Seven Days of Spooks–Day 3

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I’m sorry I didn’t have a post yesterday, technical difficulties. I’ll post Day 4 a little later! Right now I’d like to share a story from Jennifer Smith. She shared it on my blog during the Spook-A-Licious Blog Hop and agreed to let me post it! Thank you, Jennifer!

I definitely believe in ghosts! When my hubby and I were dating we pulled into a little clearing in some woods we knew about. It was the perfect little hidey hole. We were sitting out there one night in the car and I looked out the windshield and saw a man walking toward us. I freaked! There was woods in front of us, nowhere from him to be coming from, so I automatically assumed he was some crazed killer coming to get us. I will never forget what he looked like. He had on a flannel shirt, overalls and one of those railroad looking caps.

Mike cracked his window to call out to him and turned on the headlights and there wasn't anyone there. He was convinced we were both just seeing things when he turned the lights back off there the man was again. He never got very close to the car. There was nothing for someone to hide behind or conceal himself so I truly believe it was a ghost. We didn't stick around to see what he wanted or if he was friendly and to this day we haven't gone back.

OOOOOOO! Great story, Jennifer! I have goose bumps running up and down my spine. I’d love to hear some stories from others who’ve had similar things happen!

Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win a PDF of my new release Ghosts in the Graveyard.

Blurb:

While most kids can’t wait to dress up in costumes and go out trick or treating, Charlie, Jack, and Millie Foster dread Halloween. Even the promise of receiving a slew of candy doesn’t interest them. How could it when they know the truth about All Hallows Eve? That it’s really a day to fear, a day when the dead walk the earth again.

Seven Days of Spooks–Day 2

I’m happy to have fellow Astraea Press author Sherry Gloag on my blog sharing her ghost story with us! Thank you Sherry.

I was around 7 or eight years old at the time and away at boarding school. The dormitory door opened toward my bed so anyone entering the room had to be right inside the room before I saw them. There were eight beds in that room, four on my side and four on the other. It was winter term -can't remember exact month but Oct/Nov probably. The door did NOT open but a woman stood beside my bed. She wore a tight-bodiced floor-length dress and pointed head gear. She stood beside my bed for what seemed like an age. No I was not frightened, I sensed no menace, only sadness.

Eventually she walked to the end of my bed, round the end of it toward the full-length windows at the other end of the room (we were three floor up from the ground outside on this side of the building.)
She walked THROUGH the closed windows and vanished. After a couple of minutes I *quietly* asked if anyone else was awake. One girl named Sheila Balfour answered me. We shared our experiences and discovered we'd both seen the same thing.
There’d been no ghostly stories anywhere the day/evening before, so not preconceived apparition.

The next morning we told our 'house mistress' about the night-time visit.
There was another adult in the room and we both saw their shared glances and knew what we'd seen was a real and known phenomenon even though the adults dismissed it as a bad dream.
That too simply confirmed to me what we'd seen was real, because neither of us described the event as 'bad' because neither of us were scared by it. A little in awe and uncertain, sure, but not scared.

We later learned that poor Lady Jane Grey stayed there on a visit before traveling south to England for her marriage.
This event took place in a house/school called Semour Lodge, in Crief, Perthsire Scotland. More decades ago than I can to remember!

OOOOO! Thank you so much for sharing. What a great story. I’d love to hear similar stories from anyone willing to share.

Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win a PDF of my new release Ghosts in the Graveyard.

Blurb:

While most kids can’t wait to dress up in costumes and go out trick or treating, Charlie, Jack, and Millie Foster dread Halloween. Even the promise of receiving a slew of candy doesn’t interest them. How could it when they know the truth about All Hallows Eve? That it’s really a day to fear, a day when the dead walk the earth again.

With their house sitting directly behind a graveyard, they are prime targets for the spirits to haunt.

