A Graveside Chat with Bridgett Nelson

Bridgett Nelson is a name that, in relatively recent days, has become synonymous with gripping, vivid, gut-wrenching horror. Her recent collection, A Bouquet of Viscera has drawn ever-increasing numbers of readers deep into its fang-filled maw, chewed them up, and turned them into rabid fans. Her fiction gleefully calls to you and then wallops you in the brain — right there, in that sensitive spot just behind the temporal lobe. In this edition of A Graveside Chat, Ms. Nelson shares her thoughts on writing, convention-going, her influences, and the dark lit field in general. I was hoping she might share some of her favorite recipes, but she declined on the grounds that they might incriminate her.

---

GC: You have an engaging social media presence, with lots of friends & followers, fun writing news, and photos aplenty. You also tell dynamite stories. How big a role do you think social media plays in keeping interest in your work high? Do you ever find that maintaining your presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc., distracts you to any significant degree from your fiction writing?

BN: Thank you, Mark! Coming from you, that means a lot. My goal is to keep it light. I like having a good time and sharing a few laughs with my author friends and fellow bookworms. In case it isn't clear via my posts, I don't take myself too seriously. I'm just enjoying the hell out of my horror-writing career and the instant family/community it gifted me.

For Indie writers, it's safe to say that social media plays a huge role in how well their books sell. Horror groups on Facebook are incredibly active, with thousands upon thousands of hardcore horror-loving members... and if they get behind you, it makes a huge difference. It's difficult for me though. I hate promoting my own work. I do it because I have to, but ask anyone — I'm more likely to give you a copy of my collection than to make you pay. (A very bad habit I really need to break.) I'm just so grateful to get copies into people's hands. At this point in my career, it's not about the money. I simply want to get my stories in front of readers. 

I'll be honest, I was genuinely shocked when people wanted to buy my book at AuthorCon. A few times, I remember looking these poor people in the eye and asking, "Really?" (I'm sure they thought I was a fruit loop.) When they'd verify they wanted a copy, I'd light up like the frickin' sun. That was a seriously great weekend — I am so loving this whole writing gig!

So, yes. Social media can be distracting, but without it, not a single person who purchased a book from me at the convention (or those I've mailed signed copies to), would have any idea A Bouquet of Viscera even existed. I consider it a very pleasant part of my job. At the end of the day, being an author involves way more than just writing the stories.

GC: Your medical experience shines through in many of your stories. Are you still employed as a registered nurse? At the risk of getting you in trouble, have any of your work experiences directly influenced your horror fiction? (Don't worry — there are still plenty of jobs out there. Haha.) Or do you use your medical expertise more to provide authentic backdrops for the events in your tales? (Or some of both?)

BN: I am still a registered nurse, but I no longer work in the medical field. I'm a full-time writer these days. Well, I also proof audiobook narrations. That pays all my convention expenses.  

Thus far, not a single medical element in any of my stories has been based on actual experiences. That's not to say they'll never show up, but I definitely use my medical knowledge more to provide authenticity in my stories. 

I loved being a nurse. I loved taking care of those very sick people and helping put smiles on their faces despite the, oftentimes, life-threatening health issues they were going through. I loved the relationships I formed with some of the chronic patients we saw frequently. One patient even invited me to his wedding. 

I've held patients' hands as they've taken their final breaths. I've assisted in open heart surgeries and day-long brain surgeries. I've spent an entire night shift sitting and listening to the memories of a young man who was dying from end-stage AIDS. He passed away just before my shift ended. The last words he ever uttered were to me. I've run codes as a charge nurse. I've been held at knife point by a patient suffering from dementia. There are things I've seen which will haunt me for the rest of my life. So, yeah... frankly, it would be weird if that part of my life didn't influence my writing in a very significant way. 

GC: You have established yourself at a few conventions already, and I understand you've got plenty more to attend in the coming days. Do you find any aspects of con-going daunting — such as public speaking or doing book signings? Or do you just dive right in and enjoy the hell out of the whole business?

BN: Conventions are like family reunions... only enjoyable!

I'll be heading to StokerCon in just a couple weeks. I can't wait! I was invited to be on three panels: one regarding impostor syndrome, one about common medical mistakes in books and movies, and an extreme horror/splatterpunk panel, which I'm really looking forward to. They'll be my first-ever panels at my very first in-person StokerCon. I'll also be doing a reading with two amazing writers, Sara Tantlinger and Kathleen Scheiner. I'll be honest... readings are the bane of my existence. So many eyes staring at me while I read a story I put my heart and soul into. It's tough... for me, anyway. I don't enjoy public speaking but, like social media, I feel it's yet another part of the job. And I will say this... each time I push myself into doing something I really don't want to do, it gets a little easier. Not once have I regretted it afterward.

Mostly, I totally enjoy the hell out of the whole business! Conventions, to me, feel like coming home. 

This summer, I'll also be at Imaginarium, Necon, Scares That Care, KillerCon, and Multiverse, to name a few.

GC: Your recent collection, A Bouquet of Viscera, has drawn considerable attention, with lots of positive reviews. What's next for you? Where do you see yourself five years from now? A decade from now? Is there anyone you want to give a shout out to for providing inspiration — creatively, motivationally, etc.?

BN: I'm so very proud of A Bouquet of Viscera, yet this is my truth — being a no-name author, I had very, very low expectations about how this collection would do. The horror genre is saturated with talented, creative, energetic writers, and I simply wasn't sure Bouquet could make even a tiny splash in such a big pond.

But then, suddenly, I had this really cool title, thanks to one of my best friends, author Richard Dansky. Upon hearing the title, the uber-talented artist, Lynne Hansen, wanted to design the cover. Splatterpunk and extreme horror author, Christine Morgan, offered to help me with the editing. The ever-amazing Todd Keisling agreed to do the interior design and formatting. Ronald Kelly, who is one of my favorite people in the entire world, enthusiastically agreed to do the foreword (and what he wrote had me happily sobbing into my pillow). And then... my all-time favorite author, Jeff Strand, offered to blurb this little collection of mine. And while his blurb was phenomenal, he later stated during a podcast that my story, "Jinx," was a "Jack Ketchum–level punch to the gut." Which... wow. Everything sort of blew up in the best possible way, and I'm so incredibly grateful to all these people for helping me make this book a beautiful reality.

Thankfully, readers seem to be loving the stories too. Not going to lie, after the cover reveal went viral on Twitter, I was a little worried the stories wouldn't live up to the exterior of my collection! I'm especially happy that in so many of the reviews, the readers are naming different stories as their favorites. No one story is getting all the love. "Jinx" is definitely getting the most attention, for obvious reasons, but it's been fun reading everyone's stand-outs.

As for what comes next for me, I've begun work on my first novel. I'll still be writing and submitting short stories to anthologies. And yes, I did sign a contract this weekend... a really, really good one. But I'm not sure I'm allowed to talk about it yet, so that will have to remain a secret for now.

