Archive for the ‘Tales across the US’ Category

An Evening in the Haunted Anchorage Mansion

Posted: May 14, 2023 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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The Anchorage Mansion. Majestic but spooky, isn’t it?

As you know, I was in Marietta the other day for the Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo. And while I was there, I signed up for a flashlight tour and short ghost hunt of the Anchorage Mansion, the headquarters of the Hidden Marietta Tour Group, who are also responsible for the expo. And, being me, not only did I bring my dowsing rods, but I filmed some creepy stuff and put it on YouTube!

So, if you don’t know, the Anchorage Mansion is a large, Victorian mansion set on a hill looking over the lovely city of Marietta. It was built in the 1800s and was home to about four different families before becoming a church run rest home. After the rest home was closed, it laid abandoned until the local historical society, and then Hidden Marietta, took over it and started fixing it up. Today, the house’s first floor has been refurbished and the second floor, the servants’ quarters (which is kind of like a floor 1.5), and the attic and its tower will hopefully be fixed up in the coming years.

And Hidden Marietta offers tours and ghost hunts, both public and private, to the residence, because the place has a number of ghosts. Some ghosts include the original owners, a pair of little girls named Henrietta and Clarabelle (nobody’s entirely sure who they are, though there are theories), and former residents of the rest home, the most famous of whom is a prankster by the name of Walter.

I was there for the flashlight tour with a half-hour ghost hunt added afterwards, and my friend/fellow vendor Jeff Ignatowski was there as well (he’s the inventor of Killers; The Card Game, which I recommend you check out). With a group of about a dozen people, we toured the house and learned its history and about its hauntings, of which there were numerous stories. And while I enjoyed supplying my knowledge of Victorian house-planning and customs when appropriate (I knew researching The Pure World Comes would come in handy someday), I was overwhelmed by how active the house was.

Kid you not, early on in the tour, we started experiencing activity. While we were in a side room off the dining room, I saw a blue light flashing back and forth in the dining room. I asked about it, thinking it was one of the tour guides with her phone, but she said it wasn’t her or her phone. Followers of Fear, it was a blue orb! I’d never seen one so clear and close with my own eyes before.

And throughout the night, I would see more and more orbs and light anomalies. In fact, I was able to get some on film in the attic tower.

Crazy, right? Some of those anomalies just flew up into the roof and disappeared. My dad even saw the video and said he saw five. And he’s a bit of a skeptic to this sort of thing (or maybe he’s just a skeptic when it comes to ghost hunting shows).

Anyway, after that the tour ended and we received some equipment to go throughout the house and investigate. I went with my friend Jeff to the attic, where we heard those two little girls Henrietta and Clarabelle are known to hang out. And the results were beyond anything I expected.

Divebombing bat aside, it was quite the moment for me. Clarabelle made the stairs creak, which was something I’d only seen in movies and ghost-hunting shows. To experience it myself was like a dream come true.

After that, Jeff and I went downstairs. We wanted to go into the servants’ quarters, where a very violent ghost hangs out (no joke, they do not allow women to go in there alone). But another group was in there, so we decided to head down to the dining room and try to get in contact with Walter. First, I tried using the GhostTube app on my phone.

Then I used my regular camera, which ended up producing a kind of odd angle to parts of the video.

As you can tell from the end of the above video, the ghost hunt came to an end at that point. And while I had fun and felt satisfied, I wish I could have stayed longer. After all, the Anchorage Mansion is the real deal. I bet skeptics will have a few thoughts if they visit this mansion at night, that’s how crazy active it is.

So, if the opportunity arises, I definitely will visit the mansion again, and maybe do a full ghost hunt. I would love to get plenty of footage and experience more paranormal activity. And, of course, if possible, I would love to go with some friends.

In the meantime, I’ll be at ParaPsyCon this coming weekend at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. As you well know, the Reformatory is one of the most haunted places in the United States, as well as one of my favorite in the world. I’ll be selling books and doing Tarot readings there the entire weekend, so if you’re in the area, please stop by! And if something supernatural happens to me there (and it probably will, given my track record), I will try to get it on video.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and make sure to check out my YouTube channel for more spooky videos and updates on my work. Mostly spooky videos, but also updates on my work.

Speaking of Victorian mansions with freaky things going on inside, my Gothic horror novel, The Pure World Comes, will be on sale through Wednesday in honor of its one-year release anniversary. Set in 1894, the story follows Shirley Dobbins, a maid who goes to work for the eccentric baronet Sir Joseph Hunting. While at his estate, the Hunting Lodge, strange occurrences happen at the mansion, and Shirley soon learns that not only do these occurrences may have something to do with the baronet, but they may threaten her and those she holds dear.

The ebook is currently on sale from all retailers, and the audio book is on sale from Chirp, Spotify, Nook Audiobooks, and Apple. If this piques your interest, I’ll leave links below. And if you like what you read, leave a review online somewhere so I know what you think. Happy reading and pleasant nightmares!

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Goodreads, Audible, Chirp, BingeBooks, LIbro.Fm, Storytel, Palace Marketplace, Hoopla, Vivlio, Smashwords, Thalia, Scribd, Spotify

Touring the West Virginia Penitentiary

Posted: August 16, 2022 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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Tour entrance of the West Virginia Penitentiary

As you know, I went to another haunted location recently. This one was the West Virginia Penitentiary, which was to be the host of the West Virginia Penitentiary Paracon. Now, you know me, I never pass up the opportunity to visit a haunted location, so the day before the Paracon I visited the prison for a tour.

Now, if you’ve never been to the Penitentiary (and I bet many of you haven’t), it’s a big, Gothic building that reminds me of my beloved Ohio State Reformatory back in Mansfield. Granted, it’s older by about twenty years and was in operation for far longer, and its history is certainly bloodier. In fact, the prison used to be known nationwide as “Blood Alley,” and it was cited by the Justice Department in an investigation of America’s prisons as its worst examples. In the late 1980s, there was a riot there that killed four people, and at one point, an Aryan Brotherhood leader was murdered by his deputy during yard time!

And these are just drops in the bucket: apparently the prison saw about 998 deaths during its operation. And that’s just the ones that we know of that weren’t scheduled executions.

