The Chain

    Whispers ripple from the creek;

    murmurs soothing to the ear.

    The heart glows of hope in love;

    the sweetest sound visits again.

    Eyes attempt to hold the tears,

    yet droplets flow to seer the mind:

   remembering the root of hate grows wild, deep

   and from this creek it slakes its thirst.

   Love and hate both must be mourned;

   love a salve for hate, hate a balm for love;

   both silently ache from insomnia, long.

   All are doomed to know the worst;

   love and hate cannot divide;

   let fingers soft touch the hardest iron,

   and the chain remain forever strong.

 

Check out my two short stories on Amazon Kindle...

Here are the links:

TRAILER PARK FROM HELL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAKU8IS

LIFE'S A BITCH. A WEREBITCH.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCMNMU

Lots of horrific fun for only 99 cents!

What Is Real?

Below is a poem I wrote a few months ago. It's a rhyming poem, which I rarely do. That may explain its brevity. Hmmm.

Beneath, between

What is real

Is rarely seen

Neutrino,

Quasar,

nuclien

What we feel

is obtuse,

obscene

Beneath, between

What is real

Is rarely seen

 

Check out my two short stories on Amazon Kindle...

Here are the links:

TRAILER PARK FROM HELL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAKU8IS

LIFE'S A BITCH. A WEREBITCH.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCMNMU

Lots of horrific fun for only 99 cents!

Kickstarter Fizzle

Well, my attempt at funding my Kindle collection of short horror fiction through Kickstarter was a bust. I still plan on self-publishing the anthology, "Ten Little Terrors" through Amazon Kindle, but it will take some time to come up with the funds. My main concern is having the stories professionally proofread and edited. I'm working on re-writes right now. Hopefully, I'll be able to move forward with the project sometime in October of this year.

Haunted Adrian, Michigan

I was born and raised in Adrian, Michigan and spent my childhood there. I moved to Orlando, FL in search of work during the recession of the late '70s when I was eighteen. After our daughter was born, my wife and I, both Michigan natives, decided to return to Adrian with our new family in 1989. The home we happened to move into turned out to be haunted... but that's a story for another time. What I'd like to do in this post is introduce you to the hauntings that were rumored in Adrian.


Here is an article that pertains to the two most famous hauntings:

A quiet little college community -- a rural farming area -- a thriving small city-- Adrian, Michigan has it all. There are many reasons people choose to live, visit or work in Lenawee County. Some love it here so much, that they choose to never leave -- long after they have passed away.
Below are two of the most haunted places in Adrian, Michigan, and some of the real-life experiences visitors have had when visiting these areas.

Ghost Trestle-
One of the creepiest, haunted locations in Adrian is an old, rural train trestle just on the outskirts of the city. Ghost Trestle is located in rural, southeast Lenawee County on Bailey Rd -- just a few miles off highway M-52 near Gier Rd or you can reach the location by traveling west on Carleton Rd until you reach Bailey. The area is generally low-traveled except for people that live nearby. Many teenagers love to go there to get spooked, including 16 year old Courtney and her friends. Courtney heard about the legend of Ghost Trestle and about the family that died near there many years ago. Legend has it, that a barn and house on the nearby property caught fire back in the late 1800's. A man went into the barn to try to put out the fire. Meanwhile his wife who was carrying their infant child in her arms went to the nearby train tracks to flag down a train for help. The mother slipped and fell into the path of the oncoming train -- killing both her and her infant child. The man later perished in the fire. To this day, it is said that you are able to go to the trestle and be able to hear the women and child screaming late at night. It is said that this is a paranormal hot spot underneath the trestle in which you can communicate with the dead. It is also well known to be a portal to the "other side".
I have personally traveled under the trestle before and there is no denying that it is very eerie and creepy. There is a ton of graffiti under the trestle and when a train goes barreling over head it puts my mood in an uneasy state. Courtney recounts the night she and some her friends drove under ghost trestle. "We stopped under the trestle to look around from inside our car, to my amazement, my vehicle -- for no reason, stalled and would not restart for almost 5 minutes. I have never had that problem before. Let's just say it scared us all out of our wits." explained Courtney. Coincidence? Maybe. Or the area ghosts were not happy with the teenage visitors.
I have tried to take pictures of Ghost Trestle and each time my camera would not function properly, even though I had new batteries in the camera.
There is also small entry ways on either side of the Trestle. They could be homes to wild animals or unwanted visitors, so caution should be taken if you dare to check out the tunnels or cubbies underneath the trestle. This is a great place to visit if you are a believer in ghosts and paranormal activity. It is mainly public property so you do not need to ask permission to view the area. Ghost Trestle is a "must-visit" if you are researching Lenawee County's most haunted places.

