Saturday, May 29, 2010

ENCOUNTERS LIVE


I'll be a guest on Encounters Live TONIGHT at 6pm EST.

Should be a great show, I'll be revealing some new stuff about Flagler's Few and the next upcoming book, some tid bits about Azteca and the latest paranormal investigations I've been working on. Both ghosts...and otherwise. :-P

Come join us!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Exorcised Estates

It appears that 108 Ocean Avenue in Amityville is up for sale. You know it better as the Amityville Horror House, the iconic windows of which have recently been altered to sway tourists and fans of the film to stay away.


The house is famed for it's real-life hauntings after the murders of the DeFeo Family back in '74, by the family's son, Ronald. The house would later go on to be owned by Kathleen and George Lutz who's experiences in the house led to the bestselling book and film.

But, it's not the only house up for sale that fits in the category of "exorcised estate". The Hampto-Lillbridge home here in Savannah, Georgia is also up for sale. This house isn't as famous as the Amityville home, but the owner responsible for the restoration back in the 60's, Jim Williams, is best known in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, played in the film by Kevin Spacey. Williams restored the house a block from it's original location, right onto a plot of land that had a burial of over 10 bodies. The house supposedly has poltergeist like hauntings, and Williams himself had it exorciseds before he moved to his more famous estate, Mercer-Williams on Monterey Square. If you walk by the home, you'll notice that there are glass shards along the outside wall...supposedly Williams had a friend in the VooDoo community who might have been responsible for that. Glass shards placed along the outside of a wall are supposed to ward of evil spirits.

Funny thing is, the Hampton House in Savannah is nearly TWICE the asking price of the Amityville Home. Amityville has an asking price of $1.15millions supposedly, whereas last I heard Hampton-Lillbridge is on the market for 2.7million.

Monday, May 24, 2010

LOST: A review of the Paranormal, Mythological and Spiritual Aspects



WARNING: Spoiler alert for LOST series finale beyond this point. Read at own risk!

"Previously...on LOST."

If you were like me, you may have been following last night's series finale on the critically acclaimed (and criticized) show LOST. A show that has lost signifcant viewership with every passing season pretty much because it leaves it's fans with the same feeling as the title. For me it marked a conclusion to a six year fantatical following of the adventures of the island-bound survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, the "Others" and the Dharma Initiative. It was bittersweet and of course still left me scratching my head about somethings...

Pretty much, I was both impressed and disappointed. For five seasons the show maintained the allure of a mysterious island filled with all sorts of unexplained, supernatural curiosities (70's style underground bunkers with mysterious buttons, unexplained health cures, black smoke monsters and of course...polar bears). Season 6 did explain a lot of things, we understood that LOST was willing to accept the existence of ghosts (Charlie and Michael coming back to lead Hurley like they were something out of Sixth Sense), time travel and alternate realities were also possible, but we also delved into a side that until recently, was simply the beliefs held by the all believing John Locke...faith.

LOST took an unexpected turn into mythos and the aethereal. It felt like Jacob and his evil twin brothers were something from a biblical story and we were expected to accept the existence of this "light" (the macguffin that Jacob was charged to protect) that came through the ground at the heart of the island. It wasn't the fact we COULDN'T believe it could happen on LOST it was the bizarre feeling of thinking: "Why has the island gone from being something paranormal in nature, to biblical?"

But perhaps the most shocking of the events that happened in the finale was that in the end,when all was said and done and the alternate reality (flash sideways) was nothing more then a sort of purgatory for the dead characters (which the LOST creators swore it wasn't) and all our heroes moved on to a new existence together (heaven?), we realize that the island we've come to think was so important, the island that we spent six years believing mattered...didn't. It was nothing more then a place after all, not a character unto itself and everything that happened there was just a mechanism for the characters to rediscover themselves.

But for it's many oddities, I was touched by how "The End" ended. In a lot of ways LOST touched on subjects that were close to me: the paranormal; the answer to life, death and the beyond; and the battle between science and faith and all the in betweens. Anyone studying the paranormal should consider this show a sort of theory as to what we percieve as existence and what that means to us as a people.

We are social creatures, and whether we choose to accept it or not, we are altered and changed by the events and people around us. LOST was an example of human life, changing the lives of those characters involved, all of which who were lost...and are now ultimately found.


Saturday, May 22, 2010

Flagler College to host the next Whedonverse Conference


Just when I started to think Flagler College could never beat out SCAD for odd-ball events, they surprise me with this. Turns out Flagler will be this years host for the Fourth International Whedonverse Conference, a conference designed around famed writer, director, producer Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse).

Whedon has been a mover and shaker in the business of ground breaking television. Buffy was one of the first heroines who didn't have to dress in a skimpy outfit while contradicting herself with "girl power" slogans left and right (which is usually a big turn off for guys). That, along with Emmy gold episodes like Buffy's "Hush" and the Space Western Firefly made his stories and worlds something all aspiring artists and writers could gush over week after week on television.

I myself was highly inspired by Whedon's work while creating Flagler's Few. Often when I try to explain my book I say something along the lines of: "It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Ghostbusters...in Saint Augustine..." I've also had the opportunity to meet George Jeanty, the comicbook artists responsible for "Season 8", even gave him a ghost tour while he was down in Savannah a few years back.

So it figures that the liberal arts college will host this event, and I'm sure it's going to be amazing. Sadly, Joss Whedon himself will probably not be in attendance, but the event will spotlight Flagler professors, guest speakers and seminars dealing with the creative writing styles, stories and character developments of some memorable Whedon fashion.

The event is open to the public, for more info go check it out here...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

ENCOUNTERS LIVE!


Hey all,

I've been asked by Tim Yancey of Encounters Live to come onto his show and talk about Flagler's Few on May 29th. Encounters Live is a South Florida based radio broadcast that has a huge listener base and brings on some of the best people in the paranormal community. Tim Yancy has over 35 years of experience in the paranormal and along with his wife, Trish, puts on one of the most informative and fun paranormal radio shows out there.

With that said, check out the latest broadcast video, and on May 29th, 6pm EST, tune in to hear us talk about the upcoming Flagler's Few and Victor's Revenge, as well as what's in the works for Destination: Unknown and Flagler's Few and the Pirate's Skull of Fury!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

AZTECA


Hey everybody! Some great news! I can finally start talking about my secret project work on Azteca, a brand new up-and-coming series created and written by the amazing Enrica Jang and illustrated by my totally talented long time friend, Jhazmine Ruiz.

I'm currently functioning as inker and colorist on the project. I'd like to give a great show of thanks to Jhaz and Enrica for letting me be a part of the team. It's different from what I'm used to on Flagler's Few (which by the way is not being put on the back burner fans! More F.F. to come!) but it's a great opportunity!

This is no paranormal comic book though, the series is a darker, grittier, real life-esque series that will leave you grinding your teeth and begging for more. Enrica and Jhazmine have really got an amazing talent for bringing a story to life. I can't say much more...if you want to discover everything about Azteca check out their Kickstarter page, it recently got onto the "Recommended List".

Show your support, and spread the word of this great new upcoming series (but don't forget about Flagler's Few either now. :-P)

Feels good to finally air that out...

Sunday, May 2, 2010

New Interview with Jim Harold!

Got a chance to speak with Jim Harold of Paranormal Podcast! Jim was the first ever radio host I interviewed with a year or so ago in the paranormal field about Flagler's Few. Check out our chat about my book, fiction in the paranormal/supernatural field and my thoughts on the direction of paranormal television.

Thanks Jim!

Click here for the link to the podcast!