Obviously, the building is supposed to be haunted up to the gills, and I was hoping I might experience some creepy occurrences while there. Sadly, I didn’t, and I couldn’t attend the vendor ghost hunt after the paracon. However, I did feel something in one area:

The “skating rink,” where I got a really bad feeling

There’s this long corridor near where you enter the building for tours called the skating rink. It got that name because during the winter, event today, this corridor ices over and you can skate on it. When the prison was in operation, prisoners were supposed to line up along the walls before going back to their cells, and anyone who would step over a line on the floor would be shot dead. It was a great way to get rid of someone you disliked, and plenty of people did.

I did not know this, but I felt some negative energy in that area. When the tour guide told us about that, it made sense.

I then told our tour guide about my feeling, and he later said to another tour guide as they passed by that he was scared of me (I hadn’t even told him I was a writer yet). I was proud that he figured out to be afraid of me. Very few realize they should until it’s too late.

Some other places that caught my attention were:

This one wall. Can you see a signature? That’s from Zak Bagans, leader of the Ghost Adventures team from TV. Apparently he left his signature there while filming an episode there. However, someone destroyed part of the signature (I think the dude was drunk), and it’s now a funny part of the tours.

This hallway is infamous for a funny reason: apparently the pattern on the floor was imported from Spain, but when Netflix used part of the prison for filming an episode of Mindhunter, they placed their own tile on the floor, ruining the pattern. Netflix is now banned from ever using the prison. I find that hysterical.

This is the Wheel. It separated the main prison from either a residential or administrative section of the prison. Only one other like it exist in the world, in Manchester, England, and it’s the only one in existence still being used.

On the tour, we learned that the prison was used as the filming location for the TV show Castle Rock, and that this particular cell was where Bill Skarsgard stood for his scenes. Standing in that same cell was just plain awesome!

Finally, there was this moment: this section, in addition to having some creepy spirits, is probably the only area in the prison where the cell doors still work. The cells are about five feet by seven, and would usually house three inmates, and they would let us experience what it’s like to be in that cell as a prisoner for a minute.

Naturally, I got it on camera.

Yeah, that was a cool moment. Even if I didn’t get any sort of presence in there.

So, would I go back? Probably, if I could properly investigate the place. There are some shadow figures that supposedly hang around, and I would like to see about contacting some of the other spirits, including ones in areas that weren’t on the tour (some places were just off-limits for certain reasons).

And maybe I’ll get something really creepy on video. Creepier than me, anyway.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to work on Crawler. After this chapter, I may take a break to work on a short story or two. And I might have a post or two to write in the near future. So, until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and is that a chupacabra outside your window?

An Investigation of the Bellaire House, Part 3

Posted: October 20, 2020 in Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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Finally, Part 3! Hopefully it’s the last part. Click here and here for Parts 1 and 2, respectively.

When we last left off on the Bellaire House, we had finished up a rather silly attempt at a spirit box session in the basement and had moved to the seance room to try there. This is the room, according to legend, where Lyde Heatherington died of a heart attack by the fireplace, and her brother Edwin attempted to contact her spirit, which may have opened a portal in the house.

We started up with the spirit box again, Nikkie putting on the blindfold and headphones again. As I said, this was to form another layer of veracity. If the one repeating what they heard through the static couldn’t hear what was being asked, any correlation between answers and questions could be evidence of paranormal activity.

This was, by the way, when we came into contact with the spirit I’ve come to call George’s Friend, as whoever she is (and we’re pretty sure she’s a woman) wanted us to help George.

If you watched the video, you saw how often certain words, like “George” and “water” and “underneath” were repeated. There was also the word “hundred,” which could correlate with the word “century” from another spirit box session (not on camera).

You can also hear the sadness in the speaker’s voice. She speaks through Nikkie, but it’s apparent that she’s desperate and sad and is pleading to help George, whoever that is. Honestly, I felt my heart break when I was there. And every time I watch this video, I get a little sad.

And how she asked us not to go at the end. That’s not only persuasive, it kind of makes you want to cry.

We would talk to George’s Friend again very soon…

After this, we had a few more spirit box sessions. I put my phone and GoPro at this time so they could charge, so I don’t have them on video, but they were something else. I even took another turn on the spirit box, and that was where things got a little freaky. You see, during my turn in the seance room, I got the name “Lucifer” again. And not just once, but five times!

Again, this could be me just attributing meaning to sounds that are entirely random. Lucifer is, after all, not only my favorite name for the Devil (whom, by the way, I don’t believe in), but my favorite TV show. Still, to be on the safe side, Kathy did give me some means to protect myself using salt, which the Lees recommended.

At that point we split up to do experiments in other parts of the house. I can’t speak to what the other group did on the second floor and in the attic, but I was in the seance room with Dave and Danette, and this time we tried an experiment of our very own.

Now, you all should be familiar with my dowsing rods, which ghosts are believed to use to manipulate to answer yes or no questions. But the GhostTube app is something new. It’s not only a camera, but it measures electromagnetic energy and volume in the area. And it has some sort of dictionary that spirits are able to manipulate so they can communicate. The idea was we could combine both tools and see if the results correlate.

This was when we got George’s Friend again, and learned some more about George. But we may have also learned some stuff about George’s Friend.

So if you didn’t watch the whole video, according to this session, George died of a stroke in the attic while George’s Friend was in the tunnels. And the way the answers on the dowsing rods line up with the answers on the GhostTube app is striking. I don’t know if anyone’s ever done an experiment like this, but if not, it’s a good sign for this kind of experiment.

We also learned that George Friend might be evil. Or, some spirit was evil. Perhaps we were hearing from the spirit that wanted to go to Hell and was obsessed with the devil. It might have been interfering with George’s Friend’s response.

After that, things wrapped up pretty quickly. Greg, Kathy, Nikkie and Dan went to their hotels. Dave, Danette, and I stayed in the house overnight (and I made sure to do one of the salt cleansings Kathy taught me while I was in the shower).

The bedroom I slept in. I actually slept pretty well.

I woke up around 8:30 the next morning on Sunday, October 11th. All told, it was a good sleep. I only woke up once, and I don’t remember having any bad dreams.

To my horror, Dave and Danette were gone!

