Scary Stories Director/Producer, Cody Meirick, on Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE!

It was an absolute honor meeting Scary Stories director/producer, Cody Meirick. Check it out at Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE!

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a series of children’s books published in the 1980’s and 90’s written by Alvin Schwartz and originally illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Many of us who love horror likely read the beloved and often controversial collection of folk stories and legends as children.

The books will be honored in Scary Stories, the upcoming documentary directed/produced by Cody Meirick, which will feature interviews from Schwartz’s family members, folklorists, scholars, and notable horror authors such as R.L. Stine.

Visit Tamara and Alistair at their websites. Visit QL Pearce.

Sign up HERE for Thorne & Cross book updates, special deals, upcoming guests on Haunted Nights LIVE! and more.

Alistair’s paranormal murder/mystery, Sleep Savannah, Sleep, is available for pre-order at Amazon, and is scheduled for release on September 25th

If you like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, check out Q.L.’s latest scary stories collection, Spine Chillers: Hair-Raising Tales

This is a copyrighted, trademarked podcast owned solely by the Authors on the Air Global Radio

MOTHER – A Review

On sale now for only .99 cents at Amazon!

“Warning to sensitive readers: this book is not for the faint of heart. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here thinking this is a safe little side trip into the shadows…these shadows have teeth, and think you would taste good with ketchup.

This book blew my mind. It was fantastic. One part Misery, one part Sharp Objects, another part Peyton Place, with a dash of Steel Magnolias and the Stepford Wives thrown in for good measure. This book was both bone-chilling and impossible to put down.

The last thing that Claire wants to do is to go back to her mother’s home, despite the desperate financial situation that has driven her and her husband, Jason, to this point. Claire is pregnant, and Jason has just been diagnosed with epilepsy, which has effectively killed his career as a pilot. The job that he is offered (thanks to Prissy, Claire’s mom) seems like a godsend. Just a few months, he tells her. Hold out for just a few months and we will be able to move. Claire reluctantly agrees, but keeps her guard up around her mother. Prissy puts on a good show for Jason, and soon has him convinced that Claire has over exaggerated and is being unduly harsh to her mother.

Boy, is he in for a shock.

When Claire reveals just the tip of the iceberg that is Prissy’s crazy, Jason is thrown for a loop. The fact that Claire’s disabled father is held hostage in the house is disturbing, but when Claire is injured herself Prissy insists on taking charge of her care. After all, she is a nurse…. As I said, Jason and Claire only know the tip of the iceberg. When Claire’s repressed memories begin to surface, they leave her wondering just what is real and what is her imagination. This goes far beyond rooms piled with useless junk, and the undying need to mind everyone else’s business. When Prissy’s need for control really decides to kick up its skirts and dance, everyone suffers.

I loved this book. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any wackier, any darker, or any more screwed up, I was granted a peek into a level of nuts I never have seen before. Calling this a psychological thriller is like calling a hydrogen bomb a bottle rocket! I could rave on about it for another few paragraphs, but all I can really say about it is GO READ IT! It’s so worth it!”

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MOTHER is on Sale!

Get it for 99 cents in ebook!: https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Tamara-Thorne-ebook/dp/B01E1X1U6Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460317724&sr=8-1&keywords=mother+by+alistair+cross

 

A Girl’s Worst Nightmare is Her Mother …
Priscilla Martin. She’s the diva of Morning Glory Circle and a driving force in the quaint California town of Snapdragon. Overseer of garage sales and neighborhood Christmas decorations, she is widely admired. But few people know the real woman behind the perfectly coiffed hair and Opium perfume.

Family is Forever. And Ever and Ever …
No one escapes Prissy’s watchful eye. No one that is, except her son, who committed suicide many years ago, and her daughter, Claire, who left home more than a decade past and hasn’t spoken to her since. But now, Priscilla’s daughter and son-in-law have fallen on hard times. Expecting their first child, the couple is forced to move back … And Prissy is there to welcome them home with open arms … and to reclaim her broken family.

