Happy Halloween! I'm thrilled to welcome the Paranormal Investigation Society of Central Alabama as my guests here today. They're real-life ghost hunters dedicated to exploring paranormal activity and helping the public with hauntings.
__________________________ SUBURBAN VAMPIRE:Welcome to Suburban Vampire! Thanks so much for joining me here on Halloween day. How long has PISCA been around, and how many members are involved?
PISCA: We started in 2000, and we currently have six investigators and three behind-the-scenes members. All of our members are a close-knit unit. We are somewhat of a family. We think you need that in a group. Trust is the number-one way to be successful in anything.
SV:What type of equipment do you use for your investigations? Which equipment tends to produce the most results?
PISCA: We use a variety of equipment, which includes the K2 meter, EMF meter, thermometer, IR cams with DVR, digital voice recorders, Hi8 Nightvision camcorders, compass, laser grid, and Taser (to electrify the air). The best equipment to us is the K2 and voice recorder. We can communicate directly with a spirit.
SV:Looking at your team members, would you say there's a typical type of person who joins a paranormal investigation group?
PISCA: You have to have people that are somewhat “open” and a “skeptic.” You want to have in the back of your mind that the place isn’t haunted. Because if you go into a place thinking it is, your mind will focus on every sound you hear as being paranormal.
SV:Are there specific types of locations that produce more paranormal activity than others?
PISCA:Yes, actually. Places that have water, quartz, magnetite, and limestone are conductors for electricity. The Stanley Hotel is a prime example of limestone being a factor for the haunting. The energy is trapped and, therefore, causing the haunting at The Stanley Hotel.
SV:You perform your investigations in the dark to utilize your infrared cameras and video equipment. Have you ever experienced phenomena so terrifying that you had to turn on the lights?
PISCA: Not yet. I have seen some things that would make most people turn on lights or run out, but we make sure the guys of PISCA are ready for anything and everything. We never let the client know that we have been afraid. If the client sees a paranormal investigator turn the lights on or run out it exacerbates their fears.
SV:Your team doesn't charge for investigations, and you state on your website, "All good and honest paranormal groups will not charge you to investigate your home." What else should people watch out for to avoid ghost-hunting scams?
PISCA: Yes, we believe that you come in this field because you or a loved one has experienced something that terrified them, and you want answers and to help those like yourself or loved one. You definitely have to watch for hoaxes or someone faking evidence.
SV: What's the best way for readers to contact you if they're in need of your services?
PISCA: We have a “HELP” form we ask all online clients to fill out. It helps us to better understand their situation. They can also contact us via Facebook. Or call our help number and leave a message. We will contact them within forty-eight hours of their request.
Joining me today is singer/composer/musician Kristen Lawrence, creator of the Halloween Carols™. In case you haven't yet heard Kristen's beautiful and haunting musical tributes to our dark October holiday, I've included some of her videos below our chat. She's also sharing her favorite Halloween tunes from the past, so you'll want to read this post without the sound muted.
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SUBURBAN VAMPIRE:Welcome to Suburban Vampire, Kristen! Our love of the Halloween season started in a similar fashion: an Orange County childhood that included frequent trips to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and an enjoyment of the eerie traditional American tune "Ghost of John." Do you remember any other music that made Halloween come alive for you when you were a kid?
KRISTEN LAWRENCE: I loved “Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorgsky:
And “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saëns:
And “Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg:
I remember dancing to this music in the front room of our house. The lights were out, and the room was lit only by our glowing Halloween decorations. Pure childhood bliss.
I also remember the tune for “Danse Macabre” made into a kiddie song, “H-A-double-L-O-W-double-E-N Spells Halloween”:
SV:You go into great detail about the genesis of the Halloween Carols™ at your site, so I won't make you repeat the entire story here. (Readers: head to the "About Kristen" page for a fascinating account of an evolution of an artist.)
In a nutshell, what have been your greatest inspirations for creating this music?
KL: I suppose it’s the way Halloween and the whole month of October make me feel. The angle of the sun really affects me. I enjoy every season in its time, appreciating what each one has to offer (well, I’m better at enjoying summer than I used to, but I still don’t enjoy sweating when I’m NOT exercising); variety is lovely. But when it’s time for autumn … ah, my brain and spirit go into euphoria.
So, I try to capture those feelings in my music. Or let them loose, actually. I’m inspired by the beauty other composers have created, all the meaning they infuse therein. I want to create beauty, too. I hope it’s meaningful to other ears and hearts.