But it turns out they simply had to get on the road and didn’t want to wake me up. They left a note in the seance room with instructions on how to lock up the house. Yeah, if they’d run out of the house because of fear, they wouldn’t have left a note. Hell, if they’d run out in terror, they wouldn’t have left me. They’re not the type to do that.

That being said, I didn’t stay too long in the house. Maybe an hour and a half at most, long enough to pack up, turn off all the lights, and make sure nothing was out of place. Like I said, that house has a bad energy to it. Even in calmer, kinder moments, it’s not the sort of place you want to spend too long in. It’s a toxic environment.

After I locked up and did one more salt ritual to keep myself safe, I filmed one more video, just summing up my thoughts on the Bellaire House and then headed north to visit some other places, including my folks in Cleveland.

If you didn’t watch the video, I just said that the house does appear to have spirits, and that some of them are aggressive or malevolent. I didn’t say this in the video, but if I had to guess, there’s probably a portal of some sort, and that’s why the house has such a range of spirits. Just a guess.

In any case, I probably would come back to the Bellaire House again for an investigation if asked. However, I’d come packing plenty of salt, and I would not stay in there alone. Not for longer than a few hours, and definitely not overnight. I also wouldn’t stay more than a day. Like I said, that place is toxic, and the Lees acknowledge it has an effect on relationships if you stay too long.

So that was the Bellaire House in Bellaire, Ohio. It’s an intriguing and hopping place, but also a dark place. One filled with spirits that may be friendly, but may also be quite dangerous. And I’ll remember my night there as long as I live.

Also, managed to keep this in three parts. Yay on me.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope to have more to tell you very soon. But until then, pleasant nightmares.

An Investigation of the Bellaire House, Part 2

Posted: October 17, 2020 in Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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As promised, let me tell you what the rest of the investigation into the Bellaire House was like (for Part 1, click here).

After the Lees left, we began our investigation into the house. As you may recall, I was joined by Dave and Danette, friends I’d met at the Ohio State Reformatory’s public ghost hunt last year, and Greg, Kathy, Dan and Nikkie of the Tri-C Ghost Hunters. Since all the equipment had been laid out beforehand (as well as bedrooms claimed for those staying overnight), we went right up to the attic. Partly because, as the Lees explained, “servants” were kept up there during the Underground Railroad. It’s also the place where a spirit (possibly a demonic one) named Emily Davis hangs out. It’s also the place where some of our more sensitive members felt a very strange energy.

While up there, we started out with laying some devices and trigger objects, objects which may energize a spirit or make them want to interact with us. In Emily Davis’s case, this was a big, bouncy ball. After that, we started spirit box sessions.

Now, if you’re not familiar, a spirit box is a device that sweeps through radio stations at a fast pace, like four per second. This is too fast for a regular radio station to play music or an ad. The idea is that the spirits will speak over and through the sweeps in order to interact with us. Because only a spirit would be able to work through that noise!

To add some veracity to the experiment, we would have someone sit by the spirit box, blindfolded and wearing noise-cancelling headphones plugged into the spirit box. They would listen for words in the radio waves and repeat what they heard. Since they wouldn’t be able to hear the other members’ questions, anything that the listener would say wouldn’t be influenced by questions. If it meshed in a weird way, it could be evidence of the paranormal.

The downside to that is the possibility that you could hear something said while listening to the static and ascribe your own meaning to it. For example, a Dungeons & Dragons fan would hear “duh-duh” and maybe think “dungeon.” See what I mean?

Well, we had two sessions, one by Kathy and the other done by Nikkie. And they were rather scary. During Nikkie’s session, she actually got on the horn with a spirit that kept saying it wanted to go to Hell. Yeah, you read that right. A spirit that said it wanted to go to Hell! Who says that? We called a break so that we could refocus and do some reiki techniques to protect ourselves. Let me tell you, those of us who did them felt a bit safer after that.

I also used that time to order a pizza for dinner. And then we went back up for a few more sessions. Including my first dowsing rods session.

So, not a lot of luck on the dowsing rods the first time out (first time that’s happened in a haunted location). But then I got the chance to try the spirit box myself. And that had some results. Here’s my video of it, complete with a little explanation of what we were going to do.

Spooky, right? I got “Lucifer” during my session. And I couldn’t hear a word anyone was saying to me, so when I heard it, it wasn’t influenced by anything anyone was saying to me. Though it could’ve been influenced by my love of that show. Later on though, I said, “You look,” and whoever I was speaking for laughed when Nikkie finished with “fabulous.” Not a very nice spirit. Then there was an argument with the spirit saying “Stop! You stop!” near the very end.

Now, let me take a moment to tell you about the session. When I had the blindfold and headphones on, my world retreated to that static and noise I was hearing. I was trying to make out any words, and my concentration was solely on that. At the same time though, I was taking notes on what I was feeling and hearing. For example, I felt like the sweeps had an almost musical beat to it. And when I heard that beat more clearly, I felt like words were just about to break through.

Also, and this would hold for the other spirit box sessions I would do, I often felt an energy over my head, and I had the distinct impression like something wanted to rip the headphones off my head. As far as I know, I was the only one who felt that way.

After a few more sessions, we headed down to the basement, which had its own creepy energy, especially earlier in the day. However, things did not go as planned. By that point, I’d eaten some pizza and a lot of Diet Coke, and the basement wasn’t conducive to catching radio waves. Add in some silliness on our part (possibly to get rid of those scary vibes from the attic), and you get this:

We’re such silly adults.

Anyway, after all that, we headed upstairs to put on some sessions in the seance room. What happened then? Well, I’ll tell you all that in Part 3. Yes, I’m afraid there’s going to have to be a Part 3. This post is getting long. But I swear, Part 3 will (likely) be the last part.

Until next time, Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

An Investigation of the Bellaire House, Part 1

Posted: October 15, 2020 in Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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The Bellaire House in Bellaire, Ohio. Looks like it was made for a haunting, doesn’t it?

You’ve been patient, you’ve been supportive and kind. I apologize for the delay, but it’s finally here. Let me tell you about the Bellaire House, where I did an investigation with friends this past weekend (October 10th, if you’re reading this in the future).

