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I WAS A HALLOWEEN SCROOGE, by Kathryne Kennedy

I have to admit, Halloween is my least favorite holiday, and I never really looked forward to it. And then I started watching Ghosthunters on the SyFy channel. Two plumbers rambling around reputedly haunted houses and old castles saying “Ghosts, are you here?” I absolutely fell in love with the characters, and I’m always cheering them on to find evidence of paranormal activity (although they have yet to find indisputable proof, darn it). I especially enjoy the history of the old houses and locations they visit. They do a live show on Halloween and I always look forward to watching it.

I adore how they try to be all scientific with their equipment (EVP, means Electronic Voice Phenomena, which is background noise too quiet for the human ear to catch, but can be caught on a tape recorder.) I love how one of the plumbers uses formal language, like ‘upon’, and how the other one is just cute enough to squeeze. The show has popularized phrases like, ‘debunking’, ‘residual haunt’, ‘intelligent haunt’, and ‘paranormal entity’.

I was writing The Relics of Merlin series when I started watching the show, and my enjoyment of it inspired me to write my own ghost story in the third book in the series, Enchanting the Beast. (Writers draw inspiration from just about everywhere and anything.) Lady Philomena is a ghost-hunter who is hired by Sir Nicodemus Wulfson to find out why the spirits of Grimspell castle have suddenly become active. Sir Nico is a were-wolf, and his castle is populated by a host of shape-shifters. It’s the first time I wrote a book where the heroine is much older than the hero, which was fun and challenging all at the same time. There is a murder mystery that Nico is tangled up in, there is a young boy who has been haunting Phil for unknown reasons, there’s lots of enchantment in the romance of Phil and Nico. The book will be reissued by Sourcebooks in the coming months, but for now, in honor of fun spookiness, I’d like the share the video for Enchanting the Beast.



Do you enjoy a spooky ghost story as much as I do? I'd love to hear about it!

My Magical Best,
Kathryne

Comments

  1. I do NOT like spooky stories, said Grace, I DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT. As a kid, Lost in Space would keep me up all night, and Dark Shadows was beyond my tolerance (though I did try).

    A paranormal romance, though? Sure! This sounds like a wonderful combination of fairy tale and spooky tale, perfect for October. Will we see more historical paranormals from you, or is this a rare treat?

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  2. I'm not a spooky gal! No siree! I didn't even see The Exorcist, not when my sister slept with the light on for a year after watching it, and she was married and had a husband who hunted. So there was an arsenal in their house. I did see Psycho when I was very young...maybe that's the sorry culprit. I got hives just looking at shower curtains at Wal-Mart for about twenty years after watching that!

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  3. Hi Grace! I love a spooky fun ghost story, which is why I think I enjoy Ghosthunters...and writing Enchanting the Beast. I'm not sure if I'll be including ghosts in any of my other books...we'll see where my imagination takes me. :} Lost in Space did some reruns a few years ago. Wasn't nearly as scary watching it now. :}

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  4. Oh, I'm sorry, Carolyn! The only time a movie really freaked me out was when I watched three haunted house movies in a row. I guess six hours of that waffled my mind. :} It's why I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, too much really scary stuff.

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  5. I like spooky stuff, just as long as it isn't gory. Can't stand that!

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  6. I don't like spooky stories. I guess I scare easily or something. I don't mind reading them once in a while, but watching them...no way!

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  7. When I was a kid, living alone at 15, a teacher of mine gave me a book of short stories by Stephen King. I don't think I slept well for a week. For me, there are enough things that go bump in the night in the real world--I don't need any more. The closest I got to seeing a scary movie was Hotel Hell--a spoof. It was pretty funny. I want to laugh, laughter I enjoy, fear, not so much...

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  8. Hi Cherly! Same here! And it seems like there's more of that than the good suspenseful stuff.

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  9. Hi Shana! There seems to be a theme here...:}

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  10. Hi Robin! Someone loaned me a Stephen King book and darn if his writing didn't suck me right in, and I couldn't put it down, and yes, it scared the bejeebers out of me! But his characters are so fascinating, and I love how he uses the small town theme. I guess a great writer can make me read anything. :}

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  11. I do not like to be frightened! So I stay away from spooky stories. Sometimes I can't even watch Criminal Minds because the villian seems so real. BUT I don't have a problem it anyone else enjoys the thrill.
    Amelia

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  12. I love Ghost Hunters. It's strange, I don't think I believe in ghosts (not 100% sure they don't exist) but I love all things ghostly. I don't like gory or horror, but I love a good spooky movie or book. The Ring freaked me out more than any movie I've seen. I could just picture that girl coming down my hallway. My sister in law loves scary movies. We went to see The Grudge and there were so many people screaming that I started laughing. I think I had claw marks in my arm from my sister in law's nails. :)

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  13. Hi Amelia! I like fun spooky, not scary spooky, if that makes sense. :} But straight horror isn't for me, either.

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  14. Not too spooky please, but I love books with ghosts in them.

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  15. Then you will love Enchanting the Beast, Aurian. :}

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  16. Yes, I do like ghost stories. And I actually went on a "ghost hunt" with the local paranormal society. I just did it for entertainment,and it turned out to be fun. They had all their gadgets with them. We were on an old ferryboat that is docked in our harbor and is a maritime musuem now. Kind of creepy though being there at midnight with the lights off. I didn't see anything, but at one point we did hear what sounded like footsteps.

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  17. That sounds like so much fun, Linda! I'd love to do that sometime. Thanks so much for sharing!

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