THE WEEPING WOMAN: Susan J. McLeod

On top of a hill in North London sits one of the most famous —and haunted—of all the world’s cemeteries. Highgate was dedicated in 1839 and soon became the most fashionable place for High Society to be interred. The Victorians had quite a fascination with death, and it shows in this Gothic graveyard. There are numerous elaborate tombs and monuments, including the well-known Circle of Lebanon and the Egyptian Avenue. These exclusive sections are accessible and very popular with tourists. But large parts of the 37 acres are practically a wilderness, where the paths and markers are slowly being swallowed by Mother Nature. It’s a sanctuary for the living as well as the dead, with animals, birds, insects and wildflowers thriving. But what else thrives in Highgate?

There are many reports of ghosts being seen there and the cemetery has been the focal point of countless paranormal investigations. Ley lines are said to run through the grounds, intensifying psychic activity. The most notorious phantom is the Highgate Vampire, a tall, dark figure who appears and then vanishes, sometimes right through a gate or a wall. Animal carcasses drained of blood and even headless bodies were once found. No wonder the place has been referenced so much in literature, and used as a backdrop for British horror films, such as Tales from the Crypt. I can’t tell you if the rumors and legends surrounding Highgate are all true. But I can tell you what happened to my sister there.

Karen has lived in London for over twenty-five years. In the early 1990’s she was a resident of nearby Hampstead and led tours through the cemetery. She often went walking in there to learn all that she could. One day she and her friend Tina were on the Egyptian Avenue. This has two obelisks, one on each side, and then an imposing archway flanked by lotus blossom columns. You pass beneath it into a row of family vaults.

The two women had always felt comfortable here before, but that morning something oppressive was in the air. Karen had the odd sensation of someone following right behind them. She kept glancing over her shoulder, but the path was empty. Suddenly she heard the sound of a marching band. They were playing a funeral dirge. Startled, she opened her mouth to speak, and at the exact same time the words came out of her friend’s mouth: “What is that?”

They stared at each other nervously. The music was too loud to be coming from anywhere but within the cemetery itself. There were no burials scheduled and besides, marching bands weren’t in style anymore.

As quickly as it had started, the song stopped. But it didn’t leave silence. It was followed by a heartbroken sobbing. Karen and Tina turned slowly around, and froze.

A woman was standing not six feet behind them. She was dressed head to toe in black, with a wide hooped skirt and a heavy veil covering her face. Her head was bent, and an overwhelming feeling of sadness came over my sister and her friend. Before they could even think what to do, the woman vanished. She didn’t walk away‒she just disappeared.

To this very day, both Karen and Tina remain convinced that what they saw was a picture from the past‒a slice of time from a Victorian funeral. They’ve never had another paranormal experience in the cemetery, and no one else has reported seeing this apparition. So I suppose they could have imagined it. Who can say what really happens in Highgate?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan J McLeod was born in Rochester, New York, on October 22, 1957. She began writing at a very early age, when she discovered that she could invent worlds that were much more fun than the one she lived in. Worlds where candy grew on trees and rivers of chocolate milk flowed. Where adventures were always waiting to happen and no one had to go to school.

Over the years, Susan visited ancient Rome, medieval England, and resided for a long spell on a starship orbiting Orion. A recent stay in Pharaonic Egypt resulted in her romantic suspense novel Soul and Shadow, which won a silver medal in the 2011 Reader's Favorites contest. It has been published by Imajin Books. Fire and Shadow, the second story in the Lily Evans series, was released in October 2012.
Susan also writes short stories and poetry, and has won awards in both mediums.
She works for a non-profit family foundation that supports Zara's Center, a haven for AIDS impacted orphans.

U2 sums up her philosophy in life when Bono sings "We're one, but we're not the same/we get to carry each other, carry each other."

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OCTOBER 28th GIVEAWAY: 

UPDATE: TODAY'S GIVEAWAY IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE THREE WINNERS!! 

Today's giveaway is THREE PRINT COPIES of the talented Susan J. McLeod's FIRE AND SHADOW! It's the second in her Lily Evans Mystery Series and is a perfect read for this time of year -- or any other time! It's part mystery, part suspense and all good! All I can say is that you're in for a real treat!

To win a copy, all you have go to HALLOWEENPALOOZA'S OFFICIAL FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE and find today's post that announces the October 28th post and giveaway! Comment in that post "I WANT TO WIN"! If you're one of the first three to do that, you will win a copy of this awesome thriller! 

Good luck and may Michael Myers never cross your path!!! 

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FIRE AND SHADOW

When the dead need to speak, she must listen…

Artist and Egyptologist Lily Evans struggles with her newly discovered psychic talents, while trying to get her life back to normal now that her mother is in a mental institution and the man Lily loves is far away in England. But "normal" is the last thing she finds.

When her best friend Katy takes her to a Celtic Faire, Lily meets a druid fortune-teller, who warns her that she can “never escape the Other.” Frightened and angry, Lily ignores his dire warning and stumbles across an eerie old portrait of a beautiful woman, who has something to tell her.

