Having read The Good House before, I knew I was in for a good time (see my review here). But I was not prepared for Tananarive Due’s latest novel. After starting it, I learned the book was based not only on the Dozier School for Boys, a reform school in Florida where numerous atrocities were committed against the kids there, but on a relative she had who died at the school. And even after learning that, I still wasn’t prepared for what was to come.
Set in Florida in 1950, The Reformatory follows twelve-year-old Robert Stevens (named after her relative) and his older sister, Gloria. After kicking a white boy who makes advances on Gloria, young Robert finds himself sent to the Gracetown School for Boys, a reform school where the boys are under threat by both the spirits haunting the campus after years of mysterious deaths, and the Warden Haddock, a terrifying personage with a sadistic streak. When Haddock learns Robert can see the ghosts on campus, he forces the kid to help him catch the spirits. Meanwhile, Gloria attempts to find a way to free her brother from the horrible reformatory, setting them both on a path that will change them forever.
Man, this book was a rough read! Due does not skimp on the human horror the characters face, whether that be the horrible things Robert faces at the reformatory at the hands of the adults and the other kids, or the racism Gloria faces trying to get her brother out of that place (not to mention the utterly disgusting advances Lyle McCormick makes on Gloria in the novel), it feels all too real. Not to mention kind of timely!
Speaking of feeling real, the worldbuilding is amazing! Gracetown, the location of the reformatory and most of the other events of the book, as well as the people in the book, feel extremely real. I noticed that with The Good House, but Due is great with character development, and setting can be as much a character as the characters! I also loved how Gracetown apparently has this reputation as a place where children are able to interact with spirits and lose the ability as they grow older. That’s a pretty cool idea, and Due uses it to flesh out the spirit world of Gracetown and the reformatory so well.
I think the one thing I didn’t like was that I feel we only scratched the surface of the Gracetown School for Boys. I know that might sound masochistic, considering what we saw was pretty horrific, but we only saw a fraction of the school grounds, of life at the school, and the sordid history there. And as much as that would’ve scarred my psyche, I would’ve like to see all that explored more.
Maybe an anthology based around the Gracetown School for Boys? They’re doing one for The Stand, after all. I can dream.
All in all, though, The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is a soul-shaking journey of abuse, racism, and the darkness of humankind that, at times, I had to take a break from, I was that shook. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.5 out of 5. I feel like I get why this book was talked about so much when it came out last year, and I wish I’d read it sooner. And if you haven’t read it yet, you should go and read it, too.
Yeah, I’m going to be extra annoying with this stuff for the foreseeable future. But hey, can you blame me? With a new book on the way, I have to do everything in my power to get people interested.
And that’s what these quote graphics are about. When Hannah and Other Stories was coming out the first time, these helped advertise the book far and wide. Obviously, I’m repeating this with Walpurgis, creating graphics for each story and releasing them three days a week on my social media.
Below are the latest round, which I’ve been releasing over the past three weeks. I hope they capture your attention.
I hope you enjoyed reading these. With these quotes, I made the fonts bigger so they were easier to read. With any luck, that will make reading them easier for people with vision issues.
If you’re at all interested in reading the previous quote graphics, you can check them out on Walpurgis‘s page on this website. And if you would like to check out the book itself, I’ll leave links below. It comes out on May 1st and is full of cryptids, malevolent spirits, and even a Jewish exorcism. Below is the blurb I’m using for the back cover.
What’s the difference between humans and monsters? Is there a fine line, or is it more gray and blurred? Rami Ungar, author of Rose and Hannah and Other Stories, explores this question in his latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis. From legendary cryptids to malevolent spirits and from Ohio in the 1950s to modern-day California, readers will be treated to nine terrifying stories of the weird and macabre. So settle down and be prepared. For you have bought your ticket to Symphony for Walpurgis.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time (which hopefully won’t be another promotional post), good night and pleasant nightmares.
I’ve been meaning to write and post this all Saturday. But I slept in way later than I meant to, and then my day got busy, and…oh wait, it’s Sunday? Shit. Well, might as well get to the good news, then.
