Tag Archives: novel

Horror Novels

Merry meet all,

I feel fall in the air.  The leaves are turning (already? gulp), the air feels crisp and I am just waiting for pumpkins to hit the shelves. The asters have bloomed which is a good sign of fall coming. The bees are busy gathering all the pollen they can. 

I have started chard and beans from seed in small pots. There is still time to grow them and if the frost hits, I can grow them indoors with the grow light kit. I switched the beige table cloth on my kitchen table to my black spiderweb lace tablecloth. I also dressed my altar for Mabon. Much as I am resisting fall, I’m embracing it as well. It is inevitable. I am just angsty for my garden. I’m also working on a corn doll for Mabon. I even made a broom from herb twig stems. A few herbs are soaking in a bowl of water to let the bugs escape. I plan to use them with the corn doll. I will post pictures later when I am finished the corn doll. 

I am also hoping to get elecampane to sprout from seed. I put a few seeds on a damp paper towel in a ziplock bag. Last night, I did a full moon ritual. It felt so good. it has been a long time since I did a full moon Rit and now I plan to get way back into my magic craft. 

Speaking of magic, as I gaze out my window, a spider has caught a big bug in his web. The spider twirled the bug around and around and hangs on tight despite the breeze hitting the web. The poor bug doesn’t stand a chance. It is amazing to witness and yet it repulses me. This is the fascinating twin nature of Mother Nature: life and death twined into one. Every August, there are suddenly so many spiders. The hard part is that the bug is still alive. That is what is hardest for me. I can understand something suffering then dying quick. But this bug in the cocoon at that spider’s mercy is still alive. I can tell by the way it’s upper legs twitch. It has to endure all that. For a reason unknown to me, spiders love to weave their webs at my bedroom/ office window. I am fascinated by spiders though. I know most people don’t feel the way I do. They would likely have a harder time living here. I live near a nature trail where there are lots and lots of industrious insects. The spider tugged his unwilling prey away. I have had enough of that. 

I stored herbs in jars last night. I dried them in my dehydrator all day yesterday and that was when I understood why I bought the dehydrator. It was so easy, so simple and cut out so much drying time. I plan to use my dehydrator a lot more often. I usually dry herbs on a screen or on my air drying rack but that took out all the work for me I usually do. Yup I have officially upgraded to a dehydrator. I love it. I dried lovage, Thai basil, mugwort, goldenrod, lemon balm, red clover, dandelion leaves, chamomile and St. John’s Wort. 

Samhain is sixty two days away! It is time to prepare. I can’t believe that time of year is here. Curl up with a few good horror books. I can’t get enough of it. I have had the privilege lately of reading some damn good horror fiction. The first novel on my list is The Twisted Ones by Kingfisher. I could not put this book down. The suspense killed me, the characters were amazing and the scary creatures were original. If I saw those creatures staring into my window at night and I was alone in the country, I would freak out too. Next on the list is The Devil Takes you home by Gabino Iglesias. Read. This. Book. I had a hard time muscling my way past a few gruesome scenes in the book but it kept me riveted till the end. I cried for Mario. The situation he ended up in was so tragic and I found his predicament very believable. This novel is terrifying. Read it with the lights on! The next novel on my list is My Heart is a Chainsaw. I am not sure if this classifies as horror. I wasn’t that scared. My Heart is a Chainsaw is a brilliant character driven novel. If you want to get deep into the heart and mind of the main character and the mystery in the town, then this is the novel for you. 

Those novels will definitely get you in the mood for a spooky Samhain. The next novel I plan to read is Devil’s Creek by Todd Keisling, and that is another damn good horror book. I plan to keep writing and working on my own projects too. 

I have to get going but I will post soon. Till then, keep writing and stay spooky!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

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In memory of Anne Rice

Merry meet all,

As I type here, snow flakes fall softly. I love this part of winter. New snow is so pretty. I want to honour the memory of Anne Rice. She was a unique and prolific writer. I love the tale of Interview with a Vampire. Let’s all take a moment to cherish her memory. I watched the. movie the other night!

Now that my own horror novel might be published, I hope to continue on the tradition or join the roster of dangerous dames who dare to write horror. I am elated! This is just too exciting. I am thrilled because I do have a story to tell and share with the world. I have practiced my writing a lot and I have a lot already published. The ghost in my story steals the show, in my opinion. I don’t know where something so dark came from in me but I will think of it as the dark cauldron of the Goddess giving me the inspiration. I can now share it with the world. 

