Posts Tagged ‘New Orleans’

10 Haunted Places I Want to Visit Before I Become A Ghost, Part X

Posted: September 1, 2025 in Scary Stuff
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This image will never not be spooky.

Wow, this is my tenth in this series of posts. You think I should do like the Friday the 13th franchise and go to space for this one? Yeah, you’re right. Not a lot of haunted locations outside of Earth’s atmosphere. However, there are plenty on Earth, and I have ten I want to visit. So, let’s start listing them. Perhaps you’ll visit them this Halloween season.

Or stay far away from them. That’s also a possibility.

Old Absinthe House, New Orleans, LA
This is the first of many locations on this list that are located in New Orleans, so I’ll have to plan a trip back one of these days. Anyway, the Old Absinthe House, also known as Jean Lafitte’s Old Absinthe House, was first built as a grocery store in 1806 before becoming a bar. And through the years, through wars and Prohibition and more. it has remained a bar specializing in absinthe.

It also is home to several ghosts. Some include then-General Andrew Jackson and pirate captain Jean Lafitte, who supposedly met there to plan a collaboration in the final days of the War of 1812. Other ghosts include Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau; a woman in a white dress; and a little girl who plays on the building’s third floor.

You know, I didn’t care for absinthe the first time I tried it, but I’d be willing to try it again. Especially if it came with a side of ghosts!

The Hollywood Sign, Hollywood, CA
Do I need to go into the history of the Hollywood sign? No, because it’s not relevant here, and it’s already so iconic. So let’s talk about the supposed haunting. in 1932, actress Peg Entwistle climbed to the top of the H in the sign and jumped from it to her death. It’s believed that she killed herself because most of her role in the one film she was in, Thirteen Women, was largely cut due to her playing a lesbian. As you can bet, this was rather controversial at the time.

Today, people visiting or working at the sign at night sometimes smell the scent of gardenias, which was Entwistle’s favorite perfume. And they sometimes also see a woman in clothing from the 1930s, who disappears upon being approached.

I’ve never been that far west before, but this makes me want to go there. And maybe make a night visit to the sign.

The Faulkner House Bookstore, New Orleans, LA
In an alleyway in New Orleans is a bookstore where the former home of writer William Faulkner used to be. It was in this home that Faulkner wrote his first novel, as well as first started his writing career. Today, his writing desk is still in the bookstore, which deals in fine literature and rare books, especially of Faulkner’s works.

Faulkner himself is also supposed to be in the bookstore, even though he died in 1962. If you go there sometimes, you can smell his tobacco pipe, and maybe even see him writing at his writing desk. Maybe if I head down during business hours, we could have a nice discussion about literature. You never know.

The Bullock Hotel, Deadwood, SD
This beautiful and historic building, made of stone and built in a Victorian Italianate style, was built by Seth Bullock, an early sheriff of Deadwood, in the 1890s. It was later turned into a hardware store, but was converted back into a hotel in the 1990s, with the new owners decorating the hotel to look as much like it might have in the Victorian era as possible while still having modern amenities.

Seth Bullock’s ghost is also regularly seen around the hotel, making sure guests are enjoying themselves, and that the staff is hard at work. Other apparitions and orbs are seen aplenty, and there are regular ghost tours and ghost hunts in the hotel. So if you need a reason to visit South Dakota besides Mount Rushmore (like me), here’s your excuse!

The Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans, LA
Dedicated to the history of pharmacology and apothecary in the United States, this historic building was first owned and operated by Dr. Louis Dulfilho, America’s first certified pharmacist. It later went to Dr. James Dupas, and then became a paper warehouse before becoming a museum. In the time since then, rumors of hauntings have accumulated at the museum. Most are linked to Dr. Dupas, who is alleged to have done inhuman experiments on enslaved people (though there is no historical evidence that this occurred).

Regardless, people have reported seeing the doctor around the museum, as well as ghostly women in the courtyard. Some have also reported being shoved and touched, only to see no one there. The museum’s website does claim that, like every building in the French quarter, it is likely haunted, though they don’t permit paranormal investigations. They prefer to educate. That being said, the next time I’m in New Orleans, I’m going to learn both about the history of pharmacology, and maybe spy some ghosts while I’m at it!

