culture.

Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, will announce the move today.

However, it is understood that exceptions will be made for weapons required for religious, cultural or sporting purposes.

Retailers yesterday claimed the move was an over-reaction, as swords constitute just 1 per cent of knife crime.

Ms Jamieson, who has the backing of the police, will also launch a range of measures to restrict the sale of non-domestic knives, including hunting knives, bowie knives and machetes.

Almost 30 people are admitted to hospitals in Scotland every week with wounds from bladed instruments. Earlier this month, a Glasgow man was jailed for killing a woman with a sword.

In a recent amnesty, more than 12,500 lethal blades, machetes and swords were handed over to police.

Rudi Crawford, an accident and emergency consultant at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, who has treated patients for sword injuries, welcomed the move.

He said: "Certainly, over the years we have seen sword injuries, some of which have been fatal.

"They are certainly among the range of weapons that are used by people. This reduces their availability except for legitimate reasons. I think if it saves one life or permanent disfigurement it is worthwhile."

Retailers who want to sell swords under the exemptions will need to be licensed and comply with other mandatory conditions.

They will be required to record the names and addresses of all purchasers and be prohibited from displaying non-domestic knives and swords in shop windows.

Several retailers in Edinburgh's Royal Mile sell swords - starting from about £100 - as well as sgian dubh.

Many kilt-makers have swords in their windows for display purposes.

Gordon Nicolson, of Nicolson Highlandwear, expressed concern for the future of Scotland's sword manufacturers, who sell the items to collectors around the world.

"It is part of our history and part of our culture and we have to be able to use it," he said.

"In certain circumstances, it is required to give authenticity to our heritage and to throw that away in a blanket ban seems nonsensical."

A petition to the Scottish Parliament, led by the campaigners Save Our Swords, received more than 2,000 signatures.

Campaigners argue that a ban is an unwarranted infringement of the rights of swordspersons, including collectors, martial artists, sports fencers, Highland dancers and historical re-enactors.

A number of shows at the Edinburgh Festival this year feature swords, including Chanbara, a samurai sword show at the Pleasance.

Masa Ogawa, a founder of Yamato - the company staging the show, agreed that swords must be used responsibly.

He said: "It will be a pity for martial arts enthusiasts... But the sword needs to be given more respect, it is not a play thing.

"It is key to consider the sword as a spirit and to pay it due consideration."

Small Press Numbers

2006-08-13T16:32:00.000-04:00

Over at Shocklines, a member posed the following query:

What are "normal" small press horror sales?

I've been reading a lot of small press horror and had a questions about sales. I figured this would be the place to ask because there are a lot of experts here. What is a "normal" number of sales for a small press horror paperback?

I had no idea, but I was quite pleased to see my publisher log in and answer?

We normally do runs of 50-100 copies on first-time authors, 4 or 5 times that if the author is established or has proven him/herself out in the past. For instance, our biggest runs are usually for new Koehler and Meikle titles, though we'll be moving into larger runs for Bob Freeman in the future since his sales have taken off and maintained their selling curve. Depends on the author, how much the author has worked with the staff in prepromotion, and how "marketable" we predict the book will be. OTOH, we've established a relationship with our printers and distributors so turnaround is twice as fast as it was when we first began. If a title sells out early, we can normally have another print run ready to ship to customers in approx. 7 days.

Kind of makes an author feel all warm and fuzzy inside... ;)

Cornwell Reviews "Enchantresses"

2006-08-13T11:48:00.000-04:00

The women who cast a spell over King Arthur
review by Bernard Cornwell

KING ARTHUR’S ENCHANTRESSES
Morgan and Her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition
by Carolyne Larrington
I. B. Tauris, £18.99; 288pp

BENEATH ITS scholarly cloak, Carolyne Larrington’s new book is marvellously subversive and entertaining.

Larrington had the happy idea of concentrating on the strange and powerful women who broke the rules of King Arthur’s court and examines how they have been depicted since the earliest written versions right up to the film and comic-strip sorceresses of the present time.

Things, apparently, do go in circles. Gerald of Wales, writing in the late 12th century, said that Morgan, Arthur’s sister, was “imagined to be some kind of goddess”.

