Pride? I’m Just Trying to Navigate!

Posted: July 7, 2024 in Living and Life, Reflections
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The Disability Pride flag. It’s lovely, but I’m not sure if it’s something I can display for myself just yet.

Last week, I was informed that July is Disability Pride Month. It’s an opportunity for those with disabilities–blind, deaf, psychiatric, mobility, etc.–to show that while they may have different bodies and minds, it’s not the end of the world. Hell, in some cases, it’s not even a problem. Instead, it helps build the character of the disabled and in some cases, they feel it makes them stronger. The only one with a problem might be society, which is still very ableist in its makeup.

I am on the spectrum and have ADHD (among other things), and I like the idea of Disability Pride Month. You should never feel less or be put down by your fellow humans just because you were born different. And some disabilities have become, rather than a hindrance, become the basis for communities with strong membership and even organizing. The Deaf community is one prominent example.

However, at the moment, I’m still figuring out how I feel about my own disabilities, let alone if I have pride in them.

That’s not saying I have low self-esteem or feel lesser because I have disabilities. It’s just that I’m still figuring out how I feel about being on the spectrum and having ADHD. On the one hand, it’s cool being “neurospicy,” as some people call it, and my unusual brain probably played a huge role in becoming a writer. Not to mention that I was able to get some accommodations in college and even found a steady, paying job because I am a person with disabilities.

But on the flip side, I’ve become more aware as I’ve gotten older how difficult it can be to interact with other people. Unlike fictional characters, whose minds I can get into and who are simple to understand, real people are complex and hard to read. I’m constantly on guard with my behavior, even with people who know that I have some social difficulties, in case something I say or do causes offense. Sometimes irreparable offense.

It’s gotten to the point where I don’t know if I’m being my genuine self, or if I’m “masking,” as it’s known.

And last month, I listened to this lecture series on Audible about being neuroatypical, and it kind of blew my mind. Not only did a lot of the situations brought up in the series resemble things from my own life, but I learned how drastically autism and ADHD treatment has changed over the years and how much it still has to change. Did you know that for both conditions, therapy used to center around controlling and forcing people to act “normal,” however you want to define it? And there are still places that operate that way, occasionally using horrific practices like restraint or electroshock therapy to change behavior. It’s awful.

I received therapy for my behavior as a kid. I don’t remember what kind it was. I just went to it because my parents said that’s where I had to go on certain days at certain times and didn’t really think much of it one way or another. I don’t have any bad memories, but I am curious as to what approach they took with me. And if it contributed in any way to my own worries about interacting with people.

So yeah, I’m not sure how to feel about my disabilities. Is it true that there are benefits to being neurospicy, especially in the creative and out-of-the-box thinking departments? Absolutely. But when around people, it’s hard to figure out how much of myself to be and how much I need to mask. And is there even a difference between my true self and my masked self? At least when in company?

I might not get those answers for a very long time, if ever. Especially not when the world is still super hard to navigate.

Still, at least I have people around me and get me. Parents, siblings, dear friends, fellow horror writers and enthusiasts, Followers of Fear, and even coworkers. They let me be myself once in a while, and usually tell me if I cross a line and I didn’t realize it. They even forgive me when that happens. They make navigating that much easier.

Now if only things could become a lot easier! Maybe then I’d figure out if I’m proud of what makes me neurospicy.

Just a reminder, Followers of Fear: this coming weekend, July 13 and 14, is the Columbus Book Festival. It’s taking place at the Main Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library and nearby Topiary Park in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Authors of all stripes, as well as artists and others, will be there to help match you to your next favorite read. I’ll be there with my fellow members of HWA Ohio, so please stop by if you can.

And if you can’t, but you’re interested in supporting me (or maybe just want to read something scary), check out my catalog. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, I got something for every horror fan, including free stories. And if you end up reading something of mine, please leave me a review so I know what you think. I’ll leave a link to the Books page below.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares. I’ll see you around real soon.

Book Links & Excerpts

Review: “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay

Posted: July 4, 2024 in Novel, Review, Scary Stuff
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My copy of Horror Movie, surrounded by some of the horror movies on my shelves. Because how could I not?

