Category Archives: Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole — Tales from Haunted Disney World
LOOKING TO SPOOK YOUR SATURDAY? TONIGHT: WHY GHOSTS LOVE ME!
TONIGHT: Why Ghosts Love Me at 7 p.m. at St. Peter’s Masonic Lodge #21 inNew Milford,Connecticut!
Join me and host Nathan Schoonover of A&E’s Extreme Paranormal, Travel Channel’s Paranormal Challenge and The Ghostman & Demon Hunter Show for spooky stories and Halloween fun.
The presentation will include ghostly stories and paranormal evidence with guest speakers Nicole Hall and Angel Ortiz of Connecticut Soul Seekers, Terri J Garofalo of Entities-R-Us, Donna Parish-Bischoff of Indy Paranormal and Frank Todaro of The Invisible World Radio. I will be there signing copies of my book, Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World, and selling some other goodies–and I’ll be joined by writer Stacey Longo, who will also be selling copies of her work–if you want a spooky anthology for Halloween, get it here! Refreshments will also be available.
Proceeds from all sales and admission will go toward upkeep of the historical St. Peter’s Lodge in New Milford, Connecticut.
The event takes place from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Saturday, October 8, at St. Peter’s Lodge #21 at11 Aspetuck Avenue in New Milford, CT. Tickets sold at the door. Last year’s event sold out, so get there early! Admission: Adults $10, Seniors $8, and Kids 10 and Under, $7.
NOW ON KINDLE: SKELETONS IN THE SWIMMIN’ HOLE—TALES FROM HAUNTED DISNEY WORLD
Just in time for autumn in New England, Skeletons in the Swmmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World is now available for Kindle here: http://amzn.com/B0052N333Q.
ROCK & SHOCK IS COMING…JOIN ME AND THE NEW ENGLAND HORROR WRITERS OCTOBER 14-16!
There’s probably not much that Robert Englund (best known for A Nightmare on Elm Street) and I have in common except for V in the 1980s (he was in it and I loved it)—and that we’ll both be at the same event in October: ROCK AND SHOCK, from October 14-16 at the DCU Center & the Palladium in Worcester, Mass.
Rock and Shock is a fan convention and features celebrities, movies, vendors, and Q&A panels as well as musical concerts. This year’s celebrity guest list is extensive and includes Ace Frehley and Lance Henriksen.
I’ll be at the New England Horror Writers table along with other members including:
T.J. May (Ill Conceived)
Matt Bechtel (House of Pain)
Bob Booth (Phantom—NeCon Classic Horror)
Scott Goudsward (Shadows Over New England)
Stacy Longo (Dark Matter Heart)
Jason Harris (NEHW Newsblog)
Geoffrey Goodwin
Danny Evarts (Shroud Magazine)
Kelli Jones
Trisha Woolridge (Bad-Ass Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad)
Jack Haringa
Jennifer Yarter (The Coven)
Tracy Carbone (The Man of Mystery Hill)
Anthony Laquerre
Rob Watts (The Crooked Roads Through Cedar Grove)
Larissa Glasser
Nathan Wrann (Dark Matter Heart)
LL Soares (Cinema Knife Fight)
Paul McMahon
John M. McIlveen
Morven Westfield (Darksome Thirst)
Ken Wood (Shock Totem Magazine)
Be sure to stop by!
For a complete list of guests, schedules, and just about everything you could possibly want to know, check it out here: http://www.rockandshock.com/
WRITER? WHAT YOU COULD LEARN FROM NEW ENGLAND HORROR WRITERS’ EXPERIENCES AT THE HEBRON HARVEST FAIR
The banner and back wall. This event served as our new banner’s christening!
In the middle of September I had the privilege of working the New England Horror Writers booth with several other writers at the Hebron Harvest Fair in Hebron, Connecticut—and it’s safe to say that along with our foot-long hot dogs, fried dough and discovery that we all have memories of Charlotte’s Web in common, we picked up something else: a few epiphanies about all the other things we do as writers besides write.
DanKeohane’s novels Margaret’s Ark and Solomon’s Grave on the table. Also: Nathan Wrann’s vampire extravaganza Dark Matter Heart and Jennifer Yarter-Polmatier’s novels, including The Coven. Further down on the table, books featuring the shorts of Stacey Longo and Kurt Newton.