Ten years from now, I hope I'm an active member of the Horror Writers Association (because not being able to vote for the Stoker nominees stinks), I'm hoping the Bridgett library includes many well-received novels and collections, I hope I'm getting anthology invites and pro-rates for my stories, I hope I'm still attending conventions and that I'm a winner of the Gross-Out contest at KillerCon — but mostly — mostly, I hope to still be as happy as I am at this very moment. Or happier! Happier works.

GC: Insert your own question here. Whatever topic, have your say. Anything you want — or have wanted — to share, go for it!

Oooh! Fun! (FYI... I'm going off the wall here.) 

My granddad was a farmer, and I used to help him castrate his hogs (poor piggy dudes). I went to Woodstock '94. My great-uncle traced our ancestry and discovered we're related to William Shakespeare, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and... Marilyn Monroe (Voila! With that DNA combination, Bridgett, the schmexy writer, is born. Also, that's a joke.) I have four doggies: three elderly pugs and a St. Bernard. And I cannot stand people feet! Keep your toes to yourself!

Mostly, though, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the readers for their overwhelming support. You guys have purchased my book, written reviews, shared pictures, included me in interviews and podcasts, ordered signed copies, and made A Bouquiet of Viscera an unexpected success. Clearly, we now need to have a huge party and celebrate. Who's with me?

---

Vist Bridgett Nelson’s website at bridgettnelson.com

---

Old Dude Featured at Stephen H. Provost’s "The Open Book"

This week, author Stephen H. Provost was kind enough to feature an interview with me on his “The Open Book” blog, primarily about Fugue Devil: Resurgence (which releases today on Kindle, tomorrow in paperback; the hardback will apparently still be a little ways out). Mr. Provost conducts a fun interview, so please give it a look!

The Open Book — Stephen Mark Rainey
__________________________________________________________________________

It’s been a big time for interviews, I can tell you. A couple of weeks back, author Richard Dansky interviewed me for his “Five for Writing” blog. The Martinsville Bulletin interviewed Samaire Wynne (proprietor of Black Raven Books) and me last week, and the article should appear in tomorrow’s edition of the newspaper. Today, local author Ian McDowell interviewed me for YES, Weekly!, our local free newspaper. I hope all this drumming up of publicity about ye Fugue Devil will result in some honest-to-god sales. If not, take it from me, that old critter will be impossible to deal with, and ain’t nobody got time for that.

A Graveside Chat with Jeffrey Thomas

Back in 1990, a young writer named Jeffrey Thomas submitted a short story to Deathrealm — a disturbing and thought-provoking tale called "Foreign Bodies" — which made me an instant fan. The story ran in the Spring 1991 issue of Deathrealm, to no little acclaim. In the intervening years, Jeffrey Thomas’s distinctive and powerful voice has become pervasive in the dark lit field. He may be best known for Punktown, his brilliant and original horrific/humorous/bizarro/ultra-dark/SF universe, but his catalog of standalone novels and short stories is extensive and impressive. Here, Mr. Thomas tells all, or something damn near.

---

GC: I first became acquainted with your work when I was editing Deathrealm magazine back in the 1980s and 1990s. Since those early, formative days, how do you feel your work has evolved, both creatively and professionally? Have the processes of doing business as a writer impacted your drive as a creator?

JT: It was an exhilarating feeling back in those small press days, when a short story sale to Deathrealm, After Hours, 2 AM, etc. might thrill me even more than I feel now with the sale of certain full-blown books. One becomes a bit jaded, but of course writing and publishing remain rewarding. The business side of things can be a hassle, even a distraction, especially when a publisher doesn’t do a lot to promote your book and you’re expected to be proactive and take care of much of that yourself. As I’m not good at that stuff, and fairly reclusive, I’d prefer to focus only on the creative side of things.

Craft-wise, I think I’ve evolved quite a lot over the past several decades, in that I write more slowly, more carefully. I’ll no longer jump into writing a short story just built around some quick idea, unless I feel a real commitment to it, and it will be a worthy representation of how I want my work perceived. I’ll be sure that story is polished thoroughly before letting it go into the world. Honestly, in the early days I’d bang out a short story, not even give it a once-over proofread, then shoot it off to a publisher all in a breathless rush. Because of that reckless approach, my earliest published stories are, to my mind now, something of a mixed bag. Some are quite good, others very slight.

GC: Around 1980 or so, you created Punktown. And since the Year of our Lord 2000, there or about, with the Ministry of Whimsy Press release of Punktown, it’s a property that has enjoyed not only popularity among both readers and authors but true staying power. A) Can you describe what drove you to this singular territory? B) My impression from your history is that this place represents something of a passion for you. Is it one you think you’ll continue revisit regularly?

JT: That’s right — in 1980, while my father was driving me home from work one afternoon, the concept of Punktown just bloomed in my head as if it had been under construction in my subconscious until that moment of revelation. That brainstorm wasn’t like what I described earlier, some quick idea or single image to build a story around; this was a whole, expansive concept — the same concept I work with today. And that is: what if I created this nightmarish science fiction-style setting, that is not so much a prediction of the far future as a grotesque, funhouse mirror distortion of now? A setting in which I could address all manner of social commentary, but in a darkly satirical mode, the way there was political and/or religious commentary worked into the phantasmagorical paintings of Hieronymus Bosch or the Inferno of Dante. Punktown is also a setting that can support, and blend, many types of genres and literary approaches, from SF to horror, from noir to dark comedy, with more than a few nods to the Lovecraftian.

Because Punktown offers so many flavors, there’s been a lot for readers to find entertaining in the stories (and I think of my readers as tourists to Punktown). Likewise, because I can do so much in that world, it makes it easy for me to keep going back. I have freedom there. Though I like to write outside of Punktown, too — including work that involves certain other fantastical settings I’ve developed — I’m sure I’ll always keep returning to Punktown. I certainly haven’t grown tired of it yet. My earliest Punktown stories, a series of novels written in the 80s, remain handwritten and unpublished, but I started publishing Punktown short stories in the small press in the early 90s, until Jeff VanderMeer released my first collection of them, Punktown, through the Ministry of Whimsy Press in 2000. Several decades and numerous novels and collections later, in 2021 Centipede Press released a gorgeous three-volume set of most of my Punktown short fiction. I say most, because there can never be a definitive collection as long as I’m extant. Even as we speak, a few new Punktown stories are close to publication in anthology appearances, both in the US and in foreign translation.

GC: I love your three-story chapbook series, such as THE COMING OF THE OLD ONES, THE SUMMONING OF THE OLD ONES, DARKER WORLDS, et. al. The packaging is ingenious. It’s clear that H. P. Lovecraft has inspired you — and in a world of purveyors of pastiche, your work stands out as unique and powerful. Do you still enjoy working in the HPL mythos? What about it has driven you — and, if applicable, still drives you— to contribute to it?