The Loveland castle in Loveland, OH

Loveland Castle, Loveland, OH
Back in the 1920s, local medievalist, WWI veteran and Boy Scout troop leader Harry D. Andrews bought some land in Loveland, OH and started doing what I’ve always dreamed of: building a castle on his land. The castle was completed after his death, and is now stewarded by the Knights of the Golden Trail, a collective of armored knights born from Andrews’ old Boy Scout troop.

According to my friend and fellow Ohio author John Kachuba, the castle is beautiful to visit. And it’s haunted. Supposedly, the knights will tell you all about the spooky hauntings in the castle, mostly from Andrews’ spirit.

I really have to make a trip there one of these days.

Marie Laveau’s House, New Orleans, LA
If you haven’t heard of Marie Laveau, she was the greatest voodoo priestess in New Orleans history. Her home no longer stands, but there are buildings in the spot where that building used to be. Laveau used to open her home to people to help them through healing and ritual. It’s said the buildings where her home used to be sometimes experience supernatural activity, and it might not be impossible to do ghost hunts there.

I’ve been outside the home on a haunted ghost tour of the French Quarter, but to actually go inside! That could be amazing to experience.

The Morris-Jumel Mansion, Manhattan, NY
Located in Upper Manhattan, the Morris-Jumel Mansion is the oldest extant house in New York City, and is a three-story colonial that now operates as a museum dedicated to its history. The house is named after two of the families who originally owned it, including the family of Eliza Jumel, who was Aaron Burr’s second wife. Yes, that Aaron Burr. And speaking of which, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote parts of Hamilton in the house, which was also at one point used by George Washington as headquarters for the Continental Army.

The Morris-Jumel Mansion.

Today, the museum offers tours and all sorts of programs, including ghost tours and paranormal investigations. Even ghost hunting shows have been in the mansion, which is said to be haunted by Eliza Jumel, Aaron Burr, and at least three other ghosts.

You think I should go there dressed as a colonial soldier, rap some Hamilton, and try to find some ghosts?

The Golden Lamb Inn, Lebanon, OH
Located in scenic Lebanon, this hotel has gone by many names over the years. However, no matter the name, it has never once been closed, and instead has been in continual operation since opening in 1803. The hotel sports a nice, all day restaurant, a bar, a beautiful Colonial building, and more. It’s no wonder this hotel is a historic landmark, and has seen some high-profile guests over the years, including famous political figures.

According to some, a few of these famous guests never left. A former Ohio politician who accidentally shot himself has been seen walking around the hotel, as had a former Supreme Court justice who got ill and died at the hotel. There’s also rumors of a little girl haunting the premises, possibly the daughter of a 19th-century Kentucky senator who got unexpectedly sick and died when the family stayed the night at the hotel.

No idea if it’ll displace the Lafayette as my favorite Ohio haunted hotel, but I’d like to find out.

Ohio Museum of Horror, Galion, OH
This is the newest entry on the list. Opening earlier this year, the Ohio Museum of Horror is owned by Nate Thompson, who also runs the Michigan Museum of Horror (entry for a few list?), and contains everything from horror movie memorabilia to haunted and cursed objects to items formerly owned by serial killers. There’s also a restaurant in the building called The Last Meal, where you can eat meals based on what death row inmates ate as their last meals. It’s generated all sorts of interest and controversy, as you can imagine.

And the good news is, I might be visiting this one sooner than we think. It’s only an hour from where I live, tickets can be used anytime after they’re bought, and I have an opportunity to go up coming soon. I’m quite looking forward to it. Maybe I’ll see something spooky while I’m there. And if not, maybe I can meet with someone there and convince them to put on an event with me and my fellow horror writers.

Have you visited any of these, my Followers of Fear? What was your experience like? And are there any you would like to add? Let’s discuss.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to enjoy my Labor Day weekend and maybe get some scary stories out. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 60 days till Halloween. Let the Party of Frights begin!

10 Haunted Locations I Want to Visit Before I Become a Ghost, Part IX

Posted: January 16, 2025 in Scary Stuff
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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.

Gone, But Still With Us: A Tribute to Anne Rice

Posted: December 12, 2021 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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Anne Rice. She may be gone, but she is still definitely with us.

You know, I’ve actually had the opportunity to interact with Anne Rice a few times. Not in person, mind you, but over email and social media.