On a technical note, I’m fascinated by counterpoint – how lines of music line up with one another. I’m fascinated by harmony – how a single melody can be harmonized in countless ways. More reasons why I tick, tick, tick away at composing for hours. I love my quality time with manuscript paper and a pencil.
SV:I own both A Broom with a View and Arachnitect, and my kids and I have made the music a part of our October traditions. I particularly love your dreamy, haunting "Dark Glass." Do you have a favorite song from your collections? Or is that like asking you to pick a favorite child?
KL: Thank you! I’m dancing inside about being part of your October traditions. That makes me so happy to hear.
You’re pretty close about picking a favorite child. They are each distinct personalities that I love and appreciate. I labored to give each one of them life.
But I really enjoy hearing about people’s favorites. Really do. “Dark Glass” came before I had the epiphany of Halloween Carols™ in title and round/four-part musical form (the title actually first came to me as “Halloween Hymns” because I like alliteration). I was just writing Halloween music at the time, exploring ideas in how to write about this holiday. I had started my studies of Halloween history and had begun to base each song on a little bit of history, but “Dark Glass,” in contrast, was purely an exploration of feelings and visions. While writing it, I’d often stare from my piano bench out the window at the moon for long, hypnotic stretches.
SV:Suburban Vampire is a home for vampire fans, so let's turn to the subject of our beloved, undead creatures of the night. You've given us songs such as "Vampire Empire," "Blood Waltz," and "Flappy Bat." Will you be releasing any future vampire-related tunes that I'll be able to share on one of my forthcoming Vampire Music Mondays?
KL: This next CD (coming out as soon as possible) doesn’t have vampire-specific tunes, but there will be more vampire-ish tunes in the future. Until then, I can almost guarantee that this next CD will satisfy. You and your readers probably really will plunge your fangs into it.
And among the Halloween Carols™ waiting their turn for me to orchestrate/arrange them for future recordings, there are some tasty creatures. I quite enjoy the subject of blood itself. I like writing music about it, or at least including it in my lyrics somewhere. It’s rather symbolic. And meaningful and beautiful. Red is so pretty.
SV: Who's your favorite vampire from fiction and/or film?
KL: I have two. Judd Hirsch from The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t and Richard Roxburgh from Van Helsing. The first vampire makes me laugh. The second vampire makes me purr.
I grew up with The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t. I loved Judd’s “teeny tiny bat, teeny tiny bat, teeny tiny bat …” at 8:28:
And I like how he hisses at 4:35. Hahaha.
As far as Count Vladislaus Dracula from Van Helsing, well, I wouldn’t want to share him with any other vampire wives. He’s so intelligent and powerful:
SV:What's your favorite scary movie?
KL: Many people would be surprised to learn that I don’t like the slasher/horror types of scary movies. I prefer, instead, the types like Van Helsing, which is a bit campy, but fantastical, and so enjoyable to me. I don’t like movies with gratuitous blood and guts or movies that give me a bad feeling; rather, I prefer more suspenseful movies that end up having a lot of meaning, like The Others and The Sixth Sense.
I also love movies with beautiful, alluring cinematography, like Bright Star (because historical Halloween is a lot about romance, you know – an element totally lost in modern celebrations). I love funny, quirky, delicious movies like Hocus Pocus. And I love movies like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir that haunt the atmosphere and linger with me.
SV:Favorite Halloween candy?
KL: I like intense dark chocolates, but you don’t usually find those in Halloween offerings. However, as much as I try to be a chocolate snob, I find that in most cases SOME chocolate is better than NO chocolate, so I content myself with Butterfingers or those “Special Dark” candies. Haha. But I usually prefer chocolate that’s so good, I absorb it into my tongue and don’t swallow for as long as possible.
SV:Favorite Halloween costume (one you've worn or wish you had worn)?
KL: I like being Catwoman – the Michelle Pfeiffer brand. She’s kind of my alter ego, but unlike her, I don’t let issues get in the way of loving good men. (She could have had BATMAN! What a silly girl.) I also love dressing up as Elf Queen/Fairy Queen characters. And the costume I’d like to create someday is Alice’s coat of armor from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. I think that’d be just swell, battling the Jabberwockies and all.
Here are a few items to keep you entertained as we enter the second-to-last weekend before Halloween...
Midnight Son Is Coming to FearNet!