JT: I took my inspiration for those chapbooks directly from a series of chapbooks I saw fellow Lovecraftian writer William Meikle self-publishing. Rather than gather previously published stories into a book-length collection to submit to a publisher, as I had always done before, I decided to release them in three-story chapbooks under my own imprint, instead. They’ve done fairly well for me. I’ve also republished some novels and collections for which the rights had reverted to me, so as to keep them in print. And yes, I have produced quite a lot of Lovecraftian work by now, either directly linked to the Cthulhu Mythos or at least inspired by cosmic horror of that sort. I fell in love with it from reading my first Lovecraft stories in 1985. I was drawn to their horrifying sense of awe, the hugeness of their threats, the use of science fiction elements (alien entities) in place of the supernatural (demons and ghosts). But I don’t want to be lost in the shadow of other creators — I want to maintain my own distinct literary identity, explore my own imagination — so in recent years I’ve tried to refrain from writing overtly Lovecraftian horror. Still, like Michael Corleone, just when I think I’m out they pull me back in, and I’ll get invited to some cool Lovecraftian anthology or other.

GC: You are adept at both novels and short fiction — an enviable talent! Do you have a preference for one over the other?

 JT: I can’t really say I have a preference... though I do write a lot more short fiction than novel-length work, despite the fact that novels have wider appeal. (This largely has to do with frequent anthology invitations.) Right now, I’m enamored with the novella length. I’m currently at work on a novella that takes place in my setting of the Unnamed Country, which is a fictitious Southeast Asian country (inspired by my thirteen visits to Viet Nam), where the supernatural is extra prevalent. This novella will be included in a new Unnamed Country collection called Gods of a Nameless Country, to be released by JournalStone in 2023. Lately I’ve spent more time in the Unnamed Country than in Punktown. Maybe it’s just for a change of pace, but it may also be that I miss Viet Nam so much. Hopefully with COVID-19 on the wane I can get back there again. My daughter, who is half-Vietnamese, is eager to return, as well.

GC: What are you working on now? And what lies ahead for you and your writing?

JT: My most recent novel was The American, published by JournalStone in 2020, a hyper-dark crime thriller laced with the supernatural, which takes place over a span of fifty years in Viet Nam. My most recent collection, aside from the Centipede Press Punktown omnibus, was Carrion Men, from Plutonian Press, 2020, which gathers a bunch of my horror stories that don’t take place in any of my fantastical settings such as Punktown, the Unnamed Country, Boneland, Hades, or Gosston. Speaking of Hades, Dark Regions Press will be publishing a standalone novella called The Half-Damned Girl, which takes place in my vision of the netherworld. And speaking of Gosston, a collection of all my fiction set in that creepy little town — which exists in an alternate world abutting our own — is set to appear soon from Weird House Press. That one’s titled Entering Gosston. I also have an Unnamed Country standalone novella coming soon from a cool publisher of beautiful collectors’ editions, which I can’t announce just yet. And again, regarding the Unnamed Country, 2021 saw the release of a lovely little printed chapbook (mini collection?) called Scenes From a Village, from Oddness, the publisher of Forbidden Futures magazine. Though I often feel like I’m slowing down a lot in my old age (it’s okay to say it!), it sure doesn’t sound like that’s the case, does it?

GC: Thanks a bazillion, Jeff. This has been great, and all the best to you and your future endeavors. And thanks to y’all who have stopped by to check out “A Graveside Chat.” We’ll be back with more in another week or so.

Fugue Devil: Resurgence at Kendall Reviews

“Quality writing from an experienced storyteller. Fugue Devil: Resurgence is full of engaging stories (mostly cosmic horror). You can’t go wrong with Rainey’s collection.”

Kendall Reviews gives Fugue Devil: Resurgence high marks. A fine, thoughtful review. Check it out here.

   

Fugue Devil: Resurgence is due for release May 1 — that’s this weekend! Ebook, paperback, hardback. Check out the ordering options at Black Raven Books here.

A Graveside Chat with Ronald Kelly

For some time, I have been considering posting regular author interviews here on ye old blog, and I finally decided to jump in and just do it. To kick things off, the very sporting Ronald Kelly has agreed to play guinea pig. I published several of Ron’s stories in Deathrealm back in the day, starting with his wonderful “The Web of La Sanguinaire” in Deathrealm #6 (1988), which I loved at the time and still do. Since those long ago days, he has gone from establishing himself in the field of dark lit to taking a decade-long hiatus to returning and retooling himself and his work. He has cultivated and retained a receptive audience with an impressive body of work spanning several decades now.

---

GC: During the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, your short fiction was a mainstay in just about every publication in the dark lit field. By way of Zebra, you also published a fair number of horror novels. Do you have a preference for the short form over the long form — or vice-versa — from the perspective of both reader and writer? You do both quite adeptly. Do you find the disciplines for writing short fiction significantly different from writing novels?

RK: By nature, I’ve always been a short story writer. The compact form seems to suit my storytelling style extremely well. There’s not a lot of fluff and filler involved; a scaled down plot, flesh and blood characters that are real, but not with every mole, freckle, and scar described, and preferably a twist end, sometimes ambiguously so. When I grew up as a child, and well into early adulthood, I would listen to my Grandmama Spicer spin tales of family history, Civil War lore, and horrifying stories of local ghosts and cryptids. They were always very short and compact, but told in a way that conveyed an encompassing sense of place and time. Maybe subconsciously, I’ve emulated that in my prose. I do enjoy doing novel length fiction, and the disciplines are very different. Writing a novel is like taking a two week road trip from the east coast to the west. A short story is more like a fast and fun day trip. Personally, I find a short story much more pleasurable and rewarding.

GC: After Zebra crashed and burned in the mid-1990s, you retired from writing, or at least publishing, for several years. During that period, did you produce any fiction? Or did life carry you in a wholly different direction? I know many — including me — were happy to see you blaze back into action a few years ago. After the hiatus, did the writing/publishing world seem a much different animal to you?

RK: When the Zebra horror line shut down in 1996, I found myself in limbo. Writing mass market novels had been my job for six years and suddenly I was unemployed. Since the “H-word” was pure poison and no publishing houses were reading or accepting that genre of fiction at that point in time, my agent suggested that I write anything but horror. So, I tried my hand at several other genres, including detective and romance, even children’s books, but nothing panned out. So, I got bitter and discouraged. I flat-out stopped writing for ten years. And, even worse, I stopped reading horror as well. I laced up my steel-toed boots and punched the clock… went back to the factories. I pretty much figured that I’d had my shot at a writing career and blew it. So, I worked blue collar jobs and raised a family. It wasn’t until 2006 that I decided to come back to the horror genre and give it another try. As for how the publishing world differed from before, it was pretty much completely different. The sheer mechanics of the writing process had progressed far beyond where I had left it. Where you had to type and submit multiple copies and send them off via snail mail before, everything was submitted digitally through email and where it once took weeks or months to receive a reply, you could be accepted or rejected in a matter of minutes. Also, social media made it easier to promote your work and communicate with readers, fellow writers, and potential publishers. Sure, there are pros and cons to Twitter and Facebook — sometimes more negativity than positivity— but for the most part it’s a useful tool to get folks interested in your work and build an audience of readers.

GC: Your influences have ranged from the classic horror and science fiction movies that so many of our (increasingly ancient) generation grew up with to the works of Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, and many others (not that I’m saying you’re old or anything — no, no, not at all!). Your recent collection, The Haunt of Southern-Fried Fear, carries a strong EC Comics vibe (and to me, especially with the art you’ve provided for the book, something of a Hugh B. Cave/Lee Brown Coye feel, such as with Murgunstrumm & Others). So, it seems you still have an affinity for the “old” treasures. Once you returned to the writing fold, so to speak, did you find yourself moved by any new and different dark influences? Do you have any recent favorite books and movies?