In high school, I sent her an email after reading her novel Angel Time (she had an email that was known to the public back then). I liked the novel for the most part, but I was upset as a Jew that one of her Jewish characters became a Catholic nun just to be closer to her father. She actually emailed me back, saying that I had a fair point and would try to be more sensitive to such matters. It was a crazy cool moment. A few years later, about a year into writing this blog, I wrote a review of The Wolf Gift (which you can read here), her first werewolf novel, where I compared her work to various kinds of food (I had just eaten lunch). Somehow she caught wind of my review and posted it on her social media. It’s still one of my most viewed posts, and it’s been nine years since then!

I had a few more interactions with her through email and social media up until 2016 or 2017, but I was happy with what I got. And as she kept writing, I hoped I would be able to actually meet her in person someday.

Yesterday, December 11th, 2021, Anne Rice passed away due to complications due to a stroke. She was 80.

Like many, I am heartbroken. I first discovered Anne Rice as a preteen with Interview with the Vampire. As I’m sure many of you can agree, it was a revelation. For me, I hadn’t read any story whose world felt as immersive as the world of Louis and Lestat since reading Harry Potter years earlier. I could almost smell New Orleans, here the sounds of 19th century Paris! The language was so beautiful too! Poetry without being poetry, filling my mind and painting extraordinary images. It made me realize just how powerful language could be, more than any other novel I had read up till then. And finally, I empathized with and grew to truly love the characters. While a lot of their emotional and philosophical turmoil went over my head at that age, I understood that they were going through a lot and felt for them.

This would only increase as I continued to read her works throughout my teens and twenties as I read her new work. Reading her works often felt like meeting old friends, and at the same time, Anne Rice, who put so much of herself in her books, began to feel like a friend and a mentor. Often, her writing would influence mine as much as Stephen King’s did, especially as I’ve gotten older. That impression deepened when I got on social media, where Rice was active with her fan community, whom she affectionately called the People of the Page.*

I may have to read this again very soon. I haven’t read it since I was 11 or 12. I wonder how it will affect me now.

It pains me, and so many others, that we won’t be able to read new stories by her or see her social media posts anymore. That next year’s Ramses the Damned novel, if it releases on time, will be her final novel. That she won’t be able to see the TV adaptations of The Vampire Chronicles or Mayfair Witches trilogy being developed at AMC when they premiere. That one of the greatest horror writers of the 20th century, as well as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century period, is now gone from this world.

Luckily, even though Ms. Rice has left the Savage Garden and is probably now getting all her spiritual, philosophical and cosmological questions answered, her works remain. She has, like many of her characters, achieved a form of immortality, but this one won’t cut her off from the world of humans. Instead, she’ll always be with us, a spiritual force beyond matter and body living in our minds and our souls. So, even though many of us will never have the chance to meet her in person, she will still be able to influence and touch us with her powerful Gothic epics.

Next year, there’s supposed to be a public memorial in New Orleans for her, one year after her family lays her to rest. I don’t know if I’ll be able to go, but if not, I’ll at least be able to raise a glass of wine to her tonight. A sweet red, which I’m sure she would have appreciated. And when those TV shows premiere, I, and probably many others, will raise a glass again and think of her. Anne Rice, the true Queen of the Vampires, and someone who will be with us long after she’s joined the spiritual plane.

What influence did Anne Rice have on you? What were your favorite books by her? Do you have any stories you want to tell about her? Let’s discuss.

*See where I got the idea to name you all the Followers of Fear?

This, I Manifest

Posted: November 18, 2021 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Writing
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When I was in New Orleans a couple weeks ago, there was this voodoo shop on Bourbon Street I visited almost every night I was there. I did buy from that shop, but I also just liked looking around. There were so many cool things there: statues and masks, clothes, books, Tarot cards, candles, voodoo dolls, incense, and so much more! I’d have taken a photo if it were allowed. And one of the nights while I was there, I got a Tarot reading from one of their resident psychics/readers.

The reader, Eshu, had me follow him into the back room and pick out thirteen Tarot cards from a Thoth Tarot deck while I closed my eyes. I did so, picking out cards by trying to feel a tingling or heat or magnetic pull in my fingertips. And after I picked out my thirteen, he started reading what the cards had to say.