The Past Isn’t Always as Bad as You Remember. 
Sometimes it’s Worse …
Claire has terrible memories of her mother, but now it seems Priscilla has mended her ways. When a cache of vile family secrets is uncovered, Claire struggles to determine fact from fiction, and her husband, Jason, begins to wonder who the monster really is. Lives are in danger – and Claire and Jason must face a horrifying truth … a truth that may destroy them … and will forever change their definition of “Mother.”

A Review of THE CRIMSON CORSET from FaerieFits

A review of THE CRIMSON CORSET from FaeryFits:

 

“I honestly had no idea what to expect when I picked up The Crimson Corset. I don’t actually even know how I found it, but you know, it showed up on my Kindle and who wouldn’t be curious about a book with a cover of a woman wearing a bright red corset? Especially when the series is clearly about vampires? (Turns out that the corset’s ribbing is made out of bones of its owner’s own mother; how creepy is that?!)

 

So anyway, it took me about 5 pages to realize that I LOVE THIS BOOK!

 

Some context: I was reading this out loud to my daughter (don’t judge; a 7 week old isn’t going to understand what I’m reading to her, just that she’s hearing me). Ease of articulating was super important!

 

The Crimson Corset is punny. Oh, how I love puns!

There’s nothing better than starting a book off with a few good puns. Characters that bring some puns to the table are just so much more enjoyable than characters who are boring. Obviously.

 

I mean, right off the bat we get to observe a conversation between Cade,=, one of the main characters and his fern named Fernando! (Get it? Yeah, totally took me two thirds of the book to catch the pun) Cade also later named his cat Sir Purrcival. I mean, the punny in The Crimson Corset was spectacular.

 

And it’s not just puns. Even through the worst of the goings-on (see next section), Cade and the other characters still kept a sense of humor. Dry humor. Some of which may have involved holy water water guns leaking in pants. (But no, seriously).

The Crimson Corset is filled with graphic, detailed, gory imagery

 

The Crimson Corset totally starts off light-hearted and fun. By the time I started to get a sense of the plot, I was definitely expecting it to be quick, fun read. But man, it gets dark ! (YAY!) There’s sex (I mean, the title involves a corset; what did you expect?), violence, violent sex. Complete and utter brainwashing by way of vampiric venom. Psycho murderous blood-hungry cross-dressing children.

 

You know, the works.

 

(Yeah, maybe not the best choice of books to read aloud to my daughter.)

 

Plus, the descriptions were just plain … well, good. They were powerful, and even though I’m not one to really care about knowing exactly what a character looks like, I LOVED Cross’ descriptions. They conveyed so much more than just appearance. Personality came across, as did insanity, where appropriate. It really made the experiences feel almost relatable.

 

The Crimson Corset adds a unique flavor to a common theme. Ok, this book is totally (at least partially) about vampires who kill humans against vampires who don’t kill humans. Totally cliche, right? But it felt unique and fun in a horrifying oh-dear-god-is-that-really-happening kind of way. There are enough fresh ideas to keep me from feeling bored.

 

And honestly, the “bad” vampires were so interesting (read: graphically horrifying and very consistently motivated) that I didn’t really care that this is a common/overused theme.

The Crimson Corset is easily the best vampire-dedicated book I’ve read. Ever.

 

And that’s saying something. Since, you know, I went through that phase. And, you know, I totally still read an awful lot of vampire books. This review was originally posted on FaerieFits (less)”

 

THE CRIMSON CORSET is available now at: https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Corset-Vampires-Cove-Book-ebook/dp/B0139K6N7Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1503359360&sr=8-1

Today’s the Day!!

Today’s the day! The Witches of Ravencrest is available! Buy it here:https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Ravencrest-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B073GC59J8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500153540&sr=8-1&keywords=the+witches+of+ravencrest

 

Read the 5-star review at Amy’s Bookshelves: http://writeramyshannon.wixsite.com/bookshelfreviews/single-post/2017/07/15/The-Witches-of-Ravencrest-by-Tamara-Thorne-and-Alistair-Cross

 

Read our guest post, “A Recipe for Gothic Horror:” http://www.editingpen.net/authors-thorne-cross-gothic-recipe-horror/ 

 

Available for Pre-Order: THE WITCHES OF RAVENCREST

The Witches of Ravencrest, book 2 in the Ravencrest Saga, goes LIVE on July 15th and is available now for pre-order.  