So, how did this come about? Well, I made some friends at the public ghost hunt at the Ohio State Reformatory last year. Among them were Dave and Danette, a couple who weren’t afraid to visit some haunted locations while on their road trips. They let me know they were going to be going through Ohio, and might be visiting a haunted house for an overnight. They wanted to know if I would be interested in joining them, as well as members of Tri-C Ghost Hunters, a group of paranormal investigators whose members included friends we’d made last year at the ghost hunt.

Obviously, even with a pandemic, I wanted in, and after some back and forth, we settled on the Bellaire House, a location I’d never heard of before but which, after a little research, I found quite entrancing. Located in Bellaire, Ohio, the house was built and owned in the mid-19th century (I originally thought it was the 20th) by the Heatherington family. One member, Edwin Heatherington (I thought he was called Edmund), did some seances after his sister Lyde died in the house. That may have opened up a portal in the house, leading to the hauntings.

Years later, the house would be bought by the Lee family, who would discover its many spirits and try to flee Amityville style. Only instead of never returning, they ended up turning it into a paranormal research hotspot. (I go into more history in the videos).

I arrived in Bellaire on October 10th and met Dave and Danette at a diner for a late lunch. After eating and catching up, we went to the house. And after I got my stuff inside, I started filming, starting with the exterior.

After shooting the exterior, we went back inside and I did a tour of the house. This time, I got out the GoPro again to do the tour.

Spoiler alert, that skull was real! Yeah, the Lees confirmed it. I just don’t have it on video.

Now, before I go any further with this story, there’s something you should know. Normally when I enter haunted places, I feel pretty peaceful. Even the Lizzie Borden House, where the titular ghost threatened me while I was sleeping in her room, didn’t put me on edge. However, the Bellaire House was different. It had an energy to it. From the moment I walked in, it felt weird. As cool as it was, it was not a house I would not want to spend too much time in.

Later on, it would feel peaceful. Especially in the light of morning. But I knew it was a calm before a storm. Like I said, that house had a feel to it. And it was even stronger in the attic. I felt tingles in my fingers when I first went there.

Whatever that house used to be, it’s no longer a happy home. It’s not meant to be.

Anyway, around five-thirty or six, the rest of our party for the evening arrived: Greg and Kathy, whom Danette, Dave and I had met at the Reformatory last year, and Nikkie and Dan, who are apparently from my county (small world). We got to talking and getting to know each other. And after that, the owners of the House, Daniel and Kristen Lee, arrived to tell us about the house, it’s history and their experiences there.

If you didn’t watch the full video, then let me tell you something. I could tell the Lees were really uncomfortable in the house. They laughed it off, but you could tell. And I kind of understand. While I would like to live in a haunted house, I don’t want one that has a malevolent or toxic presence in it. And I’m a horror and paranormal nut! The Lees are what I would call normies. And they were so disturbed by what they went through, they tried fleeing to Massachusetts! Yet they still had to come back. Now this house is part of their livelihood, and it must be a mental and psychological toll on them.

Like having to work in a jailhouse, I’d imagine. Only, who exactly are the prisoners and who are the jailers?

I’ll end this post with that thought. I’ll go into the investigation in Part 2. However, if you go to my YouTube channel, you’ll find all the videos I took already there.

And as for Haunted, the audio collection of paranormal stories I’m apart of, it’s been delayed due to technical issues. But it should be out before too long. And it’ll be worth the wait, believe me. I listened to part of it, especially my section. Believe me, it’s quite spooky. And I’ll be posting the links as soon as I have them.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope to have Part 2 out soon (among other posts). Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

A Haunted Tour of Charleston, South Carolina

Posted: August 1, 2020 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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St. Michael’s Anglican Church. Supposedly a couple of brides haunt the place, having died on their wedding days.

My last post recounting my adventures from my recent trip to Iowa and South Carolina is about the haunted tour of Historic Charleston in South Carolina. The tour was operated by Ghost City Tours, which apparently has tours across the southern United States. I was joined by my buddy Ramsey Hardin, who you remember was my host while in South Carolina. And you know what? It was a fun experience.

Ramsey and I arrived at the meeting place around ten in the evening, and joined a group of people waiting for the tour. There were three tour guides there, to ensure that everyone could social distance while still getting the tour. Ramsey and I were placed with a young woman named Caroline, who is actually a fellow Ohioan originally. Yeah, we had a lot to talk about.

And we did talk a lot. Between locations on the tour, those of us who had had paranormal experiences were encouraged to recount them. Obviously, I talked about my many experiences, including the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, the Ohio State Reformatory, and my recent excursion to the Villisca Axe Murder House. I don’t think anyone else related a story, but Caroline did mention an occurrence involving a friend of hers. At least, I think it was a friend.

As for paranormal activity captured or witnessed…well, I thought I got something on my phone’s camera. Check out the photos below.

These photos were taken one after the other, and if you look at the far left of the second photo, it appears there’s a small orange light on the other side of that pole. One that’s not in the first photo. However, further inspection showed that I took a step to the left (hence why the streetlight is hidden behind a tree). That light I thought was a ghost orb was actually a reflection from the streetlamp off a length of metal. To quote Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures, “this piece of evidence is debunked.”

However, I did catch something on video. Those photos were taken at the graveyard at St. Philip’s, which is known to be the resting place of Susan Howard Hardy, a woman who died in childbirth and who was secretly buried with her stillborn child. After I took those photos, I gave Ramsey my phone and managed to catch her on the dowsing rods. Here is the video of our short conversation.

Cool, huh? The “signal,” so to speak, was weak, but I managed to get some answers from her, and the information I got was consistent with the historical record. By the way, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church is not too fond of the fact that a ghost is known to roam their graveyard. They’ve taken a lot of measures to try and disassociate themselves as a haunted location, so it would be really bad if it became well-known as a location for a ghost that likes to show herself to anyone looking to contact her.

Hint, hint. Wink, wink.

Finally, the tour revealed some places I would love to do a ghost hunt or investigation if ever given the chance. Here are those places and why they’re haunted (AKA why I’ll have trouble convincing Ramsey to join me).

FW Wagener Building

Built by architect FW Wagener himself, the building lies on a street that is part of a busy shopping district near the bay, and has many great restaurants, hotels and galleries nearby. But in the past few years, this building has had several buildings come and go in the past few years. This may be related to the spirit of George Poirier, the son of a rich businessman who never worked a day in his life, living a life of leisure. Which became a problem when a series of events caused George to lose his fortune, leading to him hanging himself in the topmost window. He’s said to still be there, taking his rage out on patrons, which is why there’s so many businesses coming and going from the building (allegedly).