Siena Heights University-

Another haunted location in Adrian, Michigan is Siena Heights University, Home of the Adrian Dominican Sisters.
Siena Heights, a catholic domination, was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1919. Shortly thereafter, construction began on the grounds.
Not only is Siena Heights University one of the most sought after private universities in Michigan, it is also rumored to have a large amount of paranormal activity in and around the vicinity.
History dates back to when the dorms were first built in the early 1900's. There was a terrible accident on the grounds where a large beam fell and two young volunteers perished. This area is said to have a large amount of paranormal activity.
In the oldest section of the dormitory is room 211. This room has had several reports of strange phenomena that has taken place. The main door to the room has been reported to open and shut on its own even when locked. Part of the room is shared with an old laundry chute that has been dry walled over and covered up. The most disturbing piece of information about this haunted location is that there is a mysterious location where two points of light will appear on the wall shaped similar to eyes. Many theories were tested to see if it was a reflection off of a nearby street light and with everything else covered and shades drawn, the lights will still appear. If an object is placed in between the lights -- they grow brighter. Many employees and residents attempted to paint over this surface of the wall, but the lights still appeared. If a picture was hung over the light, the picture would fall.
While it may be difficult to get into the dormitory to further investigate, just visiting the property grounds lends an eerie feeling.


I have visited both the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse and Siena Heights University. The property is old and the grounds feel sacred. While very peaceful throughout, I did often sense the grounds are protected -- almost haunted. It feels at times like you are being watched by someone or something. I think the property has a history of undocumented events that have taken place on it, but the commune and sister house remains very private to this day. The property also houses a large cemetery which is an eternal home to the Adrian Dominican sisters who have died there since the 1900's.
Adrian, Michigan is a great location to spend the day and evening while visiting some of the most haunted locations in the state. If you are ever in Adrian, be sure to check out Ghost Trestle and Siena Heights University -- you never know who will be there, waiting to greet you.

Check out my two short stories, now published on Amazon Kindle:

TRAILER PARK FROM HELL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAKU8IS

LIFE'S A BITCH. A WEREBITCH.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCMNMU

Ginger Snaps

Just got around to watching "Ginger Snaps," a coming of age werewolf horror story.

From the official website:

The 16 and 15 year old sisters Ginger and Brigitte are doing their best to stay outsiders. The typical stupid foolin' around cheerleaders attracting testosterone-regulated boys are really turning them off. "Out by sixteen or dead in this scene - together forever" is their morbid pact - because what classmates or their own mother consider as "becoming a woman" seems to be the same as getting dumber due to hormonal alterations. So the wicked girls prefer to fake and imitate 1001 arts of dying for their school project, including decapitations and lawnmower-splattered bodies. But nothing can stop the disaster that is about to happen... While walking through the forest at night a petrifying beast, allured as Ginger is on the rag, attacks her. Since then, infected with the obsession for meat, Brigitte's sister turns more and more into a Vamp that picks up boys at daytime and eats the dogs of their hated classmates in the night. Ginger's escalating thirst for blood begins to get out of control and even her innocent sister Brigitte isn't able to stop her... Thoroughly humorous yet deadly serious in tone, this character driven werewolf horror takes a dazzling new approach to Neil Jordan‘s menstruation anxiety of THE COMPANY OF WOLVES. Blood is running, but not from the imagined source the advice on puberty volunteering adults believe. To intensify the tension and gore to its utmost crescendo, even the supporting characters were drawn far more strikingly than we have been made used to in the genre. Above all Mimi Rogers delivers a hilariously unsuspecting, yet zealously protective mother.


It's a great little film that does much with a very small budget and an even smaller shooting schedule. Theatrically a bomb, the movie was critically acclaimed and now has a much deserved cult following.


