Sylvia Shults's Blog, page 67

Ebook Sale!

Here’s another reason to read Fractured Spirits: it’s a bestseller! Crossroad Press recently released their top fifteen bestselling titles, and my little haunted asylum book is number three on the list! And right now, you can get a matched set of the ebooks for Fractured Spirits and 44 Years in Darkness, because they’re on sale. Go here to get yourself a great deal on a couple of ebooks.

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Book News — It’s Here!

This past Saturday, I went to Maurie’s in Pekin to sit down for a chat with Tammie Judd, who wanted me to sign a copy of Fractured Spirits for her daughter’s birthday. We had a wonderful conversation in the renovated and very spiffy coffee shop, and as we walked out, I had a chance to look at the bookshelves across from the register. I’m pleased to say that Spirits of Christmas is now available at Maurie’s! They’ve got that on the shelf, as well as Hunting Demons  and 44 Years in Darkness.

So if you find yourself on Court Street in Pekin, and you want a really excellent cup of coffee and a great book to read as you’re enjoying it, stop in at Maurie’s (522 Court Street, Pekin). They’ve still got loads of fine candies and caramel corn. And now they have even more — coffee, teas galore, chai, a stunning array of ice cream, and really lovely sandwiches. I’m told the ham and Brie is marvelous, and next time I go, that’s on my list of things to try.

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Today I Learned…

Today I learned:

The YMCA sued the Village People over their 1978 hit song. The case, for copyright infringement, was eventually dropped.

Today I Learned …

Okay, it’s time for a nifty new addition to this blog. I hope you guys dig it. It’s random snippets of cool stuff — okay, trivia, I guess — and for lack of anything better, I’m giving every one of these posts the same title. You know, to avoid confusion.

I wanted to do this every Monday, but I missed out on doing one January 1, because reasons. So today, you get two, to make up for the one I missed last week.

Today I learned:

Hummingbirds can’t walk. Some hummingbirds weigh less than a penny, but that doesn’t mean they’re light on their feet. In order to reduce drag and to be able to hover and fly backwards, hummingbirds have very tiny feet — so tiny they can’t walk on them. They can perch, and shuffle sideways a bit, but that’s all.

Today I learned:

Wombat poop is cube-shaped.

New Year, New Projects, New News!

Hey hey, welcome to the first post (sorry) of the new year!

I had to go back to work after January 1, so there were a couple of fun posts that I didn’t quite get to this week. But here they are, for your perusal.

First off, I got the news on New Year’s Day that Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital is number 3 on the top fifteen best-selling titles at Crossroad Press! How cool is that?

 

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Second off, I found out that Lights Out is now available on Spotify. So if that’s your go-to for podcasts, give it a listen for fun true ghost tales.

And third off, I’ve decided to make a new feature on the blog. It’s sort of something I’ve wanted to do from the very beginning, but it’ll be shorter than I’d planned. It’ll be fun, I promise. You’ll get more about that on Monday.

Stay warm, and I’ll catch up more with you guys soon!

Oops …

Reposted from Amusing Planet, via Reddit:

The University of Reading’s Museum of English Rural Life has caught a mouse in a trap, but not on one laid by the museum staff to catch pests and rodents that frequently enter the museum’s building and cause menace. This rodent managed to get caught in a trap that was 155 years old and stored in the museum so that it could be put on display.

When the museum’s assistant curator discovered the mouse inside the trap when searching for objects to use in an interdisciplinary research session on animals, he was puzzled because the mouse wasn’t supposed to be part of the object.

Here’s the whole story: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/02/155-year-old-mouse-trap-in-museum.html

Am I overthinking this?

So I saw this sign as I was driving around town the other day, and I got out to take a picture of it. It gave me a giggle, and I hoped it would do the same for you.

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And then I realized that the top part of the sign used to have the name of an accounting firm on it. I started thinking, well maybe the firm went out of business, and I’m deriving pleasure from someone else’s failure. (Anxiety’s SO MUCH FUN, you guys!!!)

So here’s the sign. Maybe the firm just, you know, moved or something. Maybe they’ve got better digs elsewhere in town, and they moved just in time for the new year. That’s what I’m going with.

 

‘Cause the sign’s still kinda funny.

A Short Little Tale for the Holiday

Merry Christmas, everyone! Reblogged from Rose Blackthorn because I dug it.

Moonlight and Thorns

I wrote this a few years ago for a drabble contest – 100 words or less, and the requirement to use certain words in the story. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, and actually placed in the competition. I thought I’d go ahead and share it here:

A Different Christmas Tradition

Grak burped long and loud, then added a flatulent note to the already redolent air. Teeja sighed theatrically, but her disgust was lost on him.

“More grog,” he growled, slamming his cup down on the table.

“More manners,” she snarled, dropping a new jug beside the cup.

“We’re goblins,” he said, filling his cup, “Spending the ass-end of winter in a cavern in Finland. Who cares about manners?” and he gulped some more ale.

“It’s Christmas,” Teeja said sorrowfully.

Grak rolled his eyes. “I’ll take you into town later, you can slay a caroler.”