So, you might remember back in January, I got my first acceptance of the year, a non-fiction article about how people move on after learning their favorite celebrities have monstrous sides. That article, “Being in the Fallout: Options to Take When Your Heroes Reveal a Dark Side,” was released on March 1st by Trollbreath Magazine. Which, at the time this blog post came out, was yesterday!
I’m really proud of this article. A few times of year, we find out a celebrity we love is evil or has some really dark stuff in their history, and it’s not always easy to move on or even to figure out how to react. This article goes over the most common methods, while also incorporating some well-known examples of problematic or even horrible celebrities.
If you’re at all interested, please consider giving the article a read. Like I said, I’m quite proud of it and would love to hear your thoughts on it. Plus, reading it, or even purchasing a copy of the magazine, would help Trollbreath immensely in the long run. I’ll leave a link below.
I would like to thank Trollbreath for publishing my article and being my first publication of 2025. Especially with this article. It really means a lot to me. And I would like to thank my critique group, who helped me get this article into shape prior to submitting it. As I tell people, writing is a solitary act, but getting that writing into print takes multiple hands.
Now, before I go, my Followers of Fear, there’s some more news/reminders I want to share:
First, I have another non-fiction article coming out later this year. Not sure exactly when, but it might be sometime in summer. I’m really looking forward to it, as it’s going to be from a well-known horror publication. I can’t wait for you to read it.
This Saturday, March 8th, I will be at the Akron Book Fest at the Akron Downtown Library in Akron, Ohio. I’ll be there representing HWA Ohio, so I won’t be selling books or doing Tarot readings, but I’ll be happy to talk to you about the books our members put out and how awesome horror is. So if you’re in the area, please stop by!
And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll probably have something out again very soon, so keep an eye out for it. But until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.
Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century saint who fought witches and whose feast day has inspired plenty of imaginations and plenty of fear.
You may have heard of Walpurgis Night, or a similar name, and wondered what it is, why it gives you such a chill, and how the heck you pronounce that name? With this blog post, I hope to answer a few of those questions.
First, the name. It’s pronounced “Wall-per-giss,” with the hard “g” sound, like “Garfield.” Important to get that out of the way first and foremost.
Second, what is this day? Simply put, it’s the feast day of Saint Walpurga (her name is also pronounced with a hard “g”), an eighth-century saint who was renowned for defeating pests, rabies, and witchcraft. Walpurgis Night, also known as Walpurgisnacht, Saint Walpurgis Eve, May Day, and Witches Night, is celebrated on her feast day, which begins on the evening of April 30th and continues through May 1st.
Celebrations for Walpurgis Night may include bonfires, doing various activities to ward off witches, and visiting Saint Walpurga’s tomb in Eichstatt.
Oh, and that part about witches? Yeah, Walpurgis Night is also believed in many places to be a night when witches meet for their semiannual sabbats. This is why it’s also known as Witches Night. Why? No idea, but I like to think witches either set their celebration day on Walpurga’s night in an act of defiance, or the Church put her feast day on the same date as when witches gather in hopes of weakening and fighting back against them.
And while its prevalence has fluctuated and changed over the years, Walpurgis Night’s influence has remained. It’s no coincidence that the Church of Satan was founded on Walpurgis Night 1966, and the very-separate Satanic Temple considers this day a solemn day to mourn the loss of witches, both real and accused, to superstition. In the movie Fantasia, the final sequence, Night on Bald Mountain, is explicitly stated to take place on Walpurgis Night, and in the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Walpurgisnacht is the name of the most powerful witch in the show’s universe.
And now, the holiday is the inspiration for my latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis, which I planned from the beginning to release around the end of April/early May. When I remembered a certain holiday occurred right around that timeframe…well, you can see why I did what I did.
And now we’re two months away from the release of Symphony for Walpurgis. This is my newest collection, containing stories of cryptids, malevolent spirits, and even a Jewish exorcism. If you’re interested, you can click on the links below to preorder or, if you click on the Goodreads page, read Walpurgis‘s first couple of reviews. Yes, there’s already a few reviews. Isn’t that awesome?
