Mayhem In the Air & The Waverly Hills Sanatorium

We're getting closer to Halloween - the release date for the Mayhem In The Air anthology from Untethered Realms - so I thought I would share the haunted place that helped inspire my entry in the collection. If you've visited this blog before you know I love ghosts and haunted places!

The entrance to Waverly Hills

When I first learned about the Waverly Hills Sanatorium near Louisville, Kentucky, I knew at some point I would end up writing about it or including it in a story in some way. While Waverly Hills is not mentioned in my Mayhem story Cardinal Sin, it did inspire the tuberculosis hospital where the story's character loses his life.

Jefferson County, Kentucky experienced a tuberculosis epidemic in the early decades of the 20th century, which led to the building of the huge sanatorium. Waverly Hills became a self-contained community, with its own zip code, post office, and farm to raise vegetables and livestock for its residents. The doctors and nurses lived at Waverly alongside the patients, which numbered into the 400s at any given time. The sanatorium opened for business in October, 1926 and served as a TB hospital until the 1960s, after antibiotics had rendered the facility obsolete.

It's not hard to imagine that there are lots of legends and haunted tales from those 40 years of operation. The fifth floor is considered the most haunted area of the hospital and is likely the floor where mentally ill TB patients were housed. Room 502 is the most popular room for ghost hunters to visit, as the head nurse committed suicide by hanging herself from the light fixture in 1926. In 1932, another nurse who worked in the room was said to have jumped to her death from the nearby patio.

The creepiest thing about Waverly Hills was the "body chute," a tunnel originally used to transport building materials during the construction of the hospital. Once the hospital was in operation, the tunnel was used for something very different. It became known as the body chute because it was used to remove dead patients from the hospital floors and transport them to hearses waiting at the body of the hill on which the sanatorium stood.

Researchers estimate that approximately 8,000 people died at Waverly Hills over the years, so there must have been lots of bodies going down that chute. It's no wonder the hospital is now a haunted hotspot, and considered one of the most haunted places in America.

Neither the body chute nor Room 502 play any role in my story, but they certainly are fuel for the imagination. I still have thoughts of writing about Waverly Hills and it may show up in another story someday.

Meanwhile, here is the blurb and story loglines for Mayhem In The Air!

Mayhem book blurb:

From Amazon bestselling and popular science fiction and fantasy authors comes Mayhem in the Air, a supernatural anthology of ten thrilling tales. Meet hot robots, hungry winds and the goddess of chaos. Explore alien planets, purgatorial realms, and a shocking place where people bury the living with their dead. Mayhem in the Air is the second, long-awaited story collection from the dynamic and inventive Untethered Realms group.

Loglines:

"A Strange Penitence" by Catherine Stine - A young artist pays a supernatural price when a drawing trip to North Carolina turns deadly.

"Mass Transit" by Graeme Ing - For Emily, mind over matter is not just a saying, but the gateway to her career among the largest starships built by man.

"A Tangled Weave" by River Fairchild - A TimePulse rips through the Great Tapestry of Life, leaving Earth’s history in a jumble, and Death and Chronos in a race to save the world yet again.

"Corrosive" by M. Pax - In a world ruined by pollutants, Bex sets off to establish a new homestead with her dreamy robotic man. Already farming her plot of land is another dreamy man with radical ideas, presenting new challenges as corrosive as the air.

"Saving Scrooge: A Short Story Prequel to the Saving Marley Series" by Gwen Gardner - Marley is sent from purgatory to save the soul of his old friend. Can he save his own in the bargain?

"The Silent Wind" by Christine Rains - A team of specialists must dispel a mysterious storm on an alien planet to prepare it for colonization. One by one the crew disappears until only a seasoned soldier remains. How can he battle a hungry wind that makes no noise?

"Paper Lanterns" by Cherie Reich: In order to keep his promise to his daughter, Mayor Alfred Merry must betray the woman he loves.

