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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Book Review: A Very Proper Monster: An Elemental World Novella (Beneath a Waning Moon) by Elizabeth Hunter

Beneath a Waning Moon
by Elizabeth Hunter, Grace Draven

October 1st 2015
Two delightfully dark tales of Gothic romance from Elizabeth Hunter and Grace Draven.

In A VERY PROPER MONSTER, Josephine Shaw spends long nights filling the pages of her Gothic stories with the fantastic and the macabre, unaware that the suitor her father has arranged is one of the dark creatures she’s always dreamed. For Tom Dargin, courting an ailing spinster was only one duty in a long life of service to his sire. But after he meets the curious Miss Shaw, will Tom become the seducer or the seduced? Can a love fated to end in tragedy survive a looming grave?

In GASLIGHT HADES, Nathaniel Gordon walks two worlds—that of the living and the dead. Barely human, he's earned the reputation of a Bonekeeper, the scourge of grave robbers. He believes his old life over, until one dreary burial he meets the woman he once loved and almost married. Lenore Kenward stands at her father’s grave, begging the protection of the mysterious guardian, not knowing he is her lost love. Resolved to keep his distance, Nathaniel is forced to abandon his plan and accompany Lenore on a journey into the mouth of Hell where sea meets sky, and the abominations that exist beyond its barrier wait to destroy them.

A Very Proper Monster is a novella from Elizabeth Hunter’s An Elemental World series that gives the back story of Tom Dargin, one of Patrick Murphy’s men and how he found his love Josie! Josie is not your typical 1880’s lady. Instead she has a vivid and morbid imagination and writes stories for a London newspaper under a man’s name. Tom is not your typical vampire either. He’s big and scary looking and very quiet. The chemistry between these two characters was fantastic. I was laughing in some places and crying in others. If you can make me cry with words then the author has done an excellent job of painting the story! I really wished the story was longer and more in-depth but it was just a novella so I can’t really complain about that. Once again an outstanding story from an outstanding writer.

Getting 5 sheep






Denise B


About the Author:
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Elizabeth Hunter is a contemporary fantasy, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance writer. She is a graduate of the University of Houston Honors College and a former English teacher. She once substitute taught a kindergarten class, but decided that middle school was far less frightening. Thankfully, people now pay her to write books and eighth-graders everywhere rejoice.

She currently lives in Central California with her son, two dogs, many plants, and a sadly dwindling fish tank. She is the author of the Elemental Mysteries and Elemental World series, the Cambio Springs series, the Irin Chronicles, and other works of fiction.

Book Review: Dream Casters Light (Dream Casters Series Book 1) by Adrienne Woods

Dream Casters Light (Dream Casters Series Book 1)
by Adrienne Woods
Fire Quill Publishers
May 25, 2015
Pages: 430
Mr. Sandman, send me a dream, ta da da da.....Seventeen year old Chastity Blake knows the Sandman is just a silly children's story parents tell their children to get them to sleep. At least she thought it was, until the day a mysterious, light golden sand appeared in her hands during a high school prank that went horribly wrong. A sand that has the power to send anyone it touches into a deep, sound sleep.

Fearing she had lost her mind, Chastity soon discovers the shocking truth of her heritage- she is a Dream Caster. Chastity was never supposed to be raised on the Domain, or what humans call Earth and she is forced to return to her true birth place, Revera – the world of Dreams.
However, in Revera there is no balance between good, the Light Casters, and darkness, the Shadow Casters, and Chastity is caught square in the middle. She soon learns that there is no place for anyone containing both the light and the darkness within them, and the shocking truth that if anyone in Revera ever discovered her shadow self, Chastity would be thrown into the Oblivion – the world of Nightmares.

Dreams are always more than they seem, and this time Chastity is going to discover just how different they can be.


Adrienne Woods has a few series out there and has her own publishing company as well. This was my first read by this South African author and I’m excited to say that I can’t wait until the next book in this series comes out.

Chasity is a typical teenager with friend problems and a step dad that hates her. She’d love to change how things are going for her but knows that you don’t always get what you want, right? One day on her way home from ballet class she had enough and fought back against her friends that were bullying her. Instantly she knows something isn’t quite right. Gold sand is coming out of her hands and everyone is falling asleep? How can that be?