Now, in the 21st century, after a career in which she has been depicted variously as a crone, a betrayed beauty, a trickster and, usually, a nagging nuisance, she is one of the nine deities of the Goddess religion. Not a bad career recovery.

The Arthurian stories are endlessly malleable, which is part of their appeal to writers and film-makers. You want Arthur to be a Sarmation knight as he was in a recent film? Why not? The story stretches obligingly.

If he existed at all, Arthur was probably a 6th-century warlord, a Briton who fought against the Anglo-Saxons and is famously claimed to have killed 960 men in a single day.

Yet somehow over the centuries he has been transmuted into a courteous cuckold inspiring a crew of epicene knights to improbable quests. Larrington’s enchantresses go through similar changes, driven, as she demonstrates, by the concerns of the audience — which are sexual.

In the late 12th century, when the stories were first turned into poetry, the audience would largely have been the women of European courts, whose concerns were how to keep their men faithful and (often the same thing) thwart their feminine rivals.

Chivalry was their great weapon, but it was a feeble one for, when push came to shove, most knights were merciless and vicious killers. All the more need then, for women to tame them, especially in love, and the enchantresses offered an alternative source of feminine power.

Morgan’s conjuring of the Valley of False Lovers was a wonderfully condign punishment. An unfaithful knight was imprisoned for 17 years in a valley where he was forced into the company of the one he had betrayed. Think, if you will, of 17 years with a scorned Hillary Clinton and you have a measure of Morgan’s inspired malevolence.

But by the 19th century the audience had changed. Chivalry still ruled as an aspiration for Victorian gentlemen, but now the tales had become a vehicle for male “fears about the unmarried and un-controlled woman; educated, ambitious, sexual, gossipping and dangerous”.

Vivien (Nimue) is the exemplar here, the serpentine young sorceress who entwines herself about Merlin to entrap him. Old man and young woman and, as Tennyson wrote on his Idylls, “what should not have been had been”.

But so much in Britain is what it should not be, and in this compelling survey Larrington discusses such strange episodes as Arthur’s unwitting incest, or his imitation of Herod in a massacre of babies. The courteous cuckold can still surprise us.

The women in King Arthur’s Enchantresses are not witches. They are manipulators, levelling the odds in a society where the highest value is alpha-male prowess. So are they now surplus to requirements in the age of equality? It seems not, for in her final chapter Larrington recounts, with a straight face, the promotion of the enchantresses to goddesses.

We are treated to the wisdom of Starhawk, one of the women responsible for the “systemisation of North America Goddess-worship”, who, in her Waxing Moon Meditation, encourages you to see Vivien as “a silver-haired girl running freely through the forest under the slim moon. She is Virgin.”

One suspects that Morgan and Vivien would have sliced off Starhawk’s head for that, because — whatever else the enchantresses were — they were not virgins and they were certainly not fools.

Welcome to the World, Baby Nephew!

2006-08-12T10:27:00.000-04:00

Introducing

SAMUEL ALLEN FREEMAN

(7 lbs 6 oz - 20 1/4 in)

08/11/06

5:36 PM

The Happy Family

(From l to r) Bret, Ashley, Samuel, Marci, Nick

New Interview up at Hellnotes

2006-08-09T10:11:00.000-04:00

Nick Cook was kind enough to interview me for Hellnotes. You can read the interview HERE.

Congratulations Empire of the Cat

2006-08-08T13:10:00.000-04:00

Hey, the Empire of the Cat has been selected as the Book Discussion Group of the month... click the following link: http://www.bookgroup.info/041205/directory_bgotm.php to read all about it.

EllieL was kind enough to pimp yours truly....

If you're not too busy, you might swing by the Empire of the Cat and give it a look... maybe even jump into the discussion that's brewing over Shadows...

~Bob

Converse IOOF Cemetery - New Pics

2006-08-08T07:32:00.000-04:00

I just received a bundle of pics from Jason that his wife Angie shot in the Converse IOOF Cemetery. Some great shots, but we'll need to verify a few of them by doing some reshoots later in the week. These two orbs however are spectacular...

