New Book Surveys Oklahoma UFOs 1047 to 1969

Oklahoma - the Sooner State - has been witness to numerous strange and unusual events over its history and that include things zipping across its skies and landing on its soil.

Author Marilyn A. Hudson, in SOONER SAUCERS: OKLAHOMA UFOs 1947-1969, serves as tour guide to a collection of the assorted events that had people looking up to search the skies from 1947 to 1969.

Drawn from government records, newspapers, personal accounts and local legends she shares what people saw, what some said the objects were and provides some information and questions along the way.

Today, as 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" are becoming news worthy and the term is replacing the well worn "Flying Saucers" and "UFO's" of the past, take a trip to see what was going on over Oklahoma skies...You might be surprised.

Marilyn A. Hudson, is an Oklahoma research, author, and storyteller who has written both fiction and nonfiction.

Online print and Kindle formats.

An Interview with Author Dennis McDonald

PARANORMAL LIBRARIAN caught up with Oklahoma author Dennis McDonald on a rainy day in spring as winter reluctantly kept a toe-hold on the region.  Our meeting occurred in a warm medieval style tavern tucked away on a quiet and forgotten street.  It was a sensory banquet that brought visions of ancient knights, wizards, and heroic quests. The dark beams were satuarated with the aroma of strong ale, chunks of Irish peat moss on the fire added a smoky intimacy, and across the room there was a small group  with lute, bodhran, and a fiddle playing a muted but lively jig.  The horror/fantasy author of 13 Nightmares, Ebon Moon, and Undead Flesh was sitting at a cozy corner table, a mug on the table, and a broad smile on his face as his fingers kept time to the music.  I was warmly greeted and we settled down to learn more about this up and coming voice in the world of horror and fantasy.

When you are not writing or being you, what is your work or activity?

I work for Diagnostic Labs of Oklahoma and pick up lab specimens from hospitals and doctor offices. I do a lot of driving every weekday.

When did you become an author? How did it develop, and what was your inspiration?

I published my first book 13 Nightmares about four years ago, but in reality, I’ve always been a writer since the age of 13. It just took me forty years to actually finish something I started. I wrote and published my own role playing game system back in the early nineties titled Adventure Maximum. I sold all the books and have since retired from gaming after thirty years involvement in the hobby. My love of writing continued however. I found a site called FanStory on the internet where writers could post their stories and get them read and critiqued. I wanted to be a fantasy writer and posted chapters of my novel up on the site. I received a few positive reviews, but that was about it. This site also sponsored contests for short horror stories. I entered a few of my horror tales and won against a hundred other writers. One Halloween story contest I won four hundred dollars. I decided to switch from writing fantasy to horror. In 2009 I decided to put out a collection of horror stories called 13 Nightmares. Since I was a total unknown writer and knew very little of the publishing world, I decided to self-publish like I did with my game system to see if readers would embrace me as an author. I’ve since self-published my werewolf novel Ebon Moon and just released my zombie novel Undead Flesh. 

What are some interesting events from your career as a writer? Any bloopers? 

I can’t think of any real bloopers. I’m sure they are there, I just can’t recall any. I can tell you that I started writing Undead Flesh a couple of years ago for Nanowrimo. The basic premise of the novel was zombies rising from the grave after a massive earthquake in Oklahoma. It was while writing about the earthquake one morning, that a real quake rattled through the state. I had lived here all my life and never experienced a quake until that morning. Now we have them all the time. Hopefully, we don’t have the big one like in my novel.

What do you think your impact has been among members of your audience? Your community? 

I hear about my books every day either by people in the town, the internet, or through my work. As a self-published author you reach out to readers first, instead of publishers and distributors. You build a dedicated readership among the people in your community and spread from there. I continue to do just that. 

What would you have liked to do with your work if there was more time, money, wider support, funding, staff, etc.

I would love to see my stories on the big screen. I scripted a small film from my short story The Last Trick or Treater and it shot by a woman filmmaker in Tulsa. I went to the premiere at the Circle Cinema and it was so cool to see my story and dialogue on the big movie screen.

Where do you see yourself in the coming years? Will [insert author name here] remain or transform within the book world or move on to something else?

I’m a writer to the end. I don’t even think of myself as an author. I’m a writer first. My goal now is to take on the traditional publishing world. I’ve proven to myself that I can write and sell books. I’m ready to move to the next step.

As a writer, what and who are your influences? Where do you get your ideas?

I saw a saying on the internet that a writer is someone who has a thousand tabs open in their mind at once. This is me. While writing this, I’m thinking of a short story where someone has a computer with the power to reach back in time to interview the greatest authors of all time and post their ramblings on the internet. I’m imagining the story in my head as I’m thinking about what I’m writing right now. As a teenager I read voraciously back in the sixties and seventies. My favorite authors were Asimov, Clark, Heinlein, Tolkien, Bradbury, and Robert E. Howard. 

Readers often like to find authors similar in tone, subject, or style to another. Who would most enjoy your work: readers of Stoker, Lovecraft, Shelley, King, Koonze, etc? 

Probably King. I’ve had a lot of fans of Stephen King say they enjoyed my work. 

When you write, do you require a special