The first–and potentially last–selfie of 16..

If we make it through December we'll be fine

I went to a viewing last night for a friend.. I will skip the details, they are very personal and I wouldn’t want to exchange thoughts on such an instance to the world at large.. I wish I could write down most of what I am saying but if I do so, it will not be in a public forum. It will be kept private intentionally. There are some parts of the modern age of websites, Tweets, Facebooks, and blogs that I still don’t embrace. One of those parts is the emergence of saying everything and anything for all to read.

I will simply say this.. one of the saddest things to watch is a son stare at his mother in a casket—when that young man is not even of an age to understand what he is seeing.. When a child is so young that he cannot care for himself.. when a boy is just starting to mature and already his father and mother are both gone.. that is remarkably sad..

I cannot get the image out of my mind.. a well-dressed young man.. staring at his now at rest mother.. regardless of what anyone may say about the deceased—tacky as it may be, people don’t stop preachy gossip when someone dies—that young man has still lost a pillar, a rock of strength, and potentially the last remaining vestige of security he had..

You may not find this post much of help in your life.. but I ask you only to stop before you say something cruel. Cease your words before something vile comes from your mouth.. judgmental people abound. Dare to be different. Accept.

Because that grown adult you’re talking to today may have been the boy of yesterday who stared at his mother in a casket as his world changed.

MONDAY.

Sometimes in life when you build your own jail cell, the beautiful view of the outside world will be haunting. Make today be a day you plan your breakout.

Good Morning world.

Samhain practice run. Success. But I’ll need more force for the real day.

2007-2015

8 YEARS AGO I GOT MARRIED..On a fine October day after morning rain, the side shined through clouds in a brilliant manner onto the autumn leaves below.
Vows were exchanged.
Almost a decade in time. And wow, how time quickly showcases itself briefly on a stage and vanishes behind the curtain of life.

Eight years gone. Eight years strong. It goes so fast, times does pass, but limitless love lives on. Happy anniversary Tara.

2007-2015 was originally published on THE HORROR REPORT

CENTRALIA THE DRAMA

Before proceeding.

I AM FROM CENTRALIA, PA. I was one of ‘those’ folks.. my parents moved away as we were in one of the hardest hit part of town due to the mine fire.. But the water is clean. The smoke has cleared.. there are lots of tourists desperate for a view of fire that they will never see.. and graffiti highway is amazing. Now on to the news..

For better or worse, CENRTALIA is going to get some major TEE VEE time coming up very soon.

According to DEADLINE, NBC just won the rights to produce ‘CENTRALIA,’ a project being called a ‘dark’ drama..

MORE FROM THE DEADLINE REPORT that broke today:

In a competitive situation with multiple bidders, Centralia, a genre drama from Star-Crossed creator/executive producerMeredith Averill and Amblin TV, has landed at NBC with a major penalty and has been laid off at Universal TV.

MORE//

Written by Averill, Centralia is a dark character-driven genre soap based on a real town in central Pennsylvania where an underground mine fire has been burning for over 50 years. The remaining few residents of this ghost town are determined to preserve their homes but remain unaware of the evil that is slowly making its way to the surface. Averill is executive producing with Amblin TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey

And finally..

Averill has first-hand knowledge of the Centralia story as she grew up in the nearby town of Pottsville, PA. She is coming off an overall deal at CBS TV Studios where, in addition to creating and executive producing alien-themed love story Star-Crossed for the CW, she also worked as co-executive producer on the studio’s CW dramedy Jane The Virgin and producer on CBS’ The Good Wife. She is repped by WME.

I have very, very mixed feelings about this project.. I applaud the idea. It is natural–a ghost town, especially one with the history that Centralia has, is an amazing story. But it is also complex.. I would expect Averill to create a story with respect and beauty–something Centralia had and still does.. But it’s also a situation ripe for attention, entertainment, and profit.

This upcoming project is both exciting and frightening.

After all.. this is my hometown, by default. I know the real story of it. It’s not filled with ‘ghosts’ but instead wonderful memories of times long ago. And I hope that is brought forward in the setting of the series.

Centralia is worth attention.
In the best ways possible.

THE NIGHTMARE worth a watch .. maybe not before bed

In April of this year the HORROR REPORT profiled the NIGHTMARE, a documentary film from Rodney Ascher (from ROOM 237).. It’s a series of stories told by people who Ascher collected to tell their tales of sleep paralysis. Along with the verbiage, horrific images of what they saw–documentary style.. The creation is amazing. It’s a documentary but can easily as one of the best horror movies of the…

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Today was Sunday squash slicing day..
It turned out well.
A pumpkin to represent each member of the family except the dog. We forgot that one..
But the human are all accounted for in squash form.

DARK LIGHT. SMALL CITY.

DARK LIGHT. SMALL CITY.