Dark and Unnatural Powers
In a remote part of California just above the coastal town of Devilswood, Ravencrest Manor, imported stone-by-stone from England more than two centuries ago, looms tall and terrifying, gathering its dark and unnatural powers, and drawing those it wants as its own.

Murder Lurks in the Shadows
Governess Belinda Moorland has settled into life at Ravencrest and, as summer gives way to autumn, romance is in the air. She and multi-millionaire Eric Manning are falling in love … but powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart. And as the annual Harvest Ball is set to begin, evil abounds at Ravencrest. Murder lurks in the shadows, evil spirits freely roam the halls, a phantom baby cries, signaling a death in the mansion, and in the notoriously haunted east wing, three blood-soaked nuns, Sisters Faith, Hope, and Charity, tend to the demented needs of a maid gone mad.

Vengeful Spirits
Ravencrest has come to life. In the gardens below, granite statues dance by moonlight, and a scarecrow goes on a killing rampage, collecting a gruesome assortment of body parts from unwilling donors … But Belinda’s greatest danger is the vengeful spirit of Rebecca Dane. Once the mistress of Ravencrest, Rebecca Dane has a centuries-old ax to grind with the powerful witch, Cordelia Heller – and Belinda becomes her weapon of choice.

The prequel, The Ghosts of Ravencrest is available as well.

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The Arts Lead the Way: A Guest Post by Author Q.L. Pearce

We’ve had a lot of conversations lately with our dear friend, Q.L. Pearce, and have found that she has some pretty profound and intelligent points about the arts and how they effect the social climate. She wrote down some of her thoughts on the topic and after reading over her insights, we asked if we could share them on our blog. She agreed. We hope the following resonates with you as much as it did with us.

The Arts Lead the Way 

by Q.L. Pearce

There is a reason why dictators jail the writers and journalists, the artists and philosophers. It is because free and unfettered thought is dangerous to authoritarian rule. Through art, any form of art, we can touch each other’s souls. That is more powerful than chains and prison bars. It is more timeless than tyranny and oppression.

To be an artist is an honor and a responsibility. I’m not just talking about art in museums and the great books of the ages. Street art, a guy playing a guitar in the subway, a writer cooking up a potboiler, a grandmother sewing a quilt, a cartoonist poking fun at some issue, these things remind us of who we are and what we value. When we share our art we wake the artist in each other. We lift up our humanity.

If you look at the birth of any humanitarian movement or challenge to any injustice you’ll find a book. The Bible, Animal Farm, 1984, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Feminine Mystique, The Jungle, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451 …of course I could go on and on. Here’s a cool list of books that shaped America from the Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/books-that-shaped-america/1850-to-1900.html

We’re not all going to write a book that will get us on this list, but as writers we are the tip of the spear of change. That’s why I’ve always felt so strongly about writing for children.  Along with those who put books in the hands of kids (parents, librarians, teachers), we encourage new readers. And if reading scary stories gets a kid to like books then wonderful!  It’s like that old saying, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for life.” It could easily be “Read a book to a child and you open up their mind. Teach a child to read and you open up their heart.” Scientific research has shown that avid readers are more compassionate.

So I’ll end my rant by saying that, okay, I’m focused on writing, but a day in a museum or at a rock concert or at the ballet or at Comic Con or watching Guardians of the Universe can be as inspiring and as necessary as a day at the library. Reading War and Peace is great but so is watching South Park. It all feeds our humanity and helps us to reach our potential. So art, all art, does lead the way.

Q.L. is the author of the hit series Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs, Titan AE, The Land Before Time, and over 150 other books for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers. Her work has won the Carter G. Woodson gold medal, the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, and many others. Her multi-award winning book, Red Bird Sings received praise from Publisher’s Weekly, the School Library Journal, and the Library Media Connection.

As of 2016, Q.L. Pearce has been hosting the Young Adult segments of the popular radio show, Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! with bestselling authors, Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross.  

