D. Michelle Gent's Blog, page 4
March 3, 2011
Paranormal Haunting, The Curse Of The Blue Moon Inn
Again, I'm not certain what the movie will be about but I am certain that the Cast and Crew that have gathered together for the movie will put in 100% for the Director Phil Gardiner.
First then, for the oddities - happenings, feelings, occurrences and Accidents!
On the very first scene, first 'Take', Suzy Deakin was badly concussed and cut her head open in a freak accident.Suzy fell backwards during shooting - it was a tense scene from the outset but when Suzy fell, the tension escalated. The cameras were rolling - two different cameras, controlled by two different people - and nothing was recorded of the accident, it was as though the cameras had not been set rolling, yet the "Rolling" check had been performed.Filming had to be delayed whilst Suzy recovered. She wanted to continue but it was obvious to both the Director and Producer that she should not attempt to.
Thankfully, after a dizzy spell and blurred vision, Suzy had a good night's sleep and was recovered enough to continue the next day. She said she had a very tender lump on the back of her head and a small cut but things could have been a lot worse!
There have been explosive occurrences off-set as light bulbs blow out in spectacular fashion. According to the Landlady, if there is activity in the lower bar - named JD Bar - then bulbs blow with unnerving frequency. JD Bar is where the Cast and Crew go to chill-out between their scenes. It seems that their presence is enough to upset the other 'residents' and more than one of the crew have felt uncomfortable down there.
There are also frequent 'Cold Spots' reported in different areas of the Pub that's being used for filming.Just in front of the large bay window in the main room where most of the filming is to take place, a cold area has been witnessed by visitors and crew (myself included) and even though there is a large radiator throwing out heat, the area is cold sometimes but freezing another. The cold could be dismissed as draughts from the old fittings but the cold areas are not always in the same place - differences in wind direction, or something else entirely?
Kerrie's room is 'abruptly cold' as you move from the hall into her room. The cold is almost like a tangible presence even when the room heater is left on.
Amy gets 'bad feelings' in the Function Room, where she is always cold. She does not like the cellar beneath JD Bar due to a previous experience. She describes the cellar as 'Spine-tinglingly eerie'.
Danielle freaked Elle on their first evening as she seemed to develop Succubus Tendencies. In the bedroom that they share with Suzy, Elle was woken by Danielle reaching through the darkness towards her.Danielle also remembers waking up and wondering why her own arm was reaching over to her colleague...
Suzy tells me that she looked down into the cellar beneath JD Bar and swears that she saw a shadow - no shadow should have been cast down there because the only light source was clearly visible to Suzy but the shadow was cast towards the opening, as though it was lit from inside the cellar itself behind the only light bulb.
Batteries drain unusually fast on occasions and during the filming of one supernatural scene, the smoke machine switched itself on when no-one was near it.
As filming ended, I had a few more tales to tell, such as the one of Tolkein's writing room (yes, that Tolkein). When he wrote of The Green Dragon Inn he told of the place where he did his writing... the same place where filming of Paranormal Haunting is happening.
The father of the Pub's Landlord has done extensive research and has found that the building is many centuries old. There are a number of Ghost Experience groups wanting to investigate and there was also a buzz of excitement as someone from Sky TV was supposed to be contacting them to come and take a look around.
I wish them all the best, I'm not sure that I'd like to live in such an active place after hours... I prefer Spirits that are served in a glass thanks.
March 2, 2011
Cruel... And Unusual - release date
Here's an excerpt from Cruel... I think it captures the dismal conditions the people of Whitechapel lived in. I enjoyed doing research on this particular subject, even though sometimes it was truly horrific reading autopsies on the women that Jack The Ripper slaughtered.
The year was 1888. Summer was just beginning to go into decline to autumn in the English countryside – not that many could tell in this particular corner of England. Here the weather was usually cloaked with smog and the only way to differentiate between summer and winter was by how you shivered, or didn't. As is the English quirk, the weather was of the utmost importance – even through the stinking, cloying pollution.
On most evenings, visibility was but a few yards in some places. The smell was much, much worse. Coal soot hung in the air, mixing with the dampness in this particularly wet summer. The product of the soot and damp made for a clinging, cloying smog hanging like a pall over the streets and alleys that made up this chosen city of residence.
The additional stench helped to make this part of the city a miserable place to exist for the majority. Sewage and rotting slaughter waste were regular aromas. Little wonder at the population of rats, they thrived. The air just a few feet above their level was almost too thick to breathe.
Fog enveloped shapes and absorbed the little illumination given off by the gas street lamps. Figures loomed into view suddenly or were just as swift to disappear. To be certain of recognition, a person would have to be almost on top of another – unless there was another means of identifying them.
http://hubpages.com/_q25q6vnifnnh/hub...
January 31, 2011
Cruel... and Unusual
Cruel has been quite a difficult novel for me to write. The storyline itself was easy but the devil is in the detail so they say. I have had to work the story around lots of hard facts and whilst the research on this has been fascinating, getting the facts and the fiction to adhere to each other has been an experience - one that I am likely to repeat because I'm actually loving this story.