Fantastic news for indie vampire cinema: critically acclaimed vampire drama Midnight Son will be premiering on FEARnet in January 2012, which marks the first time FEARnet has acquired a film directly from the filmmakers. “We normally acquire films from distributors, but after seeing the film earlier this year and really loving it, I contacted the filmmakers about acquiring it directly from them,” says Peter Block, FEARnet’s President & General Manager. “I know it will be something that the FEARnet audience will really respond to, and will be a perfect fit to our 2012 film lineup.”
Congratulations to everyone involved with Midnight Son!
Breaking Dawn: Part 1 Featurette
The Twilight Saga actors dish on the big Bella/Edward wedding scene in Breaking Dawn: Part 1:
"Dinner for Six"
The next episode of the sharp and hilarious series Vampire Mob arrives this Sunday, October 23, and you're invited to drop by to chat with actor John Colella and writer/director Joe Wilson from 11 AM-Noon that day on the Vampire Mob YouTube page. Here's an atmospheric new Vampire Mob poster to whet your appetite...
Kristen Lawrence Is Coming to Suburban Vampire!
Be sure to visit me here at Suburban Vampire this upcoming Monday. I'll be chatting with Kristen Lawrence, a talented musician who'll ensure you never again have dull music playing at your Halloween soirees.
I just received the following flash mob news from the makers of Vampire Wedding: _______________________________________
Castalides Pictures invites everyone to join the Vampire Wedding Flash Mob in London, on Saturday, October 29, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at the entrance of the MCM Expo Comic Con (a Vampire Wedding representative with a T-shirt will be there).
Aspiring vampires can register on Facebook and get ready to show up dressed as vampires, vampire grooms & brides, or vampire flower girls.
All Vampire Wedding fans will be given the chance to meet with the Vampire Wedding team at the Comic Con and to have their pictures taken to post on Facebook and on the Vampire Wedding website (www.vampireweddingmovie.com) to be considered for a role in the comic book or in the movie, or just to have fun and show the photos to their friends.
People who will not be able to be in London can still take part by sending their photos to casting AT vampireweddingmovie.com on October 29 or simply posting them on the Vampire Wedding Facebook wall.
Are you in the mood for supernatural tales that don't just involve fangs and bloodsuckers this Halloween? Here's a sampling of eerie-looking ghost stories coming to theaters in the very near (in some cases, next week) and not-too-distant future.
The Awakening Starring: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, and Imelda Staunton Release Date: October 25, 2011 (London Film Festival)
The Woman in Black (Newest Trailer) Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, and Ciarán Hinds Release Date: February 3, 2012
Paranormal Activity 3 Starring: Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden, and Lauren Bittner Release Date: October 21, 2011
On Friday night I saw a live performance of Portland's Midnight Serenaders, a talented band that plays hot jazz and vintage pop of the 1920s and 30s, as well as Jazz Age-inspired original songs written by their ukelele-strumming singer, Dee Settlemier. Their live show was amazing, and I was thrilled to hear a song about spellbinding, zombie-inducing love that would work for a Music Monday feature. In support of local music, here's a sample of "Victim of Love":
The winner of signed copies of Christine Cody's Bloodlands and Blood Rules is...
Indigo
Congratulations!
Thanks so much to everyone who entered, and a huge thanks to Christine Cody for offering the giveaway. If you missed her guest post last week, check it out here.
My guest today is Christine Cody, author of the postapocalyptic supernatural Western series Bloodlands. The first book, Bloodlands, launched July 26, followed by Blood Rules (August 30) and In Blood We Trust (September 27). Be sure to check out her contest for SIGNED COPIES of two of her books at the end of the post. ____________________________________
Bloodlands
by Christine Cody
Thanks for having me here!
Recently, my Bloodlands series was launched by Ace. It hasn’t been easy to market it because this series is a hybrid of many different genres: postapocalyptic, classic Western, vampires and urban fantasy, and a bit of mystery (mostly in the first book). Some readers and reviewers have even been referring to it as horror, which I love, seeing as I grew up on a steady diet of it.
Yes, my education in the horrific started early, so it’s no surprise that I love to explore the darkness. My sweet little mom is actually a huge horror fan, and it’s because of her that we would sit around the fire while camping, listening to recordings of old, scary radio shows.