Seven Days of Spooks–Day One

I’m very excited to be releasing a new Halloween story! YIPPEE!! Check out my awesome cover! Okay, I’ll quit with the exclamation points. I’m just happy dancing!!!!!
To celebrate, I thought I’d do seven days of true ghost stories. I shared mine for the Spook-A-Licious Blog Hop so I’ve requested some volunteers to share their stories. For the first post, I thought I’d share some of the inspiration for Ghosts in the Graveyard (Available now for $1.99 at Astraea Press and soon on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com).
First, a little history (don’t worry, VERY little history) about Halloween. The word Halloween is first mentioned in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even. See, told you the history part would be minimal. One thing I found interesting when I was researching Halloween (besides how far back it dated – 1556) for my book, is some of the cool games. We all know bobbing for apples, dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating, but I was fascinated by some of the other games I read about.involved forms of divination. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name. Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. This was so popular, it was commemorated on a greeting card.
And the most popular tradition for Halloween is the telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films, which leads me to how a real-life experience inspired a scene in Ghosts in the Graveyard.
A little back story, when my sister and I were about nine and ten respectively, we became obsessed with horror movies. At the time, one of the local television stations played scary movies all night on Friday and Saturday. She and I would sneak into the living room after our parents were asleep and watch the horror movie marathon until we couldn’t take it anymore. On one such night, one of the movies really freaked us out. Neither of us can remember the name of the show, but we both remember when this woman—this DEAD woman—got up off a gurney and I swear it looked like she was going to run through the TV and get us. I will NEVER forget the way that woman’s eyes looked.
Well, my sister and ran screaming to our parents’ room, burst through the door, and dove on the bed. Did I mention we were screaming the whole time. I think Mom and Dad were more frightened than we were. Did we ever get lectured to. For at least an hour.
We were sent to bed. Our parents grudgingly allowed us to leave the light on and told to stay there for the rest of the night.
This next part is what I added in the book. I’m not sure how long it took us to fall asleep, but my sister woke me in the middle of the night because she had to go to the restroom, couldn’t wait, and was too afraid to go alone. So, I went with her. I think that walk to the restroom was the longest of my life. We made it and then we were too afraid to leave. We were closer to my parents’ room than ours and talked about going in there and sleeping on the floor, but we didn’t want to get into trouble. We sat in the bathroom all night, too scared to go to back to our room. Believe me when I tell you that cured me and my sister of those late night horror movies.
Okay, so it mostly cured me. What really cured me was a movie I watched with my husband after he had to have major hernia surgery. They ended up having to cut him open from his belly button to his side and ha was off work for eight weeks. I rented us some movies. I’m a huge Kevin Bacon fan and there was a new movie out called Stir of Echoes. I honestly didn’t realize it was that much of a scary show. I mean the description said after a guy’s hypnotized he starts seeing visions. I’m thinking he’s psychic and seeing visions of how the girl died.
Yeah right!
If you want to jump out of your skin, that’s the movie to make you do it! My husband had his blanket pulled up to his chin, white-knuckling it, eyes wide. Scared the crap out of both of us. I was cured! Even thinking about that movie gives me the heebie jeebies!
But I still love true tales of the supernatural and I had a lot of fun writing this book. I hope all of you enjoy it to. I’m going to offer a PDF of Ghosts in the Graveyard to TWO lucky commenters each day of my Seven Days of Spooks blog posts! Just leave a comment with your email and if you have a ghost story, I’d love to hear it!

Happy Reading!

~Kim

*Disclaimer: Greeting card picture and Halloween information obtained from wikipedia.com

Spook-A-Licious: Where the Boo-ks Devour You Blog Hop Winners

 

I’m soooo sorry this is late! I had a deadline to meet in getting my latest short story finished and ready to publish for Halloween. First, thank you all for stopping by. This hop was so much fun. Second, for my tardiness, I’m throwing in my newest Halloween short story as part of your prize! Third, let’s get to the winners!

Using randomizer.org, the first place winner is:

Becky C. cherringtonmb(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

The five 2nd place winners are:

Geschumann geschumann at live dot com

Pam M.  kydirtgirl68 AT gmail DOT com

Laura H. BornajhawkATaolDOTcom

Krystalkat Morganlafey86(at)aol(dot)com

Eva evitap67(at)gmail(dot)com

Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. Please email me at kimbowman2008(at)yahoo(dot)com and let me know the PDF you’d like!

Happy Reading!

~Kim

Spook-A-Licious: Where the Boo-ks Devour You Blog Hop

Happy Halloween all! Ghosts and goblins and spooks, OH MY! Well, and wonderful, delicious candy. I’m so glad you came by to visit me! First, let’s cover a few rules for the hop and then we’ll have some fun!

THE RULES:
1) HAVE FUN!!!
2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!
3) THIS TOUR STARTS: Monday, October 17, at Midnight (Arizona Time)
THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, October 24, at Midnight (Arizona Time)
Winners will be drawn and posted October 25th! ***
4) MEET AND MINGLE WITH ALL THE AUTHORS & BOOK PAGES! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY BLOG CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!!
5) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES. EVERY AUTHOR & BOOK PAGE IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE!
6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN? WHOO! HOO!! HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO!***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules**

Halloween is full of myths and legends that either originate with the holiday or are just fun to tell. The headless horseman, Bloody Mary, Resurrection Mary…the list is endless. Some of my favorite true ghosts stories can be found in Leslie Rule’s Coast to Coast Ghosts and Ghosts among us. I’ve read these books over and over and if you like ghost stories, I highly recommend them!

For the blog hop, I thought I’d share my own personal experience with spooks. Several years ago, our neighbor, Joe, died very unexpectedly. He was like a father to me and I took his death very hard. A couple weeks after Joe’s death, strange things started happening in our home. We had our air conditioning on, set to about seventy, but it would get so cold in our bedroom you could see your breath. I started feeling like I was being watched while I slept and I HATED being in our bedroom. Our precious dog Derby even refused to go in our room and would stand at the door and growl. But surprisingly, our dog Tess LOVED our room and would whine if the door was shut and she couldn’t go in there.

But that wasn’t the strangest thing. First, I started hearing this screaming in my head very clearly in our deceased friends voice. Joe was angry and not afraid to express it. “I’m not dead! Would you people stop saying I’m dead! I’M. NOT. DEAD.!” This mantra plagued me for the better part of a month every time I closed my eyes. I was a mess and couldn’t sleep. I truly thought I was going crazy. More afraid everyone else would think it! So I didn’t tell a soul.