I was not a fan of Tremblay’s last novel, The Pallbearers Club (see my review here), but when I first heard of his new book and saw its cover, I wanted to read it! And when I got my copy from the library, I got even more excited. You can’t tell from the photo I included, but the pages have red borders, which coupled with the black cover, makes it look like a restricted video from the age of VHS tapes and Blockbusters. So, almost as soon as I finished reading You Like It Darker (see that review here), I started reading this.

Hoo-boy, did I get on a rollercoaster ride.

In 1993,* a small team of amateur actors and filmmakers come together to make a movie tentatively titled “Horror Movie.” However, tragedy strikes on the last day of filming, preventing it from ever releasing. However, scenes, stills and scripts from the movie have made their way online, and as many of the original cast and crew die under mysterious or tragic circumstances, an air of mystique gathers around the mysterious film. In the 2020s, a reboot is in the works and the studio brings on our narrator, who also played the original film’s villain the Thin Kid and is the only surviving member of the cast and crew, to both co-produce and reprise his role.

Thus begins a journey through the past and the present that will answer a question the narrator, and many of us, ask often: why do people do terrible and fucked up things?

First off, this novel is incredibly well-written. Tremblay takes the unique storytelling he used in The Pallbearers Club and applies it here like an art. Jumping between the production of the original film, the process of creating the reboot in the present, and the script of the original, you essentially get two different stories woven together. I have to applaud Tremblay for writing both a script for a very scary and fucked up film and then writing a very personal story around the script and the movie that was supposed to come about from it.

I also really liked the narrator, whose name I can’t really remember because I’m not sure if it was ever mentioned. It’s easier just to call him by his character’s name, the Thin Kid, and that sort of makes sense, as another major theme of this novel is the blending of reality and fiction. Where does our narrator end and the Thin Kid begin? Is there even a difference? It kind of reminds me of Perfect Blue,** one of my favorite horror movies, and how that movie explored how quickly reality and fiction can combine under the right circumstances.

Anyway, our narrator doesn’t have a high opinion of himself, but he’s likable. Once he commits to the movie, he commits to it–the character, the reputation of the film, and its reboot–even at the detriment to himself. Towards the end, I wondered if maybe he might be an unreliable narrator, because some of what he describes both feels like something he would do and something he might make up. It’s just amazing to read his story (which he’s narrating as an audiobook or podcast), and I had a hard time putting the book down.

If I have one thing I didn’t like, it’s that the foreshadowing sometimes worked against itself. Since the narrator is technically speaking to an audience that presumably knows about the history of the titular film, he refers to things that have happened and kind of expects his audience to know. However, the audience in the real world doesn’t, so once or twice, he refers to something that appears to be common knowledge and I’m like, “Wait, did I read that and forget? Or is it something we haven’t read yet that he’s alluding to?”

It probably did not help that I could not remember if he mentioned the narrator’s real name (I think it was David, but don’t quote me on that), so that only heightened my confusion.

All in all, however, Horror Movie is an excellent novel and well worth the read. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.8. Horrifying, entrancing and full of twists, you’ll find yourself hanging on as you discover not only why people do terrible and fucked up things, but how much reality and fiction can blend in the worst ways. Just grab a copy and see for yourself!

*The year I was born, by the way. Coincidence? I think not!

**BTW, if you have not checked that one out, I highly recommend it.

Conversations with Shaun Hamill

Posted: July 1, 2024 in Author Interciew, Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Some of you may remember prior to COVID a rather unusual novel called A Cosmology of Monsters, about a family in the business of haunted attractions and the entities that seem to haunt them through the generations (see my review here). You may also remember my interview with the author, Shaun Hamill (which you can read here). Well, Shaun’s got a new novel called The Dissonance coming out soon, and I got him to sit down with me to discuss the new book and what went into writing it.

So, without further ado, let’s do an interview!

Rami Ungar: Welcome back to the blog, Shaun. Can you tell us what you’ve been up to in the past five years since Cosmology came out?