I will not go into the detail too much, save to say that it is based in Victorian England where a small society of Werewolves interacts with humans seamlessly. Then comes the threat to the society in the form of... no, I won't go that far...
Suffice it to say there's a threat in the shape of human Police and human vigilantes drafted in to a small area and if they look too close, they may find exactly what they are not expecting.If one Werewolf is killed in the 'Age of the Autopsy' when men of science were discovering more about the human body than had yet been discovered, all would be up with their society. They would be revealed as being different to humans and then all hell would break loose and Werewolves cannot afford for that to happen. At the moment, humans believe Werewolves to be a thing of myth and legend, a make-believe creature and the Werewolves prefer to keep it that way.
Hide in plain sight. Do not draw the attention of Humes.Keep ye faithful to the Hierarchy and to the Lycaeon.Suffer not a Throwback to live.
Someone did not keep to those rules and now Hell is breaking loose.
This is the second in the Werewolf series - the début novel from D Michelle Gent can be found at:
www.gingernutbooks.co.uk
and
Amazon.co.uk
January 24, 2011
January 23, 2011
January 22, 2011
Book Reviews
Well I've decided to branch out (not too far to start off with) and I'm going to do a few book reviews online. Just from my own personal collection of course. The first one has to be my own attempt at a novel so here you go:
Werewolf – an unrestrained beast of anarchy or a cold and relentless, calculating killer? If you cannot answer this with absolute certainty, it's possibly because the werewolf you met is more evolved than man ever dreamed. Werewolves do exist and they exist alongside our society, they have their own rules and hierarchy, they hide in plain sight and have done for millennia. Sometimes, the female of the species is Deadlier... than the male.
This novel, the début from the writer D Michelle Gent, is based in and around Sherwood Forest in England. Though she does not meet up with Robin Hood in her novels, she weaves a thrilling tale of Werewolves that live alongside humans - or as they prefer to call us, 'Humes'.
They have their own hierarchy and Royalty, their own rules and First Laws - which renegade Werewolves disobey at their peril, for overseeing the society as a whole is an army of Sentinels. The Sentinels are charged with keeping Werewolves from making grave errors which will lead to the discovery of their society and then to the eradication of each and every Werewolf, for if Humes knew that there were monsters living amongst them, they would surely hunt them down til none were left to threaten their own society.
August 17, 2010
Spooky Stuff at The Stone Shoot!
Day 1
All going well until Phil left his phone switched on (or was it switched on, as he doesn't normally have it on?) and it started ringing as they were shooting. Phil was puzzled as to why one of the actresses was ringing him when she was not only on set, but being filmed at the time - Layla's name came up on his phone screen, but Layla's phone was also switched off and in her bag - out of the way of filming!
Day 2
All batteries in cameras keep draining inexplicably, a full battery may not last all day, but it should last more than mere minutes! Nik also had a whole batch of batteries go into melt-down. They all leaked and were ruined. These were brand-new batteries.
Simon took a few atmospheric stills of The Hall and saw 'something' in one of the images. He thinks it may reveal itself to be a person when he gets the pics sorted on his computer. We wait with bated breath!
Day 3
Nik was filming upstairs in the Hall and his FULL battery went from Full, down to Half then Quarter in an instant! He replaced the battery, but the camera had moved from being set up for shooting the next scene, he had to re-set the whole shot again. I had been standing right behind him and saw that the shot was in line - before the battery died - to being way too high for the shot after the battery had been replaced. The battery also died without warning - something that never happens on that particular camera, he assured me.
The hairs on both my arms stood on end at one point during the filming and wouldn't lay down even when I rubbed my arms to warm them (I was not cold).
I have been to this location before and was showing Simon the differences between two rooms, both on the front aspect and right next to each other. One is lovely and sunny, warm and inviting even though dilapidated. The room next door had the hairs on both my arms standing on end! It also 'feels' uninviting, even hostile.
There is also a few of the Extras that know of other film shoots that have happened there, their batteries have died inexplicably too... amongst other weird happenings - scenes which were filmed have disappeared once filming has finished... can't be found! I hope it doesn't happen this time, especially after all the hard work everyone has put into it!
Some of the Actors have decided to have a seance this evening, to which I'm invited... I'll keep you posted.
Day 4
One of the lovely Actresses - Jojo, sent this:
Also if your logging weird happenings my mobile wouldn't work all day, people could hear me but I could not hear them, then since I got home its been fine, just thought my phone was broken at first.....spooky
Jojo xIt's getting weirder!
July 14, 2010
A little bit more... Hazel's first Full Moon!
The atmosphere in the ballroom was charged with tension. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, paused and waiting. Hazel did not realise that it was her that they were waiting for.
Luke gently positioned her in the centre of the floor, then, instead of leading her in a dance; he left her on her own and melted into the crowd. The eyes behind each mask were focused on Hazel. Just then, the chandelier started to dim. The crowd started murmuring with controlled excitement.
Suddenly Hazel was aware of growling and snarling. She wondered if there were real animals here in the elegant ballroom, surely not. It took a while to realise that the snarls and growls were coming from her throat.
