Sylvia Shults's Blog, page 69

Twelve Night(mares) of Christmas: Day Two: Fun Christmas Shenanigans

While puttering around the Interwebs, I’ve run across some great websites that are well worth your free time. I’ll be putting up links to a few: here’s the first one.

The dynamic duo of Greg and Dana Newkirk are the driving force behind the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and Occult. I’ve done several episodes of Lights Out with the professional weirdos, and it’s always been a blast. (You can listen to those episodes here, here, and here, if you like.)

Dana and Greg are also great about keeping their fans entertained with their websites, which include Planet Weird. Here’s where you can find loads of fantastic articles about the paranormal, the strange, the macabre, and yes, the weird. And there are plenty of articles about the dark side of the holidays, too, like this one here. Go check it out … then don’t forget to check under the bed!

 

And Darren’s got a cornucopia of strangeness over at Weird Darkness. Today he’ll be doing “The USS Constellation”, “Lord Combermere Returns”, “The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall”, “The Ghost of Anne Boleyn”, “The Eilean Mor Lighthouse”, “The Mystery of the Mary Celeste“, and “The Palatine Light”. And if you like what you hear, you can always subscribe to the Weird Darkness podcast, to get more dark weirdness forever! Enjoy more festivosity at http://darrenmarlar.com/2017/11/28/twelve-nightmares-christmas/[image error]

He’s Makin’ A List …

Are YOU making a list?

 

If you are, and there are, you know, books for deserving people on that list, you can find Spirits of Christmas at several fine bookselling establishments in Peoria (and coming soon to Maurie’s in Pekin, too). Spirits of Christmas is currently darkening the shelves at Lit. On Fire Used Books (712 W. Main Street, Peoria). Don’t let the “used books” part of the store’s name throw you. You can get brand-new, pristine, gorgeous copies of the book there, as well as other titles like 44 Years in Darkness and Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital. It’s also taking up shelf space at Acme Comics (2218 W. Glen Street, Peoria).

 

And I am very pleased to say that it spent less than a day on the New Book shelf at Fondulac Library before being checked out.

[image error]

Twelve Night(mares) of Christmas: Day One

We are going to start things off with a bang, and with a brand-new episode of Lights Out! I am delighted to bring you this super-cool episode, recorded in June 2017 in Plymouth. I’ll be joined by the ever-fabulous Janice Williams, tour guide for Dead of Night Tours in Plymouth. She’ll tell us the creepy tale of the Wreck of the General Arnold, a brig that went aground on Christmas Day in White Flats just offshore from Plymouth. https://youtu.be/xZY-ntKexJk

 

There’s fun stuff over at Weird Darkness, too. Darren’s got wonderful Christmas ghost stories for you, including “The Flash Flood”, “The Haunting of Hundley House”, “The Messenger of Donner Pass”, and “House of Plenty”. And if you like what you hear, you can always subscribe to the Weird Darkness podcast, to get more dark weirdness forever! So be sure to visit http://darrenmarlar.com/2017/11/28/twelve-nightmares-christmas/[image error]

Twelve Night(mares) of Christmas: Coming Soon to a Computer Screen Near You!

Are you guys ready for Christmas yet? Let’s get everyone in the Christmas spirit with the Twelve Days — or Twelve Nights — oh heck, let’s do the TWELVE NIGHTMARES OF CHRISTMAS!

I’m pleased to say that I’m partnered for the next twelve days with Darren Marlar of Weird Darkness. We’ve put our heads together and come up with twelve days of Christmas creepiness for your holiday delight. Keep an eye on this space for ghoulish goodness, and do visit Darren’s podcast site or pop straight over to http://darrenmarlar.com/2017/11/28/twelve-nightmares-christmas/ to see what he’s got for you. (Big huge thanks to Darren for designing the gorgeous banners you’re going to be seeing on the site for the next twelve days.) (And yes, I know the “twelve days of Christmas” is really Christmas Eve to Epiphany. I got it, so please don’t rip me a new one in the comments. I just wanted to get everyone in the Christmas mood before the big day.)

So! Grab your copy of Spirits of Christmas — or ask someone to get it for you for the holiday — and let’s curl up by the fire and rock out with some ghost stories! Find Spirits of Christmas at Barnes and Noble or Amazon, and don’t forget, the ebook is out there in electronland too.

[image error]

 

Well This is Fun!

Here’s what’s creeping around the Interwebs this weekend:

I went to an authors’ fair last weekend in Sterling, Illinois, at the library there. I had a great time, and there was a reporter wandering around. I snagged him and brought him over to the table I was sharing with another author. Here’s what happened next: http://www.saukvalley.com/2017/12/02/theyve-had-quite-the-storied-lives-readers-meet-the-writers-at-authors-fair-in-sterling/ao92lxn/

And way back on Halloween, I did a presentation, along with Loren Hamilton, at the library in Jacksonville, Illinois. The library now has copies of my books, and they were kind enough to brag about it: http://www.myjournalcourier.com/features/lifestyle/116650/shelf-life-115

 

Front Page!

The Galesburg Register-Mail ran a lovely article recently, in conjunction with the Monmouth Review-Atlas. Here it is; enjoy! http://www.galesburg.com/news/20171121/ghosts-of-christmas-past-shults-publishes-new-book-about-paranormal

And Now For Something Completely Different …

If you’re looking for something to fill up that Kindle, Nook, or other ereader you got for someone last year, here’s an idea: Get ’em a book bundle. Right now, 44 Years in Darkness and Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital are available as a matched set of ebooks. Fractured Spirits is all about the hauntings at the abandoned asylum in Bartonville. And 44 Years in Darkness is the compelling story of Rhoda Derry, one of the patients at the Peoria State Hospital. 44 Years  was selected as a runner-up in the Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book contest, and it’s also a Five-Star read from Reader’s Favorites.

You can snag both ebooks for $6.99, which saves you $2 over buying them separately. Which beats stepping on a Lego at midnight.

[image error] Not too shabby!

Krampusnacht Is Here!

Ah, Krampusknacht. The night before St. Nicholas Day, when St. Nick and his dark helper, Krampus, go around to make sure kids are being good. The kindly saint has lots of goodies and presents in his bag … but Krampus carries a sack that’s empty. Why, you ask? Well, it’s because he has to have room in his sack to carry off naughty children to Hell. And if he’s feeling a bit peckish, he just snarfs the kids down right there, he doesn’t even bother with the sack.

Happy Krampusnacht, everybody!

[image error]

Author Meet and Greet

I recently had the pleasure of being a guest of author Sue Rovens, on the Author Meet and Greet section of her blog. You can read our Q&A here: https://suerovens.com/meet-greet-author-q-as/

Welcome to the Dead of Winter!

I was recently a guest on WGLT’s Datebook, where I spoke with radio reporter Laura Kennedy about Spirits of Christmas. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did! http://wglt.org/post/glt-datebook-merry-christmas-all-and-all-good-fright#stream/0