Ghost Stories and Haunted Places

Do Ghosts Set Off Smoke Alarms?

2013-05-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

For the past week,   our smoke alarms have been going off every night at 9:00pm.   Nothing has been on fire. There has been no smoke. The alarms just go off. We live in a new house we purchased from the builder 5 months ago. The smoke alarms are brand new, but every night the alarms go off. This is a huge pain in the ass.   It is loud and wakes up the baby and it creeps out the kids.   Everyone panics and runs around like idiots. You never realize how hard it is to stop those things from going off until you try to get them to shut up. I knocked the things off of the ceiling and they still went off in my hand. I mashed the button. I took the batteries out. If one goes off, they all go off. It is maddening.

This maddening smoke alarm behavior got me thinking about whether or not a ghost could produce this type of behavior in a smoke alarm. My preliminary research showed that many people have this problem.   I found countless message boards where people have asked if a haunting could produce an alarm going off every night at the same time.   One person hypothesized the following on a yahoo message board, "If the theory about ghosts being a collection of energy is true, then yes, they could manipulate electrical equipment to do such things, powering if from their own energy." This made sense to me. This theory is supported by the large number of people that describe this type of smoke alarm activity in haunted locations.    Stories like this one from Castle of Spirits http://www.castleofspirits.com/stories03/smokedet.html are prolific.    Another interesting smoke alarm ghost story can be found a http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=3449. My husband used to work at the morgue and every night the smoke alarm went off in front of the cooler where the bodies were kept at 3am on the nose. It was like clockwork.  It went off for five or ten minutes and then went quiet. It was more than creepy, especially when you are spending the night alone at the morgue.

So, theoretically a passing spirit or ghost could produce the type of behavior we've observed in our smoke alarms here. This smoke alarm behavior is made even more frustrating by the fact that it only seems to happen when my husband is gone so the only person that knows what they are doing with the smoke alarms isn't present.   I also wanted to investigate non supernatural possibilities for my faulty smoke alarms.   I did my reading and found that there are many things that can contribute to smoke alarms going off at the wrong time. Many modern smoke alarms are also triggered by intense heat. So, if it is very hot and your attic is excessively hot sometimes that will heat the ceiling and trigger the smoke alarm. Also, if hot steam from a shower rises up this could trigger the smoke alarm. It is also always possible that the things are broken and need repair. I could easily rule out the smoke alarm being broken by talking to my builder. I could also rule out the attic heat hypothesis by going up into my attic and finding that it was not really hot up there.   That left the steam possibility. My son does shower every night around nine and after examining his behavior, I think he was setting off the alarm by opening the bathroom door and releasing all the hot steam onto the smoke detector.

Our house is not haunted, but that doesn't make the number of cases of smoke alarms going off without any reason less interesting.   I have never found an explanation for the alarm that went off at the morgue.   The alarm was a hospital alarm that was checked regularly due to tight hospital regulations. It was in front of the cooler and the air around it was cooler than the rest of the hospital and since the morgue was in the basement there was no attic above it.   My husband and I still tend to believe that the phantoms of the dead locked up in that rancid smelling cooler drifted out late at night, setting off the alarm.

The White Queen of Chenonceau

2013-05-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

During my castle tour of the Loire Valley, I listened to many audio tours and studied the history of each castle. There was no mention of anything supernatural. The tours contained only the facts. Interestingly, my son's audio tour of the castle of Chenanceau was quite different from mine. It was designed for young children and told a detailed account of the ghost that haunts the castle.

Chenanceau is one of more stunning of the castles in the Loire Valley. It is a beautiful Renaissance castle that stretches across the Loire-Indes River. It was constructed in phases and is a uniquely feminine castle. All of it's owners and occupants have been women and the castle itself seems to whisper this character. The castle was taken by King Henry II in 1517 for his mistress Diane de Portier. After the king's death, his wife Catherine de Medici, took the castle back from Diane and began the elaborate construction of the gallery that stretches across the river. It was completed in 1577.

It is this gallery that is haunted by the ghost of the White Queen. The White Queen was the wife of King Henry III. Following his murder, she retired to Chenonceau and clothed herself only in white. She spent the rest of her life mourning his loss. Even her bedchamber reflects her sorrow. It is black, painted with white flowers.

According to my son's audio tour, her ghost still wanders the halls of the chateau forever mourning her lost love. She is seen by many visitors as a white clad specter weeping in the hall. Many have also reported seeing images of her in pictures taken of the hall. I have included the pictures we took of the gallery. It may be my imagination, but I always think I see a soft white form by the window.

Amazon Giveaway!

2013-05-02T18:05:00.001-07:00

Mark Hedder Won this giveaway! Watch for your prize in your inbox!

It is give away time again! A couple of times a year I giveaway free books and prizes to my readers. This time I'll be giving away kindle copies of all of my books and a ten dollar gift card to amazon.com. If you would like to win this lovely amazon gift basket follow me on Facebook or twitter and comment about it below. I will pick one lucky winner! Good luck! Here are the links!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Penot/512746908786746?ref=hl

https://twitter.com/Jessica_Penot

Deep South Paranormal

2013-04-25T09:39:00.001-07:00

I met Benny Reed at my first book signing. He was a fan of my writing, so I loved him immediately. I would have liked him even if he hated my writing, but I do love fans. Interestingly, Benny was also part of DOA paranormal http://www.doa-paranormal.com/. He and his group were involved in a plethora of interesting investigations which had me intrigued. He invited me to join his group several times and I am utterly depressed that each time he invited me I was always doing something else. I had to work or have a baby or something distracting like that. However, I was honored to be invited and I watched his group and their investigations from afar knowing they were awesome.

Apparently, I wasn’t wrong about Benny being awesome because the SyFy network recently cast him to be part of their new show, Deep South Paranormal. I love this show not only because it has Benny in it, but because it has a little bit of that Southern charm that makes Southern ghost stories so beautiful. The South positively crawls with folklore and fables and old history filled with tragedy and plantations and white ladies and dark stories. For example, episode 2 of Deep South Paranormal was filmed during an investigation of an old plantation rich with Southern history that couldn’t have happened anywhere else. Episode 3 featured the investigation of a cotton gin in Prattville, Alabama. The episode started with an old Southern remedy used to drive off evil spirits involving sucking the breath from frogs and storing it in glass vials. I love these little Southern traditions and they make the show much more engaging. The show does tend to play to Southern stereotypes, but stereotypes are what makes parts of the South fun.