This is the best of times.. the worst of times. Allow me to briefly explain. I love autumn. I have always.. but this year, for some strange reason, I am dreading it. The weather has already cooled off a bit and it’s been rainy.. My throat has that touch of soreness this morning. I also heard my son coughing a bit.. The changing seasons, along with allergic reasons, is making me dread it all a bit…

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The school that wasn't

The school that wasn’t 

While I had no original plans to write anything about this very personal issue, a few events took place that changed my mind.   I went to a little high school in the coal region of Pennsylvania named Cardinal Brennan Jr/Sr High School. It was a strange place. Catholic education echoed through the hallways, along with the shenanigans and teenage laughter of generations forced to wear school…

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DREAMS OF MY SON'S TURTLES

A newfound respect from me for the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES..

…AND I DON’T MEAN THE MICHAEL BAY INCARNATION..
I am talking about the cartoon..
AND I DON’T MEAN THE 20TH CENTURY VERSION..

I rarely speak much on here about the cartoon world. But thanks to fate and me having a 4-year-old TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES enthusiast, I am really getting to know the new NICKELODEON version of the show. We actively hunt down and try to acquire any new TMNT Nick toys at whatever unnamed store of choice. Some are pretty tough to find. Our family has been hitting some roadblocks..maybe AMAZON.COM is our only hope.

The show itself is amazing. I mean that. Not just because my son loves it.. not just because I am a TMNT fan.. but the storyline of the NICK cartoon is rough and tumble..ups and downs.. action packed and moving at times. It’s well done, and it has spawned something personally for me..

For about two nights in a row, I have had a nightmare about the RAT KING.

A little background on the RAT KING. When I was a kid in 1988, I really don’t remember seeing the RAT KING as a villain on the show. He made his first appearance in show #4 in February of that year.. The RAT KING has telepathic influences over, of course, rats. He has been an ally of the turtles, a villain, and evil doer.

But most recently in the NICK version of the show, he has morphed into a truly horrid looking creature who fights Master Splinter.

Though I am 34 and the show is just a cartoon, I have found myself dwelling a little too much subconsciously on the RAT KING, enough that he appeared in the last two nights of dreams. Last night, for example, I dreamed that I was trying to either hide something or myself. As the day goes on, I remember less about the dream. But what I do vividly recall from it: In the night time vision, the RAT KING was the entity hunting down either me or the unnamed hidden object. And it was startling–enough that I would consider the dream a borderline nightmare. I didn’t wake up in a cold sweat, but I was sure glad the alarm clock alerted me to daybreak so the dream could end.

There are elements of the show that are great for kids. There are also some that are perfect for those aging a bit. As for me, as a TMNT fan, the program is dark and grungy but yet filled with enough humor that it’s easy to watch. So while I am a few years behind, I am saying now: I endorse this show. It’s great. NO matter what age you are, you can still be a kid at heart..

But the RAT KING?
He is a little creepier than the average villain.

A noteworthy item of interest. This morning when my dream was over and I groggily walked into the living room to try to start the day, I almost stepped on one of my son’s Ninja Turtles action figures.
The RAT KING, no less…
Haunting at night. And a toy haunting by day…

NOT THIS:

But this:

A fan in Pahrump

When you're online and you get linked up by someone who you have respected for your entire life, it's a pretty proud moment.. that happened to me tonight when Art Bell posted a link on his Facebook page to my website, not the Coal Speaker but the wider known (sorta) HORRORREPORT.COM .. I wrote an article yesterday about his return to broadcasting. In this case, podcasting.. Tonight, after he shared the site, the HORROR REPORT has been receiving some of the biggest traffic I have ever witnessed.  I am just going to enjoy the moment.. I don't brag, often. But this is cool.

A case of the Mondays.. A new car from St. Jude before the thunder strikes again

The weekend was rough. Car problems. But today a new CHEVROLET SONIC is in my life, after too many problems were stacking up from the beast 2010 Jeep Patriot. It saw it days and got my family through a number of winters.. But as cars go, so does luck.
Not only were there transmission issues--big ones--but also wheel bearings.. ball joints .. brakes.. Oh, and a cracked windshield that mysteriously happened last night.
So .. a decision seemingly was made by Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost and hopeless cases, who I have been trying to contact now for about a week.

Maybe he came through, smashed my windshield, and gave me the sign to get rid of one beast for the new gray Sonic the hedgehog.

Can't wait to pick my son up at day care in a new car. And then tell him NO MORE ICE CREAM WITH SPRINKLES in his car seat.. The mess I found underneath his area in the Jeep probably cost me about $500 in trade in money..

Bad weeks.
Good weeks.
All weeks.
There are all weeks--fleeting sets of seven days that come and go as quick as rain on a summer afternoon.

Car problems and house issues, all of those things don't matter when you're on your death bed asking to see your family for the final time.

Perspective.
Of course when you're asking St. Jude for help, you don't maintain that affinity of perspective as much as when the storm begins to pass.

But another storm lurks. It always does.
You just need to reestablish your safety zone before the thunder strikes.

LIFE.

SCARY STORIES TO BAN IN THE DARK

Given history, I suppose it’s amazing I even got the chance to read SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK when I was a kid in the 90s. I was doing more reading on the upcoming documentary being made on this and learned something I never quite knew previously: This was among the most banned book of the 1990s..

