Just ahead: WICKED SEASONS. Watch the Trailer!
Wicked Seasons, the NEHW Press anthology containing my story “To Chance Tomorrow,” is due out in November. I’m not only excited about having my work in such a great volume with so many cool stories, I’m excited to present the trailer! After you watch the video, scroll down for some info on the photos and video and the locations in which they were shot.
PLAY THE WICKED SEASONS TRAILER
I like to shoot my own photos and video for my book trailers—no stock. What I’m pleased to discover is that I’m such a shutterbug (and in this case, so is my housemate, Charles), it’s likely I have the stuff I need already in my archives. It takes a lot of digging, but it’s always worth it—sometimes the concept actually changes while I’m searching.
The original Wicked Seasons concept was a bit different—the bucolic opening didn’t really change, but what came after it did. Originally, I was going to go from the outdoor bucolic to an indoor, claustrophobic series of scary images. The discovery of hundreds of photos of abandoned places I’d taken on and off over the years, however, changed my tune. These haunting images weren’t only contrasting in atmosphere to the beginning, they were a testament to what happens when man abandons a structure—and the wicked seasons have their way. It was a natural, thematic match.
Here’s a run-down of all the photos and where they were shot:
- Covered Bridge: This bridge, known as the WestCornwallBridge, is in Litchfield County, Connecticut (roughly an hour north of my house). It is still in use and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo by Charles Smith, 2002.
- Snow Scene: This was what our driveway in Danbury, Connecticut, looked like after a blizzard in November 2002. Photo by Charles Smith.
- “Vibrant Springs”: I’m not a flower-person, not really, so this was the one thing I was missing: a good shot of flowers. Fortunately, the outside of my office building has no shortage. I shot this the day I made the trailer, October 2013.
- “Languid Summers”: Trees on our property, Summer 2002. Photo by Charles Smith.
- “Bucolic Autumns”: Trees in a nearby town’s old cemetery, October 2003. Photo by Charles Smith.
- “But in between”: View of the ocean from Commercial Street, Provincetown, Massachusetts, January 2010.
- “there are”: View of an old church steeple in New Milford, Connecticut, Autumn 2003.
- “Wicked Seasons”: If it looks like woods, that’s because it is! January 2013.
- “Christopher Golden”: Rusting electrical equipment which powered an abandoned USGS Lab on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “James A. Moore”: A house on an abandoned military base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “Addison Clift”: A broken window of the USGS Lab on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “Robert Duperre”: Broken playground equipment on an abandoned military base on Cape Cod, February 2010.
- “Kristi Petersen Schoonover”: A junked, wind-tossed beach chair on the beach behind an abandoned resort on Route 6A near Provincetown, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “Lucien Spelman”: A house on an abandoned military base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “Michael Evans”: The roof in an abandoned biology lab on Cape Cod, February 2010.
- “Catherine Grant”: An arched tree on the dunes beyond Provincetown on Cape Cod, February 2010.
- “Paul McMahon”: The main door of an abandoned resort on Route 6A near Provincetown, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “Scott Goudsward”: A hole in the dining room window of a house on an abandoned military base on Cape Cod, February 2010.
- “Gregory Norris”: A decoration in the seagrass behind an abandoned resort on Route 6A near Provincetown, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “Errick Nunnally”: The back of an abandoned resort on Route 6A near Provincetown, Massachusetts, February 2010.
- “Trisha Wooldridge”: Abandoned USGS Lab on Cape Cod, February, 2010.
- “Robert Smales”: The effect of the wind on the sand on the dunes beyond Provincetown, February 2010.
- “Introduction by Jeff Strand”: This is probably the only photo that WASN’T shot in New England; this is the abandoned Concorde Resort in the Catskills in New York in 2005. The structure has now been razed. Photo by Charles Smith.
- “Edited by Stacey Longo”: A window looking out at the gardens on Commercial Street, Provincetown, Massachusetts, January 2010.
- “Cover Art by Mikio Murakami”: Abandoned fairgrounds in Barrington, Massachusetts, Summer 2002. Photo by Charles Smith.
- Video: This is a walk-through of the abandoned USGS Geology Lab in Cape Cod, February 2010.
Posted on October 21, 2013, in Deep Thoughts & Fun Stuff, News and tagged abandoned army base Massachusetts, Book Trailers, covered bridges Connecticut, fall foliage, horror story collections, New England Horror Writers, peonies, Provincetown abandoned buildings, Wicked Seasons. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
Kristi, What? You didn’t include any creepy photos from the Goddard campus? I recall a few places that were darned spooky on both campuses, east and west. I remember trying to get back to the dorms by myself in February at Port Townsend, after a faculty reading that maybe had been followed by endless conversation late into the night. By that time, an icy film covered everything. I never knew which dorm was mine cuz they all looked alike and they were all lined up like little dolls, so perfectly in a row. Now what could be more creepy than stepping into the wrong dorm at 11:30 at night, and walking in on some tourist doing god-knows-what? I’ll tell ya: grabbing onto a railing (cuz you are about to slip and fall if you don’t) and find you have a giant icicle in your palm that’s kinda stabbing you. Julie
You know what? I didn’t even think of the few photos I have from Goddard that would’ve fit in because they were abandoned: the falling-down weird Arts building, and the abandoned greenhouse thing up behind the library; it was a like a giant, empty building with holes in the windows. I thought that whole campus was creepy in general, but those two abandoned buildings would’ve been perfect for this vid because of their condition. I took tons of pics of them; I just didn’t think to include them!! Maybe I’ll put them up on my blog if I can locate them.
