Gerald Dean Rice's Blog, page 54
October 10, 2013
#Zombie-Flash #2
On January 30, 1911, the worst mining accident since the disaster in Monongah, West Virginia occurred in Frotua, Ohio. 298 men and young boys were drowned when a black coal mine flooded from a rupture in the Allegheny River.
There were at least eleven known survivors, but many were migrant Italian workers with little command of the English language and a fear of authority. Other survivors may have remained hidden for fear of punishment.
One known survivor, identified as Vincenzo Petrulli, chanted, “in piedi morti,” as he emerged from the earth, which translates to “the standing dead.”
In a statement to police that eventually aided in convicting Petrulli and the other survivors for the murders of the other mine workers, he described an explosion that initially killed about a dozen workers, the subsequent waters of the Allegheny River capturing all but about three dozen men.
“My brother,” Vincenzo said, “I was holding his hand when the stream tore him away. I don’t know how I wound up on dry land, but I asked St. Brendano to spare me one more time and went back in. But the water was too black and rising. The others pulled me free and we began searching for a way out.
“We heard them by the second day. Reason and our own echoes masked them. But it was the mine and we had no light—solitude and dark inquisitors of all of us. We searched by hand until Carlo chanced upon a box of a few matches and we wound our shirts around sticks to make torches. That was when we saw them, drenched in their clothes. Nunzio [Petrulli’s brother] was there. Some of the others wanted to go to them, to help them. They seemed blind, but I warned them away. I knew that was not my brother.”
Vincenzo’s written statement is highly redacted after that point, but it goes on to state they found a secondary path leading out of the mine, but before exiting one of the miners ignited several sticks of dynamite, the explosion collapsing the narrow passageway and sealing in forever those who could not pull themselves free.
Check out Zombie-Flash #1 and make sure you come back tomorrow for The Book Cover Reveal of the Halloween eBook The Best Night of the Year.
Looking for more zombies? Try The Butterman Cometh.
October 9, 2013
#ComingSoon #Zombie-Flash #2
You may have read the first installment a little while back, (if you haven’t, check it out here) and if you stop by tomorrow at 7:30 EST, you can read the second one. But also, stop by this Friday to see the new cover for The Best Night of the Year.
October 8, 2013
18 Most Sickening Food Ingredients
What it is: Brace yourself—this food flavoring is extracted from the castor sac scent glands of the male or female beaver, which are located near the anus. According to Milkowski, the substance is pretty expensive (think about what it probably takes to obtain it) and is more common in perfume than in actual foods.
Where you’ll find it: While it sounds downright disgusting, the FDA says it’s GRAS, meaning it’s “generally recognized as safe.” You won’t see this one on the food label because it’s generally listed as “natural flavoring.” It’s natural all right—naturally icky.
Read the whole article here.
Want something else that’s nasty to eat? Try some Candy.
October 7, 2013
‘The Walking Dead’ brings new life to Georgia town where several scenes were filmed | Mobile Augusta
GRANTVILLE, Ga. — When the cotton mill closed, the rural Georgia town of Grantville began a slow transformation into a ghost town.
Residents fled. Storefronts faded. Buildings decayed.
Over the decades, time turned the remains of the town into something almost post-apocalyptic, the perfect modern-day set for humans and “walkers” to attack one another. That’s how the hugely popular TV show “The Walking Dead” ended up coming to town and bringing new life to Grantville.
Several key scenes in one episode from the AMC series were filmed on and near a one-block stretch of antique buildings on Grantville’s Main Street.
Read the whole article here.
Need more zombies in your life? Try Fleshbags.
Cover Reveal
A few years ago I wrote a couple short stories for an anthology. One was accepted, one wasn’t (though the editors said they liked both). After I had the rights returned, I decided to put them into an eBook. I originally wanted a pumpkiny-Halloweenish thingy, but what you see above is what I came up with. I hate it and I’m certain the cover is the reason people have avoided it in droves.
Well, now I have an actual-factual cover. Stop by this Friday at midnight and you’ll get a peak at it before it goes live on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. I’ll also be putting in a couple things from upcoming works, including an extended excerpt of Jay Rauld’s upcoming Axe to the Face. If you haven’t seen that cover, just scroll down to the bottom. But this is about me! Just stop by, take a look. No pressure. But if you do decide you want to buy it, here’s the links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords.
October 3, 2013
Nightmare Fuel
See that picture? That’s the Uniroyal Tire. It used to scare the crap out of me as a child. And not just because it was a giant tire on the side of the freeway. Yes, the idea of a giant tire rolling onto the freeway and crushing us as we passed scared me to no end, but also what the tire implied.
Giant tire implied giant car.
Giant car implied giant man.
And of course giant man was going to eat us all.