Shaun Hamill: Like everyone else, I’ve had a crazy few years! I’ve moved from Alabama to Texas (and then moved three more times to different living situations in the last 3 years). I haven’t written as much as I would have liked, but I managed to write The Dissonance, and I have just turned in another novel I can’t talk about yet.

RU: Tell us about The Dissonance. What’s it about, and what inspired it?

SH: The Dissonance is a dark fantasy novel (with a dash of horror), about a type of magic that feeds on negative emotions: pain, depression, and the like. The only people who can use it are usually “broken” in some way—traumatized or mentally ill or the like. The story focuses on a group of friends who discover this power as teenagers, and how it shapes their lives in good and bad ways. It was inspired during COVID, when I couldn’t see any of my friends in person. I missed them terribly, so I wrote a novel about friendship.

RU: Can you tell us a bit more about the novel’s themes and influences?

SH; As previously mentioned, friendship is a huge theme of The Dissonance. So is trauma, and pain, and regret. It was influenced mainly by Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. Some reviewers are also comparing the novel to IT (it deals with a group of friends and has a split timeline between their adolescent and adult lives), so that’s in the mix, too!

RU: Nothing wrong about being compared to IT, especially when it’s favorable. So, do you think your writing style has changed at all since Cosmology?

SH: I’m not sure. When I started The Dissonance, I set out to write a more accessible book, with characters who were a little easier to love and root for. I also wanted there to be more action and excitement. Whether that means a change in style? I couldn’t say. Maybe I’ve gotten a little less pretentious? I’ll be curious to see what readers of Cosmology think.

RU: I’ll be sure to let you know. Now, I’ve noticed based on Cosmology and on the description for The Dissonance, but you seem to have a thing for cosmic horror. Can you tell us your thoughts on cosmic horror and what about it you like?

SH: Yeah, I’m a cosmic horror nerd for sure. I think it stems from growing up religious (although I’m not a believer anymore). I was always fascinated by the awe and wonder that came with believing in something bigger than myself, and when I discovered cosmic horror (relatively late, in my early 30s), I found something more in tune with my personal feelings about the universe: a dark wonder, and the sense that reality is bigger and more complex and strange than any of us can ever comprehend. The best we can hope for in this life is a peek behind the curtain. Weird fiction is all about that curtain.

RU: It also seems this book will be delving quite a bit into witchcraft and the occult. Do you have experience with magic and witchcraft, or did you do a bunch of research and then make up the rest?

SH: I have an ex who practiced a bit of witchcraft. I’ve partaken in a couple of rituals (which I found as boring as church), and have spent my fair share of time in wiccan shops, browsing books of spells and baskets full of crystals and whatnot. In The Dissonance I employ a little bit of that knowledge, but mostly stick to made-up stuff, where I get to make the rules. My novel doesn’t discount the idea that pagan beliefs are valid, but it doesn’t engage with them much, either.

RU: Changing gears a bit, in our last interview, you mentioned at one point cutting down Cosmology from 250,000 words to about 100,00. Did you have to do something similar with The Dissonance?

The cover for The Dissonance.

SH: Actually, it’s the opposite! I worked hard to turn in a draft of The Dissonance at about 100,000 words. When my editor bought the book, she encouraged me to open up the world and story, and we ended up adding almost 50,000 words to the novel. Just like the cuts were appropriate for Cosmology, I think the additions ended up helping The Dissonance. The early drafts of the novel were very fast-paced—a little too fast. We needed to slow down (just a little) and give the characters time to breathe and feel between the action beats. We needed to show them having fun in addition to getting into trouble. The resulting novel is almost 50% longer than Cosmology but I have yet to hear anyone complain about the word count, so I think we got it right!

RU: Before we wrap up, are you working on anything new and spooky right now? And do you have any exciting future plans?

SH: I just turned in my third novel (which I can’t really talk about yet). It’s definitely on the spooky end of the spectrum. I’m also in talks for a fourth book (which I also can’t talk about), and have given my agent outlines for two possible other novels. So I’m going to be quite busy for the next few years! Hopefully I’ll be publishing more than once every half-decade from now on.