I don’t watch that many television shows. I watch American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Parks and Recreation, Dr. Who, and Vikings. I’m not a television fan overall, but I know I’ll be adding Deep South Paranormal to my list this season. The show is great fun for any lover of Southern folklore and ghost stories. Deep South Paranormal is on at 9 central time and 10 eastern time on the SyFy channel on Weds nights.

http://www.syfy.com/deepsouthparanormal/about

The Haunting on Larrabbee Street

2013-04-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

This haunting story has always been one of my favorites because it does not have a history. The haunting on Larrabbee Street has often been compared to the Amityville case, however, the house on Larrabee Street didn't have the history the Amityville house had. It is a haunting that is unexplainable. The spirit that haunted Allen and Deborah Tallman came from nowhere.
The Tallman's moved into the house on Larrabee Street in Horicon, Wisconsin in 1986. At that time, they had a little girl and a boy who was about 6 years old. Deborah Tallman was pregnant. The Tallman's loved their new home and began a fairly typical America life in their new home. Although they loved their new home, The Tallmans immediately began having difficulties in the house. They were plagued by a rash of sicknesses and their cat went crazy, climbing the walls and screaming all night. Deborah was close to her family and her family usually spent a considerable amount of time visiting Deborah. These visits began to decrease in frequency following the Tallman's move into their new home. Both Deborah's mother and sister indicated they felt sick in the Tallman home. They felt sick and suffocated.

It took more than a year for the haunting to escalate and culminate in the events that lead to the Tallman's fleeing their comfortable home. Deborah had her baby girl and the children began to complain more and more about things in their room. The little boy said that a hideous, diminutive, old woman would come into his room at night. The little girl was plagued by visions of monsters. The Tallman's grew more and more tired as their children kept them up night after night. Even their attempts at time away from home were thwarted when the babysitter saw furniture moving on it's own.

The children's nightmares could be brushed off as childhood fancy, but when Allen began to hear things and see things the Tallmans called their preacher. The preacher came into the home and told the Tallmans that their home was in the grips of something from the devil. He told them that the only way to dispel the evil that had been growing in their home was to go to church more. The Tallman's listened to the preacher to no avail. Things got worse. Windows in the basement relocated on their own, the refrigerator door remained open on it's own, the children continued to be visited by nocturnal terrors. Allen saw the garage catch on fire and when he rushed to extinguish the flame he saw a green eyed demon above the door. Allen even saw a full bodied ghost that rose from the floor in a a kind of fog and took form just long enough to tell him that he was "going to die."
Desperate, the family called the preacher again. The preacher came and told them to play church music all the time. The family listened. They listened and their was a brief reprieve before the entity came again. This time the entire family and the babysitter saw the specter just long enough to turn them all white with fear and send them fleeing into the night.

After the Tallman's left their home, the house became a local sensation and lines wrapped around the neighborhood with curious spectators hoping to catch a glimpse of some random terror. Many spectators claimed to have been successful in their desires. Many claimed to see snow blowers running up and down the driveway by themselves and furniture being flung around inside the house. Of course, none of these stories have ever been confirmed, but the stories themselves turned the Tallman house into a local legend that grew with time. Stories of the house being a gateway to hell and blood dripping from the ceilings proliferated and a media frenzy swept incidents out of control.

Despite this, and despite accusations that it was a hoax on the Tallman's part, the Tallman's have shown nothing but the desire to stay out of the spot light. They've turned down interviews and even rejected Oprah when she invited them to be her guest. They seem happiest forgetting the horror on Larrabee street.

Black Eyed Children

2013-04-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Black Eyed Children are the cause of much debate. They appeared, as if from a vacuum, in 1998, and since that time the Internet has been crowded with stories of their appearance and activity around the world. In 1998, a reporter named Brian Bethel was working in his car. He was sitting in his vehicle alone at night and everything around him was quiet and dark. Out of this darkness, two children emerged. The reporter rolled down his window to talk with them. The children told the reporter that they had been dropped off by their parents to see a movie, but they had no money and had begun the walk home. The begged the reporter to help them and let them into his car with him. The reporter was somewhat put off by the appearance of the children in the night and although his first impulse was to let the children in, something in his gut told him not too. The longer Brian put off letting the children in the car, the more persistent they became. Finally Brian peered into the darkness and noticed that the children had black eyes. Their eyes were entirely inky black with no white or iris. Brian became terrified and was driven by an overwhelming panic and need to run away. The children sensed his fear and became even more aggressive in their pleas to enter the vehicle. Finally, Brian abandoned the eerie children and went on to tell his story.

Since Brian's encounter, countless other stories like this have peppered the Internet. One story I read on the Internet was told by a young man who skateboarding in the dark. He was approached by two young children who claimed they were lost and asked if he could take them to his house and let them use his phone. He offered his cell phone, but the children insisted they use his home phone. The young man noticed the children's eyes and asked them why they were wearing contacts. He then declined the children and went home on his own. He was scared of the children and wanted nothing more to do with them. When he looked out his window later that night, the two children were still watching him from the front yard. Another story was told by a woman who was awoken in the middle of the night by two children asking for help. They wanted to use the phone to call their parents. The woman was overwhelmed by fear and didn't let the children in, but they stayed at her door for hours begging and pleading.

These Black Eyed Kids or BEKs have stayed on the fringes of the paranormal and have remained so because no one really knows what to make of them. Some people believe BEKs are part of an elaborate Internet hoax and that those telling the stories speak out on the Internet as part of this hoax. There are others that believe the BEKs are the ghosts of lost children who wander the earth searching for safety. Others believe they are lost souls trying to gain entrance to our lives. Another theory states that the BEKS are demons trying to con their way into people's lives and yet another theory says they are vampires, who must get permission before entering to feed on their victims. A final group of people argue that BEKS are the product of some bizarre alien human mating. Whatever the truth is, the stories about these phantom, black eyed horrors are enough to send chills down your spine on the warmest nights.