"Chaos. Hope. Love." by Misha Gerrick - Although Eris is the goddess of chaos, her life has fallen into a nice and comfortable routine. Until someone from her past shows up in her bookstore.

"Cardinal Sin" by Julie Flanders: Beleaguered hospital workers bury the living with the dead in the midst of a tuberculosis epidemic and a seething spirit vows vengeance from the skies.

"The Ark" by Cathrina Constantine -Plagued with memory flashes of fiery explosions and running for her life, Fallon emerges from a drugged stupor to find herself in an airborne Ark, and the earth below is a drowning wasteland.

The Gray Lady Ghost & More Realms Faire Games

Source (forgottenoh.com)

After I wrote about the Confederate cemetery in Johnson's Island, Ohio back in August I discovered there is actually another haunted Civil War POW cemetery right here in my home state. Camp Chase is in Columbus, where I lived for several years. Although the cemetery is not far from where I lived for a while. I had no idea it existed.

Now that I know, I'd like to visit sometime as I love the legend associated with it. According to the legend, the cemetery is haunted by the Gray Lady Ghost, who was known in life as Louisiana Rainsburgh Briggs, which is easily one of the best names I've ever read in my life. Supposedly, Ms. Briggs was the fiancee, or some say wife, of Tennessee Private Benjamin Allen, whose grave is shown above. She made the trip to Ohio to visit him and, finding him dead, died herself soon after.

Dressed in a gray traveling suit and wearing a gray veil over her face, Louisiana has often been heard weeping at the site of Allen's grave. During a Civil War re-enactment event in 1988, many participants reported hearing the sound of a woman crying and tried to find the source of the cries, but no weeping lady was every found.

In addition, cemetery visitors have regularly reported seeing fresh flowers on Allen's grave, although no one has claimed responsibility for placing them there. According to speculation, Louisiana herself visits the cemetery at night to place the flowers at her loved one's grave.

More than 2,000 prisoners died of disease and starvation at Camp Chase, so it's not hard to imagine there are other spirits haunting the area today. I wonder if Louisiana Briggs has any companions who join her when she makes her late night visits to the graves of the long dead.

All of this has provided lots of inspiration for my WIP, which includes my own Confederate ghost and a Civil War POW camp. I'm thrilled to be able to state that I'm FINALLY getting lots of writing done and making significant progress, so after months of being a slug I am getting closer to the finish line now. Maybe I just needed a little ghostly inspiration.

As I mentioned last week, I'm going to be spotlighting games from the upcoming Realms Faire periodically from now through November when the Faire will be held. First up is Beware the Vortex, hosted by River Fairchild. Here is the scoop:

Beware the Vortex

Evil is afoot. Chronos has accidentally created a vortex while cleaning his hourglass, plunging a few unfortunate souls into Lucien’s Bar, gateway to the Underworld. Now they are trapped. Lucien wants to keep them but will give each hapless victim one chance to earn their freedom. His condition? Enter a contest of skills with an Immortal opponent of his/her choosing.

Do you think you can survive a swordfight with War? How about wend your way through a carnivorous garden to get to Gaia’s treehouse? Or weave a portion of the Great Tapestry of Life while avoiding Atropos’ giant pair of life-ending scissors? Perhaps you’re brave enough to challenge Death to a peanut-eating contest? Or whip up a batch of punch with Jezebel, the Master Poisoner? Do you have what it takes to win your way out of Lucien’s grasp?

Your mission: on the day you appear in the contest you will post on your own blog, or gather together your Facebook and/or Twitter friends and provide a link to this blog, pleading (begging works too) with your loyal supporters to come to your aid at http://riverfairchild.blogspot.com/ , and cheer you on to victory. Their comments will decide your fate. I will provide you with a few magic words to bolster the power of your minions. Plead well, for you will need their strength to endure. Others might seek to cast their votes with the Immortals.

Rewards? Yes! Besides winning your freedom (hopefully), each volunteer (that would be you) who is locked in the struggle will receive an Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. In addition, a few lucky commenters will be picked at random to receive a gift card at the end of the Faire. Four brave people have signed up so far. I need one more to fill the week.