Spine Chillers: Hair Raising Tales – Book One, the first installment in a new series from Ms. Pearce, is a collection of spine-tingling ghost stories for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers. It’s available in ebook and paperback at Amazon.

You can visit Q.L. Pearce’s website at: www.qlpearce.com

Last Day!

THE GHOSTS OF RAVENCREST: http://tinyurl.com/jgasppc

 

New Ravencrest Coming

WITCH DAYS, the 6th installment in THE WITCHES OF RAVENCREST serialized novel is on its way. If you haven’t been keeping up with ghoulish, ghastly, gothic goings-on at Ravencrest, here’s a little bit about the previous installments.

Installment #1: GRAVE EXPECTATIONS

Available at: http://tinyurl.com/h2cux28

After confronting the evil lurking in the east wing of Ravencrest Manor, butler Grant Phister realizes governess Belinda Moorland’s talents may be the key to undoing centuries of bloodshed and evil. Taking her under his wing, he begins teaching her the ways of her power – but is she strong enough to break the curse that has plagued the Manning family for centuries – the curse that keeps her handsome employer, Eric Manning, just beyond her reach?

Meanwhile, strange things are happening at Ravencrest. A furious entity is breaking things in the parlor, the scarecrow has gone missing, and the creature in the vent is tormented by a ravenous new hunger. The very earth is alive – with an insatiable appetite for blood.

Installment #2: DEAD OF THE NIGHT

Available at: http://tinyurl.com/gqxel5l

Though stately in its beauty, Ravencrest’s past is savage – and it’s more restless now than ever. A late-night walk by candlelight through the lavish manor’s long and haunted halls reveals deadly secrets that have waited centuries to be freed, and when one of the spectral residents points governess Belinda Moorland on a path of murder and destruction, she realizes she has yet to glimpse the depths of the gothic estate’s true darkness.

As tortured spirits roam the corridors in search of restitution, and unearthly creatures stalk the grounds for fresh blood, Belinda – with the help of butler Grant Phister – must put her recently-discovered talents to good use and begin a dangerous journey to lay the manor’s many ghosts to rest. That is, assuming her enemies – both living and dead – won’t put a stop to her plans first.

Installment #3: THE DARK HEART

Available at: http://tinyurl.com/z3cyuhm

The dead have begun to rise at Ravencrest Manor and governess Belinda Moorland, along with friend and mentor, Grant Phister, must move quickly if they want to protect the living. When a defiled corpse is discovered on the beach, Grant realizes that the only way to restrain the evil saturating Ravencrest’s grounds is to contact a man who may have the answers – a man who happens to have been dead for centuries.

What they learn sheds some light … but also brings new shadows, and Grant and Belinda realize that the darkness at Ravencrest goes deeper and blacker than either of them knew. And at the center of that blackness is The Dark Heart … which may be at the very root of Ravencrest’s hauntings. But knowing this is just the beginning of a long and dangerous journey.

Installment #4: THE ROMERUS CONJURY

Available at: http://tinyurl.com/hjtnuvz

The terror at Ravencrest Manor has spread its wings, reaching into the quaint town of Devilswood below, where the unsuspecting locals have become easy prey for the unearthly predators born within the manor’s haunted walls. Butler Grant Phister sets out on a dangerous journey to collect the rare, arcane items needed to cast an age-old spell that will stop the flesh-seeking creatures dead in their tracks. But time is of the essence, and when night falls, the undead will stake their claims, infecting the townspeople until death has full dominion.

Meanwhile, at the manor, governess Belinda Moorland is faced with horrors of her own. Stalked by the ghost of Rebecca Dane, decapitated more than two centuries ago, Belinda realizes there may be more to the dead woman’s motives than inciting nightmares and terror. When Belinda’s handsome employer, Eric Manning, confesses to several encounters with the ghost, it becomes clear that Rebecca Dane will stop at nothing to get what she wants. But does she want to help them? Or destroy them?

Installment #5: BEDEVILED

Available at: http://tinyurl.com/jm3szmn

Tensions are high and tempers are hot as the Ravencrest household prepares for Witch Days, an annual celebration observing the founding of Devilswood. After the centuries-old spirit of Ravencrest’s former mistress, Rebecca Dane, finally reveals the reasons she’s been haunting current-day governess, Belinda Moorland, life – and death – at Ravencrest will never be the same.

