HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2023!

From our house to yours, we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2023 Art

Krissi, Charles, Nathan and Mikey the cat

IT’S RELEASE DAY!! 34 ORCHARD ISSUE 8 is here!

It’s release day for 34 Orchard Issue 8! You can head here to get the PDF: https://34orchard.com/issue-8/

(Issues are free, but donations are appreciated).

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 8 COVER

A clown questions his actions during the Hartford Circus Fire, a woman spends hours calling for the missing, and a man’s unsettled conflict with his brother rents his world in two. A dog mommy may fail at making the ultimate choice and an uncertain slaughterhouse worker may end up without one. In Issue 8, twenty-four artists ponder the dangers in unanswered questions, and the effects on us when things are left unresolved. Once again, our Table of Contents: Read the rest of this entry

If you missed the “Candlewood’s Creepy Tales” I-95 interview… listen here

CANDLEWOOD LAKE I-95 ARTICLE SCREENSHOT

If you missed the Halloween drive-time Ethan & Lou Show interview on the creepy tales of Candlewood Lake, you can listen to it here…lasts about ten minutes!

The original “7 Creepy Tales of Candlewood Lake,” in case you’d like to read those, are here:

http://nehw.blogspot.com/2016/08/legends-of-candlewood-lake-guest-blog.html

Looking for 7 Creepy Tales of Candlewood Lake as featured on Ethan & Lou?

CANDLEWOOD LAKE URBAN LEGEND MAP

This map marks the tales’ (approximate) locations.

Did you hear about the tales of Candlewood Lake on I-95’s Ethan & Lou Show today (Halloween?) Here’s where you can go read them all: http://nehw.blogspot.com/2016/08/legends-of-candlewood-lake-guest-blog.html

If you grew up on or near the lake, do you remember any of these? I asked a few people when I was working on this and found out that yes, many do (everyone, especially, seems to recall the one about “The Kids in the Pipe” up at Lynn Deming)…and almost no one didn’t know Chicken Rock!

Anyway, enjoy! If you remember any of this, feel free to share in the comments below.

Missy Candlewood Lake Beach 1982

My sister prepares to jump off a concrete wall into (very shallow) water at the CTTA Beach in New Milford, CT, in the summer of 1982. Ah, unsupervised children. It was a thing.

Creep out your Halloween drive time tomorrow with me on I-95 Rock!

Candlewood Lake Tales on I-95 Rock

THRILLED to announce I’m going to be on I-95 Rock (WRKI 95.1 FM) tomorrow—yes, HALLOWEEN!—at 8:20 am to talk about Candlewood Lake’s creepy legends with Ethan & Lou (The Ethan & Lou Show)! This is very exciting!! Tune in on your drive-time at 95.1 FM on your radio dial, listen through the app, or you can listen LIVE at this link: https://i95rock.com/listen-live/

Ethan Carey, in particular, is really interested in Candlewood Lake—its history, its culture, and its legends and lore. I hope to get the chance to shed some light on the origins of some of its creepier campfire tales.

Read more at the links below!

“The Lost Souls of Candlewood Lake: Did they make it out alive?”

https://i95rock.com/the-lost-souls-of-candlewood-lake-did-they-make-it-out-alive/

“The Tale of the Lost Souls of Candlewood Lake”

http://i95rock.com/those-that-stayed-behind-beneath-candlewood-lake/

“Stories of Candlewood Lake Monsters that are Obviously Urban Legends”

http://i95rock.com/dont-panic-stories-of-a-candlewood-lake-monster-are-simply-urban-legends/

“The Ghosts of Candlewood Lake’s Chicken Rock”

https://i95rock.com/the-ghosts-of-candlewood-lakes-chicken-rock/

Tuesday Night Terrors via Zoom: October 24!

Swansea Library Terrors Event

This Tuesday, October 24, at 6:30 pm, come join me, Trisha J. Wooldridge, Scott Goudsward, Rob Smales, and Ken Vaughn on Zoom for SHOCK WAVES III: HORROR WRITERS OF NEW ENGLAND with the Swansea Free Public Library, where we’ll be discussing all things that go bump in the night, wander up your stairs and tap on your windows. This virtual bookfest is FREE, but you must register at the link below. Hope to see you there!

Here’s that link to register:

https://www.swansealibrary.org/adult-author-visit/events/7953/shock-waves-iii-horror-writers-new-england

 

Announcing 34 ORCHARD’s Table of Contents for Issue 8, Autumn 2023 – Coming November 10!

I’m thrilled to announce 34 Orchard’s Autumn 2023 issue’s Table of Contents!

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 8 COVERTeeming with unreliably-narrated ghost stories, Issue 8 includes many burgeoning and experienced voices as well as special surprises. We’re privileged to bring you a brand new tale by Read the rest of this entry

Theatreworks NM earns a white star with SCOTLAND ROAD

review by Kristi Petersen Schoonover

Robert Ballard’s 1985 discovery of the Titanic wreck promised answers to many questions about that horrific night in April of 1912. What it failed to remind us is that sometimes, when we get those answers, they may not be the ones we want.

This is the crux of Jeffrey Hatcher’s 1992 play Scotland Road—originally produced in Cincinnati and New York City—running now through mid-October in a solid production at Connecticut’s Theatreworks New Milford.

Set nearly a century after Titanic’s sinking, Scotland Road embarks when a woman in Edwardian-era clothing is discovered clinging on a North Atlantic iceberg—and the only word she can utter is Titanic. A wealthy skeptic and a doctor descend to determine her true origin, skirting their ethics in an attempt to gain their answers. To disclose more than that would be spoiling it.

The “ship of dreams” is the big draw here—she’s captivated the world since she sank—but Scotland Road isn’t exclusively for Titanic buffs. Part psychological drama, part mystery, part ghostly tale, this gripping Read the rest of this entry

Getting a CLUE

Sometimes you can make peace with your past in the strangest ways.

Nathan and I love board games, and over the years, we’ve amassed quite a few. Recently—in the interests of downsizing becoming not too much longer than a decade away—I decided to go through them, and keep only those we actually played/enjoyed on a regular basis.

We love Clue, and have two versions: the 1972 release, which I got for one of my birthdays—I’m thinking I was 9 or 10 and yes we played the crap out of it when I was growing up; and Disney Parks’ Haunted Mansion Clue in a shiny tin, which we bought on one of our many Disney trips (not sure which one; I’m sure there’s a photo someplace). But then I found another version in the trunk, one that I’d gotten for Christmas of 1985: the Clue VCR Mystery Game.

CLUE VCR MYSTERY GAME ORIGINAL BOX

The CLUE VCR MYSTERY GAME box. It’s in really good shape for being almost forty years old, although I did tape up all the edges with clear packing tape to reinforce it, because I plan on using it a lot in the near future.

I was actually shocked Read the rest of this entry

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Hello everyone!

We wish you a happy, healthy, and safe 4th of July!

— Krissi, Charles, Nathan, and Mikey the kitty

HAPPY 4TH 2023 CAKE

%d