Why do I think my home is creepy? by Barbara Edwards #Halloweenbloghop #Giveaway

It’s no surprise that living in Connecticut contributed to my interest in the paranormal. this small state is a hotbed of weird and unusual happenings. Where do I start?
Snarlolgy Halloween Blog Hop Yellow 2Many towns have cemeteries that host grave from the early 1700s. Settlers had their own superstitions that they brought from their countries of origins. When a town had reports of a family dying from no known cause, the village elders and family concluded it was a vampire. the first girl who died was dug up and her bones burned tot stop the deaths. Strangely, it worked. Hmmm.
A sandbank collapsed to reveal coffins buried away from consecrated land. When open the coffins held skeletons with he bones rearranged. The femurs were on the chest in the shape of a cross, the skull, placed on the pelvis. This was a European belief to keep the dead from returning as a vampire.
Many cemeteries like the one in Burlington have a resident ghost. This one is called the Green Lady. No one knows if she is buried there or if her murdered body was dumped in the swamp where she hovers. She cries for justice. My sons actually went there to debunk the legend and got scared spit-less by her screams. or maybe they scared each other.
How about the famous Charter Oak? when the first farmer plowed the land around the massive oak, the local Indian Chief approached him to ask the tree be left to grow. The reason? It was vital to their magic ceremonies. The farmer wisely let it alone and it became a part of history.
Have you heard of the Moodus moans? loud sounds come from under the earth at random times. hunters have looked into caves, but found no real reason for the sounds.
The Connecticut Trail from the Boston area to Windsor and Hartford is haunted by those seeking a new home who died and were buried in graves long lost to memory.

Dudleyville, CT
Dudleyville, CT

Dudleytown is famous for its haunted memory. the town had a history of madness and no longer exists. People ofter visit the site and return reports of odd feelings, an atmosphere of fear and loathing.
How about the beach on the Long Island Shore where the British chained convicts to rocks at low tide and left them to drown when the tide came in. People hear their screams of anguish when the tide is rising. Creepy.
Did you notice I didn’t give you the names of the towns? Many residents don’t want to have their town known for paranormal activity. I can respect that. I don’t want anyone checking out my house because its haunted.
I’m learning more and more about my home state as I continue research on “Jacob” my next Rhodes End Series book and “Daniel” the following book.

AncientAwakening_w2417_300Ancient Awakening by Barbara Edwards Rhodes End Series Book 1 
Link: http://amzn.com/B002TG4NFG
Blurb:
In Ancient Awakening, Police Officer ‘Mel’ Petersen investigates a death only she believes is murder. By disobeying direct orders from the Rhodes End Chief, she risks her career to follow clues that twist in circles to her backyard and lead the killer to her.
Her neighbor Stephen Zoriak is a prime suspect. Steve worked for a major pharmaceutical company where he discovered a weapon so dangerous he destroys the research. He is exposed to the dangerous organism. He suspects he is the killer and agrees to help her find the truth.
In the course of their investigation Mel and Steve find the real killer and a love that defies death.

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Ghostly bride haunts cemetery by Barbara Edwards

Colonial Cemetery

Haunted cemetery features ghost of bride should be the description of most creepy stories. I decided to be logical about the over-abundance of dead young brides if there is any kind of logic to deciphering deadly tales.

My opinion is that there aren’t more brides fluttering over gravestones than any other demographic.

So what causes the stories?

In times past burial was a simpler matter. Wash the body, cloth than wrap in a shroud or winding sheet, put in a wooden box (this is if there was someone to build it in the time left), dig a hole and insert remains. Cover with dirt.

Now comes the interesting part.

The body decomposed. TaDa- gas is released. At night this could appear to be a mist or cloud rising from the grave. Thus anyone passing the cemetery at night might be treated to a scary sight.

Imagination would provide the identity in a small town where everyone knows who was the most recent person to die.

Would you expect to see the actual person or a misty form floating near the grave?