RU: Final question: what are some horror stories you’ve read recently that you’ve enjoyed?

SH: I loved Rachel Harrison’s latest novel, Black Sheep, and Clay McCloud Chapman’s What Kind of Mother. I’m really excited for Gabino Iglesias’s House of Bone and Rain. I haven’t been reading as much horror recently (because of the fantasy edge of The Dissonance, that’s been most of my reading), but I need to get back into it!

RU: I hope you do! It’s an amazing genre, after all. And thank you again for joining us once more.

If you’re interested in checking out The Dissonance, it comes out July 23, 2024 and is available for preorder from most retailers. And if you want to follow Shaun Hamill, you can follow him using the links listed below.

I hope you’re as excited as I am to read this book, my Followers of Fear. And until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Shaun Hamill Website
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The Rose Five-Year Anniversary Celebration Starts Today!!!

Posted: June 20, 2024 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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So yeah, it’s another anniversary! And this one’s very special. It’s the fifth anniversary of my novel Rose!

For those of you who don’t know, Rose was my first novel with a publisher and is my most popular book to date. The story follows a young woman who gets turned into a plant/human hybrid, which starts her on a desperate quest for survival. I first had the idea for the story in the middle of a science fiction literature class in college (yes, my school offered that course). I later wrote the story as my college thesis, and then edited it on and off through the years.

In 2018, I was introduced to the editor of Castrum Press through a friend, who agreed to publish Rose. Fifteen months and several drafts later, Rose was released and has been getting enthusiastic readers ever since. I even got some of my Followers of Fear to send me photos of them with the book for a special video I made. Check it out!

Not bad, huh? It’s been a while since I’ve edited anything like this, so I’m proud of the work I did. And thanks to everyone who contributed a photo and their thoughts about the book to the video. You don’t know how much that means to me.

And really, it means so much to me that so many people have been reading and enjoying Rose. Through the pandemic, and elections, and everything else we’ve dealt with over the past five years, Rose has continued to find readers who have taken the time to tell me how much they love the book. And with so many other great books out there for people to read, I find that frankly amazing.

Be sure to check out Rose this week! It’ll be a frightfully good time.

Anyway, if you’re at all interested in checking out Rose, guess what? In honor of the five-year anniversary, Rose is on sale from today through June 27th! So, whether you prefer paperbacks, ebooks, or audio books, you can grab a copy at a great price till next Thursday!

And if you like what you read, please leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it not only helps me, but other readers in the long run.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you enjoy reading what will hopefully become your new favorite fantasy-horror novel. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Audible
Barnes & Noble
Fable

I’m Halfway Through The 3D Printer from Hell Story

Posted: June 18, 2024 in Progress Report, Writing
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So, if you’re unaware, I’ve been working on a new story about a 3D Printer from Hell. It’s been a crazy work in progress, which I’m currently calling The Shape of Evil. And, after a lot more time working on this story than I normally like (I started this story in March, and it’s now June), I’m now halfway through the first draft.

Honestly, I’m glad I finally got this far. My life has been super busy since I got back from my vacation in March, and so I haven’t been able to make as much progress as I had hoped to by this point. Plus, this story was originally planned to be a novelette or novella. But, like The Pure World Comes, the story had other ideas and decided it wanted to be a novel. And a novel is what it’s become, at 163 pages (8.5 x 11, double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font) and 44,584 words.

For the record, the first Harry Potter novel, which is also the shortest, is about seventy-seven thousand words. So yeah, since I’m only halfway through the story, this novel could end up around ninety-thousand words when it’s done. Which will hopefully be by the end of August, if I can get some free time to work on it. The story takes place over summer vacation, so I would like it finished before summer ends.

Then again, you know what they say: “man plans and God laughs.”

Still, I’m excited to tackle the second half of this novel. I’m not sure it’ll be any good (is any author sure of that?), but it’ll be great to get this story finished and then see if I can find it a home. In fact, I’ve already made plans on how I’m going to go about doing that. I won’t say anything now about those plans (see what I said in the last paragraph), but I think a story like this has a good chance of finding a home and maybe even getting a strong following.