With the help of the enigmatic druid and his gifted friends, Lily embarks on a dangerous journey to unravel the mysteries of the portrait, the tarot card reader, an ancient book and whispers of witchcraft. She must discover the truth behind them all…or risk losing her very soul.

 

THE GHOST OF MONTROSE: John Koloski

DO I BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL?

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.” - Stuart Chase

 

          "Yes, I believe in the supernatural."  I check the clock each time I say this because it provokes one of two responses: a half-hour of ridicule from skeptics; or a full-hour of ghost stories from fellow believers. Everything in my religious upbringing and my personal experience tells me that the fabric of reality is threaded with paranormal events.

 

          Starting with my religious beliefs, I have faith in the Bible. Biblical authority speaks of a spiritual reality filled with the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), angels, and devils. These entities interact with humans each and every day. There are guardian angels and personal demons. The spiritual realm shows a duality of good and evil, and each aspect separates into a grand hierarchy filled with many names (Michael and Gabriel representing good, and Satan championing evil.) In my cosmology, there is an Earth, a Heaven, and a Hell. Since I can only offer definitive proof of the physical Earth and its environs, my beliefs force me to admit that the supernatural exists.

 

          So, as an author, how do I deal with my belief in the paranormal? My fantasy and science fiction stories lean heavily on the Heavenly, but my horror stories offer peeks into Hell. Hell is the place of eternal suffering in the absence of God. What creatures better represent immortality than vampires, zombies, and ghosts? They exist forever- unless stopped.  The traditional vampire is one cursed to be separated from God. Vampires live on blood, but it is blood from murder and violence. The Bible states that those who drink blood are separated from Him. Zombies rise from the grave due to evil forces, but if you replace the evil with divine good you have the rise of Lazarus… or Jesus himself. And ghosts? When God doesn't answer Saul quickly enough about an upcoming battle, Saul seeks out help to raise the ghost of the prophet Samuel. (1 Samuel 28:7-25.) The ghost is raised, and Saul receives a very horrifying message. By the way, Samuel's ghost is brought back by a woman identified as a witch. God is to have ultimate power over life and death, so the actual raising of vampires, zombies, or ghosts is strictly forbidden. But, to plumb the depths of the human soul, writing horror stories gives a suitable substitute for these actual acts. 

 

          Have I ever seen vampires? There are groups and subcultures of many who claim to be vampires. Some siphon psychic energy, and others drink real blood. Pictures of both vampire types can be found online and in books. They claim supernatural powers and abilities. 

 

          What about zombies? Nope! Luckily, I've been spared the horror of answering the front door to find a neighbor come to borrow a cup of brains. But… there are those in the Caribbean who swear that the dead can be brought back through black magic. 

 

          Have I seen ghosts? Yes, more often than I would like. Most take the form of shadow people. These entities nag at my peripheral vision and cast shadows until I pay attention to them. At first, I was frightened, but now I speak to them. They like to be acknowledged. Often these shadows bring warnings, and by listening to them I have avoided some bad situations. I've also seen one full body apparition- a classic ghost!- but I will save that for my ghost story.  Once, I heard my grandmother's ghostly voice speak my name, an event that saved me from a horrible car accident. (Again, another ghost story.)        Every culture- from the ancient Egypt to modern America- holds beliefs about life after death. My own beliefs come from a mixture of religion and personal experiences with ghosts. So, pull up a chair and heckle me for 30 minutes or tell me your own stories for an hour. To quote one of my favorite childhood friends who just happens to be a lion dealing with a wicked witch, "I DO BELIEVE IN SPOOKS! I DO! I REALLY DO!"

THE GHOST OF MONTROSE

I remember a warm Northeastern Pennsylvania summer in 1985. At that time, I was dating a girl who lived ten miles from my home, and I would often pick her up for the day and take her home at night. She had a midnight curfew, so one August evening I was driving her home around 11 PM. I drove an old blue Subaru, and she sat in the passenger seat talking constantly changing the radio station. The roads were dry, and there was no fog as I entered the small town of Montrose.

 

            Because I was driving from the south, I decided to turn off State Route 29 onto Cherry Street. This was my usual route, and I expected nothing as I headed toward the Montrose Borough Building. With the building coming up on my left, I looked up Cherry Street to where it intersected Union Street, a roadway that bordered the town park. There, standing in the road was a person. I wondered why a person would be crossing the street at that hour, but there were houses nearby, so I just slowed the car. I figured that soon the person would get out of the way.

 

            As my car approached, the headlights focused on the person in the road: it was a little girl. She looked to be about ten, and she stood on the yellow lines in the center of Cherry Street. I saw her from her left side because she stood facing Union Street and the park. I slowed more. I could see that she was wearing a light dress with stripes, gathered at the waist. Her dress looked to be white with blue stripes that had a pattern resembling flowers. Her arms were pale, and stockings covered her legs. She had straight black hair, shoulder length, and it matched the color of her shoes. I was close enough to see her feet, and she wore black shoes that had no backs and open toes. Her stocking feet protruded from the toes of the shoes. She didn't care that I was getting quite close with the car.