This new series puts a new light on the dream world. It gives a picture on how good dreams and nightmares are created and that earth isn’t the only realm out there. Very imaginative story line and characters which made this such a quick and easy read even at 430 pages!

Getting 5 sheep




Denise B

About the Author:
I reside in South Africa, East side of Johannesburg with my husband Heinrich and two beautiful little girls, Maddison and Jamie-Leigh. Writing has always been a passion of mine and I'm living the dream, being able to write every day while my babies are at school. My stories are plenty and it grows on a yearly basis so where I see myself in 10 years. An author with a lot of novels for readers like you.

I've recently started with my own Publishing company called Fire Quill Publishing here in South Africa. Authors do make the best publishers as they know what each and every author goes through, how they feel about the work and we do take it very seriously when trying to get you out there. We have an amazing team working at FQP and it grows, just like my novels, on a monthly basis.

So my life is filled with the things and people I love, and my advice to you is live your dream as any other life will be a life wasted.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Book Review: Hannahwhere by John McIlveen

Hannahwhere
by John McIlveen
Publisher: Crossroad Press; Macabre Ink
ISBN: B010J98W8I
June 27, 2015
In a suburb on Boston’s North Shore, a catatonic little girl is found behind a dumpster. She is a mystery. As Social Worker Debbie Gillan pieces together the puzzle of the child's identity, she discovers the child had disappeared two years earlier along with a twin sister. She also discovers HANNAHWHERE, an alternate world that is both a haven and a prison.... Life altering trauma becomes the key to unraveling the truth about the children, about Hannahwhere...and about Debbie herself. Truths that could either save them or destroy them all.



John McIlveen did a super job of childhood trauma and what child will do to escape real life horror like abuse. When social worker Debbie Gillan meets the young girl, Hannah (found by a sanitation worker behind a dumpster, she feels herself losing her heart to the beautiful, white/blond-haired, blue-eyed child. From Hannah, she learns about Hannahwhere and Hannah’s twin sister, Anna, stuck in Annaplace (same spot as Hannahwhere). Hannahwhere is a place not unlike Oz, Fairyland, and other places of fantastical dreams and hopes. Where one can feel safe.

Anna feels increasingly cold to the touch to Debbie and she begins to suspect why Anna cannot escape this place. For no longer a haven, this world has become a prison for Anna. But before Debbie can help Anna and even Hannah, she must confront her own childhood demons she has tucked down inside her and forgotten.

John McIlveen never shies away from the brutal horror, balancing it with the beautiful fantastical, and letting the characters lead with their hearts as well as their fears and develop into full human beings capable of a realistic emotions and relationships. He balanced pain, desperation, hope, and consequences, delivering an auspicious debut as a novelist.

Hannahwhere will drag you into a world of heart and soul, and yet, as a dark fantasy novel, the horror is there. The book pulls punches like a primed fighter, meshing fantasy well with the reality. Be prepare to fall in love with Hannah and wonder why we all don’t have a place like Hannahwhere to escape our troubles.

I give Hannahwhere 5 sheep.






Pamela K. Kinney

About the Author:
amazon author page
John M. McIlveen is the author of the paranormal suspense novel, HANNAHWHERE, and two story collections, INFLICTIONS and JERKS AND OTHER TALES FROM A PERFECT MAN (which is also compiled in the collection INFLICTIONS). He is the father of five daughters, works at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory and lives in Haverhill, MA with his partner, Roberta Colasanti. John has an affinity for black licorice, whoopie pies, and good tequila. He is currently working on his next novel GONE NORTH.

New Book Releases in Speculative Fiction for Sept 27

Time to feed the ereader!

The WTF-ery of the week is...

Book Review: Down the Rabbit Hole by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, R.C. Ryan

Down the Rabbit Hole
by J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, R.C. Ryan

September 29, 2015
432 pages
Publisher: Jove
Some of your favorite New York Times bestselling authors present five all-new stories told through the looking glass—including a new Eve Dallas novella!

You’re late for a very important date...

Enter a wonderland of mesmerizing tales. It’s a place that’s neither here nor there, where things are never quite as they seem. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s whimsical masterpiece, ranging from the impossible to the mad to the curiouser, these stories will have you absolutely off your head.