And if you do end up preordering the book and reading it, I hope you’ll leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers in the long run.
And with that explanation, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you found this explanation helpful and are now interested in reading Symphony for Walpurgis. I, meanwhile, will do everything in the next two months to get more people interested in reading it. So, until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and happy countdown to Walpurgis Night/Witches Night. I hope you’ll celebrate with me when the time comes.
You may have seen some news reports that Jack the Ripper’s identity has been solved. A lot of those reports include mentions of DNA evidence, which gives the claim an air of legitimacy. However, that raises the question: has Jack the Ripper’s identity been found? And if so, who is it?
First, for those of you who don’t know (thought at this point, I’d be surprised if you didn’t know), Jack the Ripper is the name given to a serial killer who murdered five women in London’s Whitechapel and Spitalfields neighborhoods in 1888, though it’s possible many more died. The women killed by the Ripper were supposedly prostitutes, though in recent years, doubt has been cast on that (check out The Five by Hallie Rubenhold for more on that).
As for the killer’s name, it comes from a letter sent to a local newspaper supposedly by the killer where the “killer” identifies himself as such. Jack, however, was never caught, leading to over a century of speculation as to whom the killer is.
As to this latest news story, historian Russell Edwards has claimed that DNA found on a shawl supposedly belonging to Catherine Eddowes, one of the Ripper’s victims, matches both Eddowes’ living descendants, as well as DNA belonging to descendants of the older brother of Aaron Kosminski, one of the top Ripper suspects. Based on this, Edwards believes that Aaron Kosminski was the Ripper, beyond the shadow of a doubt.
This leads to the question: was Kosminski really Jack the Ripper?
Honestly, I have my doubts. This isn’t because I have my own suspect I believe was the Ripper (though I do believe it was this person to the point I made him a character in my Victorian Gothic novel The Pure World Comes). It’s just that there are some serious problems with Edwards’ claims, and I shall try to go over all of them here.
First, who was Aaron Kosminski? He was a Polish Jewish immigrant who worked as a barber/hairdresser in Whitechapel in 1888 and who was one of the original suspects of being the Ripper owing to a violent mental disorder. He was committed to an asylum a few years later and died in custody in 1919. To this day, he’s still one of the most popular picks for the Ripper’s true identity.
The DNA evidence is way more problematic than it appears at first glance.
First, there’s the DNA. While this method is a lot more reliable than other methods of forensic crime solving (you would not believe how unreliable fingerprinting actually is), DNA isn’t infallible. In fact, DNA is subject to contamination, incomplete samples, and degradation over time. It would take incredible luck for both samples to remain intact and uncontaminated enough so that they could be used to match with the victim and suspect’s descendants.
But sure, let’s say the DNA found on the shawl, which Edwards bought from an auction house and which passed through a few hands before then, really did have enough intact DNA for the scientists to do their work. While Eddowes’ DNA probably came from bloodstains, the DNA linked to Kosminski was mitochondrial DNA from semen. Mitochondrial DNA is a lot smaller than regular DNA found in cell nuclei and isn’t as handy in identifying people as is regular DNA. (See this YouTube video where a DNA expert explains it much better than I ever could).
Also, semen being present on the shawl only proves that someone had sexual contact with Eddowes (if it was her shawl). As I said, whether the Ripper’s victims did or did not engage in sex work regularly has been called into question in recent years, but whatever the truth, it doesn’t prove that Kosminski killed her. All it really says that he may have had some sort of sexual contact with her.
All of these factors might be why the study in which Edwards makes his claims hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal, and that’s a problem. “Peer-reviewed” means that the experiments and the results can be reliably replicated, and the fact that no peer-reviewed journal has published Edwards’ study is concerning.
The identify of the Ripper, to put it simply, is still an open question.
