Posts Tagged ‘haunted locations’

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

Ten More Haunted Places I Want to Visit, Chapter Eight

Posted: November 19, 2022 in Scary Stuff
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The RMS Queen Mary, one of the locations I would like to visit someday.

So I may be super busy these days writing a hundred different projects while also working a day job, but there’s one thing I can always make time for: looking up haunted places I want to investigate. And as expected, I have ten more I want to visit and even investigate. And some of them are even close! I hope that means I can get into them eventually.

Anyway, let’s talk about some haunted locations I will want to visit, investigate, and eventually force one of you to join me for a night of terrifying occurrences. Yes, I might kidnap one of you, Followers of Fear. You know I’m capable of it.

Marsh’s Library, Dublin, Ireland
Marsh’s Library was the first public library in Ireland, and dates back 300 years. From what I hear, folks like Bram Stoker and James Joyce may have spent time researching there and going through its over 25,000 volumes and manuscripts, some dating back centuries! Perhaps some of those books have spirits attached to them. What is known is that there are rumors that the library is haunted by its founder, Archbishop Narcissus Marsh, who is buried near the library. According to one legend, his beloved niece eloped and left a note for him in one of the books, so he’s searching for it.
Seems a dumb reason to haunt a library, but that’s just the one legend I was able to find. Perhaps there are other stories behind it. Other ghosts. Which leads me to ask: when can I check in?

Central Ohio Fire Museum, Columbus, Ohio
This one’s really close to me. Like, just a few miles away! Originally a working fire station until 1982, the building was turned into a museum by some firefighters wanting to preserve the history of firefighting. Today, it’s an educational center that teaches about fire safety and preserves the history of the profession in Ohio. However, there are some spooky happenings in that building as well: ghostly thoroughbred horses from the days before fire engines had engines are said to haunt the building, as does a dead fire captain who likes to take inventory. There are also reports of singing coming from nowhere.
I don’t think this place is open to ghost hunts. Still, if I could, I would go.

Pine Street Saloon, Paso Robles, California
The Pine Street Saloon is one of the oldest buildings in the area, having been around since the 1800s and used for various kinds of businesses. Today, it’s a working bar that’s open to the public and that has its fair share of spooky ghosts hanging around. I wouldn’t mind getting out the dowsing rods and doing a spirit session while also drinking a pint or two

Satan’s Hollow, Cincinnati, Ohio
Supposedly there’s a storm drain in the Blue Ash neighborhood of Cincinnati that’s supposedly a portal to Hell. If you manage to find it and go inside, you’ll hear strange noises, ghostly voices, and even demonic growls. Videos online taken in the storm drain often have creepy voices that will deliver shivers to any viewer! Sadly, this place is on private property and going there means you’re trespassing. Apparently the police have to go there multiple times a year because of trespassing calls, especially around Halloween. Makes you feel sorry for the landowners, who are probably lovely people.
Still, it would be cool to investigate. Just make sure to bring some sage with you before you go.

The Yellow House, Six Flags Over Arlington, Texas
In Texas long ago, a little girl named Annie was found dead in a creek. Years later, the Six Flags company built Six Flags Over Arlington, and the land where that creek used to be became part of the park. Annie is sometimes seen around the park, but is well-known to stay at the Yellow House, a yellow building/concession stand near the entrance of the roller coaster the Texas Giant. From what I hear, a paranormal group investigated the building and did get some recordings from Annie, who is generally a kind and mischievous spirit.
I’m not much for theme parks these days (too much standing around in line in the hot summer sun), but if I could investigate the park one night, I’d make the trip.

Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, Sylvan Beach, New York
Another amusement park, but this one is supposedly haunted all over the place, and the park even acknowledges its history of hauntings with ghost tours. Supposedly, people who love the park so much in life stay behind after death just to enjoy the rides and games for all eternity. I’d be willing to come by after hours to check this place out.

Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan
The Grand Hotel is one of Michigan’s most beautiful resorts! Built in the 19th century, it’s a lovely building with great architecture and some lovely golf courses, stables, dining facilities and other attractions. However, there’s a dark history to the area. The island used to be home to both Native Americans and an Army fort, so there were a lot of deaths over the years. Supposedly, so many skeletons were found during construction, the construction crew gave up trying to excavate them all and just built over them. Stories of spirits haunting the place include a woman in Victorian clothing traipsing through the halls and climbing into beds at night, a man with a top hat smoking a cigar in the piano lounge, and a malevolent shadow figure with red eyes that was once spotted in the theater.
I don’t know if they lean into their haunted history at all, but if they do, invite me over. I want to find some spooks!