Don’t be afraid to follow them…

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
Down the Rabbit Hole is a short story collection of Alice inspired works. Each story has fantastic elements; some more directly connected Lewis Carroll’s story than others. Overall, the collection is bookended by its two strongest works, J.D. Robb’s “Wonderment in Death,” and R.C. Ryan’s “Fallen.”

“Wonderment in Death” opens the collection. The story is part of J.D. Robb’s futuristic Eve Dallas series and was my first encounter with the detective. I quite enjoyed her character and those in supporting roles. The concept for the curious murder-mystery story was incredibly Alice-based, so of course it was my favourite. From there, the stories were more or less “rabbit-hole-like adventures” where characters are thrust into unknown and fantastic territory. The collection wraps up with "Fallen", a romantic fantasy set in the Scottish Highlands. There’s time travel, talking animals, and a passionate affair with a kilt-wearing Scottish lord. Need I say more? It was an energizing, captivating read, especially after the fourth story, “A True Heart.”

The stories in the middle are satisfactory, but nothing overwhelmingly wondrous. “Alice and The Earl of Wonderland” is lovely and delicate, “iLove" quirky and cute. I found the reading process to lag particularly during “A True Heart” by Mary Kay McComas. The concept is creative and intriguing, but the roll out, and odd creative choices, feel awkward.

Definitely check out the beginning and end to this collection, though you need not do it immediately. This date can wait.

3 Sheep




Bianca Greenwood

Monday, September 28, 2015

Book Review: Harvest Moon (The Moon Series #4) by Lisa Kessler

Harvest Moon (The Moon Series #4)
by Lisa Kessler
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Entangled Select Otherworld
ASIN: B014CR0OES
Dr. Jason Ayers unleashes all of his rage and his frustration through fists and brute force in an underground boxing ring. The werewolf may be the pack’s doctor, but he can’t even heal his coma-stricken father after the Nero Organization’s attack stopped his heart. And as his Pack brothers settle down around him, he still refuses to believe in the fairy tale notion that every wolf has a true mate...

In hiding and on the run, nurse Kilani Akamu is a loose end that Nero is desperate to tie up. She can't afford to be attracted to a doctor—especially one as unexpectedly hot and complex as Jason. Yet the sexual sparks arcing between them are undeniable...and Kilani's precognitive senses warn her that temptation is inevitable.

All it takes is one touch to send Jason's wolf howling. But even if he could protect her from Nero, he can't protect her from himself...


Reviews
If you love suspenseful/mystery shifter stories, don't hesitate to hit the "buy" button on the Moon Series! - Snarky Mom Reviews
Dark. Sexy. Emotional. Take a wild, suspenseful journey with the Moon Series!
-Kelly Smith Reviews

Swoon worthy werewolves fighting to protect their pack from an evil organization bent on destroying them. With true love and steamy sex scenes, what more could you ask for? The next Moon Series book to come out of course!
- RPriestEllgyCo

I love every book I have read by this author; the Moon Series is no different. An exciting run with shifters, science, and sexy sizzle. - Cosmic Palate Reviews


The MOON Series:


Book 5 - Ice Moon (in Nov. 2015)

Author's Note –
While all of the books can be read as standalone novels, you may enjoy reading the rest of the series as well.


With his father in a coma that he can’t cure, Dr. Jason Ayers takes out his anger and frustration in an underground boxing ring. Adding to Jason’s frustration is watching all his pack brothers settle down with mates even though he doesn’t believe that every wolf has a true mate.

In the meanwhile, nurse Kilani Akamu is on the run from the Nero Organization, which to be honest, even now that I’ve finished Harvest Moon I’m still not entirely clear as to who or what Nero is and what their main objective is other than to kill shifters and the occasional person. Anyway, Kilani is on their radar for some reason or another and therefore has some series trust issues.

The irony is not lost on me that a doctor dedicated to saving and preserving life beats the snot out of others in an underground boxing ring in his spare time. Jason is all kinds of tortured, wolfy goodness! Surprisingly even though he’s a tad on the grumpy and short tempered side, I found it really worked for Jason and for the overall story. No one likes a perfect shifter who also happens to be a doctor, but as a doctor he had a bit of an ego going when it came to anything medical and did I mention he was hard headed too? Yeah, he tended to act first, think later which sometimes made difficult situations almost impossible. I couldn’t fault him for that though, Jason took everything personally, especially failures. His deep sense of responsibility for those he cares about was one of his most defining traits.