RK: When I was debating on whether or not I actually wanted to write horror again, there were two authors — both totally unfamiliar to me — that pretty much made my mind up for me. After I read Brian Keene’s The Rising and James Newman’s Midnight Rain, they really ignited a creative fire in me and I thought “Hey, I think I can do this again!” And I found that I actually wanted to. So I attribute my desire to come back into the fold to Brian and James. As for recent books I’ve enjoyed, there are almost too many to mention. I really enjoyed Rich Chizmar’s Chasing the Boogeyman and the Gwendy series he did with Stephen King. Also, about anything by Keene, Jonathan Janz, Wesley Southard, Hailey Piper, Laurel Hightower, and Eric Larocca. There are dozens of others, too. The horror genre is so full of creativity and energy these days, the selection of different styles and voices is hard to keep up with. As for movies, I don’t watch many theatrical horror flicks these days, but some of the streaming services like Netflix are putting out some good horror, like Malerman’s Bird Box and Lebbon’s The Silence.

GC: I purchased The Haunt of Southern-Fried Fear literally a day or two before Silver Shamrock blew up. After your experience with Zebra, did you by chance get a nasty sense of of deja-vu? (I expect I would have.) Am I right in thinking you’ve come to an arrangement with Crossroad Press (with whom I’ve had consistently excellent experiences) for your work that would have otherwise come out via Silver Shamrock? Anything you can tell us about your upcoming stories and books?

RK: The fiasco with Silver Shamrock wasn’t as heartbreaking and chaotic for me as it might have been for other authors. I’ve gone through these sudden, unexpected publisher shutdowns seven times during my writing career, so I reckon I’ve kind of grown accustomed to the chance of it happening at any given moment. Nothing is guaranteed from day to day in indie publishing. Sometimes it’s financial woes or low sales due to disinterest from potential readers. In this recent case, it was an extremely negative reaction to a social media promotion. Luckily, the Davids at Crossroad Press contacted me shortly after SS announced their demise and the transition of The Essential Sick Stuff, The Saga of Dead-Eye, and the Southern-Fried collection series from one publisher to another was relatively smooth and painless. Crossroad is in the process of making all three available in ebook and paperback, and eventually audiobook… something that Silver Shamrock never seemed to have a genuine interest in pursuing. As for upcoming books, Dead-Eye, Book Two: Werewolves, Swamp Critters, & Hellacious Haints should be released sometime this summer, along with a new edition of my extreme horror collection, After the Burn, illustrated by Zach McCain. Plus, Stygian Sky is releasing my memoir/writer’s guide, Southern-Fried & Horrified, in September.

GC: Most of today’s horror authors are finding career success in their twenties and thirties. Your recent surge in popularity seems to be taking place during your early sixties. Do you think there is a reason for that? And, where do you see yourself and your career in ten or twenty years?

RK: You know, there was a long stretch of several years after I returned in 2006 where very few readers were familiar with me or my work. It was discouraging. At one point, I seriously considered hanging it up because of lack interest. Then folks started discovering Fear and reading The Essential Sick Stuff and The Halloween Store, and they began to get a hankering for old fashioned storytelling. I don’t know… maybe they grew a little weary of all the gloomy, angst-ridden fiction that was prevalent and craved a bit of fun and nostalgia in their horror. Maybe it just took thirty-six years for me to reach a point where I had the confidence to write what I truly wanted to write; traditional tales that serve as comfort food for those who have a true love for old-school horror. Yes, true, I’m nearing retirement age, and that’s when many writers tend to slow down and take it easy. It seems to be the opposite for me. I have more story and novel ideas in my head, more projects in the works, than I ever did during my younger days. If I can hang in there, I’m planning on serving heaping helpings of Southern-Fried horror for another decade or two. If the readers keep hankering for what I have to offer, I’m more than happy to oblige them.

GC: Thanks, Ron — it has been a pleasure!

---

Visit Ronald Kelly’s website at www.ronaldkelly.com

---

In the next Graveside Chat, look for celebrated author Jeffrey Thomas to offer his unique insights into thrills, chills, and mind-numbing terror!

Old Dude Featured at Richard Dansky's "Five for Writing"

Durham, NC, author Richard Dansky was recently kind enough to ply me with five questions for his celebrated "Five for Writing" interview blog. There's talk of Elizabeth Massie's Ameri-Scares series for young readers, Dark Shadows, Fugue Devil: Resurgence, geocaching... all that kind of good stuff. I quite enjoyed giving the interview, and I hope you'll give it a look!

Five for Writing — Stephen Mark Rainey

---

On top of that slice of niceness, I received my contributor copy of Jim Beard’s Running Home To the Shadows, a collection of memories of Dark Shadows from a host of pro writers, including the old dude, who grew up with the show, back in those dim, distant Dark Ages.

Running Home to the Shadows — edited by Jim Beard with Charles R. Rutledge; cover illustration by Mark Maddox with logo design and formatting by Maggie Ryel; foreword by Kathryn Leigh Scott

Essays by Greg Cox, Kathleen O’Shea David, Mark Dawidziak, Dave Dykema, Bob Freeman, Ed Gross, Nancy Holder, Tina Hunt, Katherine Kerestman, Mark Maddox (with Ed Catto), Elizabeth Massie, Kimberly Oswald, Martin Powell, Dana Pride, Stephen Mark Rainey, Michael Rogers, Charles R. Rutledge, Chris Ryan, Frank Schildiner, Duane Spurlock, and Jeff Thompson

Afterword by Rich Handley

Running Home to the Shadows at Amazon.com.

Preorder Fugue Devil Resurgence today! Available May 1 in ebook, paperback, and signed/numbered hardcover:

Fugue Devil: Resurgence at Black Raven Books

Spring Springs on Good Friday

Early this past week, I finished up my latest Ameri-Scares novel, Georgia: The Haunting of Tate's Mill, and it’s currently getting the editorial once-over. Next step is plotting my not-for-little-people novel tentatively titled Ca' Dolore, which is set in Italy. There will be monsters, murders, and mayhem. And yes, of course, there will be updates as things happen along the way.

Ahhhh, but what an evening. As per the norm, earlier in the day, I ventured forth to Pleasant Hill — happily, picking up a geocache en route. Once here, I visited the local market to acquire vittles and other staples; feasted on some very lovely dead bird; and then set out on a moderate hike to perform maintenance on one of my caches, out on the Dick & Willie Trail (yes, yes, I know). Then I settled myself on the porch to further plot the novel. I made some progress, which pleased me. But the truest pleasure at the time was the serenity of being at the old homeplace, on a truly beautiful evening, with thrushes, mourning doves, and barred owls singing their way into the twilight; bumblebees buzzing around the azaleas; and a couple of bunnies scampering about in the yard. Scarcely a hint of human racket for the better part of two hours (apart from one useless jackass blasting hip-hop from here to the coast). To accentuate the mellow, I made a couple of lovely martinis and a platter of blackened scallops for dinner.