The Spirit Gallery

2013-04-06T14:17:00.002-07:00

Whenever I imagine a medium at work, I think of the mediums of the Spiritualist Movement of the turn of the 20th century. I imagine women and men sitting at old wooden tables talking to the dead. I also view mediums with skepticism. I tend to think that in any money making venture there's always an angle and sometimes people stretch the truth for the profit. I guess I am saying that I think most mediums are full of it and I've never seen a medium that's made me believe otherwise.

Last night however, I joined medium, Tracy Farquhar, for a spirit gallery at the Lowe Mill and she managed to change my mind. The Lowe Mill is an old Mill in a minor state of decay. It has been revamped and turned into an art center. There are concerts there and many artists have studio space in the Flying Monkey portion of the Lowe Mill. Beloved Books is in a corner of the Flying Monkey and is one of those last corners of the world that still pays tribute to the written word in the form of purely paper books. There are no kindles or nooks there. There are only shelves of old books surrounded by paintings and chairs.

The Spirit Gallery was in Beloved Books and music from the concert below made the floor boards vibrate as the medium spoke. Dogs barked in the distance and the sound of frolicking people surrounded the darkened book store. Tracy Farquhar paced in the dark and said that there were many spirits in the store with us. She didn't ask any questions. She just called out a name. She said there was a Robert or Roger with us and he was someone's uncle. She said he died 5 years ago from something having to do with his brain. She said she saw an old family house by the lake. She said Robert/Roger liked fishing. It was at this point that I admitted that I did have an Uncle Roger who passed five years ago. He wasn't my favorite uncle so I wasn't overjoyed to talk with him again, but I was intrigued by the accuracy of what she was saying. She said the family house had just changed hands and that although it was still in the family it wasn't with us anymore. The house was crumbling. The foundation was sinking. There was an old tree in the yard that Roger had buried something he valued by when he was a boy. Roger saw me as a girl. I was a little girl to him and he wanted me to remember him taking me someplace. He also felt bad about some falling out he had with my father. I thought she was talking about my biological father who had divorced my mother so they didn't talk anymore. He also said he was worried about a girl, whom the psychic called my daughter. I told her I didn't have a daughter. She said it was a young girl who was or had been in school but was leaving because of social problems. He wanted her to go back to school. My sister did just drop out of college last semester because of problems with social anxiety, although I didn't tell the medium that. I tried not to tell the medium much. She continued to say I had some kind of foot or heal pain and he said I should take care of that. I do have plantar fasciitis and I hate taking care of it because that involves wearing ugly shoes, my nemesis.

The medium moved on to another spirit and I was left vaguely stunned and trying to figure out how she could have possibly guessed all of that information. I still can't think of a way, I am assuming that she did somehow reach the spirit of my Uncle Roger. I later learned that my step-father and my Uncle Roger had a huge falling out right before he died and that my Uncle had a favorite tree by our old family house where he built a fort and buried his treasures. The psychic had known things I didn't even know.

The Spirit Gallery ended in many tears and people being reunited with long lost loved ones. Lots of people were crying. I was just stunned. I guess if I believe in ghosts it isn't that much of a stretch to believe in a medium, especially in one who knew more about my family than I do.

The Origins of Easter

2013-03-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! My favorite thing about our modern holidays is there strange origins. They never come from where we think they did. History is a strange thing. Here is my story about another pagain holiday wrapped in Christian paper and decorated with years of traditions no one understands.

Holiday are off topic, but I love them. Almost all our modern Christian holidays are just pagan holidays in different paper. So many Christians won't celebrate Halloween because it is pagan, but the Easter bunny has nothing to do with Christ. Where does the bunny come from? It comes from the goddess Eostre. Eostre was a European fertility goddess. During the Spring, her favorite Holiday, named for her, Easter, was celebrated across Europe. Her totem animal, the bunny, was intrinsic in the celebration of her holiday. Easter was a fertility holiday and it isn't just a coincidence that estrogen, the hormone often associated with fertility and sex is also named after Eostre.

Ancient Christians were quite brilliant. They knew that if they wanted to convince the old pagans to convert they shouldn't ask them to abandon their old holidays and traditions, so the merely Incorporated their holidays into Christian beliefs. So Easter was absorbed into the early Christian faith and linked to the celebration of the death of Christ. So the totem animal of Easter became Eostre's totem animal, the bunny and other fertility rituals were also made part of the Christian Holiday. Eggs, also associated with old fertility rituals, became part of holiday traditions.

By the fifteenth century, in many parts of Europe, it had become normal for children to build nests for the magic bunny to lay eggs in on Easter morning to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Over time, this evolved into the putting out of Easter baskets for a magic bunny to put chocolate eggs and other treats in. So, the resurrection of Christ and the fertility rights of Eostre became one to make the holiday we celebrate today, which is a beautiful fusion of Christian and pagan.

The Phantom Lion

2013-03-23T09:32:00.001-07:00

The Cincinnati Zoo is the second oldest zoo in the nation. It was founded in 1875 and featured a small collection of animals. The zoo grew quickly and is now rated as one of the top five zoos in the nation and features a vast array of animals. The zoo is also known for its architecture and is listed as a national historical landmark. It contains the oldest reptile house in the Western Hemisphere. No trip to Cincinnati would be complete without a visit to this historic zoo.

The zoo is also known for another animal. It isn't an animal you can see in any exhibit and most visitors don't see this famous resident of the zoo at all. It is known to be haunted by a phantom lioness that wanders the ground following visitors and terrifying those who happen to catch a glimpse of her. Those who have seen this ghostly lion describe hearing her footsteps behind them. Many times these witnesses have been terrified because they thought the lioness was real. Other witnesses have believed the lioness was about to attack them. The lioness has been described as having glowing eyes that cut through the shadows and dark. When she is seen, she runs towards the unfortunate visitor as if to attack them and then vanishes into the shadows she came from. Although the living animals in the zoo may be the main attraction at this zoo, a chance encounter with this phantom would make the Cincinnati Zoo one of my favorite zoos.