Jason definitely needed someone like Kilani as his mate for the above mentioned reasons. First of all, how neat is her name? I love that name! Second, she was a call ‘em like I see ‘em woman. She was blunt with Jason which seemed to be the only way to get through his stubborn personality. She may have been running from and organization out to kill her but that didn’t mean Kilani was going to duck behind the first stud who caught her interest. She was her own person and didn’t let Jason push her around. My favorite kind of heroine. She could be a little naïve at times and that made me question how she managed to keep out of Nero’s grasp (Dumb luck I guess) but she was a fast learner on how to watch out for herself.

Harvest Moon is told in first person, alternating between Jason and Kilani, which I didn’t know until I started reading. It’s not my preferred style to be honest because while I enjoyed getting into Jason and Kilani’s heads, I feel that “seeing” through the eyes of only certain characters takes away the experience of getting to know the secondary cast or of getting a clear picture of certain situations. It feels like I’m just getting one side of the story. Still, Harvest Moon did entertain me and I liked Jason and Kilani enough to not let it bother me so much that I was only inside their minds.

It’s a solid story to be sure, I liked the dynamic between Jason and Kilani and the way they worked well together to hold their enemy at bay. Of course, no paranormal romance is complete without the requisite startling revelation and Harvest Moon definitely had that. Fans of this book will definitely want to know more about Nero and its connection to Jason and Kilani’s friends.

Sheep Rating: 3 ½ Sheep





Adria


About the Author:
website-FB-twitter-blog
newsletter-FB Nightseries
goodreads
Lisa Kessler is an Amazon Best Selling author of dark paranormal fiction. She's a two-time San Diego Book Award winner for Best Published Fantasy-Sci-fi-Horror and Best Published Romance, as well as the Romance Through the Ages Award for Best Paranormal and Best First Book. She currently writes the Night Series and the Moon Series for Entangled Publishing.

Her short stories have been published in print anthologies and magazines, and her vampire story, Immortal Beloved, was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award.

When she's not writing, Lisa is a professional vocalist, and has performed with San Diego Opera as well as other musical theater companies in San Diego.


Giveaway

$25 Amazon gift card (International) 
1 signed paperback of Night Walker (USA Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Darkness With a Chance of Whimsy by R. J. Sullivan

Darkness With a Chance of Whimsy
by R. J. Sullivan
June 16, 2015
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Seventh Star Press
Dark clouds overhead may stir up whimsical twists. Collected for the first time since their initial publications, Darkness with a Chance of Whimsy presents ten tales from the imagination of R.J. Sullivan. Thrills and chills await you, but you may also get blindsided by the absurd. This volume includes a pair of stories featuring Rebecca Burton, the mysterious investigator of R.J.'s acclaimed paranormal thriller series. Among the ten stories, you'll find: "The Assurance Salesman" shows five strangers more about themselves than they ever guessed. You don't want to venture into Daddy's basement in "Fade." Rebecca Burton tries to talk someone out of a bad idea in "Backstage Pass." A bullied police detective finally defeats his rival in "Able-Bodied." A desperate father finds the "Inner Strength" to save his young daughter, "Becky" Burton. A child seeds his aquarium with a most unusual "Starter Kit." A brilliant robotics engineer creates a "Robot Vampire."

This title of this collection is very appropriate. Kind of hard to describe the stories inside, but if you love The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and The Crypt Keeper then you'll enjoy this book!

One reason collections tend to fall a little flat for me is because there isn't a distinct voice for the characters in each story. But Sullivan achieves this beautifully. You will get lost in each story and quickly finish the whole collection before you know it. Engaging, creepy and thought-provoking.

4.5 "whimsical" Sheep
 



SharonS
About the Author:
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About R.J. Sullivan: R.J. Sullivan’s novel Haunting Blue is an edgy paranormal thriller and the first book of the adventures of punk girl Fiona “Blue” Shaefer and her boyfriend Chip Farren. Seventh Star Press also released Haunting Obsession, a Rebecca Burton Novella, and Virtual Blue, the second part of Fiona’s tale. The short stories in this collection have been featured in such acclaimed anthologies as Dark Faith Invocations by Apex Books and Vampires Don’t Sparkle. His next book due out very soon will be Commanding the Red Lotus, which collects the series of science fiction novelettes in the tradition of Andre Norton and Gene Roddenberry.