I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on the progress and how things go.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a spooky story, or if you just want to support me, why not check out one of my works that are already published? I’ve got quite a few, and they’re all quite unique. I mean, how many other authors write about carnivorous horses?

Anyway, if you’re interested, head to my Book Links & Excerpts page using the button below. You’ll find all my published works, including some free stories available to download. (Though this month, I highly recommend checking out my novel Rose and my collection Hannah and Other Stories. I think they’re both some of my best work.) And if you like what you read, please leave a review online. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers in the long run.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Book Links & Excerpts

“Rose” Will Be Turning Five Years Old Next Week!!!

Posted: June 13, 2024 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I swear, I didn’t set out to have so many anniversaries between May and July. Most of it is coincidence.

Anyway, as you can see from the title and the above graphic, my novel Rose is marking five years since release next week on Thursday, June 20, 2024. The novel follows a young woman named Rose Taggert who wakes up with no memories of the last two years. She soon turns into a plant/human hybrid, setting off a chain of events that not only threaten her life, but those she loves. It’s a strange, Kafkaesque fantasy-horror novel, and it’s my most popular work to date.

And in honor of this momentous occasion, the book will be on sale from June 20 – June 27. Whether you prefer paperback, ebook or audiobook, Rose will be available for a great, low price. So if you like the sound of the story, stop by your favorite retailer next week and pick up a copy!

Also, in the meantime, if you’re interested, my novel Snake is celebrating its ten-year anniversary. This one is a slasher, and follows a serial killer hunting mobsters in New York City. Think John Wick, Taken and Friday the 13th got smashed into a novel together. The sale for Snake is going through Monday, June 17, so why not grab a copy? I’ll leave the links below.

And if you read either book, or any of my books, I hope you’ll leave me a review once you have. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run (not to mention other readers).

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be back very soon with more news very soon. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Amazon
Apple Books
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Everand
Fable
Kobo
Palace Marketplace
Smashwords
Thalia
Vivlio

Review: “You Like It Darker” by Stephen King

Posted: June 12, 2024 in Review, Scary Stuff
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My copy of You Like It Darker from the library.

I was not a fan of Stephen King’s last collection (you can read my review here). However, I am ever the optimist when it comes to King’s work, and the sound of his latest collection, You Like It Darker, got me excited. I mean, it even had a sequel to Cujo in it! Why wouldn’t I check it out?

And tonight, on the night before it’s due back at the library, I finished it. So, what did I think?

I think this is a much better collection and a finer example of King’s storytelling than If It Bleeds was.

The strongest stories in the collection are four of the novellas. “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” possibly my favorite of the bunch, is a tense thriller about a man’s life unraveling after he has a nightmare and he does a good deed based on that dream. Honestly, it’s hard not to fall in love with the lead and want to find out if things get better for him or go further downhill. “Rattlesnakes,” the sequel to Cujo, starts out slow but quickly becomes a freaky ghost story that I thoroughly enjoyed once it got going. “The Dreamers” feels like an updated version of HP Lovecraft’s “From Beyond,” and I would love to see a movie version of it.

As for the final novella and the final story of the collection, “The Answer Man,” it’s King’s fantastical literary style of storytelling at its finest, and (surprisingly) left me with a warm feeling in my heart.

As for the short stories, “On Slide Inn Road” is a fun tribute to Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (and delivers on the “darker” part of the book’s title), and “The Turbulence Expert” feels fresh while also like classic King. “Laurie,” which I’ve read before, is a fine story about grief and finding new life, and “The Fifth Step” and “Willie the Weirdo,” while not anything amazing, had some fun twists I enjoyed.

Unfortunately, the book has some duds. “Two Talented Bastids,” the opening novella of the collection, was a total letdown for me, which is sad because it had a strong start. The short story “Finn” felt like a crime thriller that never got around to thrilling anyone, and “The Red Screen” felt like it needed a few more pages to deliver on its premise.

However, like I said, You Like It Darker is a much better collection of King stories. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give this collection a 4.2. If you don’t mind the duds, you’ll probably enjoy this one, and feel like you’re reading one of King’s older collections again. So, if you haven’t already, go out and grab a copy.