Following, I spent a pleasant hour or so on the Lovecraft eZine Patreon Podcast gathering, which usually happens on Thursday nights, but this week's was moved to tonight. I don't think it'll become a regular Friday thing, but tonight, it was certainly convenient.

This just in: the signed/numbered edition of Fugue Devil: Resurgence is now available for pre-order — here.

Now Playing: Running Home to Shadows!

It’s here: Running Home to the Shadows, from editor Jim Beard and publisher Becky Books. This volume, which features plenty of recollections about Dark Shadows from a host of writing professionals — including yours truly — plus a foreword by Dark Shadows’ own Kathryn L Scott (Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres, Rachel Drummond, and others).

From the editor: 

School is out, and Barnabas is IN!

They were a generation all their own, the army of children who ran home from school to watch Dark Shadows, TV’s very first supernatural soap. A breed apart, they set aside the worship of mundane pop stars to follow vampires, witches, and werewolves. From 1966 to 1971, they were daytime Monster Kids… and today they have stories to tell.

Writer-editor Jim Beard has gathered these grown-up kids together in this tome to tell those tales. Their experiences are sometimes tragic and terrifying, yet also uplifting and inspirational, but above all, Dark Shadows touched them so deeply as to leave an indelible impression on their lives that lasts to this day.

Return to Collinwood to brave the stormy nights and rainswept days of yore to listen to this coven of writers spin yarns of childhood encounters with Barnabas, Angelique, Quentin, Vicky, Maggie, and their compatriots. Cross the threshold of the Old House, take a seat by the crackling fire, and make yourself comfortable to the strains of maudlin music issuing forth from the gramophone — the ghosts of the past are about to arise in Running Home to Shadows. Won’t you join us?

Edited by Jim Beard with Charles R. Rutledge

Cover illustration by Mark Maddox with logo design and formatting by Maggie Ryel

Foreword by Kathryn Leigh Scott

Featuring essays by Greg Cox, Kathleen O’Shea David, Mark Dawidziak, Dave Dykema, Bob Freeman, Ed Gross, Nancy Holder, Tina Hunt, Katherine Kerestman, Mark Maddox (with Ed Catto), Elizabeth Massie, Kimberly Oswald, Martin Powell, Dana Pride, Stephen Mark Rainey, Michael Rogers, Charles R. Rutledge, Chris Ryan, Frank Schildiner, Duane Spurlock, and Jeff Thompson

Afterword by Rich Handley

Order Running Home to the Shadows here.

Anthony Horowitz’s Forever and a Day

I grew up reading Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, and even the least of them — The Man with the Golden Gun, I’d say — still retained a crucial bit of 007 magic. The myriad reboots of the literary Bond — all of varying quality, few of them very satisfying — boggle the mind, so I recently decided to try the relatively recent entries that ostensibly follow the Fleming canon. Having been disappointed by William Boyd’s Solo and Sebastian Faulks’s Devil May Care, I approached Horowitz’s Forever and a Day with some trepidation. Happily, however, as soon as I started reading, I felt a real connection with Fleming’s character and atmosphere. As the novel progressed, the portrayals of the primary villains and our requisite female character, Sixtine, felt well-drawn and engaging. Plot-wise, Forever and a Day is several steps above Solo and Devil May Care; it still seems to lose its way — or feel too derivative — on a few occasions, but for the most part, it hits the right notes. If nothing else, this one left me with a sense of enjoyment rather than disappointment, and I will definitely give Horowitz’s Trigger Mortis a look-see.

Black Raven Books Presents FUGUE DEVIL: RESURGENCE!

If you know about the Fugue Devil, it knows about you. If you see the Fugue Devil, it will come for you.

Many decades ago, summoned by the power of music, The Fugue Devil   — a dreadful, malevolent entity from another place — entered our world. Every seventeen years, it reappears to satiate its hunger for unsuspecting souls.

Author Stephen Mark Rainey’s terrifying novelette, “Fugue Devil,” originally appeared in his first fiction collection, Fugue Devil & Other Weird Horrors in 1992. Now, thiry years later, Black Raven Books brings you Fugue Devil: Resurgence, which features the original novelette; its sequel, “The Devil’s Eye”; and ten more tales of horror and mind-bending terror.

This incredible volume includes stories originally presented by such superlative publishers as Borderlands Press, Dark Regions, and others, as well as several new stories appearing in print for the first time. Available in ebook, paperback, and signed/limited edition hardback. Release date is May 1, 2022.

Order the Kindle and/or paperback edition here:
   Fugue Devil: Resurgence at Amazon.com

Order the hardback edition here:
Fugue Devil: Resurgence, signed/numbered hardback

Fugue Devil: Resurgence at Kendall Reviews

Bad George and Other Blasts From the Past

A busy week it was. Hardly unexpectedly, I received a call from my former boss, asking if I would care to put in a few hours per month freelancing, since, without me, they're pretty much up to their ears in alligators. It's actually a welcome opportunity to keep doing a job I know and enjoy. Plus there's the extra bucks, which can't hurt. I also made considerable progress on Georgia: The Haunting of Tate's Mill. I can see the light at the end of this one.

A few new, local geocaches came out this past week, so I put in a couple of rigorous cache hunts — one in the dumping rain that so waterlogged me that I still have water in my shoes. Friend Old Rob and I shared in the first-to-find, so that made us both smile real big.

In Martinsville over the weekend, I discovered a couple of folders that contained scads of school papers and artwork by both my brother and me, which my mom had saved. I had no idea these existed. Some went back as far as kindergarten. The image you see upstairs there is a pen & ink rendering of my great-uncle Herbert's place in Gainesville, GA, which I drew sometime in the 1980s. My aunt Dot made it into the cover of a greeting card. Perhaps my favorite discovery among these treasures was an unfinished class drawing from second grade. Written on it was the following exchange between my teacher, Ms. Jackson, and me:

Mark: "Sorry I did not get throu. Goarge botherd me."

Ms. Jackson: "Please try to finish your work in the morning. You do not need to talk to George."

I remember George well. I haven't seen him since early in elementary school, but I did find him online. He is apparently an attorney over in Winston-Salem.

Many of my old drawings were plenty violent, with Indian massacres, knights battling on castle towers, dinosaurs and other monsters chowing down on innocent passersby. Some were a bit nicer. There were drawings of my family traveling in an airplane; a pretty decent rendering of my dog, Patty; and a number of reasonably well-rendered space rockets. Below is a drawing I made in third grade, which I thought was actually pretty cool.

On Saturday, I rode up to Rocky Mount to hunt a few caches. It was pretty chilly and very windy for most of the time I was out and about. The couple of hides I found at the Franklin County Parks & Recreation Center on Sontag Road proved simple enough. But at Waid Park, I turned a medium difficulty hike into a rugged and fairly risky venture by doing what I tend to do best: plow straight ahead from point A to point B, damning the torpedoes in the process. I ended up skirting a lengthy portion of the Pigg River, the banks of which were steep and treacherous, and from which a bad step would have had disastrous consequences. Fortunately, I managed to maintain my footing. Once past that little obstacle, I found myself negotiating some hairy inclines and dense, difficult woods. But again, I prevailed, and, soon enough, had the cache in hand. As one might surmise, I felt the effects of this little outing pretty severely a little later. However, once back at home, a fine dinner and some wine with Ms. B. made for a comfortable, relaxing evening.