R.J. resides with his family in Heartland Crossing, Indiana. He drinks regularly from a Little Mermaid coffee mug and is man enough to admit it. www.rjsullivanfiction.com

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Haunted or Cursed Objects (Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area book tour) + giveaway

Haunted or Cursed Objects

by Pamela Kinney


I have a new release tomorrow from Schiffer Publishing: Paranormal Petersburg, and the Tri-Cities Area. This is my fifth nonfiction ghost book. I have five ghost images the reader will be able to see and other spooky things that happened to me. But let me talk about haunted or cursed objects.

Can spirits be attached to objects? Haunt them? Items like jewelry, furniture, statues, and other things a person owned in life? Just as they can haunt buildings or land? There is belief that ghosts are attached to objects they owned in life.

Most hauntings are associated with houses, castles, and other things that go bump in the night, but hauntings can include articles—like the Hope Diamond. When a person buys something from antique shops, or purchase something on eBay, if it is old and previously owned by someone who passed away, that dead person may still have an attachment to that object and unable to give it up. There is even items on eBay that people admit carry paranormal activity or are cursed. Hauntings have gone so mainstream, that eBay has a “Guide to Buying Haunted Items.”


One such famous cursed item is the "Hope Diamond.". It had a curse that foretold bad luck and death not only for the owner of the diamond, but for all who touched it. Several centuries ago, a man named Tavernier made a trip to India. While there, he stole a large blue diamond from the forehead (or eye) of a statue of the Hindu goddess Sita. For this transgression, according to the legend, Tavernier was torn apart by wild dogs on a trip to Russia (after he had sold the diamond). This was the first horrible death attributed to the curse.

Whether or not you believe in the curse, the Hope diamond has intrigued people for centuries. Its perfect quality, its large size, and its rare color make it unique and beautiful. Add to this a varied history which includes being owned by King Louis XIV, stolen during the French Revolution, sold to earn money for gambling, worn to raise money for charity, to end up donated to the Smithsonian Institution where one can view it. 


There are other “haunted, or cursed” items. Like a painting titled “Hands Resist Him.” It was done by Bill Stoneham in 1972. Years later, a family found the painting in a dumpster and thought they’d found some free artwork. After taking it home, their 4-year-old daughter claimed the children in the painting were fighting. An experiment was done, by the family as they recorded the painting over several nights. Supposedly, the figures moved within the painting in the video. They made a claim too, that the owner of the gallery where the painting was first displayed and a Los Angeles Times critic who reviewed the show died within one year of the art show. Of course, was this due to the painting? The family sold it on eBay along with the story for $1,025. Someone apparently believed it was cursed to purchase it..


“The Crying Boy” was painted by Bruno Amadio, and is not just one painting, but a mass-produced print with numerous alternative versions, all with young boys or girls crying. These were distributed in the 1950s. The stories about these particular paintings began in the 1980s after a fireman in England claimed he kept coming across the paintings in burned houses. Funny thing, the paintings were remarkably untouched. The newspaper, The Sun, gave readers a chance to bring in the paintings and destroy them in a bonfire. Psychics said the painting was haunted by the spirit of the boy or girl it depicts. If someone wanted the curse lifted, the owner must hang a boy and girl crying together, or pass the painting onto another person.

website
I watched an episode on William Shatner's paranormal TV show on SyFy one time. It was about a doll called Robert that had been owned by painter Eugene Otto, and allegedly was cursed. Otto got the doll as a gift in 1906 from a servant supposedly skilled in black magic. Neighbors reported seeing the doll moving from window to window. Otto screamed at night and claimed that the doll turned over furniture. When he died in 1974, the doll fell into the hands of a 10-year-old girl who also began to scream at night, saying that the doll tried to kill her. Robert is now in the Fort East Martello Museum and Gardens in Key West, Florida, where guests can take a picture with him. But if they make fun of him, visitors declared that bad things happen to them. They send letters to the doll and ask him to forgive them, so their curse will be lifted. The doll is the inspiration for the movie “Child’s Play.”



The wedding dress of Anna Baker at Baker Mansion is supposedly haunted. In the mid-1800s, Anna became engaged to a man her father did not approve of. Her father sent him away. The wedding never took place, the dress sat unused, and Anna died an old maid. Since then, after it was bought by a historical society, visitors of the mansion in Altoona, Pennsylvania have seen the dress flutter in its glass case. Does the spirit of Anna still want to wear it, or maybe she wanted to be buried in it?