Dan Keohane (Solomon’s Grave, Margaret’s Ark) talks about the value and thrill of a burgeoning concept—writers banding together—here: http://nehwnews.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/author-dan-keohanes-experience-at-the-hebron-harvest-fair/
At left, Breaking Eggs, Dark Demons and Scary Holiday Tales, all featuring the work of Kurt Newton; Dark Things IV, From Shadows & Nightmares, and Hell Hath No Fury, featuring the work of Stacy Longo; and Granny Snatching by Ron Winter.
Kurt Newton (Black Butterflies, Dark Demons) became more aware of the importance of observation; he talks about that in his article “My Encounters with the Blurry People” here: http://nehwnews.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/kurt-newtons-encounters-with-the-blurry-people-at-the-hebron-harvest-fair/
A far shot of the left table. The etchings in the rack were done by Danny Evarts. The raffle ticket jar is to the left; in front of that are the short stories and fliers we shared with passers-by. Skeletons in the Swimmin' Hole is at the front corner of the table.
I, of course, learned something too: about how important it is to get out of that box we write in and spend time with readers. I’d forgotten how much fun that was, and I’m guessing many of us, who spend hours and hours holed up working, have as well. You can read my piece on this, “Hot Times at the Hebron Fair: The Thrill of Discovery” over at the New England Horror Writers Association’s blog at http://nehwnews.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/author-kristi-petersen-schoonovers-write-up-and-pictures-from-the-hebron-harvest-fair/
For more information about the New England Horror Writers Association, visit here: www.newenglandhorror.org.
Below, photos from the entire weekend…including pics and video of the animals. Nathan grew up on a farm, so there was no chance we’d miss that—because sometimes what you learn while you’re doing an event isn’t just about writing, it’s about life, too.
A far shot of the left table. The etchings in the rack were done by Danny Evarts. The raffle ticket jar is to the left; in front of that are the short stories and fliers we shared with passers-by. Skeletons in the Swimmin' Hole is at the front corner of the table.
A far shot of the left table. The etchings in the rack were done by Danny Evarts. The raffle ticket jar is to the left; in front of that are the short stories and fliers we shared with passers-by. Skeletons in the Swimmin' Hole is at the front corner of the table. To the right are postcards for AnthoCon, an exciting brand new conference making its debut in November in Portsmouth, NH. Yes, I'll be there!
Graphic novels by NEHW member Nathan Wrann, Granny Snatching by NEHW member Ron Winter, and The Man of Mystery Hill by NEHW member Tracy Carbone. To the right, Shadows Over New England, by member Scott Goudsward, and behind that, the anthology How the West Was Wicked, which features one of Scott's stories.
The Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole promotional postcards among other members’ books.
Danny Evarts, of Shroud Magazine and illustrator of the children's book It's Okay to Be a Zombie, poses with his stand.
Left to right, me and Stacey. That's my new Nightmare Before Christmas t-shirt I bought at the Disney Store when I met Stacey and Jason earlier in the week at the WestFarms Mall to deliver books.
Skeletons in the Swimmin' Hole T-shirts and totes. The book is a collection of ghost stories set in Disney Parks (and I wrote it, so I feel weird saying by NEHW member Kristi Petersen Schoonover, but there you have it).
The NEHW T-shirts. We sold a few of these!
Nathan, of course, was there. He had a reel of Extreme Paranormal, Paranormal Challenge, FearNet, and some other film projects running at night.
The Friday Night crew! Left to right, Stacey, Jason Harris, who does the publicity for NEHW; NEHW member Kurt Newton, Danny, and me. Kurt had several of his books available. If you look closely at the table it has been rearranged again so we could accommodate his books.
This is the piece of wood that went through my foot (if you read Kurt Newton’s column, in true horror writer fashion he tells the whole story complete with grisly details).
My foot after the “accident.” Yes, that’s a Garfield band-aid. That was all they had.
Nathan and Jason stopped chatting for a minute so I could get their photo.
Late night Friday: Nathan works on stapling more short stories to hand out. Writer/publisher of Shroud Danny Evarts on his Ipad.
Hebron sunrise. Saturday was beautiful.
My coffee (and God I needed it) on Saturday morning. I took the picture because the steam (which you can see in the pic) was rising in a very interesting way and catching the sun from the kitchen window.
The breakfast of champions!
Stacey split the board. Many fans visited with Nathan -- it was cool.