Cachtice Castle, Slovakia
Ever heard of Elizabeth Bathory? For those of you who haven’t, she was a Hungarian noblewoman who was accused of killing many young girls and women for the sadistic pleasure of it. Some legends even claim she bathed in the blood of her victims as part of a macabre beauty regimen (likely false, as it was first recorded a century after Bathory’s death and ascribes a very stereotypical reason for the murders. I guess for some people, women being sadistic for sadism’s sake is just too ludicrous).
Nowadays, there’s a lot of doubt that Bathory did commit those murders, or as many as is popularly rumored. Instead, she may have been the victim of a witch hunt, accused of heinous crimes because she was a powerful landowning woman whom even the King of Hungary owed a favor to. God forbid they just let a woman be independent and capable and even a national leader!
But even if the stories are lies, the castle where she supposedly committed those crimes is still around. Whether or not it’s the sight of terrible horrors, it’s probably picked up a ghost or two. Maybe even Elizabeth Bathory’s ghost. Who wants to visit with me?

Queen Mary, Long Beach, California
A former British ocean liner, the Queen Mary was used as a commercial passenger ship and, during WWII, a naval troopship. In 1967, it was retired and moored in Long Beach, California, where the city purchased it and converted it into a hotel, museum and tourist attraction. Given its history, it’s not surprising that it’s gained a reputation for being haunted. One stateroom is home to the spirit of a man who was allegedly murdered, and a former third-class cabin is said to be, by the Queen Mary’s own admission, “notoriously haunted.” I want to go there, I want to investigate, and I want to write a story based in the hotel. Who’s with me?

Catalina Casino, Catalina, California
A lot of California locations this time around, isn’t there? Anyway, this isn’t a gambling establishment, but instead comes from the original Spanish word for casino, “gathering place.” Indeed, the casino has a theater and a ballroom, and is where the residents of Catalina Island are supposed to head to when disaster strikes. However, the place is filled with a lot of spirits. A very aggressive woman supposedly haunts one of the lounges, spirits are sometimes heard knocking around the theater, and the casino once held a museum inside featuring skeletons of the local natives, which probably contributed to the hauntings.
Anyone want to make a trip out to California?

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I haven’t had anything really worth blogging about lately, so I’m glad I was able to at least get together a list of haunted locations to visit at the right time and post about it. But tell me, have you been to any of these places? Are there any I should add to my list for next time? Do you plan to become a ghost after you die, or do you have other plans? Let’s discuss.

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

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?

The Figure I Saw at the Ohio State Reformatory

Posted: May 23, 2022 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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I had a strange experience here on Friday. Don’t know if it was a ghost, but it was certainly weird.

ParaPsyCon was awesome again this year. Way more booths, including some I’m friends or became friends with; meeting new readers (one of whom, I swear, could have been a Chris Hemsworth impersonator) and seeing their enthusiasm when they purchased copies of my books; and, of course, being in one of my favorite places on Earth.

But this isn’t about ParaPsyCon. Because, as you already know, the Ohio State Reformatory is one of the most haunted locations in the country (as well as the filming location for several famous movies and shows, including Shawshank Redemption). And, as per usual when I visit, I experienced something weird.

Now, by “weird,” I can’t say for certain if it was something supernatural or paranormal. For all I know, it could be explained away by logical means. But I can’t explain it, and without any explanation, I just have to classify it as weird. Here’s what happened:

On Friday, after I finished setting up my booth, I decided to walk around, say hi to old friends and see what booths were set up this year. And as I’m walking the north end of the west cell block, I pass by several booths that had been finished as well and covered up with black tablecloths so nobody messes with the products underneath. Ahead of me, there’s a section of the floor that’s exposed to the foundations underneath, with metal bars around it to prevent people from falling in (I forget why that’s there).

And as I pass by the tables towards that open space in the floor, I notice movement out of the corner of my eye. And to my mind, it looks like a woman wearing a black shirt exiting one of the cells.

I stop, and turn around to confirm what I’ve seen. No one is there.