The Grand Hotel

2013-03-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

The Grand Hotel embodies all of the beauty and histroy that begins in the Victorian era for Mackinac Island. In a sense, the island is trapped in this time. It clings to the old things and puts them on a pedastle making them great. The hotel is the center of everything beautiful and historic on the island. It's long, white walls can be seen from the water on the ferry ride to the island. It sits away from the rest of the chaos of the island, amidst green gardens. There are no cars on the island and during my many visits to the island, I have travelled to the old hotel using many modes of transportation. Whether you approach by horse and buggy, bicycle, horseback, or on foot, the elegant porch gleams in the sunlight as the first part of the hotel you see. The hotel is a piece of my history as much as it is the island's. My great grandfather worked at the hotel and his father before him. My great grandfather proposed to my great grandmother in the old hotel. I still have the ring he proposed her with.

The land for the hotel was bought in 1886. During this time the popularity of the island for a summer get away was exploding. Tourists were coming from as far as Chicago to see the scenic beauty of this quiet island. The Grand Hotel was built to cater to the wealthier tourists that came from afar to relax in peace. It was during the construction of the hotel that an untold number of bones were unearthed. Most of the bones were relocated, but it is said that some of these old skeletons still remain beneath the foundation of this luxourious hotel.

In 1887 the hotel opened and it was a success from the beginning. During the long summers every room was filled. Of course during the winter, when the bitter Northern Michingan wind freezes the lake and burries the hotel in snow, the hotel was still mostly empty. In the 1890's, the hotel's owners proudly announced that they had built the longest porch in the world around the beautiful hotel. In 1895, Mark Twain came for a reading in the Hotel's grand salon. The Hotel was often host to famous people and a couple of movies were shot at the hotel. The most recent film shot there was made in the 1980's and stared Christopher Reeves as a love struck playwright. The film was called Somewhere in Time.

Despite all this activity, the hotel has continuously been a source of paranormal activity. As the hotel expanded, the orignal Fort Mackinac Island cemetery was moved to make room for the horse stables. So the stables now stand on yet another collection of old bones. Those that have worked at the Grand report phantom footsteps and doors opening and shutting. Guests staying at the hotel have reported feeling ill at ease, as if there is something else in the room with them from time to time. The hotel groans at night and, although all old things groan, the noises from this hotel seem loader that they should.

A Photographic Journey Through Nashville's City Cemetery

2013-02-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

Nashville City Cemetery is one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Tennessee. It was founded in January of 1822 and by 1850 11,000 souls were laid to rest in this beautiful necropolis. The cemetery is home to many of Tennessee's prominent historical figures. Two governors, 4 confederate generals, and many Nashville mayors now call this urban cemetery their resting place. It is a pretty cemetery hidden between buildings and roads. Its location is typical of an urban landscape and is unmarked by beauty or darkness, but the cemetery climbs out of this ordinary landscape and remains both lovely and serene.

Movie Review: The Awakening

2013-02-21T23:26:00.001-08:00

I try to watch all the haunting movies I can find. Many of them follow a very similar story arc and I am rarely surprised by them. Not that this is a bad thing, I love ghost stories and I enjoy them in all their permutations. However, it is nice to find a haunting tale that is a little surprising. I found the awakening to be surprising.

The Awakening is a mystery set at the height of the spiritualist movement in England. It is just after World War I and the Spanish Flu and charlatans claiming to speak to the dead are prolific. The heroine of this tale travels the country debunking fraudulent spiritualists and proving hauntings to be the machinations of man rather than manifestations of the dead. Of course, all this changes for our heroine when she is invited to investigate a haunting in a boys' boarding school. Initially, it seems that she will be able to quickly debunk the ghost story behind the boys boarding school, but as the haunting escalates, our heroine's wits begin to unravel and we often wonder if perhaps she is more haunted than the school itself.

The Awakening does an amazing job of mixing the psychological hauntings of those who had survived World War I with the physical haunting of the school. The ghosts of the soul are just as terrifying as the ones that wander the school and the combination of both creates a beautiful tension in all the characters. I loved this movie in all its haunting beauty.

How Valentine's Day Started with Naked Ladies and Dead Animals

2013-02-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

It is time for my annual Valentine's Day Post. This is my favorite post of the year because Valentine's Days origins are so interesting. I hope you all have a happy Valentine's Day!

My favorite thing about holidays are their bizarre origins. Most of our modern celebrations have roots in old pagan traditions. Valantine's Day is no different. Its pagan roots are just more bizarre than most. They are so strange I like to write about them every year. I know it is slightly off topic, but naked people being flogged with animal hides is worth discussing in any forum. Apparently the ancient roots of Valentine's Day begins with the Romans. The Romans celebrated Lupercalia from Feb. 13 to 15. In Roman mythology Lupercus was the equivalent of the Greek god Pan who was known to be a sexy sort of fellow who promoted fertility. His holiday was a somewhat romantic kind of celebration. During Lupercalia the men would sacrifice a goat and a dog and then whip women with the hides of the dead animals. The women would line up naked in order to be whipped. They did this because they believed this ritual would make them more fertile. Afterwards, there would be lottery in which men and women would be paired up for a night of naked fun.

I know, you are now wishing we still celebrated Valentine's day this way. Enough with the cheesy cards. Where are the dead animals, whippings, and naked people? It was the Catholic Church that ruined the fun. Emperor Claudius II killed two Valentine's in different years of February 14th. Both men were martyred and the day derives its name from these two martyred saints. In the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I got confused and merged the two martyrs into one person and named February 14th after them. He also absorbed the romantic traditions of Lupercalia into the day in order to soften the pagan debauchery and retake the day for Christianity. Christianity has a long history of doing this type of thing. Christmas was taken from Roman Saturnalia traditions and Norse Yule traditions. By absorbing pagan holidays rather than forbidding them, ancient Christians were able to gain new followers rather than lose them.

Chaucer and Shakespeare can be credited with further romanticizing St. Valentine's day and turning it into the romantic, kissy holiday it is today, but I will always think back to better days when women ran naked through the streets being beaten with dead animals.

Kuntilanak: The Monstrous Ghosts of Those Who Die in Childbirth

2013-02-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

The Kuntilanak is an extraordinarily malevolent spirit found in Malaysian folklore. A Kuntilanak is the ghost of a pregnant woman who died in childbirth or died from complications resulting from pregnancy. The Malaysian word for a Kuntilanak is Pontijanak which means pregnant. Kuntilanaks are usually seen either crying or laughing hysterically. They are often found in old buildings and and are sometimes said to kidnap and devour small children.

