I originally wrote this story for Last Exit: Travels with Death in the Garden State, a special issue of Weird NJ that was published in 2009 and has long since been out of print. Seeing a reference to safety coffins on social media the other day prompted me to dust it off and share it … Continue reading Mr. Vester’s Safety Coffin
The book I worked on in 2006, Weird Hauntings, was out of print after having pretty decent sales in both hardcover and paperback (this was just before ebooks were a thing). Last year, my bosses at Weird NJ let me know that the publisher (not them) planned on re-issuing the book this fall. They were … Continue reading Weird Ghosts = Weird Hauntings
I updated the "My Work" page with a link to the article I wrote about New Jersey-based roller derby, in case you're interested in checking it out. If there is a sport I was healthy and badass enough to participate in, it would be roller derby. I spent a year or so traveling to games … Continue reading Jersey Derby story online
Yesterday I took a trip to two New Jersey towns--Blairstown and Hope--that were featured in scenes from the 1980 horror movie, Friday the 13th. Both appear early in the film, when we're following the perky and independent Annie, who signed on to be the cook at Camp Crystal Lake and is getting there on a … Continue reading Following Annie
About a year ago, I wrote about KD Cyr, a young woman and fellow lover of the weird who died in a car crash. I wanted to let you know that you can learn more about her through the website that her family created not only to mourn her loss but to also celebrate her … Continue reading An update on KD
Today I was surprised to find out that an eBook that features a lot of my writing and editing has become a printed "special issue" of Weird NJ. Home State Hauntings: True Stories of Ghostly Places in New Jersey is available through the magazine's online store, as well as their Amazon store. As you can … Continue reading Home State Hauntings now in print
It's been 18 years since some photos I took of the Rabbit Tree in Vernon Township were published in the May 1998 issue of Weird N.J. These photos taken last weekend show that it hasn't changed that much, except that somebody unhelpfully decided to spray paint over the "eyes" and "nose" of the rabbit, in … Continue reading Rabbit Tree Redux
My story, Katie Likes Flowers, was recently published on the Cemetery Travel: Adventures in Graveyards Around the World website, as part of the Death's Garden project by Loren Rhoads. Check out the story and take the time to read the other posts on the website, which features stories about cemeteries, graveyards, and how death impacts … Continue reading Katie in Death’s Garden
This short piece about an experience I had in a nearby abandoned cemetery was originally published in Weird Hauntings (Sterling, 2006). Many abandoned bits of civilization are found in the woods in the part of New Jersey where I live: Towns that simply disappeared off the map for one reason or another. Their remnants include … Continue reading Katie Likes Flowers
The Asbury Park Press recently published another story I wrote for the "Last Exit" special issue of Weird NJ: This one is about the original Leo the Lion, one of a number of roaring lions that MGM featured at the start of its films. This Leo in particular lived on a farm/animal sanctuary in Gillette, … Continue reading Leo the MGM Lion