Like I said, “weird.” And I’m sure there are a few explanations as to what I saw, which might include the black tablecloths.

On the other hands, for a few years, Ohio State Reformatory did have a few cells for female inmates until the Ohio Reformatory for Women was opened in Marysville in 1916. So perhaps what I saw had something to do with that?

In the end, I can’t say. I can only say that it was weird. And that it likely won’t be the last weird experience I have at the Reformatory.

Speaking of this weekend, The Pure World Comes had a very successful weekend! Not only did my Victorian Gothic horror novel about a maid going to work for a mad scientist (“Think Frankenstein and Crimson Peak had a baby together,” as I told folks at the convention) get a bunch of new readers, but it also got a lot of great reviews online. Currently, it’s sitting at a 4.1 out of 5 based on 16 ratings and reviews on Goodreads, and 4.5 out of 5 on Amazon based on 4 reviews and ratings. And a family member of mine told me they thought it was my best work yet! And believe me, they would tell me if it sucked.

I’m so happy with the response TPWC has received in the past two weeks since it was released. And since I intend to keep it up, I’ll post links below. If you think this book might be something you’d want to read, I’ll leave links below (as well as for my other books). And if you enjoy what you read, please find a way to let me know what you think. Not only do your reviews help me out, but they let readers know whether the book is worth their time. A valuable service, believe me.

So, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve another busy week ahead of me, but I’m hopeful it’ll also be a good week. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

The Pure World Comes: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Goodreads

The Quiet Game: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Snake: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible, B&N

Update on 2022 Events

Posted: April 12, 2022 in Living and Life
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And we got another one on the calendar. Below, in order, are the upcoming events I’ll be vending at as an author in 2022. If I’m lucky, some of you may even be able to stop by and say hi!

First, ParaPsyCon III will be held May 21st and May 22nd at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. This is a cool gathering of ghost hunters and paranormal investigators, psychics, authors and so much more. And it’s held at one of the coolest locations on Earth, the Ohio State Reformatory, a former prison that’s now a museum, film set (Shawshank Redemption was filmed there) and one of the most haunted locations I’ve ever been in. Cost of admission is just buying a self-guided tour to the prison, so stop by if you can.

Then, on June 4th, 2022, I’ll be attending the Ohio Author Book Fair at the Destination Outlets outlet mall in Jeffersonville, Ohio. This is a new event I recently heard about from a friend of mine, and I know one or two of the hosts, so it seems like a good time. Anyway, stop by and say hi if you can. You can do some shopping for books, then check out the shops, grab a bite, and play some mini-golf (they apparently have a small course). You don’t necessarily have to go in that order, but I would like it if you stopped by at some point.

And finally, I’ll be at the West Virginia Penitentiary Paracon on August 13th at the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia. Like ParaPsyCon, this is taking place at a former prison that’s reputedly haunted and will feature ghost hunters and paranormal investigators, psychics, authors and so many more. If you can stop by, please do. More information on the event will be posted as we get closer, but you can get updates by liking the Event Facebook Page. Hope to see you there!

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I got Spider-Man: No Way Home on Blu-Ray, so I’m going to go watch that. Tomorrow I’ll start prepping the apartment for Passover. And after that? Well, we’ll see what happens. In any case, I hope to see you at one of these events. I know you all live all over the world, but a guy can hope.

Anyway, until next, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Getting to Scout a Location for a Story

Posted: March 27, 2022 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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Jeffrey Mansion in Bexley, Ohio.

Been meaning to write this post for about a week now, but life got busy and there was never a good time. Don’t you just hate it when that happens.

Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m working on short stories in-between edits on Hannah. Or shorter stories, seeing as some of them are novelette or novella length stories. Might work on a novel if the itch gets really strong, though I’m not sure if I’ll edit Toyland again or finally start on Crawler. But for this particular story, which I’m guessing will be a novella, I had a particular location in Columbus that I wanted to check out as a basis for the setting.

I’ve been to the Jeffrey Mansion many times when younger. I used to live a few minutes away from it and sometimes would play on the playground or walk the woods on the property. But I had never been inside before and had never heard of it being potentially haunted.