We were raffling off a case full of books, many signed and some limited. The winner also got the book case we used for display. The raffle went over very well. Our winner was Alec Wallman of Marlborough, CT. The books were donated by several generous publishers and writers: AIO Publishing (www.aiopublishing.com), Borderland Press (www.borderlandspress.com), Tracy Carbone, Creative Guy Publishing (www.creativeguypublishing.com), Delirium Books (www.deliriumbooks.com), Earthling Publishing (www.earthlingpub.com), Scott Goudsward, Knopf Publishing (knopfdoubleday.com), Nightshade Books (www.nightshadebooks.com) and Prime Books (www.prime-books.com)
Scott Goudsward (Shadows Over New England) and Greg X. Graves do a little Hamlet!
Stacey Longo and a cow.
Me, a chicken, and a cow.
Left, Scott Goudsward, me, center, Greg X. Graves, right. We were clowning around—I’m the celebrity and they’re my body guards. I don’t even know how or why we thought of doing this. It might have been my Jackie O-esque sunglasses.
Del’s Lemonade is a classic Rhode Island thing. I couldn’t believe I found them in Connecticut. I rushed to the booth and asked, “what are you doing here?” and one of the staff members looked at me and answered, “uh…selling lemonade?”
Greg X. Graves, left, and his girlfriend live in Rhode Island. It was their first time having a Del’s. I just love this picture!
I had been hoping they’d have fried dough with tomato sauce—I look forward to getting it every summer, and this year I hadn’t gone to many fairs so I missed out. Boy was I glad to see Doughboy!
The Doughboy menu. Doughboy has won best food awards the past three years at the Hebron Harvest Fair.
SATURDAY LUNCH!
Writer Dan Foley got deep into the horror atmosphere by getting his face painted.
Nathan, left, and Zombee Bob. Don’t know who Zombee Bob is? Check him out at http://www.zombeebob.com. If you’re a zombie freak (or worried about the apocalypse), then he needs to be on your radar: he’s got great art, T-shirts, and more!
Nathan chats with a fan after she’s just had her photo taken with him.
Nathan chats with the video club of the Regional Andover Hebron Marlborough--RHAM--high school about what it’s like to work in television.
You can take the boy off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the boy: yes, there were signs everywhere advising against petting the goats (for obvious reasons, they are animals and unpredictable, after all), but Nathan, who grew up on a farm and raised goats, just wasn’t going to heed that. Here he is petting a little Saanen. When he was a child, he had a Saanen named Ghost.
I swear: Nathan is the Goat Whisperer.
In this video, Nathan tells me about the remaining piece of horn in this Saanen’s head and what they will do to remove it.
Here he is petting a Nubian.
This one is a Toggenburg.
I have never seen a fatter bunny in my life. I felt bad for him, all pressed up against the wires like that. Do you think he was comfortable? He doesn’t look it.
I took a picture of this bunny because he reminded me of my black cat Poe.
We were joking around calling this one “The Watership Down Bunny.”
This is the information on the cute little dwarf bunny you’re going to see in the next picture.
The dwarf bunny! I want one! Nathan said no.
When Nathan was growing up on the farm he had a rooster just like this one. Its name was Kilcaise.
Nathan clowning around.
The Saturday afternoon crew: Greg X. Graves, Scott Goudsward, Danny Evarts, and Kevin Wood (Shock Totem).
Me, left, posing with Scott Goudsward, author of Shadows Over New England.
Nathan, left, and Danny discuss the coming Zombie apocalypse.
Danny and Stacey react to the giant snake that was over near the Hebron Harvest Fair’s midway. I have to admit, it was the largest snake I’ve ever seen!
Saturday night chill-out: yeah, who can resist that good old greasy Bloomin’ Onion? Left to right, Nathan, Danny Evarts, Jason, and Stacey.
Sunday morning Nathan: I’m so jealous of that staff T-shirt he’s got from the Annabel Lee tavern in Baltimore, MD.
Writer and NEHW Nathan Wrann has these cards available for promoting his books at events—it’s a great idea, and for you writers out there, it can be done through http://www.bit.ly.
Sunday lunch: foot-long hot dogs. Delicious!
Nathan poses with a Civil War Re-enactor; there was an entire camp set up at the fairgrounds.
This is called the “Oh my God it’s so late and we have all this packing up to do” survival kit.
Ahhh, Connecticut farm towns, where there’s always somebody that has to mud bog. And no, it wasn’t me.
Another shot of the mud. We didn’t realize it had covered the headlight until the next day, and so we were laughing about the fact that on the drive home the previous evening we had been talking about how we both noticed my lights were a little dim.
