Book Review- The Outer Gate: Collected Poems of Nora May French

I just finished reading The Outer Gate by Hippocampus Press which contains all her known poems and Her Poems by Star Rover House which contains about 17 poems.  Her poems were very charming and whimsical.  They contained many beautiful descriptions of nature with, at times, very haunting atmospheric language.

Her poetry is perfect to read anytime and puts you in such a relaxing and pleasant mood.

 
 

Horror Selfie!

I just sent in my horror selfie for the HWA horror selfie promotion to show my love for horror and reading.  You have until the end of the month to send in your horror selfie for your chance to win signed books.  http://horrorselfies.com/submission-guidelines/

Fullerton Ghost Walk

Kyle and I listened to the North Orange County Paranormal Society (NOPS) before taking a lovely evening stroll during the Fullerton Ghost Tour a few weeks ago.  They showed us footage of places they've been and paranormal activity they encountered as well as hoaxes they debunked.  They told us a little about the places we would tour and meet us a different locations throughout the tour to explain things that happened to them.

We first visited a set of little apartments where an old man committed suicide and continued to haunt the apartment he died in, sending tenants away who did not share his views on hard work.

We next visited a little shop where the ghost, Carlos, is said to play little tricks on the owner by unscrewing all the light bulbs in a certain chandelier, drinking water, and setting off the motion detectors.  

(Carlos is a bit intimidated by this sculpture.)

Next we viewed the Fox Theater, haunted by a female ghost thought to be an actress there, from afar and then later a bit closer but we did not go in for it is under construction.  

We next visited the Italian restaurant Angelo's and Vinci's Ristorante where the one of the owners (the husband of the couple that owned it) haunted the ballroom and moved tequila bottles.  There is also a young child heard running around when the restaurant is empty and is heard giggling.  

(While I was sitting listening to NOPS, something cold moved my hair and placed it behind my ear.  There was no one behind me.)

Next up, when went to a very quaint shop that was converted from the house of Liliana, the first woman auto dealer.  She has been seen staring at people from the second story window, moved things around, and made a crystal ornament spin for 45 minutes.  She also left a ribbon tag with her name on it, along with the year she died leaning on a lamp.

At last we visited the historic California Hotel, now Villa del Sol where an old man jumped and killed himself from the room he was staying at.  He is said to haunt the hotel and its grounds.

In this restaurant, the night manager 'responded to a burglar alarm to find no trace of human presences, but said he was nearly attacked by an invisible assailant that set off motion detectors and registered on the alarm company's computers.'  Plastic grapes have been known to fly across the room by themselves.

After the tour, we were treated to one free drink at the Café Hidalgo and then Kyle and I took off to eat at a yummy pizza place we passed by in our tour.  This was a really fun and pleasant tour but unfortunately, we didn't catch any paranormal activity in these photos.

  

  

Book Review- Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories by John Shirley

To get ready for this past H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in L.A., I looked up the 9 authors who were going to be there and tried to pick books I thought sounded interesting and likable by a few of them.  Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories was the book I chose from John Shirley's massive collection of work.  I read the first story before I'd met him, in case he asked me how I liked it (which he didn't), and continued reading it after the festival.

As the title indicates, the stories were indeed really weird.  Some were far too weird for me to comprehend and a few I enjoyed.  I appreciated the weirdness, which was what hooked me and kept me reading, but some I felt were written for the sheer weird factor than actual story telling.  With 37 stories, however, I think it was worth it to get, for there are so many different tastes in it that even if you didn't like a certain type of story, their were plenty others that might grab you.

 
    

My Progress on My Poetry MS

Hippocampus Press likes to publish longer poetry books of at least 100 pages 'with the understanding that each poem, however long or short, will begin on a new page'.  So my goal has been to hit 100 poems since I know that will equal at least 100 pages (of course it will be more since some of my poems are longer than a page and plus all the extra stuff added to the book).  So at this moment I currently have 97 poems for the book.  Only 3 more to go to hit my goal!

HPL Film Fest So Cal 2014

Kyle and I went to the HPL Film Fest on Sat. 27 and had a blast.  We got there at 12 and immediately looked at all the booths.  I might've went a bit overboard on my purchases....

             

 

             

 

We walked into the theater as Gary Myers was speaking and missed hearing Leslie S. Klinger and Ross E. Lockhart read.

                                          

 

After listening to the panel we followed them downstairs for the signings.  In order of the signings:

                

 

                

 

                

 

We stayed to watch some interesting shorts and then ate at a lovely thai restaurant nearby.  When we came back, we took some pictures.