Cody Meireck describes it best, 

The interesting thing that I have been encountering as I begin to talk about this documentary is the question of how I can “bill” the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. It is listed as the most banned book between 1990-1999 and remained at #7 in 2000-2009. It was #1 on the list for several years in the 1990s. In the 21st Century there are a number of other books that have taken the mantel for most frequently banned… Harry Potter is often up there, and recently the book And Tango Makes Three is often high on the list because of the presence of a homosexual couple (animals though they may be). So although Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is no longer top on the list, for the last 25 years that the American Library Association has been compiling a list, it has been a major title on the list. The original books are over 20 years old at this point, and yet they still show up on the lists amongst more widespread and known books such as Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn. That says something.

I remember the moment I got my first SCARY STORIES book.. it was during grade school when a book fair truck came and set up in the school gym.. I found this black book with a skull on it and somehow was attracted to the concept and stories.. It became a treasure for me and then, with each new one, I would buy them up for the collection. 

The most amazing part, given history of book bans, is that I bought my SCARY STORIES book at a Catholic school book fair!  The same Catholic school that suspended me for a day for bringing a fake Freddy Kreuger glove to class in fourth grade for our field trip..  

I suppose the school’s nuns couldn’t be aware of every book that was sold. And even more, I ponder if the book seller was secretly trying to fight the pop culture movement at the time to hide these books from kids.

If it wasn’t for the SCARY STORIES books, my appreciation of the paranormal and even love of drawing perhaps would never have blossomed. I bet there’s a lot of 90s kids in the same boat as me because of this series..

The creepy blanket at 3am

Let me first explain what this is.. Late at night, if you’re perched at the right place in my bathroom, this is a view directly into my bedroom.. There is a piece of blanket stuffed into the closet which pokes out. Quite frankly, perhaps my laziness has equaled this, it has been there for a long time.. Too long. As a matter of fact, each night at 3am when either nature calls or some other noise of the house startles me awake, I make my way to the bathroom and see this blanket.. The more I stare, though, the less it is looks like a blanket.

See, this blanket has been scaring me for months. With the darkness of night shrouding the room and just the faint glow from a nearby night light, this little piece of blanket starts it morphing. It looks at first like a witch, sort of staring at me.. If you look long enough, it begins to change into a smiling old hag, almost with a knowing cackle on her face as she sees me have a heart begin to race.. A few times it turned into a man, posing as though he was taking his final photo of life. There was a time when it appeared to be a wolf.. Another time it was simply a blank figure but yet somehow had eyes that were staring at me, almost winking with each second I gawked back..

Sure, I know this is all a figment of the wild night time imagination—when your reality suspends for a little as you take walks between the here and the dream world there.

But each time this is so realistic that I need to check this blanket prior to attempting to regain the sleep world. Regardless of my knowledge, my distinct knowledge, that this is a blanket, my deep fear of the shapes it poses as forces me into a nightly check.

I maintain sanity, let me explain.
I maintain reality..
But in the dangerously dark night air, the shapes that objects take can piece your imagination and scare you to the bone.

thedoomreport IT was the fun not knowing.. the idea that the truth was just ‘out there’ on the X FILES, and all of that was just fake. Right? All fun and fake.. Soup Nazis on Seinfeld and the Clinton scandals that weren’t really. Those were the days—the 90s were a decade about nothing. A decade in which we were infuriated about issues that didn’t matter. And I was moving through my teens toward 20, paying less than a buck a gallon for gas in a little Chevy car and staying awake often until sunrise listening to Art Bell with my father or friends.

Then the knowing began as I aged.. After 9/11, after floods and fury across the globe. And I began to know.. 

The knowing..
The fun all happens before that.

Thanks for the question—it made me think..

New fallen snow on a Spring morning

There is a fresh blanket of snowing consuming the ground this morning.. it won’t last, I can hear the sounds of spring birds chirping away, perhaps in disbelief that their return home was greeted with a winter blast.. The cold is waning, though. . And the sky is a beautiful shade of pinkish purple the darker clouds lift..

It was a beautiful morning. Even though it was spring, it was amazing to see the snow thick on tree limbs. It will be over soon.. gone.. And forgotten.

Spring will turn to summer.. And summer will also wane away eventually.
Years go by fast anymore.. 

I don’t know if you agree, or perhaps if I am just beginning to fear the middle ages of life as I quickly progress in my 30s, but life is going fast. 

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The final snow day?

The happy Art Bell dance

For those who don’t know, radio great Art Bell is planning a return this summer. Either online, or perhaps a little online and a little AM. Undisclosed information at this time.. But my son, age four now, is happy. Perhaps by force.. He has been a captive audience member since infancy when he’d hear Art’s reruns on the FINE ART STREAM and U7 Radio .. Now he fully endorses the return with his own version of a celebratory dance. I suspect if Art can muster up another ten years, Ayden will be 14 years of age. And he will have a full experience of what Art Bell was .. Amazing.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfBLyn-GTew?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=374]

And for perspective, Ayden at 1 year:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnS1gbYWHoM?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=374]