WRITER STACEY LONGO JOINING ME AT THIS WEEKEND’S WHY GHOSTS LOVE ME EVENT TO BENEFIT MASONIC LODGE
Me and Stacey Longo at the recent Hebron Harvest Fair. She will be joining me at the book table at the Why Ghosts Love Me event on Saturday, October 8.
I’m thrilled to announce that fellow horror writer Stacey Longo will be joining me this weekend at the Why Ghosts Love Me Halloween event to benefit St. Peter’s Masonic Lodge in New Milford, CT. She will be there selling copies of the various anthologies that have included her hair-raising tales, and I, of course, will be there with Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World as well as a few other goodies.
Stacey’s work has been featured in several anthologies to include Dark Things IV, Malicious Deviance, Daily Bites of Flesh 2011, and Hell Hath No Fury, and several are forthcoming. You can read more about her at http://www.staceylongo.com/.
Don’t miss out! This is your chance to get some great spooky reading for a terrific cause. And now, some information on the event itself:
Join host Nathan Schoonover of A&E’s Extreme Paranormal, Travel Channel’s Paranormal Challenge and The Ghostman & Demon Hunter Show for spooky stories and Halloween fun.
The presentation will include ghostly stories and paranormal evidence with guest speakers Nicole Hall and Angel Ortiz of Connecticut Soul Seekers, Terri J Garofalo of Entities-R-Us, Donna Parish-Bischoff of Indy Paranormal and Frank Todaro of The Invisible World Radio. Kristi will be there signing copies of her book, Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World, and selling some other goodies. Refreshments will also be available.
Proceeds from all sales and admission will go toward upkeep of the historical St. Peter’s Lodge inNew Milford,Connecticut.
The event takes place from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Saturday, October 8, at St. Peter’s Lodge #21 at11 Aspetuck AvenueinNew Milford, CT. Tickets sold at the door. Last year’s event sold out, so get there early! Admission: Adults $10, Seniors $8, and Kids 10 and Under, $7.
A “LIT” LOOK AT DISNEY’S HAUNTED MANSION: THE CEMETERY’S CARETAKER & DOG
A shot of the Caretaker and Dog in the graveyard scene in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. Photo by Dave DeCaro and used with permission; if you’re a Disney Park fan, you won’t want to miss his site! http://www.davelandweb.com/
If you love classic ghost stories, Disney’s Haunted Mansion offers more than thrills and chills. This four-part series takes a look at classic ghost story images the attraction brings to life.
As your Doombuggy leaves the attic and descends into the cemetery, a look to your left reveals a terrified shovel-bearing caretaker and a quaking, half-starved dog. While there are probably many references in classic ghost stories to cemetery caretakers and dogs, this image reminds me of the scene at the conclusion of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1881 classic “The Body-Snatcher.”
In the tale’s final scene, a pair of medical students who make a little cash providing bodies for dissection head out to a gated rural cemetery with lanterns and shovels:
“It was by this time growing somewhat late. The gig, according to order, was brought round to the door with both lamps brightly shining, and the young men had to pay their bill and take the road. They announced that they were bound for Peebles, and drove in that direction till they were clear of the last houses of the town; then, extinguishing the lamps, returned upon their course, and followed a by-road toward Glencorse. There was no sound but that of their own passage, and the incessant, strident pouring of the rain. It was pitch dark; here and there a white gate or a white stone in the wall guided them for a short space across the night; but for the most part it was at a foot pace, and almost groping, that they picked their way through that resonant blackness to their solemn and isolated destination. In the sunken woods that traverse the neighbourhood of the burying-ground the last glimmer failed them, and it became necessary to kindle a match and reillumine one of the lanterns of the gig. Thus, under the dripping trees, and environed by huge and moving shadows, they reached the scene of their unhallowed labours.
They were both experienced in such affairs, and powerful with the spade…”[1]
Then, as the pair rides back in the carriage with their baggage between them,
“All over the countryside, and from every degree of distance, the farm dogs accompanied their passage with tragic ululations; and it grew and grew upon his mind that some unnatural miracle had been accomplished, that some nameless change had befallen the dead body, and that it was in fear of their unholy burden that the dogs were howling.”[2]
The set, the lantern, the shovel, the darkness, and the woeful dog…Disney’s vignette has all the elements of “The Body-Snatcher”’s final scene.
Don’t worry, I didn’t ruin the story’s ending. If you’d like to read Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body-Snatcher,” you can read it for free here (note—this text is complete; some places that have posted it around the web have omitted a few paragraphs toward the end of the piece. This site also has an interesting introduction about the story’s publishing history): http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/body.htm
If you’d prefer to own it for your library, you can purchase a copy in print here: http://amzn.com/1420932071…or for your Kindle here: http://amzn.com/B0038YWJX6
GET YOUR GHOST-ON FOR HALLOWEEN SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8!