Now, onto other news. Today our journey takes us to this story of a clairvoyant gentleman who lives in Britain. 

‘I saw dead people aged 10 – and I’ve met the Black-Eyed Child and creepy man-monkey’

I grew up near Britain’s most-haunted town and have experienced all sorts of spooky and unexplained encounters myself – starting with the haunting of my great-uncle, writes paranormal investigator and author Lee Brickley

Letting children watch movies like Ghostbusters at the age of five is a risky business. Some kids will get scared and hide behind the sofa; others will keep their bedroom light on all night for weeks.

Me? I saw a career path.

I might not have a proton pack or a catchy theme tune (yet), but over the last ten years, I’ve become one of the UK’s leading real-life Ghostbusters – at least, that’s what Eamonn Holmes called me on ITV’s This Morning during an interview about Black Eyed-Child sightings at Cannock Chase.

I can’t give Hollywood films all the credit for my interest in the paranormal though. While they definitely opened my eyes to the strange and unusual, it was a series of experiences in my childhood home that cemented the obsession at ten years old.

When sitting in the living room during the evening hours, I would often see shadows moving slowly across one of the walls behind our sofa. My father would see them too, although he’d talk about something else to draw my attention away.

Have you ever seen a ghost? Tell your story in the comments below

Paranormal investigator Lee Brickley says he was haunted from the age of 10 by the ghost of his great-uncle

Paranormal investigator Lee Brickley says he was haunted from the age of 10 by the ghost of his great-uncle

Lee has spotted the Black-Eyed Child and what he believes is the British Bigfoot during his investigations

Lee has spotted the Black-Eyed Child and what he believes is the British Bigfoot during his investigations

There was another time when I walked into the kitchen in the middle of the night and a single cup was violently swinging from side to side under a cupboard. It was hanging from a hook alongside multiple other cups that were all motionless.

Years later I learned that my great uncle died in that house, and my father now tells me he believes our deceased relative was behind the haunting.

I grew up in a small mining town near Cannock Chase, a large spooky forest in Staffordshire where people have seen ghosts and all manner of supernatural creatures for many years. It therefore seemed logical for someone with my interests to investigate these sightings further, and that’s precisely what I’ve done..

So far, I have written and published four books on the subject of weird happenings in the area, and my latest title Ghosts Of Cannock Chase : Terrifying Reports Of Paranormal Activity From The UK’s Most Haunted Town is selling exceptionally well.

This image taken by psychic Christine Hamlett in 2014 appears to show a figure praying in the dense woodland of Cannock Chase – a hot-spot for sightings of the Black-Eyed Child

This image taken by psychic Christine Hamlett in 2014 appears to show a figure praying in the dense woodland of Cannock Chase – a hot-spot for sightings of the Black-Eyed Child (

Image:

Handout)

According to many locals, the woodland is home to spirits, werewolves, black-eyed children, a pigman, and allegedly, even Bigfoot.

During my investigations, I’ve interviewed lots of seemingly genuine people who claim to have seen something scary in the forest, and I’ve even had a couple of unexplainable encounters of my own.

In April 2018, I believe I saw the infamous Black-Eyed Child in an area of Cannock Chase called Birches Valley. She appeared about a hundred metres in front of me, stared right at me for about thirty seconds, then vanished without a trace.

In June 2019, I saw what can only be described as a man-monkey running through the woods when I was investigating an alleged Bigfoot footprint – I wrote another book that covers this investigation called On The Hunt For The British Bigfoot.

Lee has written a number of books about his experiences with the paranormal

Lee has written a number of books about his experiences with the paranormal

Being able to spend my time writing about the paranormal is both a gift and a curse. On the one hand, I get to live my dream of investigating the unexplained and gathering evidence of the supernatural. On the other, people tend to give me a very funny look if I’m asked to explain what I do for a living at dinner parties.

I’ve never told anyone this before, but the career advisor at my high school laughed when I told her I wanted to be a ghostbuster. She said it wasn’t a real job and I could earn more money working in a factory.

But as I sit here ready to continue writing my fifth book about a frightening poltergeist case in Birmingham, I can’t help but smile and take comfort in the fact that my career advisor was definitely wrong, and she isn’t laughing any more.

If investigating ghosts and writing about the paranormal has taught me anything, it’s that worrying about what other people think is pointless, and no matter what those naysayers might insist, NOTHING is impossible.

An old ghost-hunter once told me that reality is barely understood, and possibility is limitless.