Four Corners of Law

At the intersection of Broad and Meeting in Charleston’s historic district are four buildings that have been used for various types of law: Charleston City Hall (city law), Charleston County Courthouse (state law), the US Post Office and Federal Courthouse (federal), and St. Michael’s Anglican Church (ecclesiastical law). Supposedly, a variety of spirits are known to haunt the buildings, including Lavinia Fisher, possibly America’s first known serial killer, who is said to haunt the Charleston County Courthouse, and two brides supposedly haunt St. Michael’s. Caroline showed us a photo supposedly taken of one of the brides in the church’s window, and it is scary. Like, what every CGI ghost tries to be, but way more terrifying.

The Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon

Also known as the old Exchange and the Customs House, this building has seen a number of uses throughout the years, and is now a museum. Various ghosts are said to haunt the place for various reasons, but I’m especially interested in the Provost Dungeon in the basement. Conditions in the basement were terrible for prisoners, as the building regularly flooded with the tides, drowning prisoners and causing them to contract a variety of diseases. Supposedly the ghosts on this level are quite upset and are known to be violent. One tour guide was supposedly so terrified of what he experienced, he quit and has never come back.

USS Yorktown

Okay, this one wasn’t on the tour, but as I said in my Impressions of South Carolina post, the air carrier is rumored to be very haunted. To the point that they sell a book about it in the gift shop. And I thought I saw a ghost on the main floor, and felt like I was being watched in the Engine Room when I visited. And they advertise ghost tours on the website. You can see why I would want to investigate the ship.

 

In fact, you can see why I would want to investigate any of these places! And I would have never known any of this stuff, except for the Yorktown, if I hadn’t gone on the tour. So thanks to Ghost City Tours, and to Caroline, for giving me the opportunity to learn Charleston’s creepier side. And I hope to be back down in Charleston very soon. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to stay overnight at one of these locations, and see if something is there.

In the meantime, if you want to check out Ghost City Tours, their website lists all the cities they operate in, including Charleston, New Orleans and Savannah, among others. Here’s the link if you’re interested.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you were spooked out by this post. Until next time, stay safe, pleasant nightmares, and YOUR RESIDENCE IS HAUNTED! RUN WHILE YOU STILL HAVE THE TIME!!!

Impressions of South Carolina

Posted: July 26, 2020 in Living and Life, Tales across the US
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Ramsey and I doing a selfie in Greenville. And we were in Ramsey’s car, which was why we didn’t wear masks.

I would like to mention that this post is not paid for by the South Carolina Board of Tourism. However, if they would like to pay me, they can figure out how to contact me.

As many of you know, after I left Iowa, I flew to South Carolina to visit my buddy Ramsey, whom you may remember from the New Year’s video I filmed back in January (such innocent times those were). Ramsey lives in Greenville, so we spent the first day there just exploring the city, and I have to say, Greenville was really nice to be in. And not just because it had Borderlands, a comic book store where I finally obtained a Stephen King FunkoPop (though that was cool). What I saw was a small city that’s growing and has a lot to offer. They even have something of a scenic nature park and waterfall in the downtown area. Made for some really great photos, like the one below.

A view of downtown Greenville, SC.

The buildings were also nice to look at, all with this regal nature in their construction and design. It was fun just to look at them, let alone walk around and see them. And of course, there were plenty of houses that looked like they’d been around since the antebellum period, and I enjoyed seeing them as well. They’re not Queen Anne Revival style, which was the preferred style of the Victorian era and my preferred kind of house, but they made me want to live there.

We also almost visited the Confederate History Museum, but it was closed when we arrived. Probably a good thing, because it might’ve been hard for me to hold my tongue in such a place.

Oh, and guess who else lives in Greenville? Sara Parlier, the narrator for Rose‘s audio book (which I highly encourage you to download and check out)! We met up for breakfast outside a nearby Starbucks and managed to have a nice talk (though we made sure to social distance and wear masks as well). That was a cool experience, especially since with everything going on, I didn’t think we would be able to meet. Glad I was able to see her, and I hope we can do it again someday.

Sara Parlier and I meeting for breakfast. We only sat this close because of the photo, believe me.

Ramsey and I also drove down to Charleston for a couple days, and–wow! Charleston is a beautiful city. Some of those buildings have been around since the 17th and 18th centuries or have been built/renovated to match that style, so it kind of feels like you’re stepping back in time. We stayed at the Meeting Street Inn in the historic district, which is just beautiful and enhanced the feeling of stepping back in time, and then spent a good part of the day exploring the Historic District and checking out the waterfront. And despite the Confederate monuments here and there, Charleston is a beautiful place to walk around and take photos of. There’s the Four Corners of Law, at the intersection of Broad and Meeting, which have building that are or were used for various kinds of law at one point or another; Rainbow Row, a series of houses and buildings where the houses are in a rainbow of colors; and the Circular Church, a church dating back to 1681 that looks like it could be the setting of a Gothic novel or movie.

And quite a few of these places ended up on the ghost tour Ramsey and I took (more on that in another post).

St. Michael’s Anglican Church, which you can see from almost anywhere in the Historic District, and one of my favorite buildings from the area.

Also, if you’re able to get a reservation, I recommend Hyman’s Seafood. It’s pretty famous in the area, has been around for decades, has had numerous celebrities eat there over the years, and it has a kosher menu! Yeah, apparently the owners are Jewish and took a few measures so that fellow members of the Tribe can have meat there as well. Second best brisket I’ve ever had (after my mom’s, of course).

The next day, we took a trip out to Patriot’s Point, where you could see both Fort Sumter, where the Civil War started, and the USS Yorktown, which saw combat in WWII. As we’d both majored in History at Ohio State, it was a treat for the both of us. Not to mention taking a ferry to and from Fort Sumter was pretty cool.

Fort Sumter from the ferry.

The USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier from WWII.