Interested? Sign up at . http://mpaxauthor.com/realmsfaire/ or email me RiverFairchildAuthor@gmail.com

There are a number of blogs participating in the Realms Faire and many prizes to be had, including a Grand Prize at the end of the Faire. If you’d like to run a game yourself and/or contribute a prize (ebook, gift card, artwork, swag, anything you can come up with), go here to sign up. http://mpaxauthor.com/realmsfaire/ 

Another game I want to spotlight is Dueling Bards, hosted by Cassandra Webb. This game is a chance for your character to duel another writer's creation. The audience will decide who emerges triumphant in the contest. I know Cassandra still needs a few duelers, so if you want to see more about the game and sign up to participate visit her site for all the info here. 

IWSG and the Confederate Ghosts of Johnson's Island

Happy August, all! The first Wednesday of the month means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by the Ninja Captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Click here to see this month's co-hosts and the list of participants, and add your name to the list if you'd like to join us!

Earlier in the summer I said I was going to work on two manuscripts at once in the hopes of getting my butt in gear on the writing front. Sadly all I managed to do was stall and get nowhere on two manuscripts instead of one. With the summer winding down, I'm feeling irritated with myself that I have been so unproductive, and insecure that maybe I will just never get these manuscripts completed.

But then I remembered there are still five months left in the year so I have time to make sure 2015 isn't a total wash. I went back over both stories and I still love them and want to finish them, so I'm not throwing in the towel yet. I hope by next month's meeting I'll be able to share some progress.

In other news, a few weeks ago when I was on vacation I traveled around Lake Erie and had a great time visiting some of the towns and sites there. It's only a 4 hour drive from Cincinnati so it's kind of nuts I'd never done any exploring there, but better late than never. Anyway, I actually managed to get some inspiration for one of the stories that I've been stewing over while I was there.

I visited Johnson's Island, which was the home of a Union POW camp during the Civil War. The camp was made up of 13 barracks which sat right on the shores of Lake Erie. During the winter, the icy winds and snow coming off the lake made for miserable conditions for the prisoners, to put it mildly. Over the course of the war more than 11,000 Confederates were housed at the camp.

Today all that remains of the camp is a cemetery which holds 200 graves. There is also evidence to suggest that unmarked mass graves can be found around the island outside the gates of the cemetery. As you can guess, such a place is a fertile ground for stories of ghosts and hauntings.

Source

This statue of a Confederate stands at the entrance to the cemetery and looks out over the lake. There are numerous stories of him coming down and moving around the cemetery, or just changing positions on his base. In addition, several people have reported seeing soldiers moving through the trees or hearing their disembodied voices.

The most interesting story by far to me was about a group of Italian immigrants who were hired to work at the nearby limestone quarry some years after the war. The immigrants spoke no English, yet they were heard singing Dixie, the anthem of the Confederacy. According to legend, the Italian workers heard the ghosts of the dead singing the song of their homeland and picked it up for themselves.

I sincerely doubt that the Italians learned the words to Dixie from ghosts, but it's still a fun story. And as for my own story, it includes a Civil War prison camp in Chicago and a Confederate soldier who is imprisoned there. I wouldn't have thought of it before, but now I think I might just have my ghost sing a little Dixie. :D

The Summer Solstice, St. John's Eve, and a Voodoo Priestess Ghost

Bethel, Alaska at midnight on the summer solstice

Yesterday was the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere, and since the solstice plays a big role in my novel Polar Day I had hoped to find a juicy ghost story to tie in with it. Unfortunately when searching for solstice legends all I could find were stories about faeries. I realized I shouldn't have expected to find haunted stories connected to the day when the sun enjoys its longest time in the spotlight.

But I happened to stumble upon something new to me, which was the close connection between the solstice and the Catholic celebration of the feast day of St. John the Baptist. Celebrated on June 24, St. John's day has always been closely aligned with the solstice and the beginning of summer, and was originally celebrated any day between June 20 and June 26 before the church fixed the date as the 24th. Now, most celebrations to mark the day are held on June 23, or St. John's Eve.

