Friday, October 27, 2017

The Cursed Cat-Trail House by Catherine Cavendish



This week--and just in time for Halloween--I'm turning the blog over to excellent horror author Catherine Cavendish where she'll walk you through the haunted streets of Venice, a place about as far from Kansas as you could get. Here's Cat...
My latest novel – Wrath of the Ancients – is largely set in Vienna, Austria’s imperial capital and surely one of the most beautiful and enchanting cities in the world. Its streets teem with culture and its proud residents are almost fiercely protective of their enigmatic, sometimes quirky, and endlessly fascinating homes, where everyone from Strauss to Klimt and Freud lived and worked.

Many buildings date from hundreds of years ago and undoubtedly, a number of them guard their secrets well. Few can have such a bizarre reputation as the former looming, sinister-looking Katzensteighaus (Cat-Trail House) at the corner of Seitenstettengasse 6 and Rabensteig 3. There has been a building on that site since at least the sixteenth century and to say it nourishes a chequered past is an understatement. According to legend, a woman who had committed adultery wanted to kill the wife of her lover by poison, but accidentally took the potion herself and died in agony.
For her sins, she was cursed and condemned to prowl the night as a white cat – her territory the roofs of the houses in that neighbourhood. Anyone who caught a glimpse of her would be pursued by bad luck.

Certainly the house seems to have heaped its own share of bad luck on a succession of owners. In 1522, during the total lunar eclipse of September 6th, a fire erupted from unknown causes and the owners, Christoph and Dorothea Pempfling lost their home and all their possessions. A man called Bonifaz Wolgemut rebuilt the house but it collapsed in the earthquake of 1590.

Over the centuries, the house did, of course, change hands many times – and was rebuilt more than once - but seems to have brought grief to anyone brave or foolhardy enough to own and live in it. The present building dates from 1825 and long stood out, simply because of the grimness of its façade, in stark contrast with the buildings around it. 
Its empty black windows, decayed and looming presence stretched high above the curious passer-by who may have felt suddenly cold, sad and despairing. Broken window panes, crumbling plaster… The Vienna Ghosthunters held vigils there. There is no conclusive evidence to support the legend of the White Cat ghost but clearly the place had been unoccupied for many years. Below street level, some of the cellars have been partially bricked up, although no one could understand why. Also, they discovered a winding vault, leading under the road, but why it as constructed no one knows.

It is now surrounded by a seething night life – the famous bars and restaurants of the Bermudadreieck (Bermuda Triangle) and with any luck, the house’s morose and gloomy past is behind it. It has been completely renovated and part of the building houses the Vienna-Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies.

It remains to be seen what new stories this extraordinary, ordinary-looking building will write in the future.
 
Destiny In Death
Egypt, 1908
Eminent archaeologist Dr. Emeryk Quintillus has unearthed the burial chamber of Cleopatra. But this tomb raider’s obsession with the Queen of the Nile has nothing to do with preserving history. Stealing sacred and priceless relics, he murders his expedition crew, and flees—escaping the quake that swallows the site beneath the desert sands . . .
Vienna, 1913
Young widow Adeline Ogilvy has accepted employment at the mansion of Dr. Quintillus, transcribing the late professor’s memoirs. Within the pages of his journals, she discovers the ravings of a madman convinced he possessed the ability to reincarnate Cleopatra. Within the walls of his home, she is assailed by unexplained phenomena: strange sounds, shadowy figures, and apparitions of hieroglyphics.
Something pursued Dr. Quintillus from Egypt. Something dark, something hungry. Something tied to the fate and future of Adeline Ogilvy . . .
Wrath Of The Ancients
Available from:
About the Author:
Following a varied career in sales, advertising and career guidance, Catherine Cavendish is now the full-time author of a number of paranormal, ghostly and Gothic horror novels, novellas and short stories. She was the joint winner of the Samhain Gothic Horror Anthology Competition, with Linden Manor. Cat’s novels include the Nemesis of the Gods trilogy - Wrath of the Ancients, Waking the Ancients and Damned by the Ancients, plus The Devil’s Serenade, The Pendle CurseSaving Grace Devine and many more. She lives with her long-suffering husband, and a black cat who has never forgotten that her species used to be worshiped in ancient Egypt. She sees no reason why that practice should not continue. Cat and her family divide their time between Liverpool and a 260-year-old haunted apartment in North Wales.

You can connect with Cat here:

Friday, October 20, 2017

One Black Hair...

I'm extremely follicularly challenged. I have been since college.

Fair-haired, near a red-headed step-child, my hair loss was more the obvious for it.

My dad, a fellow member of the follicularly challenged team, used to try and coax me into applying the ol' trusty comb-over, something that fooled no one. But I just couldn't do it. No more than I could wear my pants up to my nipples, another strange peccadillo of my Dad's. But I digress.

Anyway, I said the hell with my hair loss, embraced it fully. I shaved the donut of hair off. Slick as a baby's bottom and proud of it.