My favorite local story is in a Harwinton Cemetery and she is called The Green Lady. The story says the Green lady was murdered by her husband on their wedding night. He threw her body into the swamp bordering the cemetery and claimed she ran off. This was in a time when the settlers were sparse, the graves few in number and the area not well-traveled.

Since then the area has been populated, the old cemetery expanded to hold hundreds of graves and a major highway passes close by. The swamp still exists due to inland-wetland preservation.

My two sons went there one dark night near Halloween to check her out. They parked the car and walked in, daring each other and talking the trash boys exchange when trying to scare each other.

I don’t know what they saw.

A green light floated over the swamp. Growing brighter, larger, it drifted toward them. They ran like rabbits and almost blew the tires speeding out of there.

They were laughing by the time they got home, but they did say ‘no’ when I wanted to go there, too.

Do you have a scary story?

Read my paranormal romances, Ancient Awakening and Ancient Blood for some frightening scenes.

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Dudleytown, A haunted place in Connecticut by Barbara Edwards

Dudleytown doesn’t exist anymore, but stories of madness, suicide and horrible happenings keep it from fading into history. Hikers report a dead zone minus any animal activity. Similarly birds are absent except for the day-time hooting of owls.

Map featuring Dudleytown

Was Dudleytown haunted by something evil? Does the haunting continue even though the houses have fallen into the ground and little remains to mark the spot? I don’t know. According to some local historians, the town’s remains have witnessed madness, suicide, fatal accidents, natural disasters, and vanishings

A curse befalling residents from the mid-1700’s to the early-1800’s makes a scary story. The curse has been traced to an English nobleman, Edmund Dudley, ancestor of the Dudley brothers who settled the town.  His head was chopped off for plotting against King Henry VII. A curse on Edmund  followed his family to the New World.

One of the Dudley brothers went insane. Other strange incidents included  a barn raising where a man fell to his death. Lightning struck and killed a Dudleytown woman on her porch.  The curse destroyed a sheep-herder’s  family. His wife died of tuberculosis, and his children disappeared. When his house burned down, he wandered into the woods, never to return.

Rev. Gary P. Dudley, a Texas resident and the author of The Legend of Dudleytown: Solving Legends through Genealogical and Historical Research (Heritage Books, 2001),  traced the genealogy of his name, found no historical basis for Dudleytown’s cursed reputation or genealogical link to Edmund Dudley.

The final resident of Dudleytown was Dr. William Clarke, a New York City physician who built a vacation home  in the early 1900s. The traditional story alleges that Mrs. Clarke was left alone overnight while her husband was summoned to an emergency in the city, and she descended into madness. Rev. Dudley says Mrs. Clarke committed suicide, but in New York, not in Dudleytown.

Before leaving, Dr. Clarke helped found Dark Entry Forest, Inc., an association of property owners that designated the area  a nature preserve. As Dudleytown fell to ruin, the land reverted to forest.

Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, CT

he Cornwall Covered Bridge is nearby and worth a trip.

Anyone can follow directions in a guide to nature walks in Connecticut  to the preserve’s main entrance at the end of Bald Mountain Road in Cornwall. The way is blocked by a locked gate and signs announcing “No Parking” and “No Trespassing.” Instead enter Dudleytown from the Mohawk Trail, a bit farther north. Dudleytown is about 1.5 miles from the trail’s entrance.

It’s obvious why Dudleytown’s neighbors don’t cotton to strangers.

The town’s legend  attracted paranormal investigators, journalists, hikers, the occasional birder, curiosity-seekers, and just plain folk inclined toward the supernatural. Until in 1999, after the release of The Blair Witch Project (the hugely popular movie about haunted woods in Maryland),  trespassers got out of hand.

The internet spread the legend far and wide.

The members of Dark Entry Forest, Inc placed Dudleytown off-limits after complaining of drinking parties, campfires, littering, disorderly conduct, and vandalism. A news release they issued stated in a single year, “law enforcement officers have been summoned 79 times”.