Long Kept Secrets to be Revealed?

2006-08-07T10:25:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Page World Exclusive in the current Classic Rock Magazine.

Sympathy For The Devil.
Page breaks his silence on Satanism, Led Zeppelin and Rock's most notorious movie, 'Lucifer Rising'.

This article has been rumored about in Thelemic circles for the better part of a year. At long last, it is upon us.

To whet your blade, here is an article that examines some of the mystery surrounding "Lucifer Rising":

A PAGE FROM THE OCCULT
CARMICHAEL MAN DELVES INTO LED ZEPPELIN STAR'S PAST
SACRAMENTO BEE, METRO FINAL, Sec. ENCORE, p EN6 24-05-1987 By David Barton

Jimmy Page, the guitarist and producer who piloted Led Zeppelin to the status of most popular rock group of the '70s, has long had an interest in the occult.

One form that interest took was Page's work on the sound track to the film ''Lucifer Rising'' by Kenneth Anger. Page worked for three years on the sound track, coming up with 23 minutes of music, which had not been captured on vinyl.

Until now, that is.

Christopher Dietler of Carmichael has taken the sound track off an original print of the Anger film and has pressed a record that he is selling through the mail and at small area record stores. This move has earned him some notoriety, including the disapproval of the O.T.O.

The what?

The Ordus Templar Orientis -- Order of the Templars of the East, a small esoteric order of magi...But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. This story begins more than a decade ago and involves some mysterious and even notorious characters. In fact, the story of how the film and music were made and how it all ended up in Carmichael, Calif., is more interesting than the music itself.

Page's interest in the esoteric focused on Aleister Crowley, the English magician who dubbed himself "the Beast 666" and reveled in contemporary newspaper descriptions of himself as "the wickedest man alive." After his death in 1947, two dozen of his followers (who call themselves Thelemites) continued to espouse Crowley's philosophy as expressed in creeds such as "The key to joy is disobedience" and "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." Many Thelemites were members of the O.T.O., a group of occult adepts formed in 1902, which Crowley took over late in his life.

The most famous of Crowley's disciples is Page, though Sting is also reportedly interested and even the Beatles included his picture on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Page at one time owned Crowley's Equinox Bookstore in London, owns the second largest Crowley book collection in the world and to this day owns and occupies Boleskine House, Crowley's home/temple on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland.

Trivia fans will note that Crowley's admonition "Do What Thou Wilt" is engraved in the inner groove of "Led Zeppelin III."

So when filmmaker Kenneth Anger, best known as writer of the lurid expose ''Hollywood Babylon,'' asked Page in 1973 to create a soundtrack for a film based on Crowley's poem "Hymn to Lucifer", Page jumped at the chance. But in 1973, Led Zeppelin was at the height of its considerable fame. Page's work for "Lucifer Rising" dragged on and on, until Anger finally fired him when Page delivered only 23 minutes of music in 1976.The soundtrack was heard by the film buffs who have seen the film, but few of Page's fans have heard the music.

Dietler hopes to change that by making the soundtrack more widely available. But how did a state worker who lives in Carmichael with his wife and two kids end up releasing a legendary recording by one of the giants of contemporary music?

As a Zeppelin fan, Dietler had heard of the soundtrack and contacted Anger. According to Dietler, Anger told him he had lost the original master tapes. So Dietler got the filmmaker to sell him one of what are ostensibly the only four prints of "Lucifer Rising". Dietler had a friend remaster the sound track from the film and had it pressed onto vinyl.The first 1,000 copies of the EP are pressed on blue vinyl, have a cover that features a gallery of Page and Crowley photos and is given an issue number, all of which Dietler says justifies the record's $20 price tag. But even at that whopping price, Dietler said he has sold more than 300 copies in a month, including one to producer and Zeppelin fanatic Rick Rubin. Dietler says that future pressings will be offered at a lower price.The record's music is its least interesting aspect, which perhaps explains why Page never bothered to bring it out himself. On it, he plays a guitar run through an early ARP synthesizer, the precursor to the contemporary guitar synthesizer. The music is a series of drones, a few chants, all of it murky, something like the sounds from "In the Light" or "Kashmir" from the Led Zeppelin album "Physical Graffiti", but not as well orchestrated. It is not Led Zeppelin. But it matches the film well.