And keep an eye for WITCH DAYS, the next installment. To hear about new Ravencrest installments (and other Thorne & Cross news) sign up for our monthly newsletter. 

If you’re new to Ravencrest, check out the first novel, THE GHOSTS OF RAVENCREST.

 

 

Thanksgiving with MOTHER

To celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we’re going to do things a little differently.

It’s been said that the lives of fictional characters begin before the author uncovers them – and that they go on once the book is completed. We try to keep that in mind by occasionally checking in on the casts of our previous books, and what better time to see how the folks are doing on Morning Glory Circle – where our thriller, MOTHER, is set – than Thanksgiving! In honor of MOTHER’s $0.99 sale in ebook now through November 28th, we thought it would be interesting to stroll through the neighborhood and find out what some of the residents are most grateful for this year.

1. Priscilla Martin, aka Mother, is grateful she has six years’ worth of frozen turkeys in her freezer. She won’t have to buy one this year. And everyone said they wouldn’t come in handy …

2. Her daughter, Claire, is grateful she thought of claiming to be a vegetarian for the time being.

3. Claire’s husband, Jason, is thankful that Prissy Martin has given them a place to stay. He’ll be sorry he ever met the woman before long …. but for now, he’s just happy to have a home … foolish, foolish man …

4. The local priest, Father Andy, is grateful that he’s dining with the Vandercooths. They bought a fresh turkey. He’s always gotten a bad feeling from Prissy Martin … and food poisoning.

5. Frederick Martin, Priscilla’s invalid husband, is glad she forgot to feed him. Very glad indeed. Fred’s feeding times are extremely unpleasant for him …

6. Coastal Eddie Fortune is grateful that he doesn’t have to interview Priscilla Martin.

7. The vampires of Crimson Cove and Candle Bay are also grateful that they don’t have to see Priscilla. Hell, they don’t even want to bite her. If there’s anything worse than Mother, it’s an eternal Mother …

8. Priscilla’s neighbor, Phyllis Stine, is secretly thankful that her sister, Constance Welling, was killed in THE CLIFFHOUSE HAUNTING a while back. She never did like that attention-seeking little bitch.

9. Little Noble Creed, who has only heard of Prissy Martin, is grateful for the pins he found in his mother’s sewing box. He’s sticking them in a voodoo doll named Mother.

10. Timothy Martin, Priscilla’s firstborn, is grateful he’s dead and will not have to endure another holiday at Mother’s house.

And the folks in MOTHER aren’t the only thankful ones. Here’s OUR list of things we’re grateful for!

1. We are both grateful that we don’t have to spend the day with relatives who want to argue politics.

2. We are grateful that our Thanksgiving dinners are very small affairs. As introverts, we believe in dining at home. Alone. Away from other people’s children.

3. Tamara is grateful that her husband likes to cook. If she had to do it, she’d make a pot of chili because if it can’t be made in one pot or pan, it can’t be made.

4. Alistair is grateful for enchiladas – which are so much better than dry-ass turkey and that disgusting jiggly cranberry “sauce” that looks like a blood clot having a bad day.  

5. We are thankful to all the cute cat pictures on the internet for lowering our blood pressure.

6. Tamara’s husband is grateful he only roasts a breast, not a whole bird. Because he tried boning a turkey once and found it rather unpleasant. And there was an embarrassing injury.

7. We are grateful we don’t have to sit through boring-ass football games on Thanksgiving.

8. We are grateful to Netflix for running plenty of cheesy horror movies to go with the holiday meal.

9. We are both grateful for our kitties – the family we share our feasts with. They don’t get drunk, they don’t whine, and don’t care who won the election. Sometimes they throw up in the string bean casserole, but we weren’t going to eat that shit anyway.

10.  We are grateful we don’t have to have Thanksgiving dinner at MOTHER’S house. Oh, are we grateful. We can’t say why in mixed company, but if you pick up a copy, you’ll understand soon enough.

And speaking of MOTHER, be sure to get your copy for $0.99 at Amazon today through the 28th.