That’s why I believe in the paranormal… and it’s also why I believe in myself.

Read More

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Blessed be, Spiderwitch

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The Zozo Phenomenon

Merry meet all,

I just read the book The Zozo Phenomenon. It was a very good book if not far fetched in parts. I don’t believe all the hype but it was a good book overall. I do believe that people can convince themselves that something exists.There is a fine line between what is real and what is fake. In one section of the book during a paranormal investigation, the wife of Darren Evans enters the house and claims to be sexually assaulted by Zozo. She is not dressed well but seems oddly calm, acting like she is drugged even ( she probably was) and her husband takes it very calmly. Excuse me, if my husband sees me or hears me say I was sexually assaulted, I would expect him to be behaving way more damn concerned. Instead, he continues with the investigation with Ghost Adventures.  I would divorce him on the spot. He just goes outside and finds her at a hotel and leaves her there. What an asshole! That right there tells me it was fake. She desperately wanted attention. If I was assaulted by a far fetched demon no less, I would expect more done about it and I would not be behaving that calmly. 

The power of suggestion is powerful. I suspect that is what is occurring here in the book. I don’t believe the Slender Man exists either. People start a story and it goes viral. But on the other hand, I have had actual paranormal things happen to me. But I never looked for it or forced it to happen. It just did. I had no control over it. But people do have control over what they choose to believe exists. I have used ouija boards and nothing happened- at all. That may be because I was alone. I am sure the boards function better with two people. So no a demon didn’t pop out and possess me. 

I am skeptical that that demon exists. The people who want to believe he is real search for any explanation or story that he exists and then that should make it so that it does. Sheesh. If anyone has a genuine occurrence that they never forced to occur, then yeah I would believe that person. 

I know a guy who is a Witch and has discussed demonic possession with a priest. The priest told him nine times out of ten, the person believing themselves to be possessed are instead dealing with mental illness. That is a more  logical explanation. I do believe in the paranormal but I also believe in being practical and logical. First you rule out all the plausible causes, then when you can’t explain it and you are sure, then you go deeper and accept the paranormal explanation. 

It was a good entertaining read. That is all. I don’t regret reading it but I don’t believe it. It is fake , the whole thing. A cry for attention. There is something to the maxim seeing is believing. A lot of spooky things have happened to me that I never forced or sought out. they just did. An editor who read the book Dracul by Dacre Stoker claimed that Mina and Jonathan Harker were real people, acquaintances of Bram Stoker. People are so eager to believe in anything that they will accept anything. He believed that Dracula existed. He is a fictional character, nothing more, based on the actual historical figure Vlad Tepes. 

To demonstrate my skepticism even more, I have bad news. The publishing company J Ellington Ashton Press is a scam. I am now not having my horror novel published with them. 

This is what convinced me it was a scam all along:

The editor who encouraged me to sing on has zero ratings and reviews on Amazon- no ratings mean no sales
They were terrified of deadlines A First
Signed me on too fast- the same day they got my partial
Praised me up
I couldn’t google or find the editor anywhere online even on Facebook
I was told it would be too hard for her to be in touch with me from Australia- it takes seconds to send an email
I had a fishy feeling about them
I had a fishy feeling about being told it would hard for her to be in touch or her constant assurance she was working on it
Their website looks like shit
Their ratings and reviews on Amazon are bad
They have zero web presence
Told me I would be shelved- my book would be shelved next to other famous authors
The editor constantly name dropped He is full of shit
I was on bated breath waiting for them to ask me for money
In order for you to avoid this happening to you, do your research first. That will save you heartbreak. And you want to be happy right? And you want to be with a legit company right? Right. If publishing is your goal, then go for it but be careful.! Scams are everywhere these days. It is terrible that a publishing company will prey on gullible authors and wreak havoc with their dreams but the scammers are out there. 
Now don’t get me wrong. I love watching Ghost Adventures as much as the next person. I am not writing this to sprinkle hate confetti. I do watch the show. But I just maintain a healthy dose of skepticism. I don’t agree with the way they bash witchcraft not knowing enough about it, But I just brush that aside because my ability see ghosts leaves me feeling quite isolated. I can’t just stop being what I am. I am what I am. I accept it but I bear the mantle for it. I don’t boast or act proud or show off. I think that with an ability like mine, I guess you have to pay the price. The guys on that show validate it for me because they make it cool and acceptable. It makes me feel less alone. 
We live in a society that pushes conformity. I say never be afraid to stand out and be true to yourself. 
The paranormal is now more accepted than it was say 20 years ago. I do believe though there are more ghosts, spirits. demons out now than there ever were before. I also know that we have more ghost hunting tools on the market. I never knew those tools existed. I just used my own natural clairvoyant senses to detect ghosts. When I do encounter a spirit it never sticks around for me to find out what it wants. How can I help it that way? Maybe with more ghost hunting tools, I will be able to know what they want. Let’s hope. The future seems spooky. I believe something is coming, something big. And I think that the spirits all know what that will be and are waiting for us mere mortal to figure it out. Let’s do just that before it is too late. This pandemic is only the beginning. 
Blessings, Spiderwitch