Then I discovered this video:

I thought since it was so close and easily accessible, and since I had a story in mind taking place in a similar location, I thought I would go and see it. Sadly, I didn’t find any evidence of hauntings. Just a weird moment when, in the library, the camera app on my phone started acting weird and wouldn’t work again until I left the room again. That being said, I could only access the first floor and basement, as the upper floors were reserved and off-limits to visitors. Also, it was daytime, so I couldn’t do a proper investigation. Perhaps the mansion is haunted and there are spooky things just waiting to be found.

Probably not the woman in white or the hanging man spirit from the video, however. The former is likely kids being afraid of the then-living janitor of the premises, and the original owner died in a hospital in the 1960s, so it’s unlikely he’s the hanging ghost if there is one.

But that’s not the point. The point is, I don’t get to stop by actual locations for research for stories that often. Sure, I’ve been to locations and used them as the basis for stories later on, but never to a location with a story already in mind. Going there, walking the grounds and taking photos of the lower two floors, my mind was moving at a thousand miles an hour and thinking up all sorts of great details for the story.

In the garden room: “This would probably double as a ballroom for parties. Oh, and this room will be an important location for the story. That will be in here.”

The tiny staircase hidden in the garden wall: “Ooh, I wonder if I could make use of this somehow. Maybe as a location to meet?”

The dance studio: “Didn’t know this was down here. But it works for me. Some of my characters are dancers, after all.”

It’s just insane how much of a boon my imagination got from coming here. It really helped me develop plot points and the location my story would take place in, right down to the location’s history and what would happen in which rooms. If I ever get a chance, I would like to go to another location for a specific story in mind, just to see what would happen to my brain and to the story. Who knows? Doing so might help me create my best work yet.

Anyway, that’s all for now, My Followers of Fear. Next up for me is to do some edits for the short story I’m using for That Which Cannot Be Undone (that’s still coming along wonderfully) and then, if there are no new edits for Hannah, I’ll get started on this new story. And, of course, I’ll let you guys know if anything exciting comes up.

In the meantime, enjoy more photos of Jeffrey Mansion. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

First photo of the mansion. Beautiful Jacobethan structure. I would love to do a full paranormal investigation there or see it used in a movie based off my work.
Side view of the mansion. Kids at the preschool get picked up there, though I imagine it was used to drop off important guests once upon a time.
Close up of the mansion’s entrance. It’s pretty striking.
Back of the mansion. It looks like it could be a movie set someday. I know plenty of kids like to use them while playing on the playground nearby.
Back of the carriage court. Back in the day, it was where the owners stored their carriages and cars. Now, it’s used as event space.

Events in 2022

Posted: March 10, 2022 in Living and Life, Writing
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Just a quick update. As you know, I’m trying to post these less and less often. Trying not to spam you with news of these events, especially when it’s unlikely you’ll be able to visit. Still, in case you’re able to visit, I’m going to put these out when a new event is on the schedule and remind you leading up to the event.

So, as previously reported, I’m going to be at ParaPsyCon at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. This will be taking place on May 21st and 22nd, and all you have to do to gain access is to buy a self-guided tour of the prison. You get in, see where they filmed The Shawshank Redemption and where plenty of ghosts still hang out, and you get to meet over 90 authors, ghost hunters and paranormal investigators, psychics, and so much more! Plus some celebrity speakers too. You can find out more from the website here.

But my beloved Reformatory isn’t the only prison holding a convention this summer: the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia will be having its annual Paracon on August 13th, 2022! Like ParaPsyCon, it’ll have plenty of authors, paranormal investigators and equipment vendors, psychics and so much more. More details, such as cost of admission and the full vendor list, will be posted as we get closer to August. In the meantime, you can check out their Facebook event page for more info.

And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Obviously, if I get signed up for any more events, I’ll be sure to let you know ASAP. Same goes for any changes, such as a date change or (God forbid) a cancellation. Anyway, I hope you’ll be able to stop by one of these events and say hi as I sell books and do Tarot readings.

And yes, that post on mental health while publishing a book will be published at some point this month. I promised, didn’t I?

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

Paranormal Activity at the Lafayette Hotel

Posted: January 30, 2022 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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The Lafayette Hotel. Definitely worth the trip on so many levels.

As many of you were probably aware, I drove out to Marietta, Ohio for the Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo. The expo took place at the Historic Lafayette Hotel, a beautiful historic hotel that is also purported to be haunted. Since I was going to be at a hotel anyway, I didn’t want to get up early on a Saturday to drive out to the expo, and I knew its reputation, I decided to stay the night before the expo and see if anything happened.