This morning, friend Natalie (a.k.a. Fishdownthestairs) and I headed down to Siler City, where we knocked out a few entertaining caches we both still needed.

Ms. B. and I are currently working our way through Twin Peaks again, from start to finish. The craving was upon both of us, and it's been quite the treat, since I haven't watched it with her for about a decade. And she'd never seen the third season (The Return), which we just started this evening. She's not the devoted David Lynch fan that I am, but she's been enjoying it so far.

For the coming week, I'm hoping to reach the end of Georgia: The Haunting of Tate's Mill. I'm definitely ready to get this one out to the publisher and into the hands of readers.

All righty then. Get on with you. Peace out.

My first-grade rendering of a United DC-8, circa 1966

Cowboys and Indians having a bad time of it, from my kindergarten days

Fire at Camelot! One of my third-grade drawings

Little Mountain Falls, Cane Creek Mountain, and More

I don't think my knees — and possibly the rest of me — have been this worn out for a while. At least not since I went up Grassy Hill Ridge in Rocky Mount, VA, for a geocache several weeks ago (“Oh, My Achin Feetz,” Feb. 21, 2022). On Friday, I departed Greensboro early in the day, bound for Fairy Stone Park, VA, where a couple of newish caches — one traditional (“A Bench with a View #4” GC9PFKB) and one EarthCache (“Little Mountain Falls” GC9EDWH) — lay in wait for me. The steep and sometimes rugged terrain at Fairy Stone has many times both done me a world of good and damn near done me in. The hike on Friday afternoon was far from the longest I’ve undertaken there, but the elevation changes along the way presented both my legs and my lungs with a healthy challenge. There’s a plenty of up and down both ways, but for the most part, the outbound journey was primarily downhill, leaving the rigorous uphill trek for the return. The scenery in this particular corner of the world is gorgeous, even between seasons as we are. Give it a couple of weeks, and these woods will be as green and lush as a rain forest. In autumn, the colors, as I can testify from considerable experience, are stunning. Little Mountain Falls isn’t especially huge, but the stream trickles down numerous tiers from a significant height — considerably higher than the photograph on the left can capture.

Happily, I found the caches I sought and lived to hike another day. Indeed, I was soon back at it, this time on a regular Sunday geocaching outing with a pair of old farts (friends Diefenbaker, a.k.a. Scott, and Old Rob, a.k.a. Old Rob) at the Cane Creek Mountain Preserve in Alamance County. The hike here, while quite pleasant, was not as strenuous as the one at Fairy Stone. Mind you, it could have been, had we dragged Robert up the mountain to find a number of caches he had not yet claimed. However, since Scott and I both had already found those, Rob declined, ostensibly to save us from undertaking a rugged hike for caches we had already found. When it comes down to it, I’m reasonably certain Old Rob simply didn’t cotton to the idea of having cardiac arrest until he had found all the other caches we had targeted for this trip. At Cane Creek, we found one cache relatively quickly, while the other required an inordinate amount of time searching due to mercilessly bouncing coordinates. In the end, though... happily... we prevailed.

Once done at Cane Creek, we zipped over to the nearby community of Swepsonville, where a relatively short trek on the trail took us to another newish cache. Here, our quarry was easily found and required no hairy terrain stunts to reach. However, I kind of wanted to undertake a hairy terrain stunt, and since the the opportunity was there, with Mr. Scott’s assistance, I availed myself to it (see the photo at right). And then, on to nearby Mebane we went, where we found a couple of more relatively easy hides and then busted the hell out of some lunch at the excellent Catrina's Mexican Restaurant, which Ms. B. had recommended following a visit during one of her artsy-fartsy-craftsy retreats in that area. Ms. B. done good with her recommendation.

Next week... believe it or not, I foresee more hiking and caching. Until then, this is your host, Damned Rodan, saying—

Three Old Farts — Old Rodan, Old Rob, Old Diefenbaker — at the Haw River in Swepsonville

Recalling The Monster Times

After posting yesterday about actor Akira Takarada’s passing, I ended up browsing the internets for all kinds of old Toho monster stuff online. One thing led to another, and I discovered (or actually rediscovered, since I had happened upon it some time back) a site that features full issues, by way of JPGs, of The Monster Times, a tabloid-style publication that ran for several years in the 1970s. My first published work, for which I was actually paid — a filmbook of Godzilla vs. the Thing — appeared in issue #42 of TMT (July 1975). I remember discovering TMT at a bookstore in Atlanta when I was a young teen and being blown away that such a publication existed. It was printed on cheap newsprint, featured tons of articles and photos from my favorite monster movies (especially Godzilla and other daikaiju flicks), and leaned distinctly toward humor. Not necessarily good humor, but humor nonetheless. Eventually, issues of TMT began appearing at our local newsstand in Martinsville, VA, which delighted me no end.

I remember picking up an issue one day — Fall of 1973, when I was 14 — and going utterly mad to find the familiar poster art of one of my favorite Godzilla movies, Destroy All Monsters (which, by the way, remains a favorite to this day). Not only that, the filmbook’s author was Tom Murdock, a pen pal I had met sometime earlier by way of the late Greg Shoemaker’s wonderful Japanese Fantasy Film Journal. I asked Tom how he’d gotten published in The Monster Times, and he said he basically asked them if they wanted a filmbook of Destroy All Monsters. They said yes, so he wrote it and sent it to them. They published it and sent him money. So, I immediately wrote The Monster Times and asked them if they wanted a filmbook of Godzilla vs. the Thing. They said yes, so I wrote it and sent it to them. They published it and sent me money (though not all that quickly or without prompting; some things never change).

In the typical way of the publishing business, it took some time between submission, acceptance, and publication. I wrote the Godzilla vs. the Thing filmbook when I was 14 going on 15. I was 16 before the issue came out. Regardless, seeing it on newsstand shelves was, at that time, so exciting that it’s something of a miracle that my teenage body didn’t shake itself apart. During that waiting period—in 1974—I had entered the publishing arena myself with the first issue of Japanese Giants, a cobbled-together fanzine that also featured a Destroy All Monsters filmbook (also by your humble narrator). I only published that one issue, but JG managed to continue for over two more decades, first by way of editor/publisher Brad Boyle and then at the hands of longtime friends Ed Godziszewki and Bill Gudmundson.

The Monster Times closed up shop in 1976, with issue #48, so it was well for me that my filmbook saw print before the publication’s time ran out. At one time, I had a sizable collection of TMT issues, but that newsprint tended to not weather the years very well, especially since I didn’t have the forethought to protect them adequately. Still, I have these two issues, and several others — mostly featuring Godzilla — and it would be kind of nice, I suppose, if they managed to outlast me.