I can’t remember all that he said, because sadly the human memory doesn’t work like a video camera (what I wouldn’t do for it to do so when I want to), but I remember some specifics. For one thing, he said that I had a power within me, that he sensed that from when I stepped into the room, and that it was manifesting out in the real world. He also noted that this power came from darkness within, but it wasn’t evil or bad, and that it was leading to big things for me. Prominent cards, if I remember right, were the Fool and the Magician.

Could Hannah and Other Stories be evidence of something manifesting?

To me, in the moment, this made sense, and it still does. My writing career is going extremely well these days, and writing is a form of magic or power, as the Magician evidences. And if it’s not manifesting right now, with the many stories I’ve released this past year and the acceptance of Hannah and Other Stories for publication, I don’t know what is! That also plays into the Fool card, which represents a great opportunity or chance.

And what is horror writing if not taking a darkness that isn’t necessarily evil and manifesting it in the real world?

Don’t answer that, it was rhetorical.

In the two weeks or so since I got back from the Big Easy, a lot’s been going on. I’ve been editing a story for one anthology, the crowdfunding campaign for That Which Cannot Be Undone is about to launch and people are really showing interest (click here to learn more about that), I’ll likely be meeting with an editor soon from BSC Publishing Group to discuss Hannah, I’m on track to put out a paperback, ebook, and maybe even an audio book of The Pure World Comes, I was interviewed by the Columbus Jewish News (click here to read that article), and I may have had an idea for something I can release in the first half of 2022.

That last one came to me yesterday when I realized a short story I finished earlier this week had some similarities to another story I wrote this year. And I thought, Wouldn’t it be interesting if they were released together? I thought of a third story that might go well with them. and now this idea for a mini-collection of novelettes has sprung up. So who knows? Depending on a couple of things, I might be putting out three novelettes together.

So maybe I’m manifesting that power born of darkness within me, and maybe it’ll lead me to new heights in my writing career. Which, for a guy who tells people he’s an eldritch entity from another dimension, that’s something I’m happy with. Or the exact opposite could happen. I don’t know. I love using the cards, but I still have to remind myself they might just be fairy tales and hokum.

Still, with things going the way they are, with Hannah and That Which Cannot Be Undone and maybe even this novelette collection, I want to believe that Eshu’s cards were onto something. And that the Nine of Swords I’ve pulled from my readings these past two days, which represents anxiety, despair, and a sense of oppression, symbolizes what I’m putting into my readers rather than something I’m going to feel in the near future. We’ll see what happens.

Get these and other books this holiday season. And make sure to let the authors know what you think.

And while we wait to see what happens, you looking for something to read or for your horror-loving cousin? Then I have the books for you! Yes, I’m advertising my books. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, I’ve got a ton of stories available right now in paperback, ebook and even audio book, as well as stories in some great anthologies. You can check out the fantasy-horror novel Rose; the serial killer thriller Snake; my first collection, The Quiet Game; or the anthologies Into the Deep, The Nightmare Collective Part II, Dark Nature and The Jewish Book of Horror. I’ll leave links below.

And if you like what you read, leave a review online somewhere. That way I’ll know what you think and so will other readers.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to conjure new nightmares so I can keep manifesting that power from within. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

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

The Jewish Book of Horror: Amazon, B&N

Dark Nature: Amazon

Nightmare Collective Part 2: Amazon

Into the Deep: Amazon

Back Home and Ready to Work Again

Posted: November 8, 2021 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Well, I’m back from my vacation. I enjoyed making memories in St. Louis, the city I was born in but did not remember; I learned I am not a Las Vegas person, but that the Mob Museum is really cool, as is Zak Bagans’s Haunted Museum (more on that later); and I absolutely fell in love with New Orleans, especially the French Quarter.

Now that I’m back, though, I’ve got work to do. And I don’t just mean my day job (though that will be taking up a good chunk of my time). I’m ready to get back to writing and finding homes for my stories. Here’s what’s on the docket:

The Pure World Comes and Hannah

I’m hard at work on getting a paperback, ebook and even an audio book of The Pure World Comes out next year. The goal date is the first Tuesday of September, September 6. Why that date? It’ll be a little over a year since The Pure World Comes was released on the Readict app, and right as the Halloween season gets into full swing. And a lot of books, including successful ones, release on Tuesdays, so might as well.