The Roosevelt Hollywood Hotel is famous as the address of the first Academy Awards in 1929. Marilyn Monroe also stayed as a resident for two years. Now, it is now a swank party place for Hollywood’s hip crowd. While there have been “sightings” on the ninth floor, Cabana Suite 213 and Blossom Ballroom, it is the mirror that used to hang in Monroe’s room—now in storage--that concerns being on this list. It is said, that when you gaze into the mirror, you might see more than your own reflection. A busty blond is what has been seen. Is it Marilyn Monroe?

Ah, here is another paranormal active doll for your pleasure—Annabelle. Annabelle was a Raggedy Ann doll given to a girl named Donna in the 1970s. Messages started appearing on parchment paper in a child’s handwriting, and yet, there was no parchment paper stored in the house. The family contacted a medium and learned that a young girl named Annabelle Higgins died and that she “possessed” the doll because she felt comfortable with the family. The father Lou had nightmares about the doll trying to kill him. He even gotten clawed in the chest from something unseen. The family felt they had been deceived through the medium by "the Father of Lies” and not by any young girl. They had an exorcism performed and got rid of the doll. It now resides in an occult museum. If you saw the 2014 horror movie, Annabelle, you seen Annabelle, except they did not use a Raggedy Ann doll. 

Who hasn't heard of the "curse" of James Dean's car "Little Bastard?" It has become part of America's cultural mythology. Warren Beath, a James Dean archivist and author, believes the source of the myth is Hollywood's George Barris, the self-described "King of the Kustomizers." This man said he was the first to purchase the wrecked Little Bastard. Barris promoted the "curse" after he placed the wreck on public display in 1956. Over the years, Barris described a series of accidents that mysteriously occurred from 1956 to 1960 involving the Little Bastard, resulting in serious injuries to spectators and even a truck driver's death. Porsche historian Lee Raskin states many claims regarding the "curse" of the Little Bastard appear to have been based on Barris' 1974 book, Cars of the Stars.

Myrtles Plantation is known as “one of America’s most haunted homes.” The plantation is supposedly the home of twelve ghosts, and reputedly built over an Indian burial ground. To make it a trifecta of terror, people were also murdered there. But it’s the mirror that contains the spirits of Sara Woodruff and her children that gets the haunted object award. After their deaths, as per custom back then, the mirrors were covered to keep souls from entering them, but someone forgot to cover this one. It is said that they are trapped forever in it. Visitors have reported seeing hand prints in the mirror.

Let’s talk about the bunk bed aired on an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries.” In 1987, Allen and Deborah Tallman from Horicon, Wisconsin bought a bunk bed from a second-hand shop for their kids. Suddenly there are noises, a snow blower moving for no reason, and unexplained illness. The parents began to believe their children’s bunk bed was haunted. They buried the bed in a landfill. Nothing after that.

So next time you check out eBay and noticed a curse object for sale, like the dybbuk box, which is a cabinet with a demon in it, don’t. Or take it with a grain of salt and go ahead, purchase it. Just if thong happen in your place, do not said I did not warn you…..

Pamela K. Kinney
Journey to worlds of fantasy, beyond the stars, and into the vortex of terror with the written word of Pamela K. Kinney.

Excerpt from Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area: 

Poe’s Honeymoon Suite on the Second Floor

I walked into the sitting room of the suite and dropped my bag of paranormal investigating equipment and my purse on the old-fashioned couch. Two matching chairs stood on each side of the couch and an old-fashioned chest of drawers stood between the two windows that looked down onto the street, where you could see the Siege

Museum. A fireplace loomed behind the couch and, across the room, a table stood against the wall. In the other room I found a bed; however, I doubted it was the original bed Poe and his bride shared. Back in the sitting room, I took note of a female mannequin, wearing skimpy underwear and a wedding veil, perched on the ledge of the window, and she appeared to be staring out. An old-fashioned typewriter with a pair of disembodied hands on the keys nestled against the far wall just behind her dangling feet.

The horror writer in me expected them to begin typing at any minute.

I took some pictures with my camera, then employed my pendulum to see if anyone or anything was there and asked if they would swing it back and forth.