It would take too many words to talk about my impressions of both places, but to say the least, seeing these preserved testaments to past wars was humbling and a little haunting, too. You really get to see and even feel how people living in those places and fighting those wars might’ve felt. I especially liked the USS Yorktown, as WWII is of interest to me (and I have an idea for a story aboard an aircraft carrier). You get to see planes used in WWII and Korea, as well as the flight deck, the areas the soldiers and sailors lived, and even a Medal of Honor museum, among other things. When it comes time to do research for that story, I’ll definitely be coming back to see the Yorktown.

And speaking of which, I may have encountered some paranormal stuff aboard the Yorktown. Wasn’t expecting it, though I did buy a book about hauntings aboard the ship earlier in the day in the gift shop. While buying a snack from the vending machine, I turned around to see where Ramsey had gotten off to, and in turning my head, I swear I saw a woman who was gone the second I looked back. I was like, “Did I just see that?” And in the Engine Room, which was empty but for Ramsey and me, we had this strange feeling of being watched. Which isn’t so strange, when you read in the book that people have had experiences in that room as well. At the time though, we had no idea about that, and we were just freaked out about feeling watched. We were almost glad to be out of the Engine Room, with its oppressive air!

Not saying it’s ghosts, but I am saying it’s unexplained.

Our last stop was Folly Beach, a small beach town where, surprisingly, people were social distancing while still enjoying themselves. Ramsey and I took turns watching our stuff and swimming in the ocean, which I hadn’t done in years. And there’s something wonderfully childlike about swimming in the ocean. You get such a kick by bending down so you’re up to the shoulders in the sea, of jumping so the waves carry you along with them.

I’m honestly sad we had to leave the next morning. South Carolina was a beautiful place to visit and I would love to come by again and see it again. And given my friendship with Ramsey and the stories I could write inspired by my trip, I think I will.

Thanks to Ramsey and his mother for being such wonderful hosts while I was with you, and showing me your lovely state. I hope we can see each other again very soon. Until then, hope you’re all doing well, and stay safe.

And I’ll have more posts out this week, my Followers of Fear. So until then, stay safe and pleasant nightmares!

Investigating the Villisca Axe Murder House for Spirits, Part 2

Posted: July 21, 2020 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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From left to right: Monica Ware; Harlie “Harlie Quinn” Jones; myself; Charles Naylor; and Joleene Naylor. Photo taken by Joleene’s brother, Chris Harris, offscreen.

If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, click here.

This morning I received a message from the mother of Harlie Jones, the teenager who joined us for the investigation. Apparently Monica was filming the dowsing rods session, but unlike mine, there was a lot of static and white noise in her recording. And she was using a cell phone, too. Not saying this is a ghost or definitely paranormal, but it is strange and unexplained.

If Monica ever posts that recording of the event online, perhaps some intrepid editor with a better grasp of digital editing than you or me can find something within the static and white noise. Perhaps an electronic voice phenomena (EVP)? Or an odd shape in the static?

Speaking of strange and unexplained, let’s start Part 2 of the recap with some unexplained weirdness. After dinner in town and after taking the above photo in front of the house, we reentered the house. And because of the house’s history, I thought it was a good idea to go through the house with a poker to make sure there wasn’t any killers hidden in the structure (fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…). All was normal until we reached the children’s room on the second floor. And realized the door to the closet, the one we’d locked Joleene in temporarily and which we’d left open when we’d left, had closed on its own.

Here’s a video clip of our reaction to finding that. BTW, the guy in the Hawaiian shirt is Chris Harris, Joleene’s brother.

So yeah, that happened. And we’re still not sure how that happened. The second-floor air conditioning unit is in the parents’ room at the other end of the floor, and there’s no way the breeze from that could’ve pushed the door closed. That, and there was no breeze or draft up there. So how did it happen?

As it was getting late, we decided to do one more dowsing rods test, this time in the attic of the house, where the killer supposedly hid while waiting for the family to return. This time, we got Josiah Moore to answer our questions. And…the results were unexpected. Turn up the volume on your computer or phone to hear the full audio.

So if you watched the whole thing, Josiah Moore somehow made a dog outside the house bark. I’m not sure how a spirit can be in two places at once again like that, but I’ll go with it. What do I know about the afterlife?

Now that I think about it, maybe Josiah was answering, and it was one of the other spirits setting off the dog. His wife, for instance.

Also, some weird things happened when I asked about the killer. Josiah said his spirit was still with them, but then flip-flopped on whether the killer was in the room with us. Assuming that the rods aren’t manipulated by tiny movements in my hands and arms (and the copper cylinders around the rods are supposed to prevent that), why the change? Did the killer’s spirit only manifest in the room then? Or is it just a residual haunting? Not the spirit of a person, but a spiritual imprint or recording that, under certain circumstances, gets played back? That would be my guess, though as I said, I’m no expert.

Soon after that experiment, and some discussion with Joleene and the others, I recorded one final video. This time, a vlog in the children’s room about why it was so quiet in the house.

If you didn’t watch that video in full, I speculated the reason why the house wasn’t more active was because the Moores and the Stillinger girls only did enough “haunting,” so to speak, to let us know they were there. I also included Joleene, Charles, and Chris’s observations regarding the house feeling “creepy” and whether or not people were there.

Soon after recording that, I went to bed. Monica left at some point because she had work in the morning, and Chris went home as well. Harlie was told she could go back to the Naylor’s at any point she wanted, but she ended up staying the whole night, as did Charles, Joleene and I. And while nothing directly out of a horror movie happened, some weird things did occur:

On my end, I often found myself waking up in the middle of the night with my fingers interlaced on top of my chest. Not only is that unusual for me to sleep like that, but it’s also similar to how the Moores were posed after death by the killer. That, and at one point I thought i heard a whispered conversation, which I now believe was coming from the closet in the downstairs bedroom. However, at the time I woke up, around 4:30 in the morning, I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. I even poked my head out into the main living room to see if anyone was talking, but nobody was. Harlie, who had been sleeping on the couch, noticed me there and confirmed that nobody had been speaking near her later when I asked about it.

Speaking of Harlie, she had some experiences of her own: as she told me that morning, while she was sleeping on the couch, she felt something like a finger trace down her back. Yeah, creepy. She turned over to avoid being touched like that again, especially since she was alone in the room. Not too long after that, she saw me poke my head out.

And some time during that early morning, she saw a shadow figure walk from the door into the kitchen towards the stairs. Yeah, she saw that! I’m so jealous.