The Kuntilanak usually appears as a beautiful young woman and this makes her more beguiling to her potential victims. The smell of fragrant flowers follow them wherever they go. They use their many charms to seduce men and they are often found by unscrupulous men looking for a good time. Men find them wandering the side of the road and when the men pick the ghost up the men are rarely heard from again. The Kuntilanak also enjoy harming pregnant women and causing miscarriages. Pregnant women are most vulnerable to Kuntilanak when they are traveling and the only way a pregnant woman can protect herself is to carry nails or scissors with her at all times. If the nail or scissors are driven into the base of the Kuntilanak's skull and left there it will drive the evil from the ghost and she will become a woman again until the nail is removed.

Ever the friendly ghost, when the Kuntilanak kills its victims it usually digs its fingernails into its victim's stomach and pulls out their intended's guts and gorges herself on them. In the case of men, the kuntilanak often pulls off the genitals, the source of her unfortunate pregnancy and death, and devours those first. Some argue the kuntilanak is more of a vampire than a ghost because it must feed on the living to continue its preternatural existence, but the images and stories of visitations of Kuntilanak's are more consistent with ghost stories than vampire stories. Either way, if you run into a lonely woman crying on the road or wailing like a baby it is probably best to carry a few nails with you because the kuntilanak sounds like a horrific ghost to encounter. As someone whose been through a terrible childbirth experience, I can understand where these nasty pregnant ghosts are coming from. I certainly wanted to rip out someones guts halfway through my labor.

Insatiable: The Magazine of Paranormal Desires

2013-01-27T14:28:00.001-08:00

I have been a fan of White Cat Publications for some time. They have a wonderful collection of literary magazines for those who have a taste for the paranormal or the otherworldly. I have even been lucky enough to write a column for White Cat for a while.   All of this is why I'm thrilled to have been given the opportunity to be the editor of the new White Cat Magazine, Insatiable:  The Magazine of Paranormal Desires.

Insatiable is primarily dedicated to quality paranormal fiction with a romantic or erotic twist.   I've spent my last week reading all kinds of submissions and I have to say that I am thrilled by the quality of the submissions to the magazine and I believe that this is and will continue to be an outstanding publication.   A magazine can only be as good as its writers and if I continue to receive submissions of this quality, the magazine will be amazing. The first issue of Insatiable was fabulous and if you have any interest you should take a peak at:   http://www.whitecatpublications.com/?wpsc-product=insatiable-premiere-issue

Due to this change in my paranormal interests, periodically I will make announcements regarding Insatiable on this blog.   Insatiable magazine is currently open to submissions and I am now reviewing submissions. If you are a writer who loves the paranormal, please consider submitting your work. You can find submission guidelines at: http://www.whitecatpublications.com/?page_id=1995

The Vengeful Ghost of Emily's Bridge

2013-01-23T10:02:00.001-08:00

In Alabama, the stories of haunted bridges fill almost every small town and county. Cry baby hollows and cry baby bridges bring stories of children lost to tragic ends in turbulent waters.   Interestingly, there is a similar story in Vermont. There is a haunted bridge that is said to be lost in tales of woe. However it isn't a sweet babe that haunts this bridge, but an angry woman. Emily's Bridge is located in Stowe,Vermont in the lovely valleys of the Green Mountains.

Emily's Bridge is mired in rumor. Its true history is somewhat bland. It is the oldest remaining covered bridge in the Stowe area. The stream beneath the bridge once had a little gold in it, but not enough to make anyone rich.   The bridge is picturesque and warn by time, but it is the ghost that haunts it that makes it famous. No one knows for sure who Emily was. Some say she was a young woman who had her heart broken by her true love.   Desperate and despairing, she threw herself into the water below the bridge to end her life. Others say she was a mother, whose husband ended his life and who lost her babies. In a fit of despair, she also ended her life.

Whoever Emily was, the stories of the white lady of Emily's bridge are terrifying. Emily is a vengeful ghost. It is said that after she is seen throwing herself off the bridge, she often chases her observer.   Some who catch a glimpse of Emily, are said to leave covered in cuts and bruises from her brutal attacks. Strange noises are often heard on the bridge. Screams, scrapings, and footsteps are said to haunt the quiet nights there. Those who park on the bridge say that they hear Emily tearing and scraping at the outside of their cars.

Whoever Emily was, her sad story endures, even in the shadows of rumor and legend, because her ghost story endures. As long as her tragic screams are heard in the shadowy nights of Emily's bridge, her story will remain.

The Ghosts of Native American Burial Grounds

2013-01-15T11:01:00.001-08:00

One of my ex high school classmates posted an interesting bit of news on Facebook this morning. The news was that my high school may be relocated to a place off of Weatherly Drive in South Huntsville, Alabama that is currently the location of three Native American archaeological sites dating from 1200 BC to 1500 AD.   One of these sites is said to be the resting place of Native American remains. This means they may be moving my old high school to a location on top of an ancient Indian Burial Ground.   So many images popped up in my head when I found out about this.   Old ghost stories crept up from the dusty corners of my mind, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's high school popped up, and many other images.   I am thrilled. This could be the making of a thousand ghost stories whispered by high school students down over the generations.

Stories of ghosts associated with Indian Burial Grounds have been pervasive in American folklore for generations. Indeed, where ever you find an Indian Burial site a ghost story is almost always close at hand. Some Native Americans buried their dead in large mounds. These mounds have made for some interesting Native American Burial Ground ghost stories. Indian Burial Mounds almost always have ghost stories associated with them. One resident of Grandville, Michigan told a story of ghostly visitations nearby the Mounds there. He described phantom noises and strange visitations. In Alabama, Dauphin Island is known for its shell like burial mounds.   Phantom Native Americans have been seen in the shadows there.  Mounds aren't the only type of Native American Burial Sites that are haunted. Robinson Woods in Chicago was known to once be the site of an Indian Burial Ground and stories of ghosts and paranormal activity abound in this area. In Malone, New York there is an elementary school called Flanders Elementary. It was built on top of a cemetery which was built on top of an Indian Burial ground. Of course, the ghosts that wanders this school are legendary.   When I did research for my book, Haunted North Alabama, I discovered a paleo Indian graveyard might contribute to the hauntings associated with the Space and Rocket Center. These stories are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Native American Burial Ground stories. I could fill a book with these stories.