Anyway, I’ve gone through the manuscript for TPWC again and cleaned up some of the errors I missed for the Readict version (don’t tell VitaleTek). I’ve looked into some platforms that will get a paperback and ebook onto sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and one that does audio books as well. And I’m talking with some audio book narrators. With any luck, I’ll definitely have the paperback and ebook out on September 6 and the audio book out not too long after, if not on the day of.

As for Hannah, the new collection of short stories that was accepted for publication while I was traveling, I cannot wait to send copies to people I know named Hannah and make them think the titular story is based on them (believe me, it’s not). Also, I was just emailing with the publisher, BSC Publishing Group, today. We’ll soon be starting work on the stories, just as soon as an editor is settled on. Once that’s done, I imagine we’ll go through each story, editing until it’s as close to perfect as possible. Then we’ll discuss a final order for the collection, and then let it out into the world.

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on this. The hope is to get Hannah out at some point in 2022, so I imagine things will be hectic moving forward. Still, if people enjoy the book when it comes out, than it’ll be worth it.

And that brings me to my next point…

Crawler

I know I was going to start work on this novel right after I got back from my vacation. And you know, I still want to. However, Hannah is going to take up A LOT of time. In fact, it might take up as much time as a novel might. With all that in mind, it would be a bad idea to work on a new book while editing another. I would keep bouncing back between one and the other, and I would get super-annoyed by how little progress I’m making on Crawler because I have to keep putting it down and work on Hannah.

So, for now, Crawler will have to wait.

Yeah, I know. I was excited for it as well. I even made some edits to the outline the other day and thought it would be a kick to work on. But that’s too much of a balancing act when I’m still working a day job.

Still, I want to work on new stories. I don’t want to just be editing, especially in-between the stories that need working on. Luckily, I have a million ideas for short stories, including about ten that I came up with during my vacation. Not only that, but I’ve had some success lately writing and finding homes for shorter works, and they’re easier to put down if something comes up.

So, when not working on stories in Hannah, I’ll be working on new short stories and novelettes, and hopefully finding homes for them after they’re edited. Not sure which one I’ll work on first, but I’m currently leaning towards one that incorporates elements of Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe (and no, it’s not a pandemic story. I did that already this year). It should be fun to work on.

And eventually, I will get to writing Crawler. It’s just a matter of the right time.

Other Projects

Of course, I also have stories to edit for other publications. “The Hanukkah Massacre,” co-written by Richard Gerlach, will be published in Dead of Winter early next year, and we’ll have to edits for that. Not only that, but I have another project I’ve been working on that I may actually be able to talk about very soon.

So yeah, as it turns out, I’m going to keep being busy this year. Probably into the beginning of next year. Still, it’s better than not having anything to work on. And hopefully all this leads to more people reading my work and letting their friends know to read my work.

One last thing before I sign off, though:

Zak Bagans’s Haunted Museum

If you didn’t already know, Zak Bagans from the TV show Ghost Adventures has a museum in Vegas filled to the brim with haunted artifacts he’s collected over the years from ghost hunting, as well as items donated to the museum. This includes haunted dolls, actual skulls and skeletons, shrunken heads, serial killer murderabilia, and more stuff than I can name! I was there on October 30th, Devil’s Night, for a tour, and then a few hours later I went back for some late-night ghost hunting, what they call a flashlight tour.

And I experienced stuff on both tours.

Highlights include:

  • In the room with Ed Gein’s cauldron and shovel (inspiration for Norman Bates and Psycho, if you don’t know. Look him up), I smelled the smell of cooking meat. Apparently I’m not the only one who smells that in that room, either. Considering he made clothes out of body parts, God only knows what he did with that cauldron!
  • There’s a room with a guitar that might be possessed. It was found on the body of a teenager who died while playing the guitar. I felt so uncomfortable in that room. Nothing really happened in there, and it didn’t have mood music like the basement did (Satanic rituals supposedly took place down there), but it freaked me out anyway. I did not like that room.
  • The Dybbuk Box (inspiration for my story “Samson Weiss’s Curse” and the movie The Possession) had a few things happen. Using a device called a spirit box (it scans through radio frequencies quickly and any voices that come through over multiple sweeps might be a ghost or other spirit), I heard a voice come through saying “dybbuk” multiple times. And at one point, when I asked if anyone was in the room with me, I heard a woman’s voice whisper, “Yes.”
  • In another room containing the remains of a demonically possessed house Zak owned in Indiana before having it torn down, I got some voices through the spirit box. At one point, I asked if anyone wanted to talk to me, a voice responded immediately: “No.”
    Yeah, I thought that was cheeky, too. But that’s not all. Another device called a MEL-meter went off at one point in that room (it measures electromagnetic changes in the air around it) and later, a woman’s voice hissed through the spirit box, “Raaaah!” And I knew it was trying to say my name!
  • Finally, in one room containing a painting taken from Adolf Hitler’s vacation home, Bergdorf, I got voices coming through the spirit box. Apparently, there’s an evil energy attached to the painting and it affects anyone who touches it. I asked if anything evil was attached to it, and a voice came through saying, “Evil.” I then asked if it might be Hitler’s spirit, and I got a “Yes.”
    Not sure if that was actually Hitler’s spirit, as the painting wasn’t near Hitler when he committed suicide. It may have just been an evil energy/spirit messing with me (or nothing at all, if I’m being skeptical). But it made me smile to know that this Jew was standing in front of a painting belonging to Hitler and maybe his ghost and letting him know how bad he failed. I almost went “Neener, neener, neener” to the painting, but provoking the spirits wasn’t allowed.

Oh, and guess who was there? Right before we went into the house to explore for ghosts, we watched a safety information video. Then we split up into two groups. And as my group went around the corner to the building’s back entrance, guess who passed us by and wished us luck? Zak Bagans! I turned to the girl in front of me and whispered, “That was him!” She replied, “I know!”

And yes, he’s as tall as he looks on TV. In fact, I think he’s about a head taller than me. I just find that an interesting detail.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have work in the morning, so I’m going to get to bed. I look forward to letting you know what’s going to happen next (whatever that is). Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

The Jewish Book of Horror Releases Halloween!

Posted: October 11, 2021 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Writing
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Well, this has been a nice surprise. I found out a little while ago that The Jewish Book of Horror is being released early!

Originally this anthology of Jewish horror, which features my story “The Divorce from God” among other terrifying tales, was supposed to come out around Hanukkah. However, the Denver Horror Collective, who is publishing the anthology, decided to move it up to Halloween. Not sure why, but I’m guessing that since there’s already been a bit of Bram Stoker buzz around this collection, it might have something to do with it. Either way, I’m not complaining. I’m looking forward to all of you reading this book as soon as it comes out.

And guess what else? The book is already available for preorder from sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble! I’ll put the links below in case you want to check it out. Also look at other websites and ask your local libraries to order copies.

The Jewish Book of Horror: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

There are also a bunch of other publications coming out soon with my work in them, so I’ll make sure to post the links for those as soon as I have them.

In the meantime…

As I said the other day, there are a few events in the near future that I’m hoping to get a huge attendance at. Obviously, this Wednesday I’ll be at the Bexley Library with some of my fellow horror writers Lucy Snyder, Krysta Canterbury Adams and Anton Cancre for a A Night of Horror! Even better, you can attend virtually, but you have to register first.

Remember, this event is on Wednesday, October 13th, 2021 from 7-8 PM. I hope you can attend.

Registration link here!

Also, on Saturday I’ll be at the Licking County Library Local Author Fair from 10 AM to 2:30 PM. There’s going to be a lot of awesome authors of all stripes there, including plenty of my colleagues in the horror genre. It’s at the downtown library in Newark, Ohio, so why not take a trip over and say hi? I’ll be waiting with books and skulls and maybe a bit of mood music.

And finally…

I’ve been hinting that I’m going on vacation soon. And while I’m not giving away the dates (I’m worried about burglars and stalkers), I am giving away the locations. I’ll be gone for two weeks visiting St. Louis, Missouri; Las Vegas, Nevada; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Why those cities? Well, I was born in St. Louis, but I left when I was two and have only been back maybe once. I honestly don’t remember anything from either time, I was that little. So, I’m heading to my birthplace to make some memories.

As for Vegas and New Orleans…well, I’ve always wanted to visit, so why not? And since I’m going outside of tourist season, I’ll probably avoid crowds while still having some fun.