The Monster Times #26 (featuring Destroy All Monsters) at From Zombo's Closet

The Monster Times #42 (featuring Godzilla vs. the Thing) at From Zombo’s Closet

R.I.P. Akira Takarada 1934–2022

I was saddened to learn that actor Akira Takarada has passed away. He starred in numerous classic Toho films, from the original Godzilla to Godzilla: Final Wars, and dozens of others in between. Takarada-san was active at fan conventions for many years; I’m sorry I never had a chance to meet him in person. Sadly, there aren’t many of the most notable cast and crew members remaining from the days of Toho’s early classics. A wonderful talent he was, and by all accounts, a true gentleman. 

Over the past few weeks, I’ve gone on a bit of a daikaiju binge, including several that starred Takarada-san. I expect I’ll be putting on a bunch more in the coming days.

Coming Soon: Death’s Garden Revisited

Another upcoming book release featuring an article of mine is Death’s Garden Revisited, a collection of essays about particularly intriguing graveyards and cemeteries. My experience, perhaps not altogether unexpectedly, involves geocaching. Hunting caches has taken me to innumerable boneyards over the years, and many of my favorites have been in or around graveyards — especially very old ones, such as the Patrick-Watson graveyard, not far from my place in Guilford County, NC. I posted a little about it (among other happenings) in 2019 (“Anyone for Scorpion?” June 15, 2019)

Some years back, editor Loren Rhoads assembled a collection of essays for her original book, titled Death’s Garden, and it has clearly warranted a second volume.

The Kickstarter campaign for this one has just kicked off: Death’s Garden Revisited Kickstarter

Coming Soon: Running Home to Shadows

On the heels of Bob Issel's Our Shadowed Past — a huge volume of essays from fans and the stars of legendary soap Dark Shadows (in which I had a hand in the production) — comes Running Home to Shadows, from Jim Beard and Becky Books. I also have a new essay in this volume, which features plenty of recollections about Dark Shadows from a host of writing professionals — plus a foreword by Dark Shadows's own Kathryn Leigh Scott.

From the editor: 

School is out, and Barnabas is IN!

They were a generation all their own, the army of children who ran home from school to watch Dark Shadows, TV’s very first supernatural soap. A breed apart, they set aside the worship of mundane pop stars to follow vampires, witches, and werewolves. From 1966 to 1971, they were daytime Monster Kids… and today they have stories to tell.

Writer-editor Jim Beard has gathered these grown-up kids together in this tome to tell those tales. Their experiences are sometimes tragic and terrifying, yet also uplifting and inspirational, but above all, Dark Shadows touched them so deeply as to leave an indelible impression on their lives that lasts to this day.

Return to Collinwood to brave the stormy nights and rainswept days of yore to listen to this coven of writers spin yarns of childhood encounters with Barnabas, Angelique, Quentin, Vicky, Maggie, and their compatriots. Cross the threshold of the Old House, take a seat by the crackling fire, and make yourself comfortable to the strains of maudlin music issuing forth from the gramophone — the ghosts of the past are about to arise in Running Home to Shadows. Won’t you join us?

Edited by Jim Beard with Charles R. Rutledge

Cover illustration by Mark Maddox with logo design and formatting by Maggie Ryel

Foreword by Kathryn Leigh Scott

Featuring essays by Greg Cox, Kathleen O’Shea David, Mark Dawidziak, Dave Dykema, Bob Freeman, Ed Gross, Nancy Holder, Tina Hunt, Katherine Kerestman, Mark Maddox (with Ed Catto), Elizabeth Massie, Kimberly Oswald, Martin Powell, Dana Pride, Stephen Mark Rainey, Michael Rogers, Charles R. Rutledge, Chris Ryan, Frank Schildiner, Duane Spurlock, and Jeff Thompson

Afterword by Rich Handley

Stay tuned for release news and ordering information.

Sabbatical

It was something of a whim. The other day, I was working on a chapter of my upcoming Ameri-Scares series novel — Georgia: The Haunting of Tate's Mill — which is set in Gainesville, GA, my mom's hometown. I spent much of my youth visiting my grandparents here, particularly at Christmastime. The novel is set at nearby Lake Sidney Lanier, and at one point, I began thinking, "I'd sure like to eyeball some of these places I'm describing in person rather than on Google." Well, I'm retired from the day job now, and as I didn't have any crucial plans at home for this week, I decided to drive down, stay for a few days, and get all the info I needed. Plus... perhaps most importantly... I still have plenty of geocaches here to hunt.

Monday, February 28, 2022: Departures and Arrivals

At about 9:30 a.m., I hit the road, only to be halted immediately by an accident on US 29 South that blocked the highway. Fortunately, I was able to exit and detour around it before the road became impassable. And once underway, travel proceeded generally smoothly, which has so often not been the case on trips involving Interstate 85 South. I grabbed a handful of caches along the way and arrived in Gainesville at 3:00 p.m. sharp, which was fortuitous since that was check-in time at my hotel.

Once settled in, I headed over to my grandparents' old place, just to give it a look. As I was taking a few photos, a young lady came from within to check me out, so I told her about having spent much of my youth in that house. Rather to my surprise, she knew a lot about my family, since she had become friends with the neighbor across the street (sadly, now deceased), who was among my grandparents' best friends. The young lady was kind enough to let me come in and see the place, for which I was incredibly grateful, and we chatted about old times there for quite a while. We exchanged contact information, and I sent her some family photos I had on Google, particularly those that were taken in Gainesville. With all that's changed over the years here — so much of it, to my mind, undesirable — I found it most gratifying that this little corner of the past has been preserved to the degree that it is. After this visit, I went down to Ivey Terrace Park, very near my grandparents' old place, where my brother and I frequently played as kids. I found a couple of caches. Yes, I did. Then I returned to the hotel to freshen up a bit.

For dinner, I wandered up to Southern Recess Gastro Pub, which Brugger and I had enjoyed on our trips here in 2012 ("Let's Do the Time Warp Again") and 2013 ("Chicken City"). The restaurant was crowded, but I was able to procure a seat outside (which was perfect, since it's tradition, and the indoors is really noisy). I went for a dirty gin martini and fish & chips. The martini was perfect, the fish & chips very good. To date, my favorite fish & chips have been found at The Celtic Fringe, in Reidsville, NC, and The Spotted Dog, in Carrboro, NC; Southern Recess makes them mighty fine, to be sure, but I don't think they're quite up to my favorites.

Footbridge over Jesse Jewell Parkway. Last time here, I found a cache there;
it's now closed for construction at either end.

A remnant of the picturesque past: the Hall County courthouse in downtown Gainesville

Dinner destination: Southern Recess Gastro Pub on Bradford Street

Martini plus fish & chips equals all kinds of happy

After dinner, on my walk back to the hotel, I stopped at a nearby parking garage to hunt a cache — "Jury Duty" (GCGKYT) — which I had sought on an earlier trip, but without success. This time, I found the little monster. I love the fact that, after all these years, the cache is still in place and in decent condition. With a fine dinner and excellent drink under my belt, not to mention having claimed a difficult cache, I count the evening as most pleasing.