Finally, there’s the issue of whether Aaron Kosminski was actually the suspect the police were referring to! You see, Kosminski’s name came to prominence because the name “Kosminski” was mentioned in police memos and in the diaries of investigators from the original case, and that eventually led to the identification of Aaron Kosminski. However, these same policemen may have been referring to one Nathan Kaminsky, also known as Aaron or David Cohen, another Polish Jew with mental issues and a violent personality and who was held in the same asylum as Kosminski before his death in 1889. The police may have confused one man for another, and the asylum may have named him Aaron Cohen because Kaminsky or Kosminski was too difficult to spell or understand. Whatever the case, we can’t be sure which man the police were referring to, given the similarities and lack of reliable records.
So perhaps Aaron Kosminski did have a sexual encounter with Catherine Eddowes, but Nathan Kaminsky was the real Ripper. Or maybe he wasn’t. There’s no way to tell.
And that’s the main problem. Even if the DNA results aren’t problematic, there’s no way to know 100% for sure who Jack the Ripper was without a time machine. I’m sure we would all love to put to bed who the Ripper was, even if our personal choice of suspect was wrong. But it’ll take a lot more than sketchy DNA results to do so. And, like many infamous cold cases, it may never be truly solved.
Thanks for reading through my rant on this subject, Followers of Fear. I just really disliked how many publications were taking Edwards’ announcement like the gospel. Hopefully this put the whole matter into perspective for some of you.
If you’re at all curious whom I think is the Ripper, you can find out by reading The Pure World Comes. As I said, I included him as a character in the novel, and I included some of the historical knowledge I found on the guy in the story. Plus, it’s a great Victorian Gothic horror novel, if I do say so myself. I’ll leave links below if you’re curious. And be sure to leave a review if you read it!
I also highly recommend if you’re curious to check out The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. Ms. Rubenhold does an excellent job exploring both the lives of the five canonical Ripper victims and the contemporary attitudes that may have unfairly led to them being labeled prostitutes. Reading it made me look at the Ripper case in a whole new light and helped me ultimately come to whom I believe the Ripper is. (See my article on it here.)
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!
Good evening, humans. I hope you’re doing well. If you’re like me, you’re avoiding the Super Bowl (now if it was the Superb Owl, I would tune in). And I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you some updates on Symphony for Walpurgis, seeing as a lot has happened since I last posted about it. Which was…just six days ago? Damn, it has been a crazy week!
Anyway, for those of you who don’t know, Symphony for Walpurgis is my upcoming book, a collection of novelettes, some of which were previously published and others which weren’t. The book is set to come out on May 1st, 2025, meaning less than three months from now. I’m doing my utmost to get as many people as possible reading it once it releases. In fact, I’m hoping to sell 500 copies and get fifty positive reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads in the first year!
Anyway, let’s get into these updates, shall we?
Walpurgis has two reviews now!
It’s crazy to think, but Symphony for Walpurgis already has two reviews on Goodreads. And even better, both are five-star reviews! Both came from advanced readers and Followers of Fear, but they’re willing to criticize me if necessary. The most recent review, written by Louise Conway, starts with this:
Bravo! This might just be Rami Ungar’s best work yet. Offering tales of unearthly retribution, dark mysteries, vampires re-imagined and blood curdling entities, Symphony is a gloriously ghoulish anthology with something for almost every kind of horror fan.
“Best work yet.” I’m flattered. Of course, I aim to put out more and more work as time goes on, and to improve as well.
Anyway, this is good progress on my goal for fifty positive Goodreads reviews. I hope more of the advanced readers let people know what they think of the book, and that leads to plenty more readers when the book comes out. In the meantime, if you would like to read the full reviews, you can click below to check them out.
One of the most exciting moments for a published author is when the first batch of author copies comes in. That includes self-published books, and I felt that excitement this weekend when my author copies for Walpurgis came in. I designed the cover myself after a lot of trial and error, as well as the book’s back cover and interior. It was nice to see it had turned out so well!
And, being the kind of guy who likes to share every achievement, no matter how small, I filmed an unboxing video. Here it is, in all its cheesiness and beauty. Enjoy!
Hopefully, this is the first of many author copy deliveries. Like I said, five hundred sold copies in the first year, and most of those will likely come from live events. And I plan to find many homes for many copies.