And in all three cities, I’ll likely pick up some great ideas for stories.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to have a busy week, but I’ll hopefully get some writing done while I’m at it and have a blast too. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Another Ten Haunted Locations I Want To Visit Before I Become a Ghost Myself

Posted: May 4, 2020 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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The Shanley Hotel in Napanoch, New York, one of the haunted locations I want to visit.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written one of these posts. And for those of you who don’t know, I keep a rather extensive list of places purported to be haunted that I want to visit someday, and I’ve been lucky enough to visit a few of them, such as the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and the Paris catacombs. I’ve even been to the Ohio State Reformatory twice (and if it weren’t for this damned coronavirus, I’d have been there this past weekend for a convention).

And as of last month, I’ve finally come up with enough additions to that list to warrant another one of these posts. So if you’d like to know what places I could possibly visit in the future to look for ghosts, or you want to know some places to avoid in the future, please read below. And you can check out the first three in this series here, here and also here.

And don’t worry. The places on these lists may be haunted, but the posts themselves aren’t. I think.

Drovers Inn, Loch Lomond, Scotland

Head out to rural Scotland, and you’ll find an old, historic house on the north end of Loch Lomond. In addition to being a working hotel, the house also features good food, live music, and more than a few ghosts. Guests have reported flickering lights in midair, a ghost girl in a pink dress showing up in a photograph, the ghost of an angry cattle driver, and a family who died in a snowstorm looking for shelter, among others.

One room, please!

The Shanley Hotel, Napanoch, New York

Yeah, you’re going to be seeing a lot of hotels, motels, and inns on this list. Almost like these places attract spirits for some reason.

Anyway, the Shanley Hotel is a beautiful, three-floored bed and breakfast located in the northern area of New York. Built in 1845 as a hotel, it has gone under many names, but has always been known for an elite clientele and even has been an active bordello at times (scandalous!), and was a site active for bootlegging during Prohibition. To this day, there are many spirits who still haunt the house, including a few children of the previous owners who died young, one of the bootleggers, a cat that died, and perhaps even a few of the bordello women.

Supposedly this place is so haunted, you need to sign a waiver and pay a handsome fee to stay there. But like that is enough to scare me off. Nope, I’m in, and I’ll take anyone who’s brave enough with me.

Wolf’s Creek Inn, Wolf Creek, Oregon

The oldest still-running inn in the Pacific Northwest, this beautiful building features lovely rooms, a restaurant, and more than a few ghosts hiding within its walls. It’s been featured on paranormal shows like Ghost Adventures, and advertises ghost hunts and paranormal tours on its website. If you ask me, it sounds like a good excuse to go out west further west than I’ve ever gone before.

RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California

The Queen Mary is a former British ocean liner that first set sail in 1936. It briefly saw use as a troopship, ferrying soldiers to the war. Afterwards, it became a passenger ship and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean until the 1960s. It was retired in 1967, and has been moored in Long Beach, California ever since. It has since become a tourist attraction, and there have been rumors of hauntings ever since, including shadow figures and one room where the ghost of a murdered passenger still hangs around.

Normally I’m not one for cruise ships, but I’d make an exception for this lovely lady.

Hell’s Bridge, Algoma Township, Michigan

If you go into central Michigan, and then into the woods, you’ll find an old, metal bridge spanning a narrow river. It looks unassuming, at least in the day time, but at night it looks rather eerie. Especially when you learn about the legend surrounding the bridge. Supposedly during the 1800s, a serial killer named Elias Friske murdered several children and threw their bodies into the river off a stone bridge. When the bodies were finally found and Friske identified as the killer, he claimed the devil had told him to kill those kids before he was lynched by the locals.

While there are no records of Friske or these supposed crimes, at least none that I could find, the area where the stone bridge was and where the metal bridge now stands has gained a reputation. Supposedly, if you stand on the bridge at night, you’ll spot the spirits of Friske or the children he killed, and perhaps even the forces that he claimed influence him to kill. I’d check it out if I had the chance.