I was just fine with it. Even got compliments. At Walmart of all places, some fellow baldist asked what I waxed my head with to get such a sheen. I said, "Um...sweat?"

But then Fate, the quirky, mean ex-girlfriend that she is, decided to play with the status quo. 

Recently I woke up with a single black hair poking out of my ear.

Whaaaa?...

Not only have I never had black hair, but now I had a strong, sharp wire growing out of my ear lobe! Huzzah! A miracle! Better than pizza slices that resemble Jesus.

Except...not really.

What if I turned into a human porcupine, prickly black hairs sticking out everywhere? May as well sign up for the traveling freak show now. Or I might transform into a Chia headed creature, something out of a '50's horror film! 

With my fair complexion, I'd probably look like a freaky Bond villain.

(Me: "You see, my dear Mr. Bond, it's my intention to unleash my porcu-hair bomb onto an unsuspecting world!"

Bond: "Not if I have anything to say about it, Prickly-Ear!"

Me: "Oh, shut up, Connery! Everyone knows you wear a toupee!")

Bah. Hair's overrated.

For even stranger aberrations, click here for my newest book, Peculiar County.
 

Friday, October 13, 2017

The Dumbening...

Sounds like a new, dreadful, direct to SyFy channel horror movie, yeah?

Wrong! It's me waxing not so eloquently on BWL Publishing's release of the goofiest Zach and Zora comic mystery yet (#3 if you're counting), Nightmare of Nannies!
CLICK HERE FOR DANCING THRILLS AND SKATEBOARD SPILLS! 
The thing is, the book didn't start out to be goofy. No, I had grandiose plans to take the series into a more mature level (uh-huh), have Zach, my nincompoop "male dancing entertainer" protagonist grow in surprising ways (yeah, right).

Sigh. But these books pretty much write themselves.

When I started the book, I wondered what might happen if Zach fell in love (*Gasp!*). How it'd change him, wise him up, ground him in reality outside of a Baywatch fantasy. As a result, he'd be forced to grow up.

After all, it's what his sister, Zora--the no-nonsense sleuth-- would want.

But before you think I'm gettin' all weepy up in here and turning the Zach and Zora series into a Hallmark movie or something, consider the chapter-length foot chase involving Zach, a serial killer van, a kid on a skateboard, a mob, a mariachi band, an irritated bus driver, and of course, Zach's favorite tear-away pants.

Needless to say, Zach's never been one to heed the inevitable call of fate. Murder ensues, bedlam rains down, and silliness floods.

As they say, the road to maturity is pocked with pimples. Or something

And speaking of verbose folks, here's what comical mystery writer Heather Brainerd has to say about Nightmare of Nannies:
 
"I’m a big fan of the Zach & Zora series, and this is my favorite so far! Between Zora’s hilarious brood, Zach’s mariachi-fueled chase scene, and the marvelous sibling squabbling between Z & Z, this is a super entertaining read. With a fantastic cast of supporting characters (The hippie parents! The singing detective! Crazy nannies galore!), this book is fast, fun, and full of thrills."

So if you love the book, great! If not, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, a kazillion times sorry...

(Order the madness by clicking here!)

Friday, October 6, 2017

Ladies and Gentlemennnn...the Amazing Mr. Balloono!

I'm dieting right now. And it's sheer agonizing hell.

Not too long ago, while dressing, I called out to my wife, "Honey, my clothes are shrinking! Did you change the detergent or something?"
All of my life I've had a history of ballooning, then deflating again. I've gone from one extreme to the other more times than I can remember. Once, when I was younger, I lost close to 100 pounds.

That's a lotta weight to carry around and lose. But I did it. In a short span of time, too.

But apparently, I was a lot younger then. Hmph. The pounds don't seem to be shedding as quickly now. 

For seven long weeks or so, I've pretty much starved myself. I've forced myself to eat kale salads (does anyone truly like kale? Tastes like cardboard, but not nearly as good.), and other things a rabbit wouldn't touch. Every day I get on the treadmill and walk anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour, kicking into high speeds 'till my bad knee starts squelching and catching in the back. By the time I fall off the treadmill, I'm drenched in sweat, smelling worse than a men's locker room. I can't even make it to the sofa, panting and wheezing like bagpipes.

Worst of all, I've had to give up beer! (Well, at least in the fashion I used to enjoy it.) The horror! Can you imagine? What's next? Giving up oxygen?

All of this hard work and sacrifice for a lousy eleven pounds.

Frustrated, I asked my wife why I'm not dumping weight like I used to.

"Because it's harder to lose weight when you get older."

Huh. Of course. My shelf life for fast weight loss had expired. 

The other day my wife asks, "So, when you lose all of your weight, what kind of clothes do you want to get?"

"Well, since I'm an old man now," I snapped, "I may as well start dressing like one. Lessee...I need trousers long enough to reach my armpits, yet crawling up the ankles. Suspenders, maybe. Nice, sensible shirts. Black socks pulled up to the knees, with sandals on top. Ready? Let's go to Sears."