I was at three residencies and stayed at Kilpatrick. I thought that dorm was VERY creepy because it was the one old one and the others off to the side, the little ones, were new ones. People said the new ones were more quaint. Before they met me, the college had heard I had some “disability” so assumed I should be in Kilpatrick, I guess. My advisor, Kenny, said it was just as well cuz Kilpatrick was more convenient. Kilpatrick made strange heater noises all night long, never mind the snoring, late-night conversation, and toilet flushing sounds you could hear through the walls. My very last day, very last residency, someone hurt her leg, or her knee, can’t recall which, and was standing, literally standing in the Kilpatrick hallway, no chair to sit in, just kinda frozen there with a hurt knee, no one around. I think her name was Bobbie or something. I was the one who found her. I got her a chair so she could at least not stand there forever. Someone came along, or maybe I got someone’s attention. I guess they were trying to solve it all, then finally someone figured out maybe she needed more than just getting picked up again like a Teddie bear with hurt feelings that you kiss and make better. I remember the EMT’s had a tough time getting a stretcher over to Kilpatrick. She came back from the hospital with a giant cast, I recall, then drove herself a zillion miles back home with the thing on. Must have been a creepy ride. Julie
Kilpatrick was creepy — it was definitely haunted, if you believe in that sort of thing. My friend Cynthia stayed there for all of her residencies, and although she loved the proximity to everything and the small room that she had to herself — and she also enjoyed the others who lived there — she often told me of odd goings-on at night, not just heater noises, either. I personally thought the smaller one next to it — I can’t remember the name, there were rooms on the second floor and a couple of people I knew always stayed there because it was a designated “study” dorm — was creepier.
Don’t feel like you missed the magic living where you did. All those dorms had their issues…any college, and I’ve graduated from one other and studied at a couple, has its building issues, so this really isn’t new. Especially since Goddard is a collection of converted century-old buildings and experimental structures, that’s really not surprising. I liked the village dorm we were in. But they were ALL sorta flimsy. As far as hearing toilets flushing and leaking rooms and all of that, I’m betting that every single dorm on that campus was the same no matter which one you lived in. We had our share of issues up at Giles: after all, who puts flat roofs on buildings in New England? Hello? SNOW??? Yeah, we had a leak every winter in our room. I had a blast though, and I loved my dorm and the people that lived in it with me. I also appreciated it was almost the furthest one from everything, so I sure got my exercise!
I think I remember that whole thing with the EMT’s coming; it happened during a meal, didn’t it? Toward the end of a winter residency, maybe? I also remember it was on a last day. I don’t recall, but I know that if this isn’t the incident there was definitely something similar at one of my residencies. What was the date on that?
Kristi, I got incarcerated in a psych ward so I couldn’t finish the fall 2004 semester. So it got extended into spring 2005. I attended January 2005 but I didn’t really exist as a student. Now how creepy is that? It was at the end of the residency that Bobbie injured her knee. January 2005 wasn’t half as cold as January 2004. During that one, we had a power outage and it was negative 25 out. I had to laugh cuz all the folks from the south were booking hotels and calling the front office (forget the name of it). There was a cool lady named Lucinda running that office trying to deal with all the southerners begging for names of hotels. Suddenly, 7am, the lights came on. I said (with fist in air), “Yay!” then suddenly realized that right then, at that moment, this was one of those socially inappropriate gestures. I felt very awkward, stupid, useless, and embarrassed. Julie
Okay, this happened much later than yours. I was there from 2007 through 2009, and I’m thinking this happened at the end of the January 2008 semester. Maybe there is something wrong with Kilpatrick after all….
Way cool. Wait… I mean chilling! Congratulations!
Thanks, Carla! In fact, the final covers were just released this morning…
Wow, if the book is that chilling, it will surely need the covers to keep it warm! I’m sure they fit like a very, very old glove. Congrats!
Thank you, Julie! That means a lot to me. Oh, I wanted to point out I watched your video on the tent. That was a WONDERFULLY entertaining break in my day! Nice work…I love watching video, so much fun. Keep it up!
Oh, thanks, Kristi, that means so much to me! I sure love making videos and you make such good professional ones! I just goof off. It’s just a blast. I don’t know why more writers don’t use You-Tube, but I think it’s because they think about SELLING their writing and think there’s something sacrilegious about giving it away, since You-Tube is accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.