“I highly recommend this collection if you want a really fun, action packed, occult-paranormal tale.”
Check out this marvellous and balanced review of The Daniel Gates Adventures Volume 1 and Volume 2 from Steve Stred at Kendall Reviews.
My thanks to Steve & all at Kendall Reviews.
Read:
The Daniel Gates Adventures,
Vol. 1: The Lucifer Glass & The Leper Window
Read:
The Daniel Gates Adventures,
Vol. 2: The Lilyth Mirror & The Lucifer Gate
(image ©ZedFest)
We are delighted to announce that The Stay is screening as part of a star-studded line up at the Zed Fest 2018 Film Festival Filmmakers Panel and Movie Block on Nov 7, 2018 at 8pm at the Laemmle Noho 7 Theater, North Hollywood, USA.
Our thanks to all at ZedFest for selecting our movie.
And to all who are watching on Nov 7, enjoy your Stay!
With only a week until Halloween, what better way to unwind than with some poltergeist activity? It’s my pleasure to welcome guest author Catherine Cavendish back to the blog today, who has such a tale to tell. And this prolific author has a new book out – Damned by the Ancients. Over to you for another haunting blog post, Cat…
In my novel, Damned by the Ancients, the beautiful city of Vienna plays host to one of the deadliest of manifestations. Dr Emeryk Quintillus is pure evil personified, obsessed with his quest and prepared to go to any lengths to get what he wants. He haunts his former home, the Villa Dürnstein, and incites the anger of the ancient gods he has hitherto striven to cultivate.
In real life, any property – domesticate, commercial, rich or poor can become the target of manifestations; some evil, others mischievous.
And then there are the others. The ones that become active, wax and then wane.
Such a phenomenon is reputed to be found at Number 44 Penny Lane, Liverpool. Before I go into detail, yes, this is thePenny Lane of Beatles fame. The lyrics mention a number of businesses that could be found there at the time but, perhaps understandably, did not mention the alleged goings on at number 44 which began to be witnessed during the First World War.
But it may not have started there. During the 1890s, a number of witnesses reported seeing a white light surrounded by a blue aura, hovering over nearby Greenbank Road. This then moved to Penny Lane, glowing with an eerie luminescence. At the time, the vision was dismissed as a meteorological phenomenon. Yet, later that week horses, pulling an open landau, could not drag it up Penny Lane for a full half hour. Its wheels seemed to lock until suddenly they were released. Legends began to be created. Everything, it seemed, that went wrong locally could be blamed on The Witch of Penny Lane – even when the beer turned sour (in summer, with no refrigeration).
Fast forward then to the First World War and paranormal activity seems to have centred on Number 44. At this time, the building was a residential house but was unoccupied. Even so, a number of people reported hearing strange, loud noises, unexplained heavy footsteps and an unexplained voice all coming from the house. By 1930, the neighbours had to move out as the noises distressed them so much.
Like so much of the city of Liverpool, Penny Lane suffered a heavy toll of bombing during World War Two. By 1945, the house had been converted into a shop, was damaged severely and did not reopen. But yet again, neighbours were complaining of the terrible, unearthly noises issuing forth from it.
1971 saw the shop renovated and reopened as a print shop – Xerolith. But the owners received complaint after complaint that their premises, quiet and perfectly normal by day, became a very different place at night. Police were summoned on a number of occasions but could find no cause for the disruption.
The owners, Ken Shackman and John Hampton, mounted their own investigation and discovered a long history of hauntings, including a reported sighting by a neighbour who remembered when, as a child, she had seen a young woman with blonde hair suddenly materialise in front of her. The apparition then proceeded to comb her hair before disappearing. This was not, apparently, the only time this young woman was seen. Her appearance, combing her hair at a window in Number 44, had previously been reported by a Mrs Hales in 1955. At the time, there was no such person living above the shop. Other local shoppers at around that time had reported seeing a similar figure, who vanished before their eyes.
Shackman and Hampton were determined to solve the riddle of their haunted shop and, equipped with a tape recorder, mounted an all-night vigil. Things started off quietly enough until suddenly banging and shuffling started up and the walls shook. All of these sounds were recorded on tape.