You know the ones I’m talking about—Dial M for Murder, Only the Shadow Knows. They were from a time when sound was more important than the visual, when the use of suspense trumped all else. We would lean forward in our camp chairs, toward the radio in anticipation, seeking warmth and light from the fire as if it would protect us from all the other unknown things lurking in the woods or in our imaginations.
From listening to those tapes (and trying to go to sleep afterward in our tents, where everything cast a shadow on the thin walls), I think my writer’s brain got some training in horror and especially in how to construct a suspenseful moment—something that I hope has translated to scenes like the one in the first Bloodlands book, when the “cruel rancher next door” is showing the “frightened and cowed settlers” that he means business when it comes to protecting his territory….
After the campfire tales, I graduated to grade school and middle school slumber parties. These weren’t your typical innocent sleepovers that a female has when she first starts this ritual. Nope—we’re talking about when girls get old enough to really want to scare each other, like when the more experienced ones bring their “I Believe in Bloody Mary” stories and “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” games. Girls have the ability to wreak some havoc under those circumstances, and in all honesty, you can get a little mentally scarred (if not totally scared!). I remember one game of “Bloody Mary” that sent a few of us screaming for the doors.
I guess I’ve always wanted to do that to other impressionable people, so that’s why I chose horror, LOL.
After that, my family moved to Kentucky for a few wonderful years, and my best friends and I started to get involved with what’s now referred to as “legend tripping.” This is a real thing that sociologists talk about—groups of young people going to places like graveyards, terrifying each other with urban legends, and daring each other to do increasingly weird and warped things to prove their bravery. We were pretty mild, though, and our favorite activity was to go “haunting housing.” We would hear about one abandoned country house or another, then visit it on weekend nights. Some legend trips were more successful than others—once, we went to a house that had toys covering the floor ankle-deep, and we couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on. Very creepy—an image that’s stayed with me for a long time; in fact, it’s going to be making an appearance in an urban fantasy novella I’m currently brainstorming. We also explored a house that was supposedly used as a Civil War hospital (Were those bloodstains on the attic floor???) and a cemetery off a desolate, oak branch-fingered road called The Old Mud Meeting House, where slaves were said to meet and then bury their dead.
It’s funny to look back at what shaped my work—as far as Bloodlands goes, classic Western movies also contributed a lot, since I twisted tropes from those films into paranormal shapes. I have no idea what will inspire my next scary story, but I’m excited about all the ghost hunts (that would be another blog subject) and otherworldy experiences that I’m sure to seek out….
Which is your favorite rendition of Danny Elfman's "This Is Halloween"? The original version from The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack? Marilyn Manson's darker take? Panic! at the Disco's quieter interpretation? Your niece's attempt to belt out the song on YouTube? I've lined up the first three options below so you can decide.
If the cover art of Scott M. Baker's Dominion doesn't have you cowering under your chair (or even if it does), then you'll want to check out the final installment of his Vampire Hunters trilogy. Last year, Scott chatted with me about the first books in the series, and now he's sent me the scoop about this newest release, now available from Pill Hill Press. _________________________________________
Dominion's Synopsis:
After being hidden away for centuries, the Vampyrnomicon, the Book of the Undead, is finally unearthed, and with it the terrible secret of the vampires’ origins. The discovery of the Vampyrnomicon gives Drake Matthews the means to defeat the Master and eradicate the vampire threat, but it also provides Chiang Shih with the knowledge she needs to make her masters immortal.
Now more powerful than ever, Chiang Shih raises an army of the undead and creates a vampire nation in Washington D.C. Her attempt to assassinate Drake and his colleagues nearly cripples the hunters, but fails to kill them all. Driven by vengeance, and with his band of hunters swelled by unlikely allies, Drake leads the group into the infested city.
With the fate of humankind hanging in the balance, hunters and vampires wage the final epic battle in the streets of the nation’s capital to determine who will hold dominion over the earth.
My guest today is Margie Church, whose newest release, Nopeming Shores, just debuted yesterday. She wrote the novel with the poet J. Andrew Lockhart, and she's here to talk about the book, her writing collaboration, and her central ghost. Be sure to check out her giveaway at the end of the post.
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Meet Gabe, the Ghost in Nopeming Shores
by Margie Church
Nopeming (no-paw-ming) Shores is a sensual, paranormal romance about a man named Gabriel Holliway and his wife, Lily. In the story, Gabe is never alive. He's been killed by an IED in the war in Afghanistan. His wife is so distraught that Gabe is given a chance by God to help her find her way through her grief. At the same time, this also helps Gabe get past the tremendous anger he has about being killed and watching his wife put her life back together.
