For nearly two-hundred years the sleepy, little town of Barnesville has kept a secret, several in fact. Had it not been for the gruesome death of Peter Wakeley, those secrets may have remained hidden another two centuries. Detective Sergeant Simon Michaels and his assistant, Angela Jennings, are two of the first on the scene. Angie grew up in Barnesville and almost immediately suspects that not all is as it appears to be. Without the help of police, who rule the death an accident, Angie takes it upon herself to investigate.The more she digs into the victim’s life and the role his family played in the founding of the town, the more bizarre things become. The town historian and librarian, a good friend of Angie’s mother and a self-proclaimed witch, is reluctant to discuss matters until after the passing of the Scarecrow Moon.Vivid and gruesome dreams and uncanny hunches begin to plague Angie until eventually she must face one of her deepest fears to unravel the mystery, break the spell, and reveal the dark secrets of the Scarecrow Moon; secrets laced with blood, witchcraft, and at least one scarecrow that refuses to stay where it should. – Available in paperback & eBook : SECRETS OF THE SCARECROW MOON
There’s no mistake about it, someone murdered the village funeral director. One person even steps forward to take the blame, but what was done to the body would be impossible for them to have done unless they had help. Soon others become suspect as the true nature of the victim steps out of the darkness to reveal a not-so-amiable member of the small town in Upstate New York. But whose hatred ran so deep as to bludgeon the man and stuff him into a coffin to die? Was it his son who wants nothing more than to bring the family business out of the 19th century? Was it his wife or maybe the owner of the funeral home across town who is struggling to make ends meet? Or was it the deed of a malevolent shadow figure seen lurking outside the funeral home the morning Dan’s body was found? Lies, confessions, and long-held secrets mix with the fine art of witchcraft, as the local police and a nearby coven of witches both struggle to bring a killer to justice. But how do you capture a murderer who seems to be made of shadows that fades into obscurity every time the light of truth draws near?
Available in paperback & eBook : THAT’S WHAT SHADOWS ARE MADE OF
Every ghost has a story. Not all of them want it told. From beyond the grave, a murderous wife seeks to complete her revenge on those who betrayed her in life; a powerless domestic still fears for her immortal soul while trying to scare off anyone who comes too close; and the former plantation master – a sadistic doctor who puts more faith in the teachings of de Sade than the Bible – battle amongst themselves and with the living to reveal or keep hidden the dark secrets that prevent any of them from resting in peace. When Eric and Grace McLaughlin purchase Greenbrier Plantation, their dreams are just as big as those who have tried to tame the place before them. But, the doctor has learned a thing or two over his many years in the afterlife, is putting those new skills to the test, and will go to great lengths in order to gain the upper hand. While Grace digs into the death-filled history of her new home, Eric soon becomes a pawn of the doctor’s unsavory desires and rapidly growing power, and is hell-bent on stopping her. Enter the Winchester Society of Paranormal Research; could the solution lie within the humble ranks of this group of investigators? It seems unlikely, but the crew is eager to try. Is there any force powerful enough to put to rest the wickedness that demands complete control, not just over its ghostly adversaries, but the body and soul of Eric McLaughlin?
Available in paperback & eBook : NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Once I was done getting down with the various Swamp Apes, I made my way through two very short books of short stories by Jason J. Nugent, (Almost) Average Anthology – which btw, isn’t actually an anthology, but a collection – and Moments of Darkness. Both books contain some pretty creepy tales that Jason should be proud of. There were others I didn’t quite ‘get’, but hey … I’ve found that holds true in a lot of short stories even by the most famous of authors. Jason’s first novel has been steadily working its way up my To-Be-Read Pile and I enjoyed his short stories well enough to be looking forward to that.
As I did last month, and as I’ll likely be doing again next month, I also enjoyed a couple of audiobooks as I sat at my desk at work, slaving away over more piles of books. I just can’t escape them! For July I treated myself to two very awesome tales of terror. The first was The Whistlers by Amity Argo over on the No Sleep Podcast. Wow. Creepy-deepy, my friends! Very, very creepy! It’s wonderfully narrated and just over two hours long and you can find it here: 
My second audio story for the month was The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. This was a Chilling Tales for Dark Nights presentation. They do a wonderful job over there and I highly recommend you give them and No Sleep Podcast a listen. 
My final completed book for the month of July, Luellen & Lucy by Dee DeTarsio, was bought on a whim. Historic Romance is NOT my genre of choice, but hey … it’s set 12 years after the US Civil War, a period in American History that I am keenly interested in, the cover had the same lady on it that one of my erotica’s does, and one of the main character’s is named Lucy, again, as in three of my erotica’s and my most recent release, “No Rest For The Wicked”. Not thrilled with it, was I. You can find my review over on Amazon if you really want to know more. Let’s just say here that I read it as fast as I could just to get it over with. I’m not one to stop reading a book I don’t like. I will always do my best to see it to the bitter and confusing end – as was the case here.
“Those Who Follow” is a sequel to a short story we wrote for a benefit anthology called “Widowmakers”. The pitch is a young woman goes up against a serial killer who takes his prey to another dimension to torture and kill them to try to rescue a sister she never knew she had.
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The earliest film of his that I’ve seen is based on the Joseph Conrad book of the same name, Heart of Darkness written in 1899. The film was presented by Playhouse 90, a television show that ran from 1956-1961, in 1958 and starred Roddy as the lead character of Charles Marlow alongside a man whose name is nearly synonymous with Horror, Boris Karloff, as Mr. Kurtz. Eartha Kitt did an amazing job as The Queen. Though not technically labeled a horror film, Heart of Darkness does, as the name suggests, delve into the very dark corners of man’s psyche and the corruption of the soul when given a taste of power.
series, Night Gallery, which first aired in 1969. In this first episode of the first season titled The Cemetery, McDowall plays a heartless and greedy nephew who’s chomping at the bit to get at the inheritance. In fact, Jeremy flawlessly orchestrates the uncle’s death and quickly steps in as heir apparent before his uncle’s body has even begun to cool. All is well and good until Jeremy realizes one of the painting his uncle did years before is different. It’s a view of the family cemetery located near the house. Suddenly, there’s a freshly dug grave in the painting that wasn’t there before and Jeremy is convinced he’s hearing footsteps from beyond the grave.
One of my all-time favorite Roddy McDowall movies is The Legend of Hell House (1973) based on the novel Hell House by Richard Matheson. Here Roddy plays the role of physical medium Benjamin Franklin Fischer, the sole survivor of a previous group of investigators into the house of Emeric Belasco, a sexual deviant of Satanic proportions. Fischer and three others are hired by millionaire William Deutche, the home’s current owner, to investigate the house and prove or disprove life after death. Known as Hell House, the Belasco home got its name from the various perversions that took place there during Emeric’s lifetime and lays claim to the title as most haunted house in the world. Amazing, amazing movie!
In 1987 the movie Dead of Winter came out. It starred Mary Steenburgen as Katie McGovern, a struggling actress who answers an ad placed for open-call auditions. When Katie walks into the room, the man conducting the interviews, Mr. Murray played by McDowall, pays her little mind until he looks up. She’s hired instantly. The role will involve Katie traveling with Murray to an isolated location where she will study the role and replace another actress who suffered a nervous breakdown some time earlier. Katie was hired because of her striking resemblance to this other woman, Julie Rose. However, there’s a lot more to all this than just replacing a fellow actress. A lose remake of the 1945 film My Name Is Julia Rose, Dead of Winter takes some remarkably dark twists and turns, not the least of which involves Katie finding a notebook full of Polaroids of Julie’s corpse!
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