Wisner Bridge, Chardon Township, Ohio

Yeah, there’s a few bridges on this list as well. Another haunted location in Ohio I need to visit, the Wisner Bridge was a Crybaby Bridge, or a bridge where the spirits of dead children can supposedly be heard crying. In this case, the Wisner Bridge supposedly was haunted by spirits of melon heads, diminutive humanoids with bulbous heads in American folklore. While the legends vary from state to state, in Ohio it’s believed the melon heads were orphans who were experimented on by a sadistic doctor, either causing or worsening their appearance. They later killed the doctor, burned down the orphanage, and retreated to the woods near the bridge to live in the wild.

Today the bridge itself is gone, having been torn down in 2013. However, locals still report hearing crying babies at the site where the bridge stood. Whether or not you believe the urban legends, this might be a place for me to check out.

Gold Brook Covered Bridge, Stowe, Vermont

A wooden bridge that has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, this bridge is also known as Emily’s Bridge, owing to the legend surrounding it. While stories vary, most of them agree that a young woman named Emily was supposed to get married or elope, and when her lover never showed, she died on or by the bridge. There’s no evidence Emily existed and the legend first popped up in 1968, after a student wrote a paper about how they used an Ouija board and made contact with a spirit named Emily.

Since then, many people using Ouija boards and other devices to contact the dead have supposedly come into contact with Emily and learned her story. Even stranger, many people passing over the bridge have been touched or scratched by her, whether on foot or in their cars. Is Emily the spirit of a real person? The result of overactive imaginations? Or did belief in her bring a spirit into existence, one that took on Emily’s identity to answer the demand to see her? I want to go and find out!

Franklin Castle, Cleveland, Ohio

Another Ohio location, the Franklin Castle is an old Victorian manor with a reputation. Its original owners, the Tiedermann family, suffered several deaths while they lived there, including four of their children, and there were rumors of horrific crimes within its walls. Since then, the house has changed hands several times, and several of its past owners and residents have reported hauntings. One family even performed exorcisms in the house before moving out. And in 1975, human bones were found on the property, though there is evidence to suggest they may have been planted.

The good news is, my dad lives up in Cleveland, so there’s a good chance I’ll visit this house the next time I visit my dad. The bad news is, the house is privately owned and there’s very little chance the current owners will let me in. Still, I can at least drive by and take photos. And who knows? Perhaps someone living there will allow me in. Whether that someone is living or not, however, is up for debate.

LaLurie Mansion, New Orleans, Louisiana

Fans of American Horror Story will know Delphine LaLurie as the sadistic southern slave-owner who took pleasure from torturing her slaves. What they may not know is that the house featured in the show was not her actual house. Or that her real house is still standing in New Orleans, and that it may have a few spirits living in it. Supposedly there have been moans heard from the room where the slaves were kept and the sounds of footsteps at night. When the building was an African-American girls’ school, many of the children there reported being attacked by a mysterious woman, and when the building was converted into apartments, one resident was found murdered after claiming a demon was after him.

Sadly, today the house is privately owned and the current owners show no interest in having investigations conducted in the home. So, like the details of LaLurie’s life and the full extent of her crimes, we may never have the full truth. However, ghost tours passing by the house occasionally have encounters of the weird kind. And I would be happy just to have that.

Cecil Hotel, Los Angeles, California

Speaking of American Horror Story, the Cecil Hotel was another inspiration for the fifth season, Hotel. Originally a luxury hotel for businessmen and travelers, after the 1940s the hotel became a home for transients as the neighborhood took a dive. Even before that, though, the hotel had been known for murders and suicides. Other violent and illicit activities occurred there over the years, and the hotel was a temporary home for serial killers Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger. In 2013, a Canadian student was found dead and naked in the water tank on the roof. Footage was found of the student acting erratically, poking in and out of and hiding in an elevator hours before her death. The footage is, to say the least, unsettling.

While the hotel has since been renamed the Stay on Main and is trying to gain back its reputation as a luxury destination, the building cannot escape its reputation of sinister and violent occurrences. And perhaps, if I were to check in, I would find some guests that had never checked out.

 

There you go. Ten more haunted or strange locations I’d like to visit after this pandemic has run its course. But tell me, have you been to any of these places? Do you want to go to any of them? Maybe with me? And what haunted places have you been to that I haven’t named? Let’s discuss.

That’s all for now, my  Followers of Fear. I’ll be busy writing this week, so hopefully I get plenty done. And in the meantime, you can still order signed copies of Rose by sending me an email at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. Until next time, stay safe, be healthy and pleasant nightmares.