Then, the phone calls started. Our caller ID would read Joe and Liz’s name and number, but when we picked the phone up, no one was there, not even a dial tone. Even my unbelieving husband was a little freaked by that, but not as much as what happened next.

You had to know our neighbor. Joe was a character and he loved to shock people. For the longest time he had a very offensive message on their answering machine. Liz had finally had it with the message and people complaining, so she disconnected the answering machine and got voicemail, and she left the message (the answering machine had been unplugged for at least three years when he died).

Fast forward to roughly two months after his death. I picked the phone up to call and check on Liz. To my shock and horror, Joe’s old offensive message greeted me after four rings. I push the end call button and threw the phone and started to cry. My husband was looking at me like I was a crazy woman. When I told him what happened, he rolled his eyes and called himself. You should have seen how pasty white Tony’s face got. His hands were trembling and he let loose a few explicitives. We were both quiet for a few minutes, then Tony the nonbeliever decided someone had hooked up the answering machine again was all. I sighed in relief, glad to have a logical answer. Then I jumped up. “Liz! We can’t let Liz or their kids hear that. It freaked us out.”

Tony agreed so we jumped in the car and drove to their house. We walked inside and I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I knew where the old answering machine was and I didn’t want to alarm Liz. so I went to the room to unplug it without saying anything, only to find it wasn’t plugged in! I ran back to where Tony and Liz stood crying and hyperventilating. When I finally got out what had happened, Tony thought I’d lost it and goes to unplug it himself. Liz and I follow him and sure enough, the answering machine is unplugged.

We can tell Liz is shaken and we apologize for freaking her out and tell her what happened. Liz’s eyes got really huge and she started to cry. She then does plug in the answering machine…and it doesn’t work!

Still, I don’t say anything about Joe haunting me.

The following weekend, I went with Liz to a psychic party. I went for one reason and one reason only-Joe. I never said a word to the psychic. I sat down and he told me he was a psychic medium and asked me if I’d recently lost anyone that I wanted him to try and contact. I said yes.

The medium jumped back nearly knocking his chair over. “Whoa! Man, we just ticked someone off. Honey, I’m sorry, but alls I’m hearing is someone repeating over and over ‘I’m not dead’. Wow! Now he’s cussing at me. Honey, this person, wait…” The medium closed his eyes, then started shaking his head and opened them again. “Yeah, the only thing he’ll say is to stop saying he’s dead. He won’t even give me his name. Honey you have to help him cross over.”

Needless to say, I’m a mess. Liz, on the other hand, is annoyed and furious after her reading and is ready to go. On the way home, she tells me what a fake the psychic was that he couldn’t even tell her husband had been dead less than three months. Never even mentioned Joe to her. I become so upset she has to pull over. There are other people with us, so I don’t want to tell her what has happened, what’s BEEN happening. So I tell her I’m fine and asked her to come to my house after Tony goes to work.

Our readings were tape recorded, so instead of telling Liz what happened, I let her hear the tape and then I tell her what’s been happening. That I hear that same thing—I’m not dead—every night and it’s scaring me. I also tell her that I think the medium didn’t pick up on Joe being dead for her because Joe doesn’t think he’s dead.

It took some convincing, but with a lot of sage, praying, and telling Joe he needed to let go, he finally listened and I had peace again. Although I still miss him every day.

So, that’s my encounter with ghosts. Any of you have a story you’d like to share? Or a scary book you’d like to recommend? I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment for a chance to win some great books.

For one lucky poster, I’m giving you your choice of THREE PDF’s from the list below. And for five other commenters, you get your choice of ONE PDF from the list!

1. Matrimonial Mayhem Anthology (contemporary romance)
2. Heartsight by Kay Springsteen (contemporary romance)
3. Lifeline Echoes by Kay Springsteen (contemporary romance)
4. Elusive Echoes by Kay Springsteen (contemporary romance)
5. The Picture by Stephanie Taylor (contemporary romance)
6. Lucky for Her by Stephanie Taylor (contemporary romance)
7. Double Crossing by Meg Mims (historical fiction)
8. The Last Wizard of Yden by S.G. Rogers (fantasy)
9. Wayward Soul by Kim Bowman (paranormal)
10. Ghosts in the Graveyard by Kim Bowman (Halloween paranormal) upon release
11. Emily Dahil CID Part I by Lindsay Downs (YA, mystery)
12. Trophies by J. Gunnar Grey (mystery)
13. Blackbird Flies by Chynna Laird (YA)
14. Legend of the Oceana Dragon by J.F. Jenkins (paranormal)
15. Vala: Agendas by J.F. Jenkins (paranormal)
16. Scent of a Witch by Bri Clark (Halloween paranormal)
17. Glazier by Bri Clark (paranormal)
18. Shawnee’s Creek by Stephy Smith (contemporary romance)
19. Rescued From the River by Stephy Smith (historical romance)
20. Lizzie and the Rebel by Stephy Smith (historical romance)

The blurbs for all of the above titles can be found on Amazon.com.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of the hop. Just follow this link Spook-A-Licious back to the list.