The Book Trailer is Live!
Like with my last collection, Hannah and Other Stories, I sought to create a gripping book trailer for Walpurgis. This time, I wanted to have one out before the release date (that should have happened with Hannah as well, but life had other plans). And with a couple of hours of work this afternoon, I created what I think is an awesome book trailer for a collection of horror. Check it out.
Not bad, right? It’s nothing special, but I think it’s decent and conveys the horror of this collection well. If it gets even one or two people to read Walpurgis, I’ll be happy.
By the by, if you enjoyed these videos, please consider liking/commenting/subscribing. You know, all that usual YouTube shtick. You can find my channel here.
Book Quotes
One thing I learned from Hannah and Other Stories was how helpful releasing quotes from your book can be. Especially when you pair the quotes with interesting and relevant graphics. So, this time around, I’m creating graphics with quotes on them, and releasing them three times a week. Here are the first batch of quotes graphics, one from each story. Hope you find them exciting and interesting. They were fun to make.
I’ll post the next nine in a single post once they’ve been published on my social media. In the meantime, you can find each graphic as they’re uploaded on Walpurgis‘s page on this blog.
Final Word
Anyway, that’s all to say right now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll try not to overwhelm you with Walpurgis-related posts, though I do have to do my necessary advertising for it as we approach May 1st. And in the meantime, if you would like to preorder a copy of Walpurgis, I’ll leave links below. More stores and formats will be made available as we get closer, so keep checking back if you don’t see a store or format you prefer.
And if you like what you read, my Followers of Fear, then please leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers out in the long run.
Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.
The photo I took the day I got my copy from the library. Can you tell I was excited?
We’re only five weeks into 2025, but I may have already found my favorite new book of the year. In fact, at times I got so deep into this book, I had dreams about it! You don’t know how special a treat that was for me.
Set in 1970, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls follows four girls sent to Wellwood House, a home for unwed mothers in Florida: Fern, a young high schooler who wants her old life back; Rose, a rebellious hippie with a bit of a mean streak and a bit of a nice streak; Zinnia, a young musician who plans to marry her baby’s father; and Holly, whose youth and silence hides a dark and terrible secret. Hidden away from the world like shameful secrets and repeatedly told that they are at fault for their condition and that the only good thing they can do now is give up their babies for adoption to a loving couple, the girls seek any way to take back a little control over their lives and bodies. When a mysterious librarian hands them a book that’s full of actual magic, they think they’ve found their solution. But when it comes to magic, everything comes at a price. And the price they have to pay may be bigger than any of them can pay.
So, if it wasn’t clear from the first paragraph, I freaking loved this book! For one thing, the horror is palpable from the first couple of chapters. Not from the witches, but from the people. Through Fern’s eyes, we see how everyone blames her, including herself, for getting pregnant outside of marriage, even though it takes two to tango. From what I’ve been told, that really was the attitude towards unwed mothers back then, and Hendrix does a great job bringing it to life throughout the story, as well as the callous cruelty the girls face as unwed mothers, even after they’ve given birth.
I also really liked the witches of the story. They’re not exactly old school wicked witches, but they’re not entirely good witches or granola-crunching Wiccans, either. They’re their own thing, a group of women with access to power and who are trying to ensure the continuation of their way of life and their freedom, and they’re willing to get their hands dirty to do so.
To list out all the colorful characters would keep us here too long, but some of my favorites included hippie Rose, who grew on me as the story went on and whose experiences midway through the book broke my heart; Hagar, the cantankerous cook at the Wellwood House, who does try to help the girls, if rather reluctantly; Zinnia, who has more sense than most of the other characters in the book; and Fern, who really does learn something from her experience.
All these elements come together into a fantastic story where I struggled to guess what would happen next and was surprised more than a few times by certain developments. It really was amazing.
Hendrix admits in the acknowledgments that he’s probably the last person to be writing a book where nearly every character is pregnant, but given how phenomenal of a job he did, I think we can forgive him. I can’t think of a single flaw in this story, it was just that good. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix a full 5. Grab a copy, put on an appropriately witchy playlist (I hope “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga is on that playlist), and settle down for a read.