The ghosts have grown quiet over recent years and the shop is now a Lettings Agency. But, as history tells us, simply because they are slumbering now doesn’t mean they won’t reawaken…
Unfortunately for the Mortimer family, that is exactly what is about to happen. Here’s what to expect from Damned by the Ancients:
INFINITY IN DEATH
Vienna, 1908
Gabriele Ziegler is a young art student who becomes infatuated with charismatic archaeologist Dr. Emeryk Quintillus. Only too late does she realize his true designs on her. He is obsessed with resurrecting Cleopatra and has retained the famed artist Gustav Klimt to render Gabriele as the Queen of the Nile, using ashes from Cleopatra’s mummy mixed with the paint. The result is a lifelike portrait emitting an aura of unholy evil . . .
Vienna, 2018
The Mortimer family has moved into Quintillus’s former home, Villa Dürnstein. In its basement they find an original Klimt masterpiece—a portrait of Cleopatra art scholars never knew existed. But that’s not all that resides within the villa’s vault. Nine-year-old Heidi Mortimer tells her parents that a strange man lives there.
Quintillus’s desire to be with Cleopatra transcends death. His spirit will not rest until he has brought her back from the netherworld. Even if he has to sacrifice the soul of a child
. . .
Following a varied career in sales, advertising and career guidance, Catherine Cavendish is now the full-time author of a number of paranormal, ghostly and Gothic horror novels, novellas and short stories. Cat’s novels include the Nemesis of the Gods trilogy– Wrath of the Ancients, Waking the Ancients and Damned by the Ancients, plusThe Devil’s Serenade,The Pendle Curseand Saving Grace Devine.
Her novellas include Linden Manor, Cold Revenge, Miss Abigail’s Room, The Demons of Cambian Street, Dark Avenging Angel, The Devil Inside Her, andThe Second Wife
She lives with her long-suffering husband, and a black cat who has never forgotten that her species used to be worshipped in ancient Egypt. She sees no reason why that practice should not continue. Cat and her family divide their time between Liverpool and a 260-year-old haunted apartment in North Wales.
You can connect with Cat here:
Check out my guest blog over at Halloween Haunts 2018, the Horror Writers Association‘s daily dose of tricks and treats.
Yes, every day features a special giveaway and today’s is for a chance to grab a cool and coveted Final Frame Horror Film Contest t-shirt. Read on below the blog post for details.
My blog post is about the importance of setting in my new horror novellas The Lilyth Mirror and The Lucifer Gate, both available now in The Daniel Gates Adventures Vol. 2 from Crossroad Press.
And when you’re done reading, be sure to peruse the other Halloween Haunts blog posts, which offer everything from author interviews and excerpts of new books, to writing advice and horror history – along with more great giveaways each day.
My thanks to the HWA (of which i am proud to be an Active Member) and Halloween Haunts editor Michele Brittany.
Excited to see the release of the Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase on Kindle.
HWA Poetry Showcase Volume Five is edited by Stephanie M. Wytovich and co-curated by Jurors Mercedes M. Yardley and Michael Arnzen. It contains provocative and groundbreaking horror poets Donna Lynch, R.D. Lynch, Sara Tantlinger, and many more.
I’m honoured to have my first ever published poem Some Velvet Mourning included in this volume.
I can’t wait to read all the others! And I’m sure you can’t wait, either.
Download a copy here.
HWA Poetry Showcase Volume V – the #1 Hot New Release on Amazon!
HWA Poetry Showcase Volume V: Table of Contents
To celebrate the release of The Daniel Gates Adventures, Vol. 2: The Lilyth Mirror and The Lucifer Gate, publisher Crossroad Press has reduced the price of The Daniel Gates Adventures, Vol. 1: The Lucifer Glass and The Leper Window for a limited time.
The first volume contains the occult horror novellas The Lucifer Glass and The Leper Window, which introduce the character of Daniel Gates and are described as “utterly chilling” by Horror Underground, and “a page turner” by Brutal As Hell.
Grab a copy now from:
— be quick, the offer ends soon!
I always get a bit of a George McFly thrill when I have a new book published.
Today is one of those days.
The Daniel Gates Adventures, Vol. 2 contains two brand new novellas,
The Lilyth Mirror and The Lucifer Gate (books 3 and 4 in my occult horror series)
You can buy the The Daniel Gates Adventures, Vol. 2 right now from:
(and an Amazon near you!)
Barnes & Noble (Nook book)
I hope you enjoy it.
And if you do please leave a review on Goodreads
& please share with your horror reading friends!
Reviews, ratings & shares really do make a difference.
Thank you.
Beast witches,
Frazer
Also available – The Daniel Gates Adventures, Vol. 1: The Lucifer Glass & The Leper Window