A sign in the Mohawk Trail parking lot warns hikers to keep out from October 25 to November 4. The trail crosses a corner of Dudleytown. The Connecticut Forest and Park Association closes this trail section for several days around Halloween.

I’ve personally hiked  the fabled Litchfield Hills in their autumn colors.

A brook bubbling near Dudleytown

The Mohawk Trail follows Dark Entry Road, which climbs steeply past houses and towering tree before narrowing near Bonney Brook. In the forest, a broken stone wall crosses the brook. Once it was a dam—Witches’ Dam, some now call it. Nearby, a hollow moaning comes from a thin stream of water spouting into a rocky pool.

A half-mile beyond the brook is Dudleytown. The trail guide calls it “an abandoned community.” It is so quiet around the doomed settlement’s stone ruins that belief in a dead zone is brought to mind.

Visitors have experienced vortexes and cold spots in Dudleytown; others have seen spirits. A few are recorded on film although cameras and other battery-powered equipment are unreliable here.  A few claim to have been chased, even slapped, by ghosts.

I can’t claim to know if the stories are true, but it does make me shiver.

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Book Cover
Paranormal romance by Barbara Edwards

Buy hyperlink Ancient Awakening http://www.wildrosepress.us/maincatalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=177_136&products_id=4511

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TG4NFG

Buy hyperlink Ancient Blood http://www.wildrosepress.us/maincatalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=177_136&products_id=4511

Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Blood-Finding-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B0052NUR12/

Another Love: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Another-Love-Barbara-Edwards/dp/1590888332/

 

 

 

 

Do you have psychic ability?

I’m truly curious about how many authors can claim psychic abilities. I’m going to be on a panel addressing this area and woke this morning wondering if I have to admit I have some psychic talent.

It’s like rattling my closet skeletons. I’m so nervous. People will think I’m weird. I’ll be pointed at on the street and have to move or change my name. Boy, am I going off on a tangent.

Writers are the most accepting people in the world. We understand what makes people different and value all the quirks. It all adds to the characters and plot we create.

I use psychic abilities to round out my characters, but it’s usually a secondary part of their personality. Annie knows her child is threatened. Rachel senses her twin’s feelings. That’s recorded and researched ability. Lily sees auras, but not on everyone or even when it will reveal the villain.

I don’t share those talents, but I do know how it feels to have that unexplainable episode occur. I am puzzled, even confused. For a minute I question why the people around me didn’t see or hear that ‘other’.  I always have a lag time. My reality has to accept the unreality as real.

Confusing? Oh yes. I think my mother had a talent, too, but she died young and I didn’t know enough to ask. She always explained to me that it was all right. I remember once waking from a vivid dream of a recently deceased person who grabbed my arm. I had a finger pattern of bruises on my bicep. Mom said I was the only one she could reach and to pray for her soul. Scary now that I look back.

I have vivid dreams that sometimes do come true. I also dream my story before I start writing. Along with a few other things I didn’t mention.

Let me know what you think. Do you use psychic abilities is your stories? Do you have one?

On my website are tidbits and urls to reviews for my books.

Author Website: http://barbaraedwards.net

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http://www.wildrosepress.us/maincatalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=177_136&products_id=4511

 

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TG4NFG

 

 

 

 

Scary starts with S

Did you ever notice that the scariest words start with S? Take
S-s-s-spooky. Just the word sends shivers down my spine. So I took that idea

Sunset in Rhodes End
Halloween Eve

and made a list I find scary.

10. Spook is another name for a ghost, but where ghost
conjures up cute images like Casper, in my mind spook is the sheet-clad figure
shifting through shadows.

9. Swamp is the site for slithery, slimy, sucking muck. The
victim always stumbles into the swamp, tries to escape and sinks.

8. Sarcophagus is more frightening than a simple tomb or
crypt. Picture the stone lid sliding aside for Dracula to ease out in his
nightly hunt for blood.