With the prolific nature of ghost stories associated with Native American Burial grounds, you would think that builders would avoid these sites for construction. You'd think even skeptics would say it is probably bad business to build in a location that will inevitably be associated with stories of ghosts and horrors, but it doesn't ever seem to phase anyone.   I always wonder why people build on these sites just because it seems bad to destroy such ancient archaeological sites that surely hold unique pieces of American history.   Of course, none of these things phase those who decide where to build things.   So Virgil I. Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama could very well be the next of many places haunted by the ghosts of Native American Burial Grounds. I wish I could send my children there. I would love to hear the stories.

To read more about the relocation of Virgil I. Grissom High School: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/01/huntsville_school_officials_do.html#incart_river_default

The Horrific and Beautiful Franklin Castle

2013-01-10T07:04:00.000-08:00

The Franklin Castle is a house surrounded by sorrow.   Franklin Castle was built in 1865 by Hannes Tiedemann, a German immigrant. It is located in Cleveland, Ohio and is believed by many to be the most haunted house in Ohio. Whether or not it is the most haunted house in Ohio, it is certainly one of the most tragic.   Tiedemann's luck seemed to have taken a downward turn after he moved into the beautiful mansion.  Many say it wasn't his luck, but his murderous temperament that took a downward turn, but history speaks only of his luck.   Tiedemann's daughter died of diabetes shortly after his taking up residence in the house. His mother followed quickly behind her and three more of the Tiedemann's children also followed their sibling into the afterlife.  Death came more and more often in Tiedemann's house. His wife died. His niece died. A maid died.   Rumors began to circulate that Tiedemann was behind all the deaths. Other rumors surrounded the house itself. People began to whisper that the house itself was cursed.

In 1911, the house was purchased by the German Socialist Party.   Little is known about this period in the house's history. The Nazis owned the house until 1955 and many tell a story in which 20 Nazi's were killed in the house during this period.   Later, the Germans rented the house out.   Other rumors indicate that a mad doctor lived in the house while the Germans owned it. The doctor performed strange and perverse experiments in the darkest parts of Franklin Castle killing all he experimented on.

Rumors and stories about The Franklin Castle abound. Mysteries lurk in the shadows there.   The house is riddled with secret rooms and hidden passages. Tunnels creep underneath the house and old stories lay buried there.   In 1970, one of the occupants of the house found a secret room filled with the skeletal remains of babies. Those that found the babies described hearing the phantom voices of crying babies long before they actually unearthed the remains.   Theories about the origins of the baby remains go from them being medical specimens, to them being the remains of Tiedemann's lost children, to them being the medical experiments of the mad doctor.

Ghost stories surrounding the Franklin Castle are prolific.   Residents and visitors have described hearing weeping babies and phantom children. A black lady is said to be seen from one of the window. Nazi ghosts are prevalent and strange noises, voices, and lights fill the stories of all those who have wandered Franklin Castle. The house gathers ghost stories like a child collects Halloween candy while trick or treating.

The house's recent history is as odd as its past.  The house was burnt to a ruin in 1999. In 2004, the house was bought and it was said it was going to be turned into a club. The website for this club still remains.   http://franklincastleclub.com/.   This was shown to be a scam by a Mr. Mislaps. He got into some trouble over back taxes and was ordered to stop giving tours of the house.

The house has recently been rezoned as a 3 family dwelling.   One thing is for sure, with more people living in the house in the future, there are sure to be new ghost stories and new dark tales to fill the halls of this old house.

The Mummy of Bessemer Hall

2013-01-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Hazel Farris was a beautiful woman in life.   She was beautiful and notorious.   Hazel was born in Bessemer Alabama, but she was a fast living woman and ended up in Kentucky with a hard drinking husband by the time she was twenty-five.   Hazel and her husband both drank heavily and they were known to exchange blows from time to time.   One night, one of their fights got out of hand.   Hazel grabbed the pistol and shot her husband three times.   The neighbors called the police and three police officers entered the house.   Three more gunshots pierced the night.   Reinforcements were sent and before the night was over five officers had been killed and Hazel had fled into the night.

Hazel ran home to Bessemer where she managed to avoid arrest despite a reward being posted for her capture. In Bessemer, Hazel got a job and went on with life. She fell in love and in the heat of her passion, she confessed her crimes to her lover. Her lover was terrified by her confession and immediately turned Hazel in. Hazel was mortified and heart broken.   She could take no more so she got completely intoxicated and took as much arsenic as she could get her hands on.   Hazel died in 1906.

Hazel's corpse was taken to Adams Vermillion's furniture store and funeral parlor.   Since no one claimed Hazel's body, Adams placed her corpse in storage.   After a few months, Adams noticed that Hazel's body was beginning to mummify. It is believed that she began to mummify because of the combination of arsenic and alcohol she used to end her life.    Always one to make the best of situation, Adams began showing the modern mummy for money and eventually her body was sold.   After changing hats and going across the country in various sideshows as an oddity, Hazel's body eventually came to the Bessemer Hall of History. The mummy was displayed there from 1974-2004 and many believe that this is where Hazel's ghost lives on today. There have been reports of lights going on and off in the building and strange whistling noises.   Visitors have also reported feeling ill at ease at this building.   Even thought Hazel's corpse has finally been laid to rest, her spirit walks on giving visitors a new nightmare to keep them up at night.

Goodbye 2012

2012-12-30T19:47:00.001-08:00

As the sun sets tonight, 2012 will come to an end and a new year will begin. 2012 was a wonderful year. The world ended a couple of times, although it looks the same to me. The world began again and now we are ready to look back at this strange year. Every new year, I like to look back on which posts were my most popular of the year. The most popular posts I wrote and posted in 2012 were:

1. Can Ghosts Be Captured?
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2012/04/can-ghosts-be-captures.html

2. American Horror Story and The Ghosts of the Waverly Hills Sanitarium
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2012/10/american-horror-story-and-waverly-hills.html

3. The Old Bryce Hospital for the Insane
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2012/03/old-bryce-hospital-for-insane.html

Interestingly, two of my top posts this year were about hospitals. It seems that haunted hospitals always capture the imagination. I'm hoping that in 2013, I can spend more time exploring haunted hospitals and asylums. I would also like to dedicate some time to haunted hotels. As the sun sets on 2012, my favorite ghostly moments come from the stories others have told me. I haven't as traveled as far and gone to as many ghostly places as I usually do. I had a baby and moved to a new house. I lost myself in life, but there are still a few haunted places that I discovered in 2012. I loved exploring haunted Washington DC this year. I also enjoyed finding haunted locations in the shadowy landscape of Michigan. Still, I did have to push my deadline for Haunted South Alabama back this year and I became a little overwhelmed by my ghosts. I'm hoping next year will be better for my ghost stories!