In the meantime, I’ll be picking up my next read from the library tomorrow. It might even be my next review. And from what I’m hearing, it’ll be worth reading…

The Snake Ten-Year Release Anniversary Sale!!!

Posted: June 10, 2024 in Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Pop the champagne, play the music, and dress up like your favorite slasher villain! It’s the ten-year anniversary of the release of Snake, my slasher horror novel!

For those of you who are unaware, Snake follows a serial killer hunting mobsters in New York City. Think John Wick, Taken and Friday the 13th got smooshed together into a novel. It’s a very visceral, deeply violent novel (as well as my longest), and I had a lot of fun writing it. (Yes, I’m aware that makes me potentially very messed up. I don’t care.)

Anyway, in honor of the ten-year release anniversary, I’m putting the book on sale from the majority of retailers (but especially Amazon). So, if you want to check out the novel, now is a good time to grab a copy of the ebook or the paperback. You can grab your copy at a special price until the 17th.

And if you like what you read, please leave me a review. Not only do I love reader feedback, but it helps me out as a writer in the long run, and it helps other readers decide whether or not to check out the book.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Head on over to the retailer of your choice and grab yourself a copy of Snake. And until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Everand
Fable
Kobo
Palace Marketplace
Smashwords
Thalia
Vivlio

Ten More Haunted Locations I Want to Visit Part VIII

Posted: June 8, 2024 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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Photo by Pedro Figueras on Pexels.com

So, I realized something while going over previous articles about haunted locations I want to visit before I become a ghost myself: I have, in the past, repeated entries. Accidentally, of course. And can you blame me? There are so many cool haunted locations out there, so it’s natural that I might get one or two mixed up or end up repeating them!

That being said, I think all the ones in this article are making their first appearances on this blog. So hopefully I don’t accidentally repeat any in future articles. And if I do, maybe it just means I really want to go there.

So, without further ado, let’s list ten more haunted locations I want to visit before I become a ghost myself.

Chateau de Brissac, France

A historic chateau built in the 11th century, this beautiful palace has seven stories and was once the tallest chateau in all of France. Today, it is still the tallest chateau in the Loire Valley, has been used as a film set for television shows, is also the site of a festival, and is available for day tours and overnight stays.

It’s also haunted by the Green Lady, who is supposedly the illegitimate daughter of King Charles VII. According to legend, her husband came home from hunting one evening and went to bed, but was then informed by his servant that his wife was having a meeting with a lover. Enraged, he murdered the couple, but soon after left the chateau because he kept hearing his wife and her lover moaning throughout the place (not sure what kind of moaning). Today, her lover’s spirit isn’t so much heard, but she is, and when she’s seen, she’s supposed to have holes for eyes and a nose, possibly a memento from when her husband murdered her.

Whatever the case, I’d like to see if I can meet this ghost while staying in a luxurious castle. Wouldn’t you?

Museum of Shadows, Omaha, Nebraska

Supposedly the most haunted museum in the world, the Museum of Shadows claims to have over three thousand haunted objects within its walls. Occupying two floors of a four-floor building, there are skulls, dolls and puppets, crosses, bones, and God only knows what else. It is available for tours and ghost hunts, and they have empty rooms available for Sit Challenges, where you sit in complete darkness for ten whole minutes and see if anything happens to you.

Guess who wants to do all three? ME!!!

Lumber Baron Inn, Denver, Colorado

Featured last year on the Netflix miniseries 28 Days Haunted, the Lumber Baron Inn is a beautiful Victorian era building that was built by Scottish lumber baron John Mouat (hence the name). Today, it’s a bed and breakfast that also offers tours and acts as an event space, but between Mouat and his family and today, the place had quite a few owners. At one point, it was a tenement building, and two young women were violently murdered while living there. It’s believed this incident caused the entire building to become haunted.

Anyone want to head out to Denver with me? Anyone? Bueller?