Ladies and gentlemen, I can confirm that the Historic Lafayette Hotel is indeed haunted.

First, let me tell you about the hotel. It is a beautiful place that words can’t do justice. You step inside the building, and it’s like stepping through time: there’s all this gold and bright colors and mahogany and you almost expect to see people in Edwardian dresses and suits smoking cigars and discussing President Roosevelt or something! There’s a giant steering wheel from an old steamboat on the ceiling, a grandfather clock, and so much more scattered around. I was enchanted from the moment I stepped in!

Now, there are a few places in the hotel that are supposed to be haunted. One is the third floor, which is where I stayed. The other is the basement, where the spirit of a little boy named Thomas is supposed to hang out. (There might be more, but I didn’t have a chance to learn about them.)

After getting settled into my room, I went down to explore the hotel. During the course of my journey, I ran Carita and Viva, two of the folks who run Hidden Marietta and the expo, as well as Jeff and Caitlin, two more vendors. The latter two would become good friends of mine over the weekend and we would hang out quite a bit. Anyway, Carita and Viva gave us a short tour of the hotel, starting from the ballroom where the expo would be and going around the first floor. We then all decided to meet in the lobby and do a bit of ghost hunting at 7 PM.

Well, 7 PM arrived and I arrived in the lobby. Carita and Viva messaged to let us know they may not be able to make it due to prepping for the expo, so I ended up hanging out with Jeff, Caitlin and the hotel staff. And yes, the staff had LOTS of stories to tell. They’ve seen shadow figures and other things while working in the hotel.

Around 8 PM, we decided to go up to the third floor and see if we caught anything. Jeff and Caitlin had a lot of their own equipment, including an EMF meter (measures changes in electromagnetic energy), a paranormal puck (has an electronic dictionary in it that spirits supposedly can manipulate to answer questions), and an SLS camera (maps figures like certain video game systems do, so any figure without a person attached to it might be a spirit). So, for the first time in my life, I got to work with paranormal equipment I’d only seen on TV before! The result was the below video.

Pretty cool, right? We mapped a spirit using the SLS camera, and got some interesting answers on the paranormal puck device. Also, if you’re wondering why I said Jeff and Caitlin’s nicknames are “Wolf and Roses,” it’s because the spirits they’ve encountered in the past have called them that for reasons I’m not going to get into.

After that testing session, we kept trying to get some responses. And that’s when things got very weird and very funny.

So the spirit had us call for a dog, which may have been a demon dog; we heard the words “help” and “shit” on the spirit box (you can hear them too if you listen closely), and after we’re joined by that family, the spirit lets us know someone’s ORDER of pizza is on its way; it’s a great DEAL; and it’ll be here in a TICK! Yeah, that was hysterical.

We messed around in the hallway for a little bit longer, and the only thing I remember getting is that the puck at one point said “TOP” and “JESUS.” This will be relevant later.

At some point we moved on to using my dowsing rods in my room, and that was when things got really scary.

Yeah, so whatever we were communicating with in my hotel room was not a friendly spirit. Remember when I said the spirit said “TOP JESUS?” Well, possibly that was the same spirit we encountered in my room, and it would make sense for something malevolent to say it’s stronger than Jesus. And after I stopped recording, Caitlin started laughing uncontrollably. It was kind of scary, and she said later she had no idea why she was laughing! I think at that point I pulled the rods out of Caitlin’s hands to break the connection. Quite possibly, something was laughing through her.

Yeah, after that, we did a cleansing energy ritual to make sure I could sleep that night. And thankfully it worked, because I slept comfortably that night and none of us had any scary dreams that would indicate an evil entity was trying to attach to us. I still needed a beer from the hotel bar and then a few prayers to my higher power before I felt entirely calm, though.

And that’s the last time I do ghost hunting without first creating an energy barrier around myself!

That’s the last video I took that night, and we wrapped up our ghost hunting afterwards. To say the least, it was an experience. We laughed, we got freaked out, and we got some good evidence on camera. I’m glad I was able to do it, and I am glad I was able to do it with Jeff and Caitlin beside me.

Also, I’m going to note here that while we were waiting for Carita and Viva, I did stop in the basement for a brief moment. Let me tell you, that basement may be warm to the point of balmy, but it gave me the creeps! Maybe it was how odd that floor was laid out, but I had chills being down there and quickly went back up.