Maybe it’s because she’s been around the same age as the children haunting the house both times, or maybe she’s born for ghost hunting. Either way, Harlie could do this as a hobby, if not a career.

And if you’re wondering what Joleene or Charles saw, they say they didn’t have any experiences. At least none that they noticed.

I survived the Villisca Axe Murder House!

In the morning, we woke up and figured out what had happened to us (or hadn’t happened). We then got our stuff together, made sure we left the house in a state similar to how we left it, did a sage burning to ensure that nothing attached to us and followed us home, and returned the keys to where we were told. Not too long after that, Chris gave me a ride back to Des Moines for my flight to South Carolina. Thus ended the investigation into the Villisca Axe Murder House.

So what are my final thoughts on the Villisca Axe Murder House? Well, I do believe it’s haunted. I do think the Moores and the Stillingers are still living there, with residual energy from the killer. And I think that the Moores and Stillingers prefer to keep to themselves. They’ll let you know they’re here, but unless you’re a kid like Harlie, they’ll only let you know in the hopes you’ll leave them alone. They suffered at the end of their lives and stuck in the house in the afterlife. Can’t be easy having a bunch of random people appearing in the house at least once a week.

Still, I recommend you visit if you want. Daytime tours are available, and of course if you’re willing to go the extra mile, you can stay overnight. Depending on the how the spirits are feeling and your luck, you might catch a thing or two. Hopefully not an axe to the head, though.

And with any luck, you might also run into Fish the cat, a friendly stray who likes to hang around the house and with the people staying there. Charles spent a lot of time with her and she spent some time on my lap, as you can see.

Me hanging with Fish the cat.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be back to post on other stuff, including the South Carolina part of my trip, sooner than you think. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Investigating the Villisca Axe Murder House for Spirits, Part 1

Posted: July 20, 2020 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Tales across the US
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From left to right: Monica Ware; Harlie “Harlie Quinn” Jones; me; Charles Naylor; and Joleene Naylor. Photo taken by Joleene’s brother Chris Harris, offscreen.

You’ve been waiting patiently for this post. Now here it comes. My recap of our amateur investigation of the Villisca Axe Murder House! Or at least part one of it (what can I say, a lot happened in two days!).

Now, a little refresher for those of you not up on your macabre American history. In June 1912, the Moore family–Josiah Moore, Sara Moore, their three sons and daughter–plus two friends of their daughter were murdered overnight at the Moore residence with an axe. The crime is currently unsolved and is Iowa’s oldest cold case. The house where the murders happened still stands, and is available for tours and for overnights, and is reputed to be haunted.

The Villisca Axe Murder House has been on my list of haunted places to visit since 2015, and my friend/colleague Joleene Naylor lives right by the house, so it was inevitable that I would someday visit. And when an opportunity afforded itself earlier this year, we reserved the house for a night with the hopes of experiencing paranormal activity.

Before we visited the house itself though, Joleene and Charles showed me around their hometown of Villisca. And I have to say, it’s a beautiful little town. There’s a central square where most of the town business and activity takes place. Some buildings are closed down, but others are in the process of being remade into new businesses, even in the midst of a pandemic. What really surprised me, though, was the business on one of the main streets.

Yeah, you’re seeing that right. That’s Needful Things, as in the shop from the Stephen King novel of the same name. Trust Leland Gaunt to find a town with dark history to set up shop in! Joleene, if you and Charles are reading this, your family better be prepared to save Villisca from itself!

After that, we headed out to the town cemetery to see the actual graves of the Moores and the Stillingers, the two girls who were murdered alongside the Moores.

Front entrance to the Villisca Cemetery.

The Moore family tombstone.

The Moore children’s tombstone. Many people leave toys and, for some reason, coins on the graves.

Me at the Stillinger girls’ graves.

Yeah, sobering reminder that the only reason this house is known is because of a grizzly murder. One involving six children. Doesn’t stop me from wanting to find ghosts and interact with them, let alone the ones in that house, but it’s something to think about before you go into that house.

We also passed by the Senator’s House, pictured below. Named after its famous former owner, Senator Frank Jones, who was rumored to be involved somehow in the murders. It’s a beautiful old house, though one with a history. Which might explain why it’s currently unoccupied, if I remember what Joleene and Charles told me.

The Senator’s House

After seeing those sights, we went through the suburbs of Villisca, allowing me to see my first view of the Axe Murder House, and Joleene’s beautiful home, featured below. I loved seeing the many homes in Villisca. Most of them are beautiful Victorians, the kind of home that I would love to live in (no surprise there). And apparently it’s very affordable to live in Iowa, which tempted me to buy a house or at least put down a down payment. I had to really think about that before I did, though.

Hilariously enough, Joleene said many people prefer the ranch houses, which I saw fewer of but were present in the neighborhood. I don’t know why. Yeah, Victorians are a lot of work to maintain, but they have such beauty and history!

Now, onto the investigation of the Axe Murder House! Joleene, Charles and I arrived a little before four o’clock, and our guide came by a little while later. And after I signed the papers and set up my new GoPro, we got started on the tour, which you can find in this video.

Yeah, I figured out how to turn the video off. And I don’t know if you noticed, but there are a ton of coins around the home. I know the parents’ room was rather dark, owing to my GoPro not having night vision, but they were there too. We think that might be from people hoping the ghosts will knock the coins off surfaces or move them. Nothing like that happened while we were there, but other stuff did.

More on that in a bit. First, let me make a few observations about the house. As I said, it’s a lot smaller than I expected. But it differs in other ways from expected. I think part of me expected it to be like the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, recreated to look very close to what it looked like back in the day, though with a few modern amenities. In actuality, it’s been mostly preserved in the same state it was in when the house was turned into a museum. In addition, the house is also full of toys, dolls and other knickknacks. It feels more like it was decorated to be more pleasing to the spirits living there, especially the children. And you know what? I kind of like that.

Also, it’s not a bed and breakfast, and the only amenities are the air conditioning units on both floors.

After the tour guide had left and we got settled into the house, we decided to pass the time waiting for our two other companions for the night, Joleene’s friend Monica Ware and her stepdaughter Harlie Jones–the little girl mentioned by Joleene at the end of the video–by doing a dowsing rods session in the girls’ room. You know, the room where those two girls were killed and where a dude stabbed himself a few years ago?