In "Lucifer Rising", images linger and blend as actors playing Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris signal to each other across the Valley of the Kings, while other scenes show Lilith (played by singer Marianne Faithfull) climbing through ancient ruins as occult symbols flash on the screen. Later, Anger himself does a dance to summon Lucifer, who appears wearing a satin tour jacket with his name emblazoned across his back.

Page also appears for a split second in the film, holding an ancient stone tablet called the Stele of Revealing and looking at a wreathed photograph of Crowley. The still appears on the cover of Dietler's record.

Page's label, Atlantic Records, didn't know about Dietler's records, and issued a simple "no comment". Page's management in London also declined to comment.

Dietler hasn't heard from Page, but he has heard from the O.T.O. The Order has expelled Dietler and dissolved the dozen-member Carmichael chapter. "They were afraid of Page," said Dietler, "They were afraid that I had left them in a libelous situation by advertising the record" in the O.T.O.'s newsletter.

O.T.O. Treasurer Bill Heidrick, of the Berkeley chapter (the Order has 800 members in 17 countries) agrees with that, but puts the onus on Dietler. "He's not much of a business man," said Heidrick. Heidrick says that Dietler has no written permission from either Page or Anger, though he once claimed he did. Instead, Heidrick said, Anger sold Dietler the film on the condition that he not use the soundtrack. Dietler denied this, saying that had read that Page wouldn't mind if Anger put out a soundtrack. Heidrick noted that this hardly constitutes permission.

Anger has been unavailable for comment.

Complicating the issue is Mystic Fire Video, a company co-owned by the head of the O.T.O. (who Heidrick would not name). Mystic Fire recently acquired the rights to the Anger films on video. So, according to Heidrick, Dietler is not only using the music without Page's permission, he also has a potential copyright conflict with the head of the O.T.O.

But while Dietler's esoteric activities have been nipped in the bud by the O.T.O., and copyright problems are still a threat, he has more plans for Zeppelin products. An avid collector of Zeppelin bootlegs, memorabilia and concert videotapes, Dietler plans to make a historical compilation of Zeppelin footage culled from tapes that include Scandinavian television performances from the group's first tour in '68, as well as promotional videos of everything from "Communication Breakdown" on, wary of selling a "bootlegged" product.

The album does not work as a piece of music, but that won't matter to many Page fans, who are notorious collectors on the level of Beatles or Grateful Dead fans. In the meantime, Dietler also has no plans to release the soundtrack to "Lucifer Rising, Part Two" (1980), a 45-minute film with soundtrack by a group under the direction of another famous personality: the Freedom Orchestra, recorded in Tracy Prison under the leadership of Charles Manson's lieutenant Bobby Beausoleil.

Converse IOOF Cemetery 08-06-06

2006-08-06T14:48:00.000-04:00

Where do I begin? It wasn't planned, but members of the Wabash Paranormal Investigation and Research Group ended up in the Converse I.O.O.F. Cemetery after midnight, making the date the Sixth of August 2006.

We prowled the hallowed ground and found that we all witnessed a similar event, at different times. And then again together as a group. A free floating apparition that moved through the tombstones, turning at a towering pine and moving down the gravel center lane... only to disipate, desolving into nothing.

Seven eyewitnesses, all experienced investigators.

My eyes among them.

Joy saw it as a full human figure, but by the time the rest of us saw it, it had devolved into an elongated mass floating at waist height...

Did we catch the entity on film? I didn't think so... but the pictures below may be proof otherwise. I present the original picture as I viewed it upon downloading it to my computer and an augmented version inwhich I altered the color balance by bringing up the level of green in the pictures and then using a curve brightness tool... You be the judge. Did we capture the entity in question?

Jason set up his video camera with night vision enhancement and recorded the area we saw the apparition in... I'm hoping that we caught the apparition in motion. I'm waiting anxiously to learn the results.

