Happy New Year!
Despite rumors that my disappearance over the holidays was due to my getting stuck inside the Tunnel of Death in Rocky River, the simple fact was I was bogged down with some strange & spooky projects. But in between sips of egg nog and nibbles of figgy pudding, I was able to get things in some semblance of order so that I can now give you a couple of teasers as to what I’ve been up to. And man, am I excited!
You see, whenever I am out and about, especially at book signings and presentations, the question I get asked most often is “when are you going to do something about Ohio again?” I guess since all my recent books were about non-Ohio things like Hollywood, America, and Indiana, people started thought I forgot about spooky stuff in Ohio. I even got an e-mail asking me if I’d “forgotten about my Ohio roots”, which I find touching and amusing since I’m not originally from Ohio. Guess that means the Buckeye State’s finally accepted me!
Anyway, 2013 for me is going to be ALL about Ohio. Currently, I am involved in three major projects whose only focus is Ohio. Over the course of the coming months, I will be releasing all sorts of information about the projects, including how you can get involved yourself! But for now, allow me to tease you a bit by presenting you with the projects, which I call The Big, The Old, and The Digital.
The Big We’re talking really big here. How big, you might ask? How about over 100,000 words big? Or how about over 150 Ohio locations big? Maybe even “hard cover with dust jacket” kinda big? Sounds pretty big, huh? Well, it is. And it will be heading your way soon! The Old I call this project “old” because when all is said and done, it will encompass over 3 years of active ghost research. Not only that, but it will include the results of over 20 in-person, overnight investigations, which resulted in over 300 hours of video and audio, 600 photographs, and 120 hours of personal interviews with people who have had ghostly encounters at these locations. And yes, ALL the locations are in Ohio. This is the project that I have been quoted as saying has been “the most frustrating and the most rewarding experience of my ghost-hunting career”. The Digital Here’s the one that I think is really going to be a blast. For years now, I’ve been saying that ghosts don’t perform on command. But you know, there are places all over Ohio where they DO (if you believe the stories), if you know the right number of times to, say, flash your lights or beep your horn! With that in mind, I will be sharing stories from my personal databases about places in Ohio you can reportedly go, perform a ritual like flashing your lights, and a ghost will appear…and you’re going to tell me if it worked for you! I’ll compile everyone’s results here on this blog so we can keep track of which rituals resulted in a ghost appearing and which ones were busts. Because when you think about it, we’re all just here trying to find a ghost!So that’s some of what you guys can look forward to here in 2013. Don’t worry, you’ll still be getting doses of Ohio’s News of the Weird. And I’m sure the Tokoloshe will pop up from time to time, too. All in all, I can’t wait to start rolling into 2013. Trust me; you’re gonna wanna hit that little “Follow Me!” button at the top of this page just to make sure you don’t miss a single strange and spooky thing!
Can’t wait Jim! Sounds like a deliciously strange and spooky year ahead!
Indeed! And don’t be surprised if/when I pull you into my strange & spooky world, Kevin!