The feast of St. John has a great deal of historical significance in the practice of Voodoo in Louisiana. I have always been both intrigued and a little freaked out by Voodoo. I think it is super cool to read about but also more than a little creepy.

Voodoo Altar in New Orleans, taken by Greg Willis

Apparently, the most important time of the year in the Voodoo religion is midsummer, or the solstice. I was thrilled to discover that the most famous Voodoo priestess in Louisiana history, Marie Laveau, was known to hold Voodoo rituals on the Bayou St. John in New Orleans on St. John's Eve, and many believe her ghost still keeps the tradition alive today.

Marie was believed to have been born in 1801 and she lived until 1881. Throughout her adult life she was the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans and the most powerful and influential priestess in the city. Marie's ceremonies included the singing of Voodoo hymns, nighttime dances around a bonfire to show respect to the deities, and offerings made in sacrifice to the gods. I don't know what those offerings were but it's creepy to imagine, as the rituals were performed in the dark in an isolated stretch of the bayou north of the city.

Legend states that Marie's voice can still be heard chanting and singing at St. John's Bayou on St. John's Eve. In addition, city residents have reported seeing Marie at her home on St. Ann Street. If the stories are to be believed, Marie continues to walk St. Ann Street at night, wearing a long white dress, a turban, and a knotted handkerchief around her neck.

Marie Laveau is buried in the St. Louis cemetery in New Orleans, which is considered the most haunted cemetery in the United States. Visitors to the cemetery have reported seeing Marie walking between the graves and muttering Voodoo curses under her breath. Others have said Marie's ghost has taken on the form of a Voodoo cat with glowing red eyes. The cat disappears through the sealed door of Marie's tomb.

Source

I have to admit I think a Voodoo priestess cat is very cool. What animal could be more appropriate for the ghost of a Voodoo Queen? I'd love to see this kitty and now part of me wants to come up with a story for a Voodoo priestess cat.

I really wouldn't want to be in New Orleans this week as I know the heat and humidity would be way too much for me, but I can't deny I'd be curious to go to St. John's Bayou on St. John's Eve and see if I could hear Marie's ghost leading her followers in hymns and chants. If by chance I did hear someone singing I'd probably run all the way back to Ohio. :D

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

IWSG & Ghost Stories

It's time for the June meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're not a member of the group and would like to join us, sign up here,

In recent months my primary insecurities have been related to blogging. I just haven't been able to get back into blogging the way I would like to. I can't think of much to blog about and I was starting to feel like I should just leave the whole thing alone. But I honestly didn't want to do that because I really do cherish the connections I've made through blogging and it is the only form of social media that I genuinely enjoy.

By chance I came upon a post by L.K. Hill, who I met through this year's A to Z Challenge, that inspired me to want to give blogging another go. L.K.'s post was "5 Ways to Become an Expert in Your Field," and while I didn't expect to be inspired by it when I started reading that's exactly what happened.

I won't go through the whole post since anyone interested can read it on L.K.'s site, but she wrote that she has worked to become a dystopian expert since she published her first book Persistence of Vision.  According to L.K., this has served to boost her credibility and help build her online platform.

While reading about L.K.'s experiences, I had a bit of a lightbulb moment about what I can blog about. If you followed my blog when my book The Ghosts of Aquinnah was released you may remember I loved sharing stories about ghosts. I'm now writing another book with a ghost, this one a malevolent and truly frightening presence. It dawned on me that there is no reason I can't become an expert on ghosts and ghost stories!

L.K. mentioned that one of the tasks that helped her feel like an expert was research, namely reading. I already know I love reading about ghosties, and I don't think there is any limit to the number of stories I can find. My WIP takes place in Chicago so I've got a whole new place to explore to find ghosts and haunted places.