Kiyotaki Tunnel, Kyoto, Japan

Considered one of the most haunted locations in Japan (and considering the country has separate categories for violent ghosts depending on their reason for haunting, each with their own dangers to beware of, that’s saying something), the tunnel is around 500 yards long and used to be part of a railway line. Nowadays, it’s a one-way tunnel that’s rumored to be very haunted.

Some of the hauntings are rumored to be the spirits of laborers who died building the tunnel. Others may be those of people who have had accidents in the tunnel or who have taken advantage of the tunnel’s woodland location to commit suicide. These ghosts are rumored to wander the tunnel at night, scream loudly, and change traffic signals to cause accidents. One spirit of a woman in white is said to run out of the tunnel and jump onto car hoods like a crazy person (she sounds delightful).

If I ever get to Japan, I’ll add it to the list!

Ramada Plaza Laredo, Laredo, Texas

This one was told to me by my boss. Years before I met her, she was out at Laredo for work and was staying at this hotel. According to her, during the two nights she was staying there, the writing desk in her suite kept shaking every time she went to bed and turned out the lights. As if someone was either writing on it, or as if someone wanted to scare her out of the room. And it worked, because she got out of there and never went back.

Nowadays, the hotel is permanently closed and may not even be standing. However, my boss’s story was enough that if I’m ever out that way, I want to check it out and see if anything’s haunting the building. And I know someone who could go with me.

La Posada Hotel, Laredo, Texas

Speaking of Laredo, Texas, the La Posada Hotel is a beautiful old hotel that used to be a convent. Nowadays, it’s a hotel, but it’s said the nuns are still hanging about. They often manifest as hotel staff and try to trick the guests, but they oddly cannot speak. Cold spots, objects being thrown, and running footsteps in the ballroom are also reported.

Again, I know a certain someone in the area whom I could take with me. Whether she wanted to go or not!

House of Wills, Cleveland, Ohio

I heard about this one from my friend Jeff Ignatowski, whom you saw in my various videos from the ghost hunt at the Ohio State Reformatory (see that blog post here). Built in 1900 in what was then a heavily German and Jewish area, it was the home for a singing and dancing group, the Cleveland Hebrew Institute, and, most famously, a funeral home and a meeting place for the African American community. In fact, John Walter Wills, the man whom the house is named, was a founder of the Cleveland NAACP and remodeled some of the rooms in the house to be elaborate viewing rooms with Egyptian, dream, and cloud themes.

Today, the house is undergoing restoration after being closed down in 2005, and is open for architectural and ghost tours and ghost hunts. A rumor I heard said at some point, someone might have done magical or even dark rituals, which may have super-charged the hauntings there. Without anything to verify that, I’m treating that as just rumor, but I’d still be interested in checking out the house. And maybe dragging friends and family living in Cleveland with me.

Roads Hotel, Atlanta, Indiana

This location actually had a table at ParaPsyCon last month. Founded in the early 1900s, the hotel was owned by the Roads family for a number of years until being sold and becoming a speakeasy and brothel. After that, it was empty for a time, then went through several owners until being taken over by a charity in 2017. Throughout its history, death has been part of the house. The Roads’ youngest child Everett died there, as did a preacher who killed himself, and possibly one of the women of the night working at the brothel.

Today, the hotel is open for public and private investigations, and is said to have lots of whispers, shadows, and other spooky occurrences. It’s even been named Indiana’s most haunted house. Sounds like I need to check in one of these days.

South Carolina State Hospital, Columbia, South Carolina

You know that when you get a hospital for people with mental illness, hauntings are bound to pop up after a while. Founded in 1821, it was one of the first publicly funded mental institutions in the United States and at one point held over a thousand patients. However, staffing, funding and legal troubles, as well as a move away from public institutions and more communal therapy, eventually led to the hospital’s closure in the 1990s.

Nowadays, some of the buildings are still in use, and others have been sold off to private owners, but the buildings that remain are said to be quite haunted. In fact, some people consider the SCSH to be one of the state’s most haunted locations. Sounds like I should check in the next time I’m down that way.