Oh, happy day! It’s still only three months away, but Symphony for Walpurgis has its first review! And holy crap, it’s a five-star review! Everybody start dancing!
No surprise, this review, which I discovered on Goodreads yesterday, comes from an ARC reader. And not just any ARC reader, but from Priscilla Bettis, who is not just a fellow author, but has been a Follower of Fear for several years now. Since…I want to say before Rose came out? Anyway, she got the ARC of Walpurgis the other day and apparently got through it in a week before leaving a review.
Don’t be fooled, though: just because she’s a longtime Follower of Fear, doesn’t mean Priscilla isn’t willing to criticize a story when she dislikes it or finds something problematic. I should know, she’s beta read a few of my stories. So the fact that she gave Walpurgis five stars means she must’ve really liked it.
Here’s some of what she wrote:
Symphony for Walpurgis is a collection of novelettes, all horror. There are themes of money-power-arrogance (I should just say “corruption), abuse of nature and one another, grief, and (my favorite) insects.
Dragon bats … not a story title, but a thing. One of the best creatures Rami’s ever created. You’ll find them in “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand.”
In “Blood and Paper Skin,” Grey, a college-aged man, and a group of his friends run into deadly trouble when out to buy drugs. It’s scary and tense, and Ungar makes it easy to like Grey and cheer him on. But there are twists. Other characters besides Grey come to the forefront. This is the twisty-ist story in the collection, great fun!
“The House on Lafayette Square” is a Jewish demon-exorcism story with freaky-scary descriptions. The story takes a left turn somewhere, so instead of everything being tied up in a neat bow, I was left DISTURBED at the end, maybe because I am a mother IRL. (Kudos to Ungar for that.)
Wow. I disturbed her. For a horror writer, that’s a serious compliment. Especially from someone who’s a big fan of horror.
And that’s only half the review! You should see the rest of it. In fact, I hope you do. Because I’m aiming to amass fifty (hopefully positive) reviews on Amazon and on Goodreads in the first year alone, so this is a good start! So, if Priscilla’s review gets you even a little bit interested in reading the book, then I hope you read the rest and then go preorder the book.
Here’s the back cover blurb for the book, which is out May 1st:
What’s the difference between humans and monsters? Is there a fine line, or is it more gray and blurred? Rami Ungar, author of Rose and Hannah and Other Stories, explores this question in his latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis. From legendary cryptids to malevolent spirits and from Ohio in the 1950s to modern-day California, readers will be treated to nine terrifying stories of the weird and macabre. So settle down and be prepared. For you have bought your ticket to Symphony for Walpurgis.
I’ll leave links below in case you want to check the book out. And if, after the book is released, you read it and like it (or don’t), I hope you’ll leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and other readers out in the end.
Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be sure to check in with you guys when I have updates on Walpurgis or on anything else going on in my life and/or in my writing career. So, until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!
I’m lucky enough that I rarely get writer’s block. Occasionally I have a bad night where I can’t get the words on the page, but actually being unable to write? Thanks to a combination of lots of inspiration and lots of motivation, no. In fact, I think I can count the number of times I’ve gotten writer’s block on one hand.
And recently, that number increased by one.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m working on a witchy Halloween story that is the most Halloween thing I’ve ever written. And I’ve been enjoying working on it. However, last week, I noticed that the words weren’t coming like they should be. I was having problems getting the words down, and it was increasing slowly but surely with every writing session.
No doubt about it, writer’s block was settling in.
Thankfully, I have a method that always helps me get over writer’s block.
Now, if you look around the Internet long enough, you’ll find hundreds of different methods for getting over writer’s block. They range from finding a different time or place to write, or doing freewriting and brainstorming, to therapy and mindfulness meditation. I’ve got nothing against those other methods. If one of them works for you, good for you. This is just the one that works for me. And if you as a writer find it helpful, then great.