View from the parking garage while hunting "Jury Duty"

A lovely night in Gainesville, viewed from on high

Tuesday, March 1, 2022: Good Eats, Achy Feetz

Cache log with my signature—and the sigs
of some fellow cachers from back home.

Apparently, I was exhausted after the previous day's rigors, for I enjoyed a nine-hour, unbroken night's sleep, which virtually never happens these days. Upon waking, I made myself a couple of barrels of coffee, took a shower, and ventured out into the ungodly traffic nightmare that Gainesville has become. Judas F'ing Priest, what a change from the days when I knew Gainesville best. From the time I was very small, through my college days, and for some years beyond, Gainesville was a serene, picturesque town with a fantastic, if relaxed, quality of life; it's now bustling insanity, with traffic gridlock day in and day out, and scarcely a square foot of land that hasn't been overdeveloped. To be fair, a reasonable sampling of the town's innate loveliness remains, yet getting to it has become an experiment in how much burgeoning humanity a sane person's patience can stand. My god... how anyone can live in such a monstrous maze of endless gridlock is beyond me. I know that this is very subjective, but I grieve, deeply, for the loss of the singular, uplifting character that once defined this town. It's now a bedroom community of Atlanta, with a handful of the amenities but all of the nightmares of overcrowded urbania. It sickens me.

Now that I've ranted about the seven hells of overpopulation, let's get back to some happier doings. After my morning's refurbishment, out I went among the natives to the nearest Publix and picked up a few staples — mainly coffee and coffee accouterments, which the hotel doesn't provide, at least in any sufficiency, plus lunch things, so I don't have to eat out every meal. Then... I grabbed a few geocaches, some way out Thompson Bridge Road, some close in to town. Yes, I did this thing. It was neat as can be to find, on a few of the cache logs, the signatures of some good friends and fellow geocachers from back home.

Before packing it in for the afternoon, I revisited Ivey Terrace Park and my grandparents' old place, where I scattered some of Phred's ashes. I know he desired this.

The little springhouse at Ivey Terrace Park. It's been there since my mom was a kid, and my brother
and I both played here when we were little. I scattered some of his ashes around it.

Back at the hotel, I cobbled together lunch from the goodies I'd picked up at the store. Then I paid a visit to my cousin, Mark Bell (Jr.), whom I haven't seen in many years. He and my mom were near in age and regularly kept in touch until Mom's health precluded it. It was a wonderful, revitalizing time for me — a reminder of the days when I had a relatively large, close extended family. That is, sadly, a time now gone.

A wonderful jalapeno margarita at
Tino's Mexican Restaurant

I did a little more geocaching before returning to the hotel for a bit of recuperation (the caching has been rigorous, I can tell you). For dinner, I opted to try Tino's Tex-Mex Restaurant, right here at the hotel, and it was a fine choice. I had fantastic beef brisket tacos and a right large jalapeno margarita. As it is with most Mexican restaurants, there wasn't much tequila in the drink, but that was actually fine by me, for I had plenty of high-octane drink waiting for me in my hotel room. However... before returning, I went out on what turned out to be a long (roughly three-mile) walk after the stages of an Adventure Lab cache. This proved both exhilarating and bloody frustrating. I found all but one of the stages, but that one...whew! I couldn't find it tonight, and I don't know whether I'll be able to tomorrow. We shall see, we shall. But I did see some cool sights, including what has to be Gainesville's most haunted house. I feel like I might have even brought a horrible ghost back with me, just from walking by it. I gotta say... I love it!

And then... exhaustion set in. G'night and G'bless.

Exceptional brisket tacos at Tino's Tex-Mex Restaurant in Gainesville

Do not tell me this place is not haunted. It is haunted.

"Love Freedom," a massive mural at one of the geocache stages I visited this evening

Wednesday, March 2, 2022: The Haunted Lake

If, some years ago, I hadn't read online about the legends of "haunted" Lake Sidney Lanier, I'd have never suspected the lake had such a reputation. I spent a lot of time at Lake Lanier in my youth and knew quite a few people in the vicinity; the subject of ghostly happenings out there never came up. Lake Lanier is a massive recreation area, and I suspect the majority of folks who use it aren't really aware of its dark reputation. No matter, for in Georgia: The Haunting of Tate's Mill, there will be ghostly events aplenty, and if the characters didn't know about the possibility of such otherworldly shenanigans from the start... well... that's on them.

The first thing I did this morning — after coffee and a breakfast bar — was head out Cleveland Highway to the site of Old Bell's Mill, which was quite well known in its day (I wrote a bit about Bell's Mill and how it relates to my Ameri-Scares novel here). Here, I didn't hunt geocaches, but I scoped out the precise area that I have fictionalized for the book and took a bunch of photos. This will come in handy in fine-tuning my descriptions of the setting, which I do try to paint as accurately as possible. The whole point of the books is to capture at least a modicum of local color, and I'm glad to have been able to spend quality time at three of the five locations in my series novels.

The site of Old Bell's Mill... as near as one can get to it

Afterward, I did go geocache hunting, of course. I finished up a couple of Adventure Lab caches I had begun last night, hunted their associated bonus caches, and went after a bunch of hides on Gainesville’s north and east sides — some woodland hides that required negotiating moderate to tough terrain, and some typical urban hides that required stopping the car, jumping out, and signing the cache log. I broke for lunch — a chicken salad sandwich, from the supplies I bought yesterday — and then, after logging my morning's finds, headed right back out. This afternoon, I headed south and west, out Dawsonville Highway, and found another bunch, mostly urban park & grabs. The only trail hide, near Gainesville High School, I was unable to find. I sort of suspect it's missing... or I may just have missed it. One's as likely as the other, I suppose. Being out and about and fighting the fucking Gainesville traffic just about sent me over the edge — again. Far as I'm concerned, there's just no excuse for this much goddamn humanity in a small town.

Tonight, I discovered dinner at 37 Main, a bar with fair character and lots of specials. I went early to beat the crowd (tonight is "Trivia Wednesday"), but — little did I know — it was happy hour, where everything is half price. So, I ended up with excellent chicken wings and a very fine gin martini for $10 (of course, I tipped very well, as the service was great). I've been doing my best to keep costs very low on this trip, and this bit of good luck helped quite a bit.

Tomorrow, I anticipate hitting the road as soon as I'm up and packed — after rush hour, inasmuch as rush hour actually lets up here.

This ruination of a beautiful small town by too many motherfucking people is the one thing that hurts me to my soul. All my life, I loved this town, its character, its superb quality of living — which didn't involve fighting big-city congestion in a place that was never, ever in a million years designed for this kind of population explosion. There was a time I actually considered living here. I couldn't do it now. It would literally kill me. And that really hurts.

Otherwise... I made for myself an excellent time here, and in some ways, I'm sorry I can't spend more time here. I did find several little slices of the best of life that Gainesville offered long ago. I sure hope it can hang onto those. I suspect it won't be long, though, before they are razed, and all we see is more people, more scars upon the land. Never have John Denver's lyrics hit so close to home.

Peace out.

37 Main from my table vantage point

The old football field behind Gainesville Civic Center. When I was a kid, my grandfather brought
me to many Gainesville High School football games here.