Not moving my arm or hand—as I told them, they had to do it—the pendulum went immediately into a heavy swing. After I thanked them and asked them to stop, it came to a standstill. Did that mean Poe and Virginia were there? Or could it be the first owner, Richard Rambaut, the man the psychic sensed? Maybe Hiram himself or even someone else?

Next, I took out the recorder, turned it on, and began an EVP session.

Nothing was noted from the regular EVP session on the second floor when I listened to it later at home, except when I knocked on the table and asked, “Can you do a knock like that?” I did not hear it live when I was present in the house; but on the recording, I heard two knocks exactly like mine, lighter and from elsewhere in the room.

When I used the ghost box for a session, I got interesting results. I’d asked

if Edgar Allan Poe or his wife Virginia were in the room with me; I didn’t receive an answer. Maybe they had been so happy honeymooning here, they felt no reason to return to the building to haunt it. And to be honest, I did not sense Poe at all that day.

“Is there anyone else with me?” I asked.

A man’s voice came across the ghost box. “Yes.”

“Richard Rambaut, are you here?”

“Yes.”

“Can you speak in French to me, Richard, to prove it is you.”

“Oui.”

“Why are you haunting this building? Can you tell me?”

“No.”

Either he knew why and did not want to tell me, or he really had no idea why. Maybe, since he’d committed suicide, this caused the doors to the other side to remain closed to him.

I asked, “Can you give me the date of your death?”

There was an answer, but too low to hear. I asked for the date of the spirit’s death again and I heard a partial, “18—”

Then I heard a partial word, sounding like “threat…” The rest cut off or the spirit couldn’t get the balance of it out.

Was this still Richard? Perhaps another spirit? Had he been threatened, or was he threatening me?

I asked if the spirit that had said the name Derek, down in the Rue Morgue, was on the second floor with me. I got an answer to this question with “Yes.”

Who was Derek? I wanted to know, but received no answer.

I asked if Haines was there. Again, I received no answer.

I asked what the spirits thought of Jeff, who now owned the building, or any of the workers downstairs. Nothing.

Then another word popped out. “Fort.” Civil War maybe? I asked, but no one answered me. Maybe this was from a Confederate soldier who had been hospitalized in the building during the Siege.

I left the room to snap more pictures and a “Hello” came out from my box that I’d left with the recorder hear it until I listened to the recording at home. When I drew closer to the room a few minutes later, I heard a man’s voice loud and clear, “Hello!”

I called out, “Hello?”

No one answered me. It was on my recording, but it did not sound as if it came from my ghost box. Had one of the spirits missed me? Richard?

The Derek person?

I used my EMF meter, hoping the ghosts would register on the dial as well, but nothing happened. Finally, after a few more pictures shot in the sitting room (one of the photos of the fireplace had a shadow in it, and yet no shadows were in the picture before or afterwards), I grabbed my flashlight, EMF meter, recorder, and ghost box, and slung the camera around my neck.


Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area
Travel to Petersburg, and the rest of the Tri-Cities area of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Prince George, Dinwiddie, and the nearby areas of Ettrick-Matoaca and Chester to discover what spirits, monsters, UFOs, and legends await the unwary. Find out why the War Between the States is still being fought at Petersburg Battlefield. Why the lady in blue might be still haunting the rooms at Westover Plantation. What the phantoms at Peter Jones Trading Post will do to keep from being photographed. Learn about runaway slaves still hiding on the top floor above the Blue Willow Tea Room. Figure out why the ghostly soldiers enter Centre Hill Mansion January 24th, only to leave again. What phantoms share the Hiram Haines Coffee Shop and Ale House with the living? Is the Goatman still stalking young lovers? Meet the ghosts of Violet Bank Museum that are still greeting guests at the house. All this and many more, haunt these cities and counties. The dead refuse to give up their undead residency.
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About the Author:
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Author of Haunted Richmond, Haunted Richmond II, Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths, and True Tales, and Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, & Other Haunted Locations, Pamela K. Kinney has written fiction that enables her readers to journey to worlds of fantasy, go beyond the stars, and dive into the vortex of terror. One of her stories proved heart-stopping enough to be runner up for 2013 WSFA Small Press Award. As Sapphire Phelan, she also writes bestselling paranormal romance with dark heroes and heroines with bite!