So what do I do? Well, I edit. Sort of. I go back to the beginning of the story and go over the material I’ve written. Try to see where the writer’s block started and why. Is it a problem with the plot? Is it a mental issue? By going through the story, I hope to find out and find a solution.
And that’s what I did. And it worked. Without getting into too many details, I realized that it was a mental issue regarding whether or not I was crossing a certain line. A line that I wasn’t sure I wanted to cross in a story. It had nothing to do with the story itself, just me worrying about something. And, as I went through the story, looked at what I’d written, where I wanted the story to go, and other writers who had written similar subject matter, I realized I was worrying about nothing. I’d just made up a problem in my head for some dumb reason.
Anyway, now that the non-issue is resolved, I’m able to get back to writing this witchy story. Will it be any good? Hard to say. I like to think it has potential. For now, though, I’m just aiming to finish the first draft and have fun along the way.
And if writer’s block pops up on this or any other story in the future, I’ll know how to deal with it before it gives me too much trouble.
Do you ever deal with writer’s block? Do you have a favorite method to get over it? What is it?
One more thing, my Followers of Fear: I’ll be at Akronomicon in Akron, Ohio on Saturday, February 1st, 2025 at the Emidio & Sons Expo Center. It looks to be a fun little horror con, and I’ll be there selling books and doing Tarot readings. If you want to stop by, you can purchase tickets off the convention’s Facebook page.
And if you can’t stop by, if you want to support me, or you’re just looking for a good story that’s preferably of the scary variety, you can check out any of my books. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and Jewish exorcisms, I’ve got something scary and weird for every horror fan. I even have some free stuff and an Arthurian short story, so why not check it out on my books page?
And if you like what you read, please leave a review online somewhere. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers out in the long run.
Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares!
One of the locations in today’s posts. It’s got quite the history. As do all the locations.
It’s no secret that I love visiting haunted locations, and have visited quite a few of the ones on the previous lists. I’ve even experienced some freaky and frightening stuff in those locations! And as time goes on, I’ve learned of many more locations, which means I not only want to visit them, but I want to list them here. Either to inspire my fellow horror fans and writers, just to spread the knowledge of my fellow ghost hunters, or to scare those who are freaked out by the very idea of a place with real ghosts in it (you know who you are).
So, without further ado, here are ten haunted locations I want to visit before I become a ghost.
Chateau d’Amboise, Loire Valley, France Ah France! So beautiful. So cultured. So historical. And so full of blood and death, it’s no surprise there are ghosts all over the place. The Chateau d’Amboise, a massive estate in the Loire Valley, is no exception. It’s a beautiful and immense castle that was a favorite of the royal family for years. However, it also has its fair share of darkness. In addition to a failed rebellion that occurred there, a man named Jacques de Breze murdered his wife, Charlotte, and her lover, Breze’s stepbrother (awkward!). Charlotte’s said to wander and wail through the halls in a green dress, giving her the nickname “the green lady.”
Other ghosts include King Charles VIII, who died while hitting his head on a lintel in 1498, and Leonardo da Vinci, who is supposed to be buried there. Hmm…maybe I should start brushing up on my French.
Manhattan Well, Soho, New York City In 1799, the body of Guilelma “Elma” Sands was found dead in the Manhattan Well in what is today Soho in Manhattan. An architect who had been courting her, Levi Weeks, was accused of the murder, but thanks in part to representation by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, he was acquitted (this even gets a mention in the song “Non-Stop” from Hamilton). Meanwhile, the well was built itself over and resided under homes and shops.
Today, the well can be found in the basement of a Soho clothing store, where it has since become something of a minor tourist attraction. However, after dark, it’s said that the spirit of Elma Sands still haunts the well, crying over her murder by Weeks and attempting to get out of the well. And I now have another reason to visit New York City.
Thurber House, Columbus, OH I was at this local Columbus writing center and arts organization back around Halloween, and before doing a reading and selling some books, I did a tour of the old house, which was the home of local writer and humorist James Thurber. Apparently, this house is said to still be inhabited by the spirits of Thurber and his family.