7. Shadows move and shift in the darkness. Shadows conceal
the evil things we strain to see. Shadows appear in places they don’t belong.
Shadows dog our steps.

Book One: Rhodes End Series
Paranormal Romance

6. Shape-shifters are more terrifying than werewolves since
they can assume any form.

5. Skeletons are a Halloween favorite to hang outside. They
rattle in the wind. Or make a click-click-clicking noise as they sneak along
the hallway of the old mansion.

4. Skulls are skinless, eyeless, sometimes toothless shapes,
all that remain of the place considered strong enough to protect our brains.
Skulls remind us of their past humanity.

3. Snakes are slithery and slippery. Asps hiss.

2. Stake is not exactly scary until you put it in the
context of killing Dracula or staking out your enemy on an anthill.

1. Samhain (pronounced Sow-een) is the Druid or witch
celebration of the holiday we renamed Halloween. Samhain is the time when the
curtain between worlds is thinnest and allows the creatures from the other side
to come into our world. Souls, demons, incubi, ghosts can roam freely and
do.  Fear they will not return is the
reason for November 1st to be called All Souls Day and a day of
prayer in many religions.

I’m sure you can think of more s’s. You’re welcome to add
them to my list.

 

Barbara Edwards writes paranormal romance.

Ancient Blood, Book Two Finding Rhodes End Series-blurb

Lily Alban escapes a murderous stalker, but his vicious attack
leaves her with the ability to see auras. She finds safety in the tiny hamlet
of Rhodes End where a stranger stands out like a red light. Try as she might to
deny her growing desire for Cole, she seeks his help but soon discovers the man
she loves is not a man at all.

Werewolf Cole Benedict resists his attraction to Lily. A botanist
researching the healing herbs to find a cure for Lycanthropy, he’s determined
to protect Lily from her stalker as well as himself even in human form, but
instinct takes over when he changes to his inner beast.

Together they must use their extraordinary gifts to catch Lily’s
stalker before he attacks again, but revealing their secrets to one another
could destroy their growing love or save them both.

Buy link for Ancient Blood http://tinyurl.com/3f627vh

 

 

Author Web: http://barbaraedwards.net

Blog Site: https://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/BarbaraEdwards

Ancient Blood http://on.fb.me/naHRY5

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Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003F6ZK1A

 

Buy link for Ancient Blood http://tinyurl.com/3f627vh

 

Maybe psychic ability can be inherited

I’m truly curious about how many authors can claim psychic abilities. I woke this morning wondering if I have to admit I have some psychic talent.

It’s like rattling my closet skeletons. I’m so nervous. People will think I’m weird. I’ll be pointed at on the street and have to move or change my name. Boy, am I going off on a
tangent.

Writers are the most accepting people in the world. We understand what makes people different and value all the quirks. It all adds to the characters and plot we create.

I use psychic abilities to round out my characters, but it’s usually a secondary part of their personality. Annie knows her child is threatened. Rachel senses her twin’s feelings. That’s
recorded and researched ability. Lily sees auras, but not on everyone or even
when it will reveal the villain.

I don’t share those talents, but I do know how it feels to have that unexplainable episode occur. I am puzzled, even confused. For a minute I question why the people around me didn’t see or hear that ‘other’.  I always have a lag time. My reality has to accept the unreality as real.

Confusing? Oh yes. I think my mother had a talent, too, but she died young and I didn’t know enough to ask. She always explained to me that it was all right. I remember once waking from a vivid dream of a recently deceased person who grabbed my arm. I had a finger pattern of bruises on my bicep. Mom said I was the only one she could reach and
to pray for her soul. Scary now that I look back.

I have vivid dreams that sometimes do come true. I also dream my story before I start
writing. Along with a few other things I didn’t mention.  Let me know what you think. Do you use psychic abilities is your stories? Do you have one?