Need some Halloween Spirit? Get it right-quick at the upcoming Why Ghosts Love Me event on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 7 p.m. at St. Peter’s Masonic Lodge #21 in New Milford,Connecticut!
Join me and host Nathan Schoonover of A&E’s Extreme Paranormal, Travel Channel’s Paranormal Challenge and The Ghostman & Demon Hunter Show for spooky stories and Halloween fun.
The presentation will include ghostly stories and paranormal evidence with guest speakers Nicole Hall and Angel Ortiz of Connecticut Soul Seekers, Terri J Garofalo of Entities-R-Us, Donna Parish-Bischoff of Indy Paranormal and Frank Todaro of The Invisible World Radio. I’ll be there signing copies of my book, Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World, and selling some other goodies. Refreshments will also be available for sale…rumor is a couple of my buddies from New England Horror Writers might be joining me!
Proceeds from all sales and admission will go toward upkeep of the historical St. Peter’s Lodge in New Milford,Connecticut.
The event takes place from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Saturday, October 8, at St. Peter’s Lodge #21 at11 Aspetuck Avenue in New Milford, CT. Tickets sold at the door. Last year’s event sold out, so get there early! Admission: Adults $10, Seniors $8, and Kids 10 and Under, $7.
SKELETONS SWAG IS HERE!
Don’t keep Skeletons your little secret…make no bones about it! T-shirts, tote bags, magnets available now…other gear coming soon. Make great gifts for that hard-to-buy-forDisneyPark fan that has everything!
You can head on over to the Haunted Disney Tales website and check it out here: http://wp.me/P10jfZ-8O
GOOD NEWS! SMOKING POET REVIEWER LEFT “SQUIRMING A BIT IN DISCOMFORT” OVER SKELETONS
The Smoking Poet’s Zinta Aistars recently gave Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World an in-depth review, noting that the stories “are imaginative, and each one, in its own way, left me squirming a bit in discomfort as ghost stories should…If horror isn’t exactly my favorite genre, certainly not my area of expertise, I respect the skill it requires to craft stories that have a haunting quality—whether of light or of shadow. Schoonover can play well with shadows.”
I was really excited to read this review, especially since I know that Ms. Aistars isn’t a fan of horror stories.
It’s posted in the latest issue of The Smoking Poet and a few other places. You can read it here:
The Smoking Poet:
http://www.thesmokingpoet.net/id16.html
On Zinta Reviews:
http://zintareviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/skeletons-in-swimmin-hole-tales-from.html
On Lunch Network:
“Amusement Parks Have Shadows, Too…”
KICK OFF SEPTEMBER WITH A SCARE! I’LL BE AT THE HEBRON HARVEST FAIR WITH THE NEHW SEPT. 8-11
Put a scare in your September—stop by the New England Horror Writers’ booth at the Hebron Harvest Fair Thursday, September 8-Sunday, September 11.
I’ll be there with horror writers including Danny Evarts, Dan Foley, Scott Goudsward (Shadows Over New England), Dan Keohane (Solomon’s Grave), Stacey Longo, TJ May (Ill Conceived), Kurt Newton (Black Butterflies), and Jennifer Yarter-Polmatier (The Coven: The Tale of the Vampire Nigel)—at last count; I’m sure there will be more.
We’ll be selling books, T-shirts, and more at the table, and there will also be a special raffle featuring signed books by authors like Stephen King, so don’t miss it!
The fair’s hours are:
Thursday, September 8: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday, September 9: Noon to 11 p.m.
Saturday, September 10: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sunday, September 11: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
I’ll be there at various times beginning 9 p.m. on Friday through 11 a.m. or so on Sunday, so if you’re up that way, come see me!
The Hebron Harvest Fair will be held at the Hebron Lions Fairgrounds, Route 85, 347 Gilead Street, Hebron, Connecticut. For more information, directions, admission prices and much, much more, visit their official website: http://www.hebronharvestfair.org.
Me in the New England Horror Writers’ new T-shirts. I’m not sure if they’ll be sold at Hebron, but they will definitely be available at Rock & Shock in October and AnthoCon in November.
Me with the New England Horror Writers’ new Booth Banner for events. It was designed by Danny Evarts; I just handled ordering it. Its arrival was totally exciting!