So all of the sudden while reading L.K.'s post I thought, voila! That's it. I can share stories about ghosts and ghouls and haunted Chicago spaces while also doing research on my setting and its fascinating history. I figure it's a win-win since I will have stories to share while also possibly finding information that could serve to beef up my novel.

I'm grateful to L.K. for the inspiration and so glad I stumbled upon her blog during the A-Z this year. I didn't think I'd still be able to meet new and fun bloggers but I was wrong and I'm glad of that.

I'm excited about getting started on my ghost apprenticeship and sharing what I learn along the way. I hope I can find some spooky stories to bring some life back to this blog. :D

Happy June and IWSG day, all!

Precipice by M.Pax, moving the Gay Head Lighthouse, & the real ghost of Aquinnah

I never intended to drop out of the blogosphere after May's IWSG meeting but, as seems to be the norm for me lately, I got distracted by some unexpected issues and next thing I knew May was almost at an end. The good news is the issues are behind me and were nothing serious, but the bad news is I am very late to the launch party for the latest book in M. Pax's amazing Backworlds series, Precipice.

Still, I am thrilled to be able to share another great installment in this series and help spread the word about all of M. Pax's brilliant books. If you are reading this and haven't checked her work out yet, do so right away! You won't regret it. :)

Before I get to Precipice though I just wanted to share a few things that relate to my book The Ghosts of Aquinnah and the island on which it is set, Martha's Vineyard.

I wrote this post in the summer of 2013 about the need to move the Gay Head lighthouse, which is featured on the book cover, due to erosion of the Aquinnah cliffs. After two years of planning and fundraising, the move is underway now.

Source: http://www.mvtimes.com/

While I can't begin to understand the engineering behind the move, the lighthouse will somehow be transferred to the track shown in the above photo and moved 130 feet back from its current location.

The lighthouse has been on the cliffs since 1856 and it is still a guiding light for those navigating the waters of Vineyard Sound. It will be strange to see it in a different place when I return to the island, but I'm so glad that it has been saved.

In another interesting tidbit related to my Aquinnah book, I learned that there is actually a real legend of a female ghost haunting the beach that is eerily close to my own story.

In the book Martha's Vineyard: Quiet Pleasures, author Phyllis Meras writes about a local legend which states that a young woman wearing a long cape can be found prowling the Aquinnah shoreline on the night of the full moon. While my ghost Stella didn't only appear during a full moon, she did wear a cape, she was very young, and the Aquinnah cliffs were her haunting grounds. It was bizarre and kind of surreal to come upon this story in Ms. Meras' book. Now I can't help but hope I get to see this ghost sometime! :D

Now on to Precipice!

Blurb:

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendants to survive in a harsh universe. This is the sixth book in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.

The Backworlds hang by a Quantum string, a thread about to snap. Annihilation is coming if Craze can’t stop it.

The genocidal alien he had trapped breaks free, destroying a ship belonging to the Backworlds’ oldest enemy, the Fo’wo’s. The murderous alien wants to overtake the galaxy. The Fo’wo’s want another war.

The Backworlds’ best chance to survive is to overcome a century of hate and forge an alliance with the Fo’wo’s. Because of his history with the alien, Craze is recruited to represent his people. Now he’s the most hated man in the galaxy.

The looming war will be a holocaust unless Craze can stop it, knowing salvation comes at a price.

Excerpt: 

Commander Hunninger tapped an icon on her tab and jabbed it in Craze’s face. “You really want to say no to this?”

The screen was too close. He grabbed the device from her manly fingers and brought the image into focus. A brand new, state-of-the-art, mini city docking facility. Pardeep Station had never seen finer and probably never would. Better protection from the dust storms was a necessity, and folks had to get out of the cold. Craze tired of the stench of the sick. “How much is it goin’ to cost? Everyone on this moon barely has three chips to jangle in their holey pockets.”

“No chips.” She smiled. Her wide mouth contained a lot of very white teeth.

Three good sucks on his air hose and Craze knew he wasn’t dreaming. He narrowed his eyes. “There’s still a price.”