I’m going to leave it at that, Followers of Fear. To say the least, the Historic Lafayette Hotel is an active location and if you go there, you’re probably going to experience something. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with my video of the Expo. It was a lot of fun and there were plenty of cool booths there, too.

Also, check out Jeff and Caitlin’s game, Killers the Card Game! It looks like a ton of fun, and if you think you can find someone to play with, you should. You can buy it from here: https://linktr.ee/killerstcg

Until next time, Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and remember, ghosts know when your pizza is arriving!

Finding My Mistakes a Little Too Late

Posted: January 26, 2022 in Reflections, Writing
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Well, this is embarrassing to admit.

I’ve been reading a lot more slowly lately, so I only just started reading an anthology I was published in last year. Last night, I finally got to my own story, which I consider some of my best work. And I found some editing errors I missed.

It wasn’t anything too bad. A couple of words missing here, a couple of phrases that should have been cut there, and one time I used the word “skeleton” instead of “scream.” Not like a horrible run-on sentence, a ton of spelling mistakes, and punctuation and grammar to make a lover of literature cry.

Still, it was disheartening to see how many mistakes were missed. And while part of that was also on the publisher, I should have been more cognizant of my own work. I should have shown more diligence in finding errors. Maybe even using that feature on Word where the story is read aloud, annoying as that is.

You know, my high school English teacher, Mr. G, used to say that a story is never “perfect,” but “done.” You can only do so much work to a story on it, but you’ll never get it perfect. You can just do enough work on it that you can’t fix it anymore. It’s done. I was aware that that applied to cleaning it up as much as it did to story, but this made me more aware of that.

And my American history professor in college, Dr. S, made an analogy about editing. He said he always got students who got annoyed when they were marked down on grammar and spelling when it was a History class. Why should a few spelling mistakes or whatever make a difference, these students wonder. He said, and this is pretty close to quoting:

Well, if this were an engineering class, would it be okay to have a little bad math? Or if this were a physics class, would it be okay to have a few incorrect equations? If the answer is yes, then let me know what bridges you’ve constructed or what planes you’ve built, so I can know to avoid them! Good grammar is important in History, even if it’s not an English class. And I expect good grammar in your papers.”

Dr. S, American History from 1920-1963, 2014

You can apply that right back to storytelling. No matter how good the story is, if the story has a bunch of grammar/spelling/punctuation errors, the story will suffer. And my story, while still good, suffered a bit with these issues.

I’ll remember reading this story and finding these issues from here on out. I’ll use it so that when any future stories come out, they’ll be as error-free as possible. I can’t stand a story of mine being brought low by my own laziness and missing some errors. I’ll work harder to make sure this is the last time I find a story with such glaring problems (or glaring to me, anyway).

Please stop by if you can. I’ll be selling books and doing Tarot readings.

And if this story gets published again, like in a collection someday, I’ll make sure to fix those errors. God knows I only want to give you all my best work.

Anyway, that all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got a lot of writing to do tonight, so I better get to work on everything else that needs taking care of before then (like dinner and laundry). I’ll hit you guys up after the Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo (especially if I get any paranormal activity on camera). Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Ten Haunted Places I Want to Visit Before I Become a Ghost Myself, Part 7

Posted: January 19, 2022 in Scary Stuff
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Photo by Pedro Figueras on Pexels.com

For those of you who have been following me for a while, every now and then I post about haunted locations I want to visit before I become a ghost myself (because if I get the chance, I probably will become one). Over the past several years, I’ve been lucky enough to visit some of the places I want to visit (in the case of the Ohio State Reformatory, multiple times). My most recent visit was to Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, and boy, did I experience some stuff (click here to read more about that).

However, as many as I manage to visit every year, several more always pop up on my lists. So that I have a record of the new places I want to visit, as well as the places some of you will now know to avoid from here on out, here’s my latest list of haunted locations! Prepare to be scared.

Great Saltair Pavilion, Salt Lake City, Utah

There have actually been several Saltair pavilions near the Salt Lake outside Salt Lake City, Utah and they’ve been resorts, amusement parks, concert venues, and dance palaces. Saltair II was even a set piece in the 1962 horror movie Carnival of Souls (which I highly recommend). Currently, only one, Saltair III, is standing, and it’s said that the building houses quite a few spirits. Some of which sometimes get violent when a concert is held in the building.