Her smile…

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Twelve Night(mares) of Christmas: Day Twelve

This story is excerpted from Spirits of Christmas: The Dark Side of the Holidays.

It’s become somewhat of a joking urban legend to claim that Elvis Presley is alive and well and flipping burgers somewhere in East Podunk. As a part of American culture, “Elvis sightings” are right up there with UFO encounters.

But even with all the National Enquirer articles shouting otherwise, the undeniable fact remains that Elvis Presley did indeed die on August 16, 1977, at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

So what sort of phantom Elvis are people seeing? The best guess is that it’s just that simple–people who claim an Elvis sighting are actually running into his ghost.

The spirit of Elvis seems reluctant to leave this plane of existence. He appeared to an acquaintance, an elderly farmer named Claude Buchanan, just after he (Elvis) passed away. Claude said that before the news of Presley’s death was announced, the figure of Elvis showed up and told him, “I’ve come to say good-bye for a while, Claude.”

But one year, Elvis decided to go home for Christmas.

On December 20, 1980, a truck driver named Jack Matthews was taking a load to Memphis. About a hundred miles outside of the city, he picked up a hitchhiker. The night was dark, and the hitcher was just a dim form in the passenger seat, a hat pulled low over his face. But the hitcher didn’t seem like a threat to Matthews; on the contrary, he was well-spoken and polite, just the kind of company you’d want on a long trip. In a light Tennessee drawl, he told Matthews that he was going to Memphis to see his “momma and daddy” for the holidays.

The hours passed in pleasant conversation. They talked quite a bit about cars, and the hitchhiker mentioned that he owned several Cadillacs. Matthews took the boast (for surely that’s what it was) with a good-natured grin and a grain of salt or three.

The truck rolled into Memphis, and in the glow of the streetlights, the hitchhiker’s face began to seem somehow familiar to Matthews. The man asked to be dropped off on Elvis Presley Boulevard, and that’s when the penny dropped for Matthews. His passenger looked startlingly like the late entertainer.

Matthews found the boulevard and carefully pulled the sixteen-wheeler over to let his passenger out. He stuck his hand out to wish the guy a Merry Christmas, and realized he’d never told his passenger his name. “I’m Jack Matthews, by the way.”

The hitchhiker looked Matthews in the eye. “I’m Elvis Presley, sir.”

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For more Christmas spookiness, read Spirits of Christmas: The Dark Side of the Holidays, available in both paperback and ebook. And enjoy even more creepy stories at http://darrenmarlar.com/2017/11/28/twelve-nightmares-christmas/

On this last episode of the Weird Darkness version of the Twelve Night(mares) of Christmas, Darren has pulled out all the stops to bring you even more wonderful stories of holiday chills from Spirits of Christmas. On this Christmas Eve, enjoy “Christmas Carols in the Woods”, “St. Mary’s Church”, “The Lady in the Pantry”, “Mrs. Eustace Returns”, “The Phantoms of the Mamie R. Mine”, “The Wreck of the General Arnold” (which is a), one of my personal favorites, and 2), available as an episode of Lights Out), “Up In Flames”, “The Battle of Edgehill”, and “50 Berkeley Square”.  If you like what you hear, you can always subscribe to the Weird Darkness podcast, to get more dark weirdness forever! Visit www.weirddarkness.com to subscribe.

Thank you so much for joining me and Darren Marlar of Weird Darkness for these Twelve Night(mares) of Christmas. It’s been such a joy sharing tales of winter weirdness with you! We wish you the happiest (and spookiest) of holidays!

Twelve Night(mares) of Christmas: Day Eleven

When you hang out with ghosts, like I do, it’s quite possible that you have … more than a passing interest in things that other people think are ghoulish, macabre, or downright creepy. So it should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I am a proud subscriber to Ask A Mortician on YouTube.

I found Caitlin Doughty’s YouTube channel quite by accident (as I find most things on the Interwebs, quite honestly). I watched several episodes and found them utterly fascinating. (Not even realizing, as I did so, that Caitlin Doughty the mortician was also Caitlin Doughty the author. She wrote Smoke Gets In Your Eyes a few years ago, and she’s just released From Here to Eternity.)

While puttering around on the Ask A Mortician channel, I was utterly delighted to find a couple of very festively seasonally appropriate episodes. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! Have fun with “We’re Here To Ruin Santa” , “A Very (Un)Merry Ask a Mortician With Mike Zohn , and (my personal favorite) “Gruesome Christmas Monster Showdown” .

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For more Christmas spookiness, read Spirits of Christmas: The Dark Side of the Holidays, available in both paperback and ebook. And enjoy even more creepy stories from Weird Darkness! Darren’s got loads of great tales from Spirits of Christmas for you today. Get ready for the holidays with “The Eternal Beatle”, “Home for the Holidays”, “The Kennedy Road Phantom”,  “Santa Stuffs the Stockings”, “Santa and the Elf”, “The Ghost in the Living Room”, “That’s Not Santa!”, and “Poe Finds His Inspiration” (the story behind the latest Lights Out episode, by the way). Find them at http://darrenmarlar.com/2017/11/28/twelve-nightmares-christmas/