Buy links: Amazon / B&N / iBook / Googleplay / Smashwords / Kobo / Other

About M. Pax:

Fantasy, science fiction, and the weird beckons to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless inspiration. She docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers, and one of her cats has a crush on Mr. Spock. You can find out more by visiting her website: mpaxauthor.com

The Black Dog of Hanging Hills

Source: Wikimedia

I'm excited to be over at Debbie Christiana's blog today as part of her monthly CURIOSITIES feature. As anyone who read this blog back in the fall knows, I love spooky tales and ghost stories, so I was happy to come upon Debbie's feature earlier this year. And I was even happier when she asked me to be part of it!

I dug back in to my New England ghost stories file and came upon the legend of a mysterious little hellhound who reportedly haunts the Hanging Hills of Hubbard Park in Connecticut.

Please come visit with Debbie and me here to learn more about this unusual pooch. And if you haven't already read Debbie's book Solstice, you're missing a great read. :)

Thanks for the feature, Debbie!

Talking Ghosts with Gwen Gardner, 'Tis More Blessed Winner, and Susan Oloier's Latest

I'm hanging out with fellow Untethered Realms member Gwen Gardner, author of Givin' Up the Ghost and Guilty Ghost Surprised, to chat about something we obviously both love - ghost stories. I share some of my favorite ghost books and movies, and Gwen's titles definitely belong on that list. Please come visit Gwen and me here.

I'm also happy to announce that Sherry Ellis won the ebook copy of The Ghosts of Aquinnah that I gave away as part of the 'Tis More Blessed giveaway. Congratulations to Sherry! And thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. I'm on board for another round with Milo this Friday and am looking forward to it.

Finally, it's release day for Susan Oloier's latest novel Haunted.  I'm reading Haunted right now and it is a beautifully written and deeply moving story. Susan has a real gift with words. Congratulations and best of luck on the release, Susan!

A Visit to S.K. Anthony & 'Tis More Blessed

Baker's Island Light (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I'm visiting Kinetic author S.K. Anthony to share one final ghost story for The Ghosts of Aquinnah blog tour. Visit me there to learn about the ghosts (and beast!) of Baker's Island, Massachusetts. Thank you to S.K. for hosting me!

Also, thanks to everyone who has stopped by and entered my 'Tis More Blessed drawing for an ebook copy of The Ghosts of Aquinnah. If you'd still like to enter, just leave a comment here before midnight tonight and I'll have a winner tomorrow. Thank you again to Milo for hosting the event!

I'm keeping this short today because I'm barely awake as I stayed up late last night to watch the Bengals remind us all that they are the Bengals. As they have proven more times than I can count, no one can choke quite like our pathetic Cincinnati Bengals. Way to make a statement, boys.

Hope to see you over at S.K.'s! :)

Music Hall Ghosts and the Holiday Food Drive Blogfest

This week I decided to share a post I wrote for the 2012 A-Z in April Challenge about a haunted landmark here in my home town of Cincinnati instead of a new ghost story. So these ghosts are much closer to home for me! 

Music Hall (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Cincinnati's Music Hall was built in 1878 and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is the home of the Cincinnati Pops and Symphony Orchestras and, according to legend, it is also the home of many ghosts.

Music Hall was built on land that held an Orphanage Asylum in 1844 and, prior to that, the Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum, which included a "pest house" for the indigent who were stricken with contagious diseases. When these indigent patients died, they were buried in mass graves, making the land under the present-day Music Hall a potter's field. 

With that kind of history, it's not hard to imagine there could be some restless souls wandering around Music Hall. While the venue is undoubtedly beautiful, it's not a big stretch for me to believe that there could be ghosts there, as I've always thought the place had a bit of a "Phantom of the Opera" vibe. When I've been there for shows, I could easily imagine the huge chandelier crashing down into the crowd.

