I worked in Newark, NJ full time from 1997ish through 2000. I took the train from Dover--the NJ Transit line that started in Netcong and ran through Morris and Essex Counties to the Newark Broad Street Station and then beyond to Penn Station in NYC (though now I’m sure it stops in Secaucus). People always … Continue reading The vans of Newark
Tag: Weird NJ
Jersey Derby story online
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
Following Annie
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
Home State Hauntings now in print
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
Rabbit Tree Redux
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
Leo the MGM Lion
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
More of Edison’s talking doll recordings restored
In 2011, I wrote a story about the talking dolls that Thomas Edison produced and sold briefly in the late 1800s. The dolls had tiny record players in them, and they played wax discs onto which nursery rhymes had been recorded. The discs were very fragile and broke easily, which was one reason why the … Continue reading More of Edison’s talking doll recordings restored
The Mother of Action Park Stories
In 2014 my local newspaper reported on two different television production companies approaching Action Park about doing a reality TV show. (Chances are this link will be dead or under a subscription wall.) Action Park, if you don't know, is a notorious water park located in the Northwestern NJ town in which I live. The … Continue reading The Mother of Action Park Stories
Whimsical failure part 2
So this happened today. The interview I wrote about in my last blog post was published online. I don't know how well, if at all, the interview will be received by Lord Whimsy. And though I wish it had gone differently six (!!!) years ago, I do feel good that a long unpublished interview that … Continue reading Whimsical failure part 2
In which I am a whimsical failure, of sorts
In July 2008, I had just finished assembling my second anthology of ghost stories, Weird Encounters. And despite my efforts to complete the book in time for the publisher to get it on shelves in time for Halloween that year, they were all for naught. Thanks to the financial crisis, the publisher said it might … Continue reading In which I am a whimsical failure, of sorts