 

            I slowed to a crawl, and was ready to roll down the window and yell at this child for standing in the road. Suddenly, I was aware that my girlfriend was still talking, but she was also looking strangely at me. I was about to ask her what she thought I should do, when movement ahead of the car caught my eye. The child now seemed aware of the oncoming car. Before I could speak, the girl in the road whipped her head so that she faced me. She looked over her left shoulder- directly at me- and my skin prickled everywhere with goosebumps. Her face was small, with a delicate nose and a line to indicate her lips, but she had two large, misty ovals where her eyes should be! She had no eyes! I jumped, and the car kept moving forward. As I reached the spot where she stood, her mouth opened. I don't know what she was trying to say because an instant later she burst apart from the center outward as needles of mist. I drove through what remained, and sped away up Cherry Street.

 

            "What's wrong? Why are you going so fast?" My girlfriend looked scared as she asked.

 

            "Did you see that? That girl?" I was shaking as I continued up a hill to where the street intersected with Grow Avenue.

 

            She had no idea what I was talking about. Maybe she was playing with the radio knobs, or maybe she just didn't look ahead of the car. Maybe it was never really there, but to this day I can still describe every detail of the little girl. When I reached my girlfriend's house, I called home and had my brother and sister-in-law come to drive me home.

 

            I've never seen the little girl again, but I've heard that others in Montrose have seen her. She's always in that same area looking toward the park… and she always slips away before there's any proof of her existence. Maybe she's looking for her mother, or a friend, or maybe she's seeking something to fill the misty voids where her eyes should be.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Koloski was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, "the most haunted city in America". His inherited psychic sensitivity supplies encounters with ghosts, orbs and shadow-people much like those in his fiction.

John holds degrees in English Literature (BA, Binghamton University) and Creative Writing (MA and MFA, Wilkes University.) He has been an editor and writer for national magazines. His stories and poems have appeared in The Endless Mountains Review, Southern Tier Images, and Midwest Poetry Review. He's presented papers for the National Council of Teachers of English and The John Gardner Society. His scholarly works are included in collections at The University of Rochester.

A high school English teacher, John lives with his wife and children in the misty Endless Mountains. EMPYRES: BLOODBLIND, which was an invited public reading at the 2007 AWP Conference in Atlanta, GA, is his first published novel. 

 

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OCTOBER 18th GIVEAWAY:

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY CLOSED! CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR TWO WINNERS! 

Today's giveaway is TWO ECOPIES of John Koloski's vampire thriller-diller EMPYRES: BLOODBIND. 

To win, please go to the HALLOWEENPALOOZA's Official Event Page. Find today's post announcing John's blog and giveaway and comment "I WANT TO WIN." If you're one of the first two to do so, guess what? You win!!! 

So be fast and this horror-ific story can be in your kindle! 

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EMPYRES: BLOODBIND

"The suspense is reminiscent of a classic Hitchcock film. And the journey the reader takes — an existential transcendence that continuously evolves — would make Carlos Castaneda proud... a breath of fresh air amidst a sea of modernity and convention." -- Shroud Magazine

If Richard Matheson and H. P. Lovecraft had ever collaborated on a modern horror novel, they might have produced one like this:

Driving through the night at 95 miles an hour, 32-year-old artist Adam Morrow has a lot to live for. Yve, a gorgeous girlfriend who loves him; a powerful sports car; and Patrick, a buddy who kills for him without question or hesitation, in the back seat.
But every blessing hides a curse. The Corvette is stolen. Adam is blind. A crash years ago killed his fiancée, Leiko Hunter. The crash was caused by empathic vampires, who wanted him dead. Empyre leader Sterling Richards meant to kill Adam and take Leiko as his bride. But the plan went horribly wrong.

Yve, beside Adam in the Corvette, is also an Empyre. She's pregnant with Adam's child. And Patrick, an ex-con and serial killer, has sworn to obey him only until they reach Philadelphia. Will Patrick kill him then?

Not likely, because Adam's already been dead for a week.

Now, pursued both by police and Richards’s murderous Empyres, the three of them race toward Philadelphia, where a hidden cure might restore Yve's life and his own. Amrita, an Empyre elixir, promises Adam, Yve and their baby a normal future. It makes the living immortal, and even brings the dead back to life. The key to finding it lies in Adam's painfully fragmented recollections of the accident that blinded him and killed Leiko. Reliving those memories might be worse than dying.

But the real struggle isn't to save Adam, or even Yve: it's really a fight to save their unborn child . . . the already-conscious, half-human fetus, gifted with unimaginable power, that they’ve begun to know as 'Shassa.

Beautifully crafted, unfailingly imaginative, and spellbindingly tense from beginning to end, EMPYRES: Bloodblind marks the debut of a stunning new talent in fantastic horror.