Happy New Year to you all and may 2013 bring you many wonderful stories and happy times!

The Most Haunted Asylums

2012-12-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

Mental Hospitals and Asylums seem to draw ghost stories the way a light on a dark night draws bugs. Ghost stories cling to them like moss and collect over time until the dead patients wandering the halls outnumber the living. There is an irony to this. These hospitals were built to be places of healing where the broken and lost could find sanctuary and solace, but these plans often go awry and accidents and apathy turn healing to hurt. Tragedies linger in the shadows of these hospitals and collect like dust over time.

I have worked at several asylums during my career as a psychologist and many times these places are not creepy. They are places of healing and the staff fights the darkness with art therapy and recreational therapy and all the things mental health professionals do to make hospitals a place of healing. However, sometimes the sad condition of the chronically mentally ill can’t be combated by these tools and bad things happen. Things happen that are so bad, that evil seems to remain in the old hospitals. It seeps into the foundations of the buildings and creeps up through the walls tainting everything inside. Bad doctors and staff turn bad things into travesties and these hospitals become places of fear. According to many, the ghosts cling to the emotions that are kept in the hospitals. Across the nation, there are many hospitals that are considered to be haunted. These hospitals have tragic histories and their stories can send chills down the spines of even the bravest souls. Here are a few of my favorite haunted asylums:

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

This is considered by many to be the most haunted hospital in the United States. This hospital was founded in Weston West Virginia in 1864 and was then called The Weston State Hospital. The hospital had 250 beds and houses some of the sickest patients in the region. Although the hospital was built to house only 250 patients, by 1950 overcrowding turned the hospital into something out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the building housed as many as 2500 sick souls. Even Charles Manson spent some time at this notorious hospital. The hospital witnessed all the worst of the early treatments for mental illness and frontal lobotomies and water shock treatment were the mainstays of early treatment here. However, the worst tragedies occurred when the patients hurt each other. There were several patient to patient killings here and one nurse vanished only to have her body discovered under the stairs two years later. Death became common place at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. In 1994, the hospital was considered unusable and it was close. Those that have visited this hospital say that they hear phantom noises throughout the hospital. They hear ghostly screams and wails. Full body apparitions have been seen wandering the hallways and strange noises come from the darkness.

Bryce Hospital for the Insane

Alabama Hospital for the Insane was designed to be a refuge for the mentally ill. Its architecture was designed based on the ideas of Dorothea Dix and Thomas Story Kirkbride. It was meant to be moral architecture that would contribute to the healing process within the hospital The hospital opened in 1861 and for a while it held to the ideals of Dix and Kirkbride. The first superintendent, Peter Bryce, was an idealist and he had studied mental health in Europe. He believed that patients should be treated with respect kindness. He even abandoned the use of restraints. The hospital was later named for Bryce and it went on to be the model for progressive mental health care.

Time quickly eroded Bryce' legacy, however. By 1967, there were more than 5200 patients residing in a facility that was never meant to hold that many. Observers described Bryce as a concentration camp and a model for human cruelty. In 1970, one patient named Wyatt started a class action law suit against the Alabama's other mental hospital, Searcy State Hospital. This lead to major change in the way the mentally ill were treated in Alabama. The number of beds was cut drastically and humane treatment of the mentally ill became an absolute necessity. The landmark Wyatt v. Strickney Case would change Bryce drastically. Old Bryce was the African American portion of Bryce Hospital and was notorious for being even crueler than its white counterpart. After Wyatt v. Strickey and desegregation, Old Bryce was shut down entirely and other buildings were used. The African American patients were integrated into the white population.

Old Bryce still sits quietly deserted, however, as a reminder to the old days when patients were held like prisoners with no rights. It is covered in graffiti and has been vandalized many times. It’s even been set on fire. Trespassing is forbidden here, but the curious have reported seeing all manner of horrors coming out of the dark around Old Bryce. Lights flicker on an off in the building that has no electricity. Phones ring in rooms with no phones. Phantom lights drift from room to room. Furniture moves on its own and footsteps echo through the abandoned hallways. The living patients may be gone, but many believe Old Bryce is still filled with the ghosts of those who once suffered in its walls.

Norwich State Hospital For The Mentally Insane

Norwich Hospital for The Mentally Insane was built in 1904 in Preston, Connecticut and is known for the dark ghosts that live inside of it. The Norwich Hospital was designed to house the worst of the criminally insane patients in the state and, until 1971, it did just that. It was home to murders, rapists, and other violent offenders. The hospital is situated on 900 acres of woodland and is utterly isolated and crumbling. This façade has added to the horror stories that have built up around the violent people that lived within the hospital and has created a collection of ghost stories so large they could fill a book. Suicides and murders fill the history of Norwich Hospital and those who have died there never seem to leave. Witnesses describe hearing screams in the darkness Faces appear out of nowhere and strange mists and lights are seen in the halls.

Searcy State Hospital

Searcy State Hospital is located in the most Southern part of rural Alabama. Prior to being a state hospital the old hospital has a long and dark history that is very difficult to find, but easy to see upon casual observation. The hospital is encased in long, chipped, white walls that seem as old as anything in the United States. From outside these walls, you can see a battered watchtower that gives testament to the fact that the hospital is in the same location as a 300 year old fort. The fort bears witness to American history and was originally a Spanish fort. It switched hands during the Louisiana Purchase and became a US fort. After the US took possession of the fort it was converted to a military arsenal and became known as the Mount Vernon Arsenal. The Arsenal switched hands again several times and was taken by the Confederates during the civil war only to be passed back over the United States again in 1862. From 1887 to 1894, The Arsenal became a Barracks and was used as a prison for the captured Apache people. The most famous of the Apache people to be held in these barracks was Geronimo. The infamous Aaron Burr was also held at this secluded prison at some point.