Music Hall's Springer Auditorium (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Throughout the years, employees of Music Hall have reported strange sounds, such as footsteps, slamming doors, and music playing when no musicians were in the building. One employee reported what sounded like a music box playing for hours in the elevator shaft. In addition, workers have seen apparitions and ghostly forms, such as an extra unknown "cast member" in a production, men and women dressed in 19th century clothing, and, most notably, a "girl in white" who frequents the auditorium. Chairs in the auditorium have reportedly been moved, and elevators set in motion when no one has pressed their buttons.

Music Hall has been renovated several times over the years and, each time, construction workers have unearthed bones. Its reputation for ghostly inhabitants has spread so far that Music Hall was featured on The Travel Channel's Most Terrifying Places in America.

Now, The Cincinnati Arts Association gives guided ghost tours of Music Hall one night a month. I've never attended a tour but, after the reading I did for this post, I can't deny I'm a little curious.

Today is the last day for the Holiday Food Drive Blogfest, hosted by M.J. Joachim and Tina Downey. The purpose of the fest is to raise awareness about hunger by spotlighting local food pantries in the hopes of helping to stock their shelves for the upcoming holidays and beyond.

I am spotlighting the Anderson Ferry Food pantry here in Cincinnati. This pantry is run out of a local church and is actually only about 5 minutes from where I live. I drive past the pantry regularly, and I've written before about what a sobering sight it is to see people lined up outside the door for food during the pantry's distribution hours. The pantry is a small operation that only serves people in our immediate area and the first time I saw the line it was a shock to realize how many people in our neighborhood are in need.

I've donated to this pantry before but this blogfest was a great reminder to do it again. Thanks to M.J. and Tina for hosting the fest!

Cemetery Ghosts and Another Lexa & Julie Update

Abel's Hill on a pretty Spring day

Abel's Hill Cemetery on Martha's Vineyard dates back to at least the 1700s and to my knowledge is one of the oldest cemeteries on the island. I have so many ancestors buried at Abel's Hill that it can be a bit eerie to go there and see my last name on what feels like every other stone.

The cemetery is the setting for a key scene in The Ghosts of Aquinnah so I thought I would share a few cemetery ghost stories for today's post. While I was unable to find any ghost stories about Abel's Hill, anyone who has been there on a foggy and dark evening can tell you that it's a safe bet that there are some ghosts hanging around there at any given time.

All of these stories involve cemeteries in Connecticut, which was my father's home state.

The entrance to The Green Lady cemetery (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Green Lady cemetery is no longer in use, but the old headstones remain on the small plot of land in the town of Burlington. Visitors to the cemetery have reported a greenish figure appearing around the tombstone of Elisabeth Palmiter, who drowned in a nearby swamp while searching for her lost husband during a crippling winter storm in the early 1800s. Many believe Elisabeth now haunts the land as the Green Lady.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Gunntown Cemetery is located in the town of Naugatuck, in a rural area that is surrounded by woods. Visitors to the cemetery have reported sounds of music and children's laughter coming from the woods in the middle of the night, with the noises growing louder and louder until they seem to be coming from inside of the cemetery itself. Others have said they have received calls on their cell phones while in the cemetery in spite of the fact that they have no cell service in the area. The calls have no number listed with them and no one on the other end of the line when the phones are answered.

Union Cemetery (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Union Cemetery in Easton is reportedly one of the most famous haunted cemeteries in the country thanks to its resident ghost, The White Lady of Union Cemetery. The lady is said to glide through the cemetery and around the tombstones wearing a white nightgown or wedding dress. Visitors to the cemetery have reported hearing disembodied sounds of a woman sobbing. In addition, a man reported driving past the cemetery on Route 59 late one night when a women in white suddenly appeared in the road in front of him. Unable to stop, he struck the figure. But when he got out of his truck, she was nowhere to be seen. Numerous drivers have claimed to have seen the ghostly woman in a white dress while on Route 59 at night.

Some have speculated the White Lady is the ghost of Harriet Seeley, who is buried in the cemetery and had a son who preceded her in death in 1853. Those who believe the ghost is Seeley suggest that the White Lady is roaming the cemetery searching for her dead son.