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Lessons from a Ghost

Crow3

Merry meet all,

Recently I completed my novel proposal for submission to a publishing company. I hope they fall in love with it. I won a set of Star Wars books  from a bookstore. Star Wars was the first movie I saw when I was a little girl and the first movie experience I ever had. So it is cool that I won the books. I watched The Empire Strikes Back for free online the other night. Darn good movie. I love the idea of the Hero’s Journey. 

I use the model of the Hero’s Journey in my own supernatural novel. The main character embarks on the Hero’s Journey. She progresses from entering the home and moving in and being paralyzed with grief to becoming intrigued about the ghost to saving him against all odds. Along the way, she makes allies and enemies, and learns some important lessons about life and changes by the end. She comes to terms with her grief. 

She can thank Jonathan the ghost for that. He is the one who aids her and is her mentor. He pushes her to change. 

Jonathan is visible to Rosemary because he chooses to show himself to her, he needs her help, and because she has a clairvoyant ability. Scott, Janet and Richard can’t see him. They have no psychic ability. They take longer to become believers. They were not open to magick and were not believers in magick. Magic was not part of their world. But magick is a part of Rosemary’s world. They could become believers because Rosemary could prove it to them because of her actions or what she says. But that is still a stretch for them. Janet is the one who believes the least in Jonathan’s existence, so she had to become the believer by the book’s end. She was the toughest to convince that a ghost existed. She didn’t want to believe because she craved control over everything and everyone, she knew all along what had happened, but she is not as dark as Duncan. She never goes to his side. Janet is the most typical close minded traditional ‘muggle’. She has her way of seeing things and is never deterred. She never believes in magick and thinks she knows what is best for everyone. She lived traditionally and believed in everything being orderly and under her control.

 But since Jonathan does not become visible to Scott, Janet and Richard, it remains difficult for them to believe he is there. This makes it hard for Rosemary. But Rosemary has that special thing about her that attracts Jonathan to her. Her inner light is a beacon for him in the dark. He feeds on her energy to be able to contact her. If she touches seaweed, he can reach her. It takes him a lot of energy to do it otherwise. But she provides him with the energy to reach her and to probe what she holds most dear- Henry- and to make her be the means to his end. She is the tool whether she means it or not. She thinks she can control him but really, Jonathan desperately needs to be freed and he knows this. So he uses whatever means to reach her, including appearing to be Henry to get her attention. It does, and she believes that it is Henry.

 This is bad for Rosemary. It is later that she realizes that Jonathan did that to get her attention. But she doesn’t resent it against Jonathan. She still helps him to cross over. She sees beyond the curse to the man inside it. He is not a monster to her. He appears scary but for all that, he is a powerful ghost, he doesn’t hurt her. He never attempts to kill her. Duncan, however, does. This reveals Duncan for who he really is underneath. This makes Jonathan the hero he is meant to be and not the monster. The real monster is Duncan for what he did to Jonathan and eventually to Rosemary. This shows there is some humanity in Jonathan that is not completely hidden by his curse. Jonathan saves her life when Duncan tries to kill her.

Jonathan is the hero and is rid of his curse at the novel’s end. I guess I just gave the novel’s ending away but fret not. Rosemary and Jonathan both come to terms with their issues. One of my novel’s main themes is finding freedom through sacrifice. I think this clearly show that. 

Blessed Be, Lady Spiderwitch )O(

Links: Don’t read these links before going to sleep. 

http://beforeitsnews.com/paranormal/2014/08/5-real-ghost-stories-so-creepy-you-will-never-sleep-again-2474324.html

paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/shadow-people.htm?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/parallel-worlds-exist-and-interact-with-our-world-say

http://allday.com/post/782-18-actual-haunted-houses-everyones-too-scared-to-tell-you-about

http://www.livescience.com/49457-sleep-paralysis-hallucinations.html

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