In 1900 the Barracks were transformed once again and the prison became a mental hospital. Searcy hospital was built as the African American mental hospital in Alabama. Conditions in the hospital were beyond questionable and at one time there were over 2000 patients in the crowded hospital and all were seen by one psychiatrist. All patients were expected to work in the fields.

The hospital was desegregated in 1969, but its history is all around it. The hospital is still used today, and although the residents live in new buildings, many tell stories of ghosts and devils that linger in the white walls and abandoned buildings that surround the new facilities. These stories are usually ignored, because the patients are crazy, but I’m not the only sane person who saw a few ghosts while they were working there.

Searcy served as the inspiration for my new novel, Circe. Its tragic history and haunted atmosphere serve as a backdrop to the chilling tale of a young intern slow decent into madness. If you would like to read more about Searcy, you can find my book at:

www.amazon.com, http://www.lachesispublishing.com/products.asp?cat=2

Dark and Wonderful Christmas Cards!

2012-12-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

Edward Gorey is the master of all things dark and wonderful. Gorey wrote and illustrated over 100 books and he became king of macabre. His books were beautiful and sometimes oddly touching. He is most known for The Adams Family which has been remade again and again as a TV series and as several movies. My favorite of his books was The Gashleycrumb Tinies. For years, I sent out Edward Gorey Christmas cards and as I mailed my cards yesterday I had to admit I miss my dark Christmas theme. I did not use my Gorey cards this year because I ran out of time and didn't plan far enough in advance. I know, big surprise. But I thought in lieu of my cards, I would do a post on some of the most marvelous and ghostly Christmas cards ever made. Gorey did numerous Christmas cards and Christmas illustrations in his career. These are only a few, but they are all marvelous.

Happy Apocalypse From Lil Cthulhu

2012-12-21T16:23:00.001-08:00

Since it will all be ending in a few hours, I thought I would post a video about the great lord Cthulhu. I believe if the end comes tonight, it will be at his hands. He will rise up from his watery slumber and devour all our souls. Mostly I believe this because H.P. Lovecraft is the master of horror and I hope I can someday be the horror writer he is. So happy apocalypse from Lil' Cthulhu.

The Phantom of the Orpheum Theater

2012-12-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

The Orpheum Theater in Memphis Tennessee's is a gilded theater of unforgettable beauty. The Orpheum is considered by many to be the most beautiful theater in the South and although I haven't seen every theater in the South, I know the Orpheum rivals theaters I have seen in bigger cities, like New York. The Orpheum is unforgettable for me for many reasons.   It is a constant link in the timeline of my husband's and my love story.   We went to see our first concert here, and although we were not even together, we met each other in the aisles and said mean things to each other. This was because we were sixteen and not very good friends at the time, but we would later learn that was the beginning of a long love. Later, after the turbulence of adolescents had past, he would take me on an amazing date at the Orpheum to see The Phantom of the Opera.

The Orpheum is very well known for its ghosts, so even as I watched The Phantom of the Opera, I knew it was ironic that we were seeing it in a theater known for its phantoms. The Orpheum theater has had a turbulent past. It was built in 1890 on the corner of Main and Beale Streets and was called the most beautiful theater outside of New York. At the time, it housed mainly Vaudeville performances. Vaudeville at the Orpheum was successful for many years. In 1923, however, the Orpheum burst into flames during a strip-tease by a woman named Blossom Seeley. The Theater burned to the ground.

In 1928, the theater was rebuilt. The days of Vaudeville had past, but a new art came, defining a new era.   The Orpheum became a movie theater. Time faded the Orpheum's beauty and by 1977 the city of Memphis began to make plans to demolish the once legendary theater.   However, the city managed to raise $5 million to save the theater and it became one of the premier venues for off-Broadway theater and concerts in the Southeast.

The Orpheum doesn't hide from her ghosts like many historical locations do. It places its ghosts stories proudly on its playbills and on its webpage. All you have to do is google the Orpheum to be flooded with a plethora of stories about the phantom tenants of this old theater. The most famous ghost of the Orphem is Mary. I always looked for her when I went there, but I was never successful in finding her. Mary is a little girl in a white dress and pigtails sitting in seat C-5, Box 5. No one knows for sure how Mary came to haunt the Orpheum. She has been seen by numerous employees and visitors to the Orpheum, but history doesn't give us a clear answer on who she is. Many believe she was a little girl who was hit by a trolley car outside the theater, but there is no documentation to substantiate this claim.   Mary isn't alone.   Psychics visiting the Orpheum claim there are as many as eight other ghosts wandering this theater, but like Mary, the origins are unknown.

New Houses, Book Tours, and Signings

2012-12-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

I have been a little slow in keeping up with my ghosts lately. I'm hoping to catch up soon with a new batch of dark tales. I have been slowed down by moving into a new house. Our new home is beautiful and sits on a wildlife preserve. We are enjoying it immensely. To help me celebrate my move, I have started a book tour for my latest book, The Midnight Queen. Please give it a look if you have the chance. I'll also be signing copies of Haunted North Alabama at Costco in Huntsville, Alabama. Come chat with me and watch my book tour while I get ready to start a new year of ghost stories and haunted places!

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR December 12th - January 4th

December 12 - Reading Addiction Blog Tours - Meet and Greet

December 13 - Waiting on Sunday to Drown - Review/Guest Post

December 14 - My Cozie Corner - Review

December 15 - Bunny's Reviews - Guest Post/PROMO

December 16 - A Dream Within a Dream - PROMO

December 18 - Pure Textuality - Guest Post/PROMO

December 19 - Mom With a Kindle - Interview/PROMO

December 20 - Jen McConnel - Guest Post/PROMO

December 21 - Marked By Books - Review/Interview

December 22 - Lovely Reads - Guest Post/PROMO

December 26 - The Avid Reader - PROMO

December 27 - Words I Write Crazy - Review/Guest Post

December 29 - Black Lillies are Dead - Guest Post/PROMO

December 30 - Book Lovin Mama's - PROMO

December 31 - Delerious About Books - Interview/PROMO

January 1 - The Cosy Dragon - Review

January 2 - Krystal's Enchanting Reads - PROMO

January 3 - Brooke Blogs - PROMO

January 4 - My Reading Addiction - Review