She felt her skin begin to tingle, the sensation started at her left hand, spreading quickly up her arm, across her chest and down the other arm as well as radiating through her whole body. The sensation was quite pleasant to begin with, but quickly became more intense and very soon was unbearably painful.
She was confused. She rubbed her arms trying to alleviate the tingling, burning sensation as she looked for Luke. She could not recognise anyone under these masks. She turned around and around, trying to find someone that she could distinguish or at least someone who would help her.
Her gown was becoming constrictive, she clawed at it and it tore right down the bodice. She shook herself and the ruins of the dress fell away from her. The mask was pulled off. Hazel could not think straight. Why were all these people surrounding her, crowding round? They were making her angry and defensive.
Hazel snapped at hands and faces that were too close. She was a full Wolf now, on all fours.
The people surrounding her were laughing and taunting her. She did not – could not - understand. She dearly wanted to be outside so she made a break for the glass doors. Unfortunately for Hazel, many hands restrained her. Ropes were put around her neck and were pulled from different directions and so she felt herself trapped, held secure. Still she snapped at anyone that got too close.
After what seemed an age of frenetic fury, Hazel appeared to calm down a little. She allowed the crowd to get closer to where she had lain down. One of the young men who had been taunting her from the start got a little close and, quicker than he could react, she snapped at him without warning. She didn't go for his hand or face, something that could be pulled away quickly and on instinct, but she went in low and hard, biting almost clean through his calf muscle.
With a triumphant howl she yanked her head back and a piece of flesh came away in her teeth.
In an instant, she was face-to-face with another Wolf. He had changed in front of her eyes. Hazel's hackles rose even more than they were already. She would not back down.
July 9, 2010
I'm wondering...
Here goes...
Though he loathed rushing an experiment, he knew that tonight was the optimum time. The full June moon was beginning to wane; it was the last night that he would be able to conduct this experiment for twenty six days.
Thinking quickly as he spied a lone woman, he had to make his move. She seemed to be very drunk and she staggered along holding onto her shawl with one hand and the wall with her other. Her gait was unsteady and her clothes were dirty, shabby and dishevelled. He took one swift look about him to assure himself that there were not many others close by and none that were within a number of yards of her. Steeling himself now that he had made his decision, he stepped out of the shadows. He approached the woman with confidence and took her arm. He led her, unresisting, out of the alley and through another.
"Are you available dear?" He asked her as soon as he was certain that he had not been noticed.
"Eh? Yeah, yes sir, I am at that." She grinned up at him and he realised that she was older than he had imagined and by God, she smelled rank.
"Good," he forced his voice to sound amenable, his special and practiced tone - the one that he used on his better class of patient. "But not here, I know a place not far from here."
"I gots me a place, lovie," she began to lead him in another direction.
"No, this way, I have the perfect place," he did not have the perfect place, but he could find it....
"Are we 'ere then lovie?" The crone asked.
"No. Shut up."
She looked up at him and something about his concentration must have cut through her gin-sodden brain. She pulled from his grasp. "I ain't stayin' 'ere. You're up to summink. Be off, let me alone!"
In desperation, he drew the cane from its sheath and as she turned to stagger off, he sliced at her back, cutting through the clothing and into her flesh. The blade was as sharp as his surgeon's tools and for a moment, she thought that he had just grabbed for her and missed. Then with a small groan, she fell to her knees, dropping her ragged shawl as she tried to reach around the back of herself. Blood was soaking her clothes and she was whimpering as she sank onto her front. Her hands were still fluttering around her sides, trying to get to her wound.
...
Then he saw the beast. It was watching him, sitting in a puddle of moonlight as though by intent so that he could see it better. The light slanting from over the rooftops, made almost palpable by the smog which was beginning to thicken. Then the wolf - which he knew to be a Werewolf - spoke. He almost jumped out of his skin. He never imagined that they could speak.
"Well finish it then. Do not let it suffer so. Do not worry; I shall not steal your kill." The voice was deep and velvety. He could imagine that voice talking to him whilst he allowed its owner to tear out his throat; it was almost hypnotic in the alluring timbre. He thought of deep silky fur enveloping him as he sunk into unfathomable depths to meet with ecstasy, delight and blood. He stayed silent but he did move closer to the beast.
...
This one was a woman. He gasped but waved for the wolf to go forward.
The wolf looked puzzled - and he was bemused at how an animal could look puzzled. Then it shrugged and moved on past him. She positioned herself on the opposite side of the woman's body so that she could keep a wary eye on him as she devoured the unexpected prize.
"I do not recommend that you stay too long to watch, my friend. I shall be finished here very soon and my appetite is but whetted. Of course, I much prefer the easier prey such as you have kindly furnished me with but rest assured that your blade is no match for my weaponry."
...
He took the hint and fled. He became happier once he had reached a populated area and he slipped inside the first public house that he came to, to imbibe some spirits to steady his jangling nerves. He was thankful that all he got from the barman was a glass of whisky and an odd look. Jack did not want conversation and the barman seemed to share that sentiment. He did not trust his own voice to be steady at this moment.
