Monthly Archives

January 2015

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Famous Hauntings: The Myrtles Plantation

Since I was twelve years old and I put down the The Witching Hour by Anne Rice for the first time, I've had a love for the South.  The swamps with cypress trees draped in Spanish moss, the balconies jutting over the narrow streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, the slow dirge of jazz music played on the way to a funeral. The above-ground cemeteries. Sweet tea and humidity and a clean sweat on a spring morning. Gas light and the perfume of magnolia trees on a slow evening stroll through the Garden District. If I lived a past life or three, I'm sure one was[...]

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Found in the Midnight Hour

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes, You're paralyzed ......'Cause this is thriller! Thriller night... - Thriller, Michael Jackson Ahem. Sorry guys, I am known to break out in song. Does anyone else always think of 13 Going on 30 when they hear this song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhbYxXg7p-A#t=41 And yeah, I got side tracked again. That'[...]

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Horror Author: Elizabeth Fields Visits Our Graveyard

Midnighters, I have a fantastic post for you today! I had the honor of interviewing actress and author, Elizabeth Fields, who is currently writing the screenplay for a few of her horror stories that are slated to begin filming soon—which is so cool, by the way! The best part???? She is a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer!!! Definitely the perfect match for us here at The Midnight Society. Enjoy:) 1.  How did you get started writing horror?   I’ve been writing since I learned how to hold a pen. I read a lot of Goosebumps as a kid. I tried my hand at writing[...]

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YA Horror, Reflections

The Scream by Edvard Munch I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to write YA horror. I suppose a lot of fiction that I like is horror but maybe not in the typical ways. I love Gothics of all kinds and am reading a book by Carol Goodman right now. In some places, it’s pretty horrific. People die. There’s constant tension over a really nasty villain. Even some of the good people are willing to kill over their beliefs. But I don’t think many readers consider The Blythewood series horror, but it’s very dark, dark in all the right places. So, I did so[...]

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Skulls!

Skulls! Not necessarily that creepy, (they've got nothing on hearts) I mean when we talk about skulls we're usually talking about clean ones, so no blood or guts, and yet when you see one, you definitely don't think Sunday brunch at the Country Club, now, do you? Let's celebrate their creepiness a bit. Noah Scalin definitely did that with his art book, Skull-A-Day...    Skull-A-Day by Noah Scalin Skull-A-Day began in June 2007 when Scalin, at a creative crossroads, decided he would make a skull every day for the next year. He went to his studio, cut th[...]

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My Favorite Buffy Scene

Depending on the day, my favorite Buffy episode tends to change. Well, I can't help it. I love them all! But whenever I'm asked I DO have a special scene the I love. Sunnydale is about to be overrun by The First and all it's demons from hell. There's evil priest named Caleb (played by the fantastic Nathan Fillion) who wants Buffy d-e-a-d, dead. Spike has a soul and finally figures out his role in the whole end of the world thing. The slayer wanna-be's stage a coup, leaving Buffy on her own and Faith suddenly in charge. Xander walks around like a pirate, because[...]

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Here Lies Melinda Harrison

We are so pleased and excited to have a new member join the ranks of The Midnight Society! This new member is incredible, funny, passionate, and quite the wordsmith. We lured her onto the grounds of The Midnight Society Mansion and of course, she mysteriously ended up dead. Without further ado... Welcome Melinda Harrison! Melinda Harrison died, the first time, in the year 1858, when according to her diary she was murdered by a secret and nefarious group of Resurrectionists in London, England, who wanted to suppress knowledge of their existence. However, one of[...]

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Reclaim Horror: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

That's right, folks. The word "horror" is used 11 times in Wikipedia's Buffy the Vampire Slayer article, but IMDB calls it action, drama, and fantasy. Action Because Buffy contains both top-notch fight scenes and "ticking clock" scenarios, it can be portrayed as an action show. Drama Does Buffy tackle serious issues? Sure! Willow's coming out, Buffy getting played by a one-night stand, the death of loved ones, and the purpose of a soul are all among the situations that characters struggle with on the show. It's not devoid of comedy either. As with most of Jo[...]

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Famous Hauntings: Borley Rectory

You can leave out the ghosts and give me a derelict, once-enchanted-looking building, and I'd find a story in the remains. I won't complain if there's a haunting, but old houses, churches, barns, asylums, mansions, greenhouses, theatres, and the like are magical places all on their own. I set my creative roots often in settings, and let my imagination take me to the worlds where those old ruins once cast formidable shadows on their inhabitants. Settings become characters. Settings have their own stories locked away in the walls. Sometimes, you find a skeleton[...]

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Death and the Robot

A delightful little film I found this week. Death watches over the dreary graveyard and inadvertently kills everything she touches with her boney hands. Robot tends to his nursery of flowers in an underground cave. When they find each other, Death is happy to have someone who doesn't die at her touch, and Robot is happy to have someone to share his garden with. When he gives her a pair of gardening gloves, it's about the cutest thing ever. Warning: bittersweet ending.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCIHAbve3k