The Whaley House, San Diego, California

This location has been a private home, a general store, a county courthouse, and even a theater. Now, it’s a museum and is also a heavily haunted location, known for footsteps and strange apparitions. It has been featured on numerous ghost hunting shows and even been the subject of one or two (really bad) horror movies.

During StokerCon this year, many people went to visit and tour the house due to its spooky reputation. As someone who couldn’t go to StokerCon this year (I am going next year, though), I was really jealous. Hopefully one day I can go, though. Maybe I’ll even stay overnight. That would be fun.

Tell me, my Followers of Fear: have you been to any of these locations? What did you experience? And do you have any you think I should add to the list? Let’s discuss.

Until next time (which should be very soon), good night and pleasant nightmares!

30 Doesn’t Change Much

Posted: June 6, 2024 in Living and Life, Reflections
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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This post is aimed at the people about to enter or have just recently entered their 30s. That being said, I hope everyone will read it if they so desire.

Back in January 2023, I wrote a blog post about how I was turning 30 soon and how I was kind of freaking out about it (you can read that post here). I reread it recently, and I can tell that I was worried about the end of my 20s and that possibly meaning a big change for me and who I was as a person.

I’ll be turning 31 soon, meaning I’ve been in my thirties for about a year now. And I can safely say at this point that turning 30 doesn’t change much.

Okay, maybe it does change much in some aspects. Healthwise, I have to be more careful because as you get older, staying healthy becomes more work. It’s especially difficult for me, as I’m not an exercise fan and I love my junk food, though I do manage stay somewhat stable on the health front somehow.

But other than the health thing (and let’s face it, that actually starts around 27 or 28, not 30), nothing much has changed. I still enjoy watching anime and YouTube videos every opportunity I get. I still make dumb jokes ninety percent of the time, I’m still indulging in my hobbies, such as winemaking and going to movies or the theater. I still get a kick out of being overdramatic or scaring people (intentionally or otherwise). I still like to sleep in and have a drink or two on the weekends.

And I’m still chasing my dream of becoming a fulltime writer. Hell, four months after turning thirty, I published my fifth book (Hannah and Other Stories, if you want to read it, BTW).

Honestly, I think a lot of it is perspective. If you feel that turning 30 is a big change or that you have to make some big changes because you’re turning 30, you will. However, if you want to go about your business as you have, you will. I certainly have, and any changes in the past year might actually be because of other factors, such as work, or the economy, or progress on the writing front, or a hundred other things.

And if you want to make some changes in your life, then don’t do it because you feel forced to due to a milestone birthday. Do it because you want it. Run that marathon. Take that class. Take up that hobby. Learn that skill. See if you can purchase that house with only so much in savings (believe me, it worked out for me when I was 28/29, though honestly that was before the prices got really insane).

Turning 30 certainly didn’t stop me from purchasing a pair of swords, something I’ve wanted for years.

And above all, pursue that dream. It’s never too late for that. Hell, there’s a great anime about that airing right now (though on the surface, it’s about a guy who wants to stop giant monsters from destroying Japan). And there’s me and my fellow writers. I’m nearly 31 and still pursuing that dream. In some ways, I feel pretty damn close. And I know other writers who are older than me, or started writing in their 30s, 40s, and beyond, and have found great success in doing so.

Yeah, reaching your thirties is kind of scary. It used to mean being a lot older and being a lot further along in life (house, spouse, kids, job, etc.), after all. But it could also mean big things on the horizon. It could mean you have experience and you’re going to make fewer mistakes when you set out on a new journey. In the end, you decide what it’s going to be. Not society or some nebulous idea of adulthood. You do.

And I think that’s pretty damn awesome.

You know, my Followers of Fear, 30 was a roller coaster. On the one hand, it was my toughest year at the office for a number of reasons, and I dealt with a lot of things I rather would have gone without. On the other hand, I did some amazing things I’ll treasure forever, including but not limited to my first StokerCon (and I’m already signed up to go to next year’s!). And you know what? The same can be said about any age, if you think about it. It’s always a roller coaster.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Don’t bother getting me any birthday gifts (unless you want to check out and then review my books, in which case that would be a great gift). I’m off to rest. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

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