I found it a compelling mix of serious acting and horror cliche with a smattering of black humor in all the right places, succeeding where "American Werewolf in London" failed, in my opinion. The intentional lack of CGI (insisted upon by director John Fawcett) only adds to the effectiveness of the horror gags that pop up every seven or so minutes throughout the film.


Cudos to the casting director for finding Emily Perkins and Katherine Isabelle, who shine as the sisters with a suicide pact. Interestingly, both actresses were born in the same hospital, attended the same pre-school, elementary and private schools, and are at the same agency. Perkins was twenty-two at the time and Isabelle four years younger, but it was Perkins who would be cast as the younger sister.


I had wanted to see this movie for years (it was originally released in 2000) and finally made the effort this evening. I'm a little troubled by the similarities between Ginger Snaps' plot device of teen menstruation being connected to eliciting an attack by a lycanthrope with the plot device I myself used in my short story, "Life's a bitch. A werebitch."


I swear I had no idea what the storyline was for Ginger Snaps!


Great movie. Check it out.

http://www.ginger-snaps.com/

 

Check out my two short stories, now published on Amazon Kindle:

TRAILER PARK FROM HELL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAKU8IS

LIFE'S A BITCH. A WEREBITCH.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCMNMU

 

Breathless

This is a poem I wrote last year while contemplating the power of love, as well as its futility.

Under a blanket of stars

On a blanket of grass

Through lovers lips
Soul to soul, our time is now
We are Earth's children
Life is our watchword; we keep the faith

We shall not go without a fight
into the darkness that patiently awaits

We are amused at such brave true concepts
Then suddenly, you turn away
Breathless on the gusty summit
You said "When we are gone, life goes on”

Check out my two short stories on Amazon Kindle...

Here are the links:

TRAILER PARK FROM HELL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAKU8IS

LIFE'S A BITCH. A WEREBITCH.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCMNMU

Lots of horrific fun for only 99 cents!

Vote for Cthulhu

Copyrighted photograph by Chuck Wendig

Please consider backing my eBook project on kickstarter.com (here):

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1432267097/ten-little-terrors-horror-anthology?ref=home_location

The Crooked Tree

What makes a crooked tree? Is a twisted destiny buried deep within its seed or is the seed pure in essence, reaching out wantonly into the world; its blind desire to spread far above its captive earth, oblivious? Or is the tender sapling soon defiled once leaving the comfort of the womb of loam by the bitter cold bite and searing hot gaze of a tyrannical Mother Earth? Twisted and molested by its own? Forced to live in the shadow of others of its kind? Forced to become crooked by its sheer will to survive?

     He often pondered the tree that had become part of his life. He looked upon it every morning when he arose and every eve when he retired. It had been there in the tangled wood henge for as long as he could remember. Always crooked. Always old. The tree has watched him as well through the years. He fell from the old maple and nearly died as a child of seven. It was his Mother who found him, hours later. Mother who called emergency in a drunken stupor. If it hadn’t been for the social worker making her rounds, he would’ve died then, like so many of her seeds before him.

     He didn’t fault his crooked tree. He didn’t fear her, either. They made up when he finally returned home, the sun shining bright, the comfort of the tree’s shade wrapping round him like a cool sheet. He climbed to her highest branch, overlooking the myriad of jagged stumps there. Stumps of trees that she had endured. Tyrants that had come to pass. He imagined that she had slain them, ripping them limb from limb as they pleaded for her mercy; mercy never shown the crooked tree.

     When sixteen, he built a fort in his crooked tree. The day Mother died. Her sap ran like blood from his nails. She gave in willingly to her stigmata. She gladly cradled his weight, even in pain. The weight of his body, his soul, his deeds.

      He hid there; watched as they came and went. Soon even the dedication of the social worker waned and he was alone. The house that he had called home stood empty. Condemned. Too defiled to even inhabit.  

     He scavenged for food at dusk. He thought how easy it was if you’re just willing to compromise. He scavenged for his crooked tree, as well. She’s wasn’t as strong as she once was. He would bury the food she craved at her feet, her roots feeding on the carrion; as they fed on Mother. They were safe now. No longer surrounded by foes. They had all been brought down.

Check out my two short stories on Amazon Kindle...

Here are the links:

TRAILER PARK FROM HELL

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAKU8IS

LIFE'S A BITCH. A WEREBITCH.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFCMNMU

Lots of horrific fun for only 99 cents!