I imagined him as a big, burly type, complete with beard, flannel shirt, and giant axe. Maybe he just got a flat and was coming for the tire and while retrieving it, decided to make a snack out of a couple hundred people, picking up a few dozen cars at random and shaking people out like an open potato chip bag.
Of course this notion was ridiculous. But when you’re a five year old with an active imagination and you’re surrounded by adults who have a tendency to not explain anything, you’re left to fill in the gaps yourself. I was well into my twenties when I realized I still had anxiety each time I drove past that tire. For almost a year, it was along my commute going to and from Ann Arbor. It was about 6 months in before my mind finally got acclimated to the idea that the tire was not going to come off its hinges and begin rolling down I-94, crushing cars that were either too slow to get away or steamrolling cars going in the opposite direction. No flannel shirt-wearing giant showed up and I never spotted a giant car, either.
September 29, 2013
Wife Agrees To Take Cheating Husband Back If He Gets 10K Likes On #Facebook | Happy Place
September 24, 2013
13 Real Animals Lifted Directly Out of Your Nightmares | Cracked.com
September 20, 2013
The (#zombie) Burr-Hamilton Duel of 1804
Dr. Hosack’s Original Account of the Burr-Hamilton Duel of 1804
Dr. David Hosack, physician of Alexander Hamilton at the time of his death, wrote his account of events in the aftermath of the duel between the two rival politicians on August 17, 1804, more than a month after Hamilton had died as a result of his injuries. The prevailing reason for such a lengthy delay was that there was some debate as to what Hosack would be allowed to write.
In 1935, literary scholar Bennet K. Sage uncovered a box filled with various documents in a basement at Burmeister College. At first glance, he believed them unimportant until he recognized the signature of Dr. Hosack affixed to one. It appeared to be another draft of the events preceded by the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton and was dated July 20, 1804, nine days after the fatal duel that eventually took Hamilton’s life. What could be read of the letter stated:
“The Colonel [Burr] never fired [at me]. Just after the second gave word, a wild man emerged from the bush. I had already given my affirmation when I caught site of him from the corner of my eye. At first, I mistook him for an African by his darkened skin. But he was not adorned as a slave, though his clothes were ragged. [Illegible] bit me and I screamed to the Colonel, ‘Sh—[illegible]… to which, he fired, his shot landing in the man’s side. Yet he did not fall, merely turning to him with those mindless eyes, then fleeing back into the bush…”
Only then did I begin scribing what my good friend had told me [illegible] moment his thoughts were sparse and inconcise. He claimed to have visions of relatives long past [illegible] demise would be short in coming. I also took note Hamilton no longer sweated. Believing him parched, I pinched the flesh of his arm, but he showed no symptom of dehydration. Again, [illegible] refused to eat.
The complexion of the facies in particular took on a pronounced paleness and there were several moments where I was certain he was no longer drawing breath. Again, I applied spirits of hartshorn [illegible] found his mouth clenched shut and unable to administer orally. Finally, I ushered everyone out of the room so that I may examine him privately. It is then he rose from his bed and attempted to attack me.
He was wild, but slow and perhaps blind; a milky layer [illegible]. I had fallen back from his attack and unintentionally barricaded myself inside by overturning an old oak desk. He advanced upon me and I still had my bag. I was left with no choice, I removed my scalpel and neatly slashed his carotid. A congealed substance not blood came out that I still cannot reconcile as a doctor.
[Illegible] burst through the door. They were in uniform, but I had never seen them black before. None of them wore rank. One aimed his musket and fired a single shot into Hamilton’s head, putting him down.”
The college already had in its possession a half-finished journal of Hosack’s secretary. One particular entry may shed light on why the doctor’s letter was revised:
“At first I believed the man a potential patient. His eyes were bloodshot, his wig was not affixed properly on his head and there was an awfull scar across his face. He identified himself only as Sanford before storming past me and entering the goode doctor’s examining room. The prior patient left quickly after, still replacing his clothing in the process. The door shut firmly behind this new man—I heard a considerable amount of yelling from the examining room, none of it Dr. Hossack’s.
It was some time later before either man emerged. All of the other patients had left. The man had a paper clutched in his hand and I caught sight of a pistol beneath his cowl before he exited. Dr. Hossack was covered with ink, looking thoroughly out of sorts and dishevelled. He immediately took me aside and ordered me not to speak of his presents.”
Before Sage could publish his findings, however, the newly discovered document and the journal disappeared. In his further research the only reference he could find to a ‘Sanford’was a John K. Sandford, a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War who had allegedly been mortally wounded by a British soldier’s saber.
Can’t live without zombies? Then try Fleshbags and The Zombie Show.
#Zombie-Flash
I wrote a zombie flash story a couple years ago for a publisher that never really went anywhere. Look for it tonight at 7:30 eastern. It’s a different take on the Burr-Hamilton Duel of 1804.