Both for the history and the hauntings, I want to go.

The Hinsdale House, Hinsdale, New York

I think this is a house my sister told me about. Anyway, the house has quite the history. According to legend, a family moved into the house in the 1970s and came into contact with numerous spirits. And some of these spirits were apparently not very friendly, as a priest from a local Catholic university had to stop by and perform exorcisms several times. Eventually the family moved out, and it went through several hands before the current owner, who turned it into an investigative hot spot.

I wonder who I know in the New York area who would want to join me there?

Virginia City, Nevada

This town was a real Wild West town, and many of the buildings in its historic district are from the 1860s and 70s. Several have been or are being converted into museums, as well as hotels, restaurants, saloons, and more. And from what I understand, quite a few cemeteries and mines from the era as well. And apparently, the majority of them are haunted! To the point you could probably spend a month there and still find new locations to investigate! Um, count me in!

Marietta, Ohio

This is another city I’ve heard has plenty of haunted locations, including the Anchorage Mansion, the Blennerhassett Island and Mansion, the Blennerhassett Regional History Museum, and the Lafayette Hotel, among others. Luckily, I’ll be visiting at least one of the locations at the end of the month for the Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo, so maybe I can stay in a haunted room the night before and experience something spooky.

The Mark Twain House, Hartford, Connecticut

This historic Victorian mansion was the home of Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain, and his family for nearly 17 years. Today the house is a museum open for tours, educational institute, and (at least before the pandemic) a place for writers’ retreats and weekends. And it might be the home to a few spirits, including the spirit of the great writer himself.

The house of a writer that’s also haunted by said writer? When can I stop by?!

Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh, Scotland

A “close” is a Scottish term for an alleyway, and they’re usually named after a famous occupant. In this case, Mary King’s Close is named after the 17th century merchant Mary King. A century after her death, however, the close was built over for the creation of the Royal Exchange. For centuries, it’s been rumored to be haunted, and since it’s been opened and excavated, those stories have only continued. Is it maybe hallucinogenic gases from a nearby bog? Or is there something still living there, in a sense? I want to find out.

Windsor Castle, England

One of the homes of the British royal family, all sorts of spirits are said to haunt that place! King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Queen Victoria, and quite a few more. I doubt the Queen or her family would let any ghost hunting team, let alone me, but it’s fun to dream. And it would be fun just to go. Who knows? Something could happen if I went on a tour!

Eloise Asylum, Westland, Michigan

Pretty sure one of my uncles told me about this one. Just not sure which one. Anyway, located about 30 miles outside Detroit, the Eloise Asylum was originally a poor house before becoming a hospital and insane asylum. It operated for nearly a hundred years and was a massive complex. Today, only a couple buildings still stand, but those that do, as well as a nearby cemetery, are reputed to be heavily haunted. The building is home to regular ghost investigations, as well as haunted attractions during October.

Ah, the number of excuses to visit my relatives in Detroit keep building up.

Punderson Manor, Punderson State Park, Ohio

This giant Tudor-style manor has been a resort since the 1950s and is a scenic place to get away from the world. You can hike, swim, fish, canoe and kayak, sleep, and relax. At least, if the ghosts don’t bug you. Apparently there are spirits who mess around with the staff and guests every now and then. Laughter is heard, objects moved without reason, lights flicker, and apparently terrifying apparitions show up. But if you ignore all that, it could make for a nice weekend getaway.

Hmm…my dad and stepmom live near there. Maybe I can convince them to stop by with me if I sell them on the weekend away from it all.

The Buxton Inn, Granville, Ohio

My most recent discovery is actually a short drive from me. This beautiful colonial house was opened in 1812 and has plenty of history and stories to match its beauty. That, and possibly a few spirits. Orbs, phantom footsteps, a ghost cat, and a “Blue Lady” in room 9 are among the hauntings reported. It sounds like the perfect place for me to hang out this upcoming Halloween…as well as maybe to tell a story at.

Well, that’s my latest list. If I visit any of these locations in the near future, I’ll be sure to let you know. Especially if I experience any activity. But tell me, Followers of Fear, have you been to any of these locations? What were your experiences? Where would you like to go? And which would you absolutely avoid at all costs? Let’s discuss.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

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