Do you know of any haunted cemeteries? I would imagine there are quite a few!

I want to say thank you again to everyone who has signed up for Lexa and Julie's Dream Destination Blog Hop! Lexa and I are totally overwhelmed by the response and so grateful to those who have donated to our prizes. I am including an updated list of prizes here along with the sign up list. You guys totally rock!

Current List of Prizes

Ebook copies of our books The Ghosts of Aquinnah & Soul Cutter

A 5 page critique from Lexa's agent Michelle Johnson of Inklings Literary Agency

A query critique from Michelle Johnson

An ebook bundle from my publisher Ink Smith Publishing

An ebook of Champion in the Darkness by Tyrean Martinson,

A digital copy of The 13th Floor Complete Collection by Christine Rains

An ebook of Drowned Sorrow by Vanessa Morgan

An ebook from M. Pax
A Kindle copy of BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. by Medeia Sharif 
An ebook from Nicki Elson - winner's choice of Three Daves, Divine Temptation or Hans & Greta

A Kindle copy of The People We Used to Be by Madeline Mora-Summonte

A 5 page critique from C. Lee McKenzie

And finally, the Realms Faire is in full swing and prizes are going like crazy. Visit M.Pax here for a full list of ongoing events and visit our Untethered Realms blog here to play Phasers and enter to win our Kindle grand prize!

IWSG and the Brenton Point Ghosts

It's hard to believe it's time for another meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, but here we are on the first Wednesday of November. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh and this month's co-hosts are CD Coffelt, Tina Downey, Isis Rushdan, and Michelle Wallace. Also, the group now has its own website which is a fantastic resource for writers.

My novel The Ghosts of Aquinnah will be released on December 5, which means it's now officially less than one month away! I am super excited but also feeling totally nervous and insecure about the release. I'm insecure about marketing and insecure about the book itself. I'm afraid everyone will hate it or worse that no one will read it so hating it won't even be an option.

I had all these same insecurities when Polar Night was released and I thought that I would do better the second time around. But if anything I am now much worse and the insecure voice in my head is having a field day freaking me out.

But I am going to do my best to shut my insecure voice up and focus on the joy of being able to share this book. Here's hoping I can keep that voice quiet. It's loud and obnoxious, so I may need to gag it or smother it with a pillow. :D

Brenton Point (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

For this week's ghost story I am traveling to Newport, Rhode Island, which was once the summer destination of choice for America's wealthiest families, many of whom built mansions and lavish estates along Newport's shores.

Brenton Point State Park in Newport is located right on the shore and reportedly has exquisite scenic views. But in spite of this beauty, the land itself was not very friendly to those who chose to live there.

Wealthy attorney and amateur archaeologist Theodore Davis built an estate at Brenton Point in 1876 and filled his mansion with artifacts he had taken from the Middle East while on exhibitions to find King Tut's tomb. Many claimed that these artifacts were cursed by the spirits of the Pharaohs, and the curse seemed to play out as first Davis' windmill and then his stables caught on fire and burned to the ground. 

While Davis rebuilt the windmill and stables, he was reportedly never happy on the estate from the time he moved in until his death in 1910. The property was vacant for 13 years following the death until it was purchased by Milton Budlong. The Budlong family was also miserable on the land and Budlong's children refused to live there after his death in 1941. Finally, after years of being left derelict, a fire destroyed the mansion in 1960.

The state of Rhode Island took over the estate in the 1960s and turned it into the park it is today. The ruins of the stables remain in the park and visitors have reported hearing voices and the sound of galloping hooves in the area. Many park visitors have heard a horse clopping up behind them while walking along the paths of the park, only to turn around and find no horse in sight. In addition, visitors have reported hearing ethereal voices in the gardens and around the site of the windmill.

Many rangers who work at the park refuse to enter the old estate grounds after dark. I figure if even the rangers don't want to be there, I probably wouldn't either. Although I think it would be interesting to visit during the daylight hours and see if I could hear those horses' hooves myself. :D

Happy IWSG day, all!