I will report further once more of our evidence has been gone over.

What a thrilling night... Wow... this has really been my week, huh?

Unexplained Event Explodes Over Converse

2006-08-03T19:23:00.000-04:00

Strange but True...

Last night I left my house at the usual time, prepared for my nightly bike ride. Something far from the usual occurred however... Looking into the clear night sky I witnessed a thin streak of fire arcing from the southern horizon. My first thought was that it was a shooting star... but its trail was too long. Suddenly to the north, the fire trail ended in a huge explosion. White hot, it billowed outward, with smaller red fire eruptions coming from the white mass. I heard no sound...

What the hell was it? A plane? A satallite? A spacecraft? I watched as the explosion disipated in the sky... sparkling debris raining down, then... nothing. The sky was returned to its tranquil splendour.

I rode on to my friend Doug's, a fellow riding enthusiest, and we placed a call first to the Indiana State Police, then to the Miami County Sheriff's Department... I made a statement, filing an official report.

Was it a terrorist attack?

Twenty minutes later I met with the Converse Town Marshal, Rodger Bowland, and discussed the matter with him. he had already been briefed by Miami County. See, Grant County had received three reports... two from the town of Swayzee... one from the town of Sweetser... of unidentified objects flying out of the southeast, black triangular shaped against the black sky... no lights, no sound.

The mystery deepens...

Highlander: the Source

2006-08-02T11:34:00.000-04:00

Highlander fans may want to look away... This is a little something I tracked down concerning the upcoming release of HIGHLANDER: THE SOURCE starring Adrian Paul and Peter Wingfield

***SPOILER ALERT***

The world is falling into chaos. As he roams a crumbling city, Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander, remembers happier times with Anna, a mortal woman and one of the loves of his life. Unable to have children with MacLeod, she left and with her went MacLeod’s reason for living.

Elsewhere, an Immortal named Zai is being hunted by the Guardian. Zai belongs to a group of Immortals trying to find the Source, a story whispered among Immortals of their place of origin. The Guardian is its protector.

He joins the other members of the group in a virtual internet chatroom: Methos, MacLeod’s mysterious ancient friend, Reggie, a vodka-guzzling astronomer and Giovanni, a Cardinal and the leader of the group.

Zai has taken a bronze mask from the Guardian. It has a strange pattern which may be code or a map. An ancient one known as the Abbot may be able to decipher it. He is hiding in a monastery. But, before Zai can join them, he is intercepted by the Guardian and beheaded.

During a brief fight with the Guardian, during which MacLeod is nearly killed and told he has "pissed away" his gift, MacLeod is rescued by Joe Dawson, one of the Watchers, a group of mortals who observe and chronicle the Immortals living among them. Joe takes him to the monastery of the Abbot where MacLeod finds Anna. Giovanni is less than thrilled to find this mortal woman joining them on their quest.

The Abbot is a hideous figure - his blue skin hangs in loose folds like blankets - and he explains how long ago he found the Source and fought the Guardian. He was defeated and punished with a fate far worse than death. He cannot die but his body continues to age, withering away and turning him into an abomination.

The Abbot senses something about Anna, her connection to the Source, and as his ancient finger caresses her cheek, she has a vision - a constellation of stars rising over her. Reggie figures out the location and plots their course.

Outside the monastery, Dawson is killed by the Guardian. MacLeod loses his katana fighting him, and they continue the quest on a boat, following the stars.

After reaching land, a dead body strung about as they pull ashore, they stop for the night. Anna rises like a sleepwalker drawn away by a pulsing alignment of stars. She disappears into the night. As they search for her and the Source, they are cut down one by one.

Finally, only MacLeod is left. He reaches Anna just as a column of liquid energy surges around her, climbing up into space to the constellation of stars. MacLeod runs to her but the Guardian blocks his path.The Guardian explains that the Source will be reborn through her. MacLeod must defeat the Guardian to be the One who will enter the Source with Anna. Dual-wielding two butterfly swords MacLeod manages to defeat the Guardian and a spectacular Quickening brings him into the Wellspring of the Source. He finds Anna but when she speaks it is with the sound of a chorus. She has become the voice of the Source.