Ancient Blood by Barbara Edwards Paranormal romance

Lily Alban escapes a murderous stalker, but his vicious attack
leaves her with the ability to see auras. She finds safety in the tiny hamlet
of Rhodes End where a stranger stands out like a red light. Try as she might to
deny her growing desire for Cole, she seeks his help but soon discovers the man
she loves is not a man at all.

Werewolf Cole Benedict resists his attraction to Lily. A botanist
researching the healing herbs to find a cure for Lycanthropy, he’s determined
to protect Lily from her stalker as well as himself even in human form, but
instinct takes over when he changes to his inner beast.

Together they must use their extraordinary gifts to catch Lily’s
stalker before he attacks again, but revealing their secrets to one another
could destroy their growing love or save them both.

“What
makes you so important? Or is this another secret?”

Cole’s eyes darkened. “Lily. I’m pushing the
line with you. Give me some slack.”

“I want answers, Cole.” She grabbed his arm
as he turned and pulled him to a halt.

He gently, carefully drew her fierce grip
into his grasp. His golden eyes heated as he lifted her hand to his lips. “I
already told you, Lily. You’d have to mate with me to learn all my secrets.”

Urgent need raced from his lips to her
center. His scorching gaze melted her from the inside out. All her being longed
to step into his arms, to become one in a way she’d never known. She trembled
as she recognized the danger.

Author Web: http://barbaraedwards.net

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Ancient
Blood Buy link http://tinyurl.com/3f627vh

Do you see what I see?

Old cemetery

We all have psychic abilities, but something inside convinces us it’s safer to say it’s only ‘imagination’.  I’ve seen the flicker of movement from the corner of my eye when nothing is there. I know it’s silly to worry about an open closet door or to check under the bed. I’m afraid to walk across a cemetery in the dark.

Is this what makes a story scary? I’m not sure I know. I know what frightens me, but it probably isn’t the same for others.

I use my fear to make my story real for the reader. That
shaky feeling in the middle of the night when I’m not sure what woke me can be
the same fear my heroine feels. Try to drag me to the edge of a cliff and I’ll
fight every inch of the way.

Have I seen ghosts? Depends what you mean. As in a light floating in the dark or a dark silhouette where no person exists? Yes, I’ve seen both and been frightened.

 

Does that show in my books?
I’ve been told that it does.

Here’s an excerpt from Ancient Awakening:

Book Cover
Paranormal romance

Legend gave him many names, but the wide halls of his mountain
retreat no longer echoed with countless worshipers. He could have ruled the
world had his ambition not died with the passage of time. The endless whispers
were from the cold winds and the few praying priests. He didn’t care that he
couldn’t remember his real name or birthplace.

For an eon he’d regretted the loss of softer emotions. Love had
been the first feeling to die, along with the woman who had insisted he would
never harm her. He couldn’t recall her features just the merry tinkle of her
laughter and the bright smile she had greeted him with every morning. He licked
his lips. She’d tasted sweet.

Fierce need flared in his gut and he sniffed the air. Outside
his chamber a single acolyte in long brown robes waited to escort him. His mouth
curved with a mirthless smile. The silent servants had ignited the flickering
wall torches. Shadows jumped and shivered in the drafty halls like nervous
virgins.

 

Visit my website at http://www.barbaraedwards.net  for more.

I’ll be at Write Angles Conference 2011 on Oct 22, 2011

By writers, for writers — in our
26th year in Western Massachusetts Mount Holyoke, East Hadley MA

PANEL SESSION II – 11:15 am to
12:30 pm (Choose one)

Exploring the Avenues and
Lanes of Sci-Fi/Fantasy
(Andreola Room)

Moderator: Tanya Shersnow

Panelists: Holly Black, Corrina Lawson, Barbara Edwards

This panel will explore the sub-genres within this ever expanding genre, giving
attendees a sense of what’s new in 2011, and offer advice and inspiration about
associations and publishers within this genre.

Author Web: http://barbaraedwards.net

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Buy link http://tinyurl.com/3f627vh

 

 

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