I want to be clear this is not a book based on or about religion or religious beliefs. It is about a spirit unable to leave the confines of earthly existence because of his emotional ties.
Gabe's anger and motivations were largely influenced by the poet J. Andrew Lockhart, who helped me write Nopeming Shores. Andrew says, "I really liked the idea of Margie's story. It almost fit into my own past. Fifteen years ago, when I was 30, I had a stroke and brain surgery. I was on 'code blue' twice in the following weeks. At the time, I had only been married for six years, and we had a one year-old son. (By the way, we have four children now, so not all of me had been damaged.)
"Anyway, I often have thought about what would have happened if I hadn't made it, like Gabe. It still bothers me, even though it's been that long. Because of that, the poetry I wrote for this book was easy. In a way, I had been there before. 'Being Gabe' was easy. Working on the story was much more emotional than I thought it would be. Well worth doing, but I have to say, it's nice to be back in reality."
Building on what Andrew shared, I took the sorrow, anxiety, and downright fear he went through to help create those same emotions in Gabe. Then, I used my own experiences with violent death to build Gabe's anger and sense of betrayal. Conversely, his abiding determination to help his wife, Lily, even after death, is a poignant reminder of the strength of their love.
Nopeming Shores Synopsis:
An IED snuffed out Gabe Holliway's life but couldn't destroy his love. Using his unique gift, Gabe struggles to help his young wife, Lily, rebuild her shattered future.
But when Gabe's ghost reaches out to her, Lily fears she's lost her last hold on sanity. Can she trust what she discovers and what her heart says? When she sees Gabe face-to-face, can she believe her eyes?
When love transcends death, the answers are found in Nopeming Shores.
I'm kicking off the Halloween season's lineup of Music Mondays with Hannah Fury's "The Vampire Waltz," from the Gothic singer/songwriter's 2000 album, The Thing That Feels. According to Fury's website, mellowtraumatic.com, "when she was 16, 'The Vampire Waltz' first appeared to her in its spectral form." She calls the song "an eight-minute anti-lullaby of love, possession, and the loss of innocence."
The music is lush, haunting, and poetic—perfect for lovers of the romantic side of vampires.
In celebration of K.A.'s tale of bloodsuckers and bloodsucking retail jobs, I asked, "What's the most miserable job—or most miserable job moment—you've ever had, be it in retail or otherwise?" I have to share Zahir's response, because it's so creepy and entertaining:
"One utterly horrible job I had was to wait in an empty office on an deserted floor in a half-empty skyscraper for a week, with a message to deliver if anyone called.
No one called."
Congratulations, Zahir! Thanks to everyone who entered, and a huge thanks to K.A. Corlett for joining me to chat about her novel. If you missed her interview last week, catch it here.
"Vampires, satire, a really nasty retail day job, and occasional doses of the French Revolution; what more could you ask for? Recommended for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all those who like their fiction offbeat."
—Susanne Alleyn, author of the Aristide Ravel Mysteries and A Far Better Rest
"Corlett's characters never cease to surprise, and her prose mixes the reverential, the farcical, and the truly human with agile ease."
—Kurt R.A. Giambastiani, author of Dreams of the Desert Wind and the Fallen Cloud Saga
"If you prefer your contemporary satire with a twist of the Divine, K.A. Corlett is your gal. Her alchemy blends pop culture, world history, the supernatural, and religions both East and West into a most heady and palatable brew."
—Laura Mazzuca Toops, author of Hudson Lake, The Latham Loop, and Slapstick
"Ever Your Servant is a refreshing spin on the vampire genre (sans the sparkly angst that has damned modern-day vampire lore). It's a fun ride full of great characters."
—Kevin Godin, Theater-of-Cruelty.blogspot.com
"Ever Your Servant is by turns witty, hilarious, terrifying, and sexy. If you're hungry for a vampire tale with a wildly original—and super-sharp—bite, you're ready for EYS."
—Juliet Waldron, author of Mozart's Wife, Genesee, and Hand-Me-Down Bride
PISCA:Yes, actually. Places that have water, quartz, magnetite, and limestone are conductors for electricity. The Stanley Hotel is a prime example of limestone being a factor for the haunting. The energy is trapped and, therefore, causing the haunting at The Stanley Hotel.