Ordinary human progress is limited by the mortality of great men. The Immortals were created by the Source to have none of these constraints. And the power of the Quickening where one Immortal takes the essence of another through a beheading, would lead to people who can draw on the experience of many lives and many lifetimes. A gift to the human race.

The electrical currents around MacLeod and Anna grow to a blinding intensity and when it dies down ------ we are in the highlands of Scotland.

Duncan has become mortal and has aged the same as Anna.

A young man trains with Duncan in a field of heather. He is Connor MacLeod, Duncan’s son with Anna.

We will join young Connor as he follows his destiny as the new Highlander.

Lammas Night

2006-08-02T10:23:00.000-04:00

The first Harvest Rite... a night of reflection and a night of sacrifice. The Sacred King sheds his blood upon the Hallowed Earth on this Holy Night. A communion of bread is taken... the wheat representing the divine as it is reaped and offered to provide life to all... The Christians echo this rite in their communion ceremony. It is a rite that harkens back to man's first days as a tiller of the soil.

Lammas Night is a time for sacrificing our regrets and saying our farewells... the Sun's reign is nearing an end... Winter calls out that it is coming...

Lammas is a special time for those of us who still honor the Old Ways.

I trust that Lammas has found you Well and True.

Now, go out and read Katherine Kurtz' wonderful novel that touches on the subject. Lammas Night is a delightful read, fast paced and entertaining, and more importantly, illuminating. You can thank me later.

~BF

Empire of the Cat Discussion Group: Shadows Over Somerset

2006-08-01T11:42:00.000-04:00

Well, it's August and that means that over at the Empire of the Cat they are beginning their Online Book Discussion of my novel, Shadows Over Somerset. This should be a lot of fun. Come on by and join in on the discussion... I'll be there all month answering questions and playing co-host.

Hope to see you there.

~BF

A Legend Leaves Us

2006-07-28T17:10:00.000-04:00

UK fantasy writer David Gemmell, born 1948, died this morning at his home, a week following quadruple heart bypass surgery. Gemmel was the author of over 30 novels, including Legend (1984), first in the long-running Drenai series, and numerous other books in the Slipstrassi, Hawk Queen, and Rigante sequences.

Half Light

2006-07-28T11:48:00.000-04:00

Curled up on the couch last night with my wife to watch Half Light on TNT, based on my father's recommendation.

For once, Daddy got it right.

Half Light, starring Demi Moore, was a tense psychological thriller wrapped up in a ghost story that really delivered. Director Craig Rosenberg got the most out of a mostly stellar cast and captured the mood of the piece perfectly. The location didn't hurt things a bit. Filmed on an island off the coast of North Wales, the scenes were riveting, the landscape a character in and of itself.

Moore played a writer who leaves her husband and resettles in Scotland following the death of her son. To give you more of the plot than that would do the movie a disservice. Suffice it to say that Half Light is a thriller/ horror / love story that will captivate you from beginning to end. James Cosmo and Hans Matheson both delivered excellent performances and even Moore, an actress I've never been too fond of, played a convincing Rachel Carlson.

A must-see? Not necessarily.

Would you be disappointed? Definitely not.

A fine film.

I recommend it.

~BF

Biting the Bullet

2006-07-27T08:33:00.000-04:00

Well, I did it.

I joined the Horror Writer's Association.

The HWA has a long and storied history and, at one time or another, the biggest names in the horror genre have been members. Now, my name too resides among their number.

I know, I know... you've heard me say before that the idea behind HWA was antiquated... that the HWA provides services that, in the internet age, are largely available to anyone anyway.

That being said, I have come to the realization that there is a place for the HWA. If Horror is to thrive and grow, there needs to be people working to maintain it, to help nuture it.

The HWA has that potential and therefore, I feel it is the best chance we have at keeping this genre alive and well, deep into the 21st century and beyond.

Carpe Nocturn,

~BF

Cavaties can be the Root of all Evil!

2006-07-26T06:57:00.000-04:00

Remember the innocence of putting a tooth under a pillow at night and finding it mysteriously transformed into a reward the next morning?