Here’s that video for your viewing terror.

We cut the session short because Monica and Harlie arrived and we wanted to get them up to speed. After another quick tour through the house, during which Harley refused to check under the bed where, as a toddler, she saw those “weird kids,” we had a little fun locking Joleene in the upstairs closet.

Yeah, we’re still laughing about that one a week later. Especially now it’s on the Internet forever.

After the fun and games were over though, I somehow managed to convince Harlie to do a dowsing rods session in the girls room downstairs. I figured that since she was around the same age as the older girl, Lena Stillinger, and had seen the kids’ spirits when she was younger, she might have better luck than me in communicating with the spirits. And although she was a little too freaked to actually ask the spirits to manifest (understandable, I guess), she did a very good job drawing them out and asking questions.

Forgive how dark the video was. We were working with what daylight we had, and it appeared brighter when we were filming. Also, if you’re wondering why we didn’t explore the basement of the house, it’s because while we could access it, the door needed repairs, and we didn’t want to worsen that.

After that session, Joleene’s brother Chris, who took the photo at the top of this post, arrived. We then locked up the house and left for dinner in town, unaware of what would occur while we were gone.

But that will have to wait until Part 2 of my recap.

That’s Part 1, my Followers of Fear. I’ll hopefully have Part 2 up very soon. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Being an Author in a Pandemic: The 5th Annual Indie Author Book Expo in Des Moines, Iowa

Posted: July 14, 2020 in Living and Life, Reflections, Tales across the US
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From left to right: Charles Naylor, Joleene Naylor and myself, masked up in front of our hotel and ready to rock.

Hey, Followers of Fear! I didn’t think I would have a moment to let you guys know how I’m doing, but I ended up having some spare time in the airport while waiting to head to South Carolina. With that in mind, I thought I’d take a moment to update you guys on what I’ve been up to. Now obviously, I can’t update you on the Villisca Axe Murder House, not until I’ve had some time to upload my videos to YouTube. However, I can tell you about my time in Des Moines, and the book expo I attended.

I arrived in Des Moines on Friday at about three in the afternoon, and took an Uber to the airport, where I met with my friend and colleague Joleene Naylor and her husband/my friend Charles Naylor. We went out to dinner at a themed burger joint called Zombie Burger (and yes, it looks just like you’d expect. See my Instagram for photos). We then spent some time driving around Des Moines and seeing the sights.

But it was the next day that was on our minds, as well as the reason why we were there: the 5th annual Indie Author Book Expo.

We arrived Saturday morning for the first day of the Expo at the Valley West Mall in Des Moines. We were located in a wide-open area on the first floor near a children’s area, with several tables spread around the area. I found my table, which was hidden in the shade of the second floor balcony and right bny two stores called Buckle and University Sports, and set my stuff down before introducing myself to Jenn Thompson, the woman who let me come to the Expo in the first place. After that, I got my booth set up and waited for 11, when the stores and the Expo would begin.

My table at the Indie Author Book Expo. Thanks to Joleene Naylor for the photo.

Some observations about the Expo:

-First, I need to work on my display. My table was the most bare-bones of the authors. I had my copies of Rose, one of which was on a stand; a Tarot deck; and a homemade sign stating my prices. Meanwhile, look at Joleene’s below.

Joleene’s booth at the Expo.

Holy crap! She’s got intricate displays, a tiered-display with pet vampire rocks and bottles of vampire blood on it, candy dishes filled with freebies! Plus a banner and a few other odds and ends! And many of the other authors had other additions to their booths: big banners that went behind their booths for photos, cheap little bobs and bits for sale to go with the books you buy, etc. And Joleene mentioned that at other expos and conventions she’s been at, people have used prize wheels, raffles, and more to entice readers. In fact, she usually uses selfie banners so people can take photos of themselves with vampire fangs (not something to do in this day and age, but still).

Seeing all that made me realize that, in future expos and fairs and conventions, I will need to step up how I display and sell my work to draw in more people. I’m not sure how, seeing as Rose and my other works don’t necessarily lend themselves to little toys or raffle wheels or whatever. But I have a year before my next scheduled convention (assuming COVID-19 doesn’t cancel that as well). I have time to think of something.

And if you have any suggestions, my Followers of Fear, I would love to hear them.

-Second, COVID-19 had its effect on the expo. As you can see in the photos, Joleene and I are wearing masks, and obviously we took our time and effort to keep ourselves and others safe. But the pandemic took its toll on the expo, to be sure. Most of the people who would go out of their way to attend an expo with authors at a mall are also the type who would not want to risk getting the virus, so they stayed home. That meant the mall was filled with mostly employees and people who were there to pick up what they came for and leave. Which made our job of getting books and other products into their hands that much more difficult.

And it was under those circumstances the expo began. The first day did not go as well as I’d hoped. Not only had I left my cloak at the hotel room, but given what I said above, it was hard as hell to sell books. I only sold one copy of Rose near the end of the day, plus a couple of Tarot readings. I got a lot of people passing by or saying no, including one guy who said he and his wife were moving to Malaysia and were downsizing by fifty percent. I’m not sure if that was just a line or the truth, but man, that was a strong rejection!

The second day, Sunday, on the other hand, actually went much better. I don’t know if it was remembering my cloak this time or the stars were right, but I sold about three copies of Rose and did a few more Tarot readings. Overall, a successful day. My favorite part was giving a young woman a Tarot reading about something close to her heart. Apparently the reading was very accurate to her life, and she liked what she heard in terms of what might be in the future for her. It made my day to give her a reason to smile and hope for the future.

I’d say, despite all the barriers up against us, the Expo was, at least for me, was a success. Sure, I didn’t make back everything I put down for this, very few can,* but I still sell some books and met some new readers. For me, that’s a success. A bigger one than the Bexley Local Author Festival last year, even.

Plus, I got to buy some art from Jenn’s daughters and made some new connections with other writers, so that’s a plus.

Thanks to Jenn Thompson for allowing me to come out for the Expo, and thanks to Joleene and Charles for all the help they gave me. Hope we can do it again someday.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I don’t know when I’ll be back again, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about when I do log onto WordPress again. Until next time, stay safe, watch out for the giant flying sheep, and pleasant nightmares!

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