And it’s available for rent for the night! So, hopefully, someday soon, I can join some friends to ghost hunt in the place one of these days. I mean, a writer who ghost hunts hunting in the house of a local writer who’s now a ghost? What’s not to love?
Also, the house is where I took this spooky photo.
Even for Halloween decor, this was inspired. Hats off to the folks running Thurber House!
Boleskine House, Loch Ness, Scotland Have you ever heard of Aleister Crowley? If you haven’t, he was a early 20th-century magician who dabbled in a lot of occult practices. He owned Boleskine House for fourteen years. While he was there, he supposedly engaged in a ritual he never finished, and which, according to some, caused demons to remain on the property.
In the years since, there’s been a number of tragedies in the house, including a suicide and two fires. Plus, former residents, including a man who worked for rocker Jimmy Page while the latter owned the house, have experienced numerous strange and terrifying phenomena. It’s set to open up again this year after lots of restoration due to the second fire. I wonder if they’ll let people rent the place for ghost hunts? If they do, I want to sign up.
Abbey of Thelema, Cefalu, Sicily Boleskine House wasn’t Aleister Crowley’s only notorious home. In 1920, he bought a small cottage in Italy, where he planned to start a magic school and preach his Thelema religion. He stayed there for three years, leaving once Mussolini’s government forced them out. The house has since fallen into ruins, but it’s said that if you step inside, spirits from the strange rituals Crowley and his followers performed there might say hi.
You know, I hear Italy is beautiful this time of year. Anyone want to come with me?
Hampton Court Palace, London, England Ah, England! Such history! Such culture! Such haunted locations! Hampton Court Palace used to be one of the favorite residences of the Royal Family. Today’s it’s a museum that’s open to the public, but that doesn’t mean the royals moved out. In fact, some are said to hang around. Two of Henry VIII’s wives are said to haunt the palace: Jane Seymour, who died of complications of childbirth, and Catherine Seymour, who was executed for having multiple affairs.
In addition to the queens, a woman named Sybil Penn may be haunting the palace. Known as the Grey Lady, she nursed Elizabeth I through smallpox, caught it after the future queen recovered, and died. I wonder if I could run into all three ghosts and play songs from the musical SIX to the queens. That would be fun.
Plenty of ghosts hiding here. I want to visit and find them!
The White House, Washington DC I don’t need to go into the history of this place. You know it, who lives there and what they do there. But did you know it’s haunted? Abraham Lincoln, as well as one of his sons, Thomas Jefferson, Dolly Madison and Abigail Adams, and several other famous former presidents are said to haunt the White House.
Obviously, it would be extremely difficult to even get into the White House just for a tour. It would be even harder to get permission to ghost hunt there, if not impossible. And I would not want to do it with the incoming administration. But it would still be cool if I could. If I could see what’s haunting the White House.
St. Michan’s Church, Dublin, Ireland Not a traditionally haunted location, but it is spooky nonetheless. This Church of Ireland church dates back to the 17th century (though a church has been on the site since the 11th century), and has something unique about it: in its basement, there are numerous mummified remains which have survived centuries, desecration and even a fire.
I wonder if there’s anything freaky associated with those mummies?
The Dauphine Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana The Dauphine Orleans Hotel has a storied history. At one point, it was one of the most notorious brothels in New Orleans, especially its onsite bar, May Baily’s Place. It was also a place where numerous Civil War soldiers would hang out, which explains why numerous spirits of Confederate soldiers and prostitutes continue to haunt the property.
Maybe I should stay there the next time I’m down there.
The Haunted Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana Or I can stay here. Located on Ursulines’ Ave, this hotel is considered one of the oldest hotels in the French Quarter, and prides itself on being the most haunted. In fact, the website says the hotel has been haunted since 1918, when the serial killer the Axeman went on a murder spree through the city.
I’m interested to see if the hotel is all hype. Or if it’s really is the most haunted hotel in New Orleans.
Have you been to any of these locations? Have you experienced anything? Do you have any suggestions for where I should investigate someday? Let me know in the comments below.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to dream of spooky things and write them into stories. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.
Rami Ungar The Writer 