My, how times have changed…Anchor Bay Entertainment, an IDT Entertainment Company, extracts the dark side of a beloved childhood ritual with The Tooth Fairy ! Co-written and produced by legendary producer Stephen J. Cannell (“The A Team”, “Hunter”, “Profit”, “21 Jump Street”) and featuring such horror alums as P.J. Soles ( Halloween, The Devil's Rejects ) and Jesse Hutch ( Freddy Vs. Jason ) , The Tooth Fairy turns the innocent fairy tale into the ultimate nightmare!

Presented uncut with never-before-seen footage, The Tooth Fairy also offers bonus features, including an audio commentary and behind-the-scenes interviews, that viewers can really sink their teeth into! Open wide for The Tooth Fairy on August 8, 2006 , with an SRP of $19.98. Pre-book date is June 28th.

Directed by Chuck Bowman from a teleplay by Stephen J. Cannell, Corey Strode and Cookie Rae Brown and starring Carrie Fleming (“Masters of Horror: Dario Argento's Jenifer”), The Tooth Fairy rips to shreds the whimsical icon. Amid the idyllic splendor of the Northern California woods, a quaint country inn offers respite for the weary traveler. It also harbors a dark secret. Almost sixty years earlier, it was the crumbling home of a malevolent witch who lured in children, stole their teeth, butchered their bodies, and cursed their souls to wander the earth forever. Now, the witch's slumber has been disturbed, and her vengeful spirit seeks the slaughter of all who stay there. And for one eleven -year-old girl with a loose molar and an active imagination, the ultimate horror begins with a visit from The Tooth Fairy...

The Tooth Fairy DVD provides a full set of extras including:

Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Uncut Version – Never-Before-Seen Footage
Audio Commentary with Director Chuck Bowman, Producer/Writer Stephen. J. Cannell and Actor Jesse Hutch
Hatchet Job: The Making of The Tooth Fairy
Cast and crew interviews
Trailer

THE TOOTH FAIRY
Street Date: August 8, 2006
Pre-Book: June 28, 2006
Catalog #: DV14147
UPC: 0-1313-14147-9 0
Run Time: 89 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP : $19.98

Give the girl a hand...

2006-07-25T09:57:00.000-04:00

You've just got to love Jersey...

A severed hand in a mason jar filled with formaldehyde — and six human skulls — found by police Friday at a home here have led to the arrest of an exotic dancer, police said.

Linda E. Kay, 31, was charged with improper disposition of human remains.

Police responded to a call at 28 Diana Drive Friday about an emotionally disturbed man threatening to hurt himself. A 21-year-old South Plainfield woman told dispatchers a man living there was trying to kill himself with a hammer, police said.

When officers arrived, Kay refused to let them in, South Plainfield Police Chief John Ferraro said. The officers forced their way past her, he said.

Police learned the man who supposedly wanted to harm himself was not in the home. They found the severed hand in a foot-tall mason jar on a table in the basement and the skulls in a second-floor bedroom, Ferraro said.

Human skulls can be readily purchased on the Internet. But the hand, which Ferraro described as "large and crudely severed," was a more bizarre discovery.

The cut was jagged, and bone fragments were present, authorities said. "Our main concern is finding out where the hand came from," Ferraro said.

Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Judson Hamlin said the hand is being tested, including fingerprint analysis. The hand appears to be that of a white male, authorities said.

Police said Kay is not cooperating. She has refused to tell them where or how she obtained the body parts, police said.

Jason Lafontaine said he lives at the home but didn't know how Kay got the body parts.

"I think she has a friend who is a medical examiner or something who does autopsies," Lafontaine said.
He said residents named the severed hand "Freddy."

"That's what everybody called it," said Lafontaine, 20.

Lafontaine said the human skulls were displayed neatly with animal skulls he believed were souvenirs.
Kay was released after posting a $100,000 bail bond.

Capt. Paul Brembt of the South Plainfield Police Department said police encountered items used in occult practices — such as capes, costumes and things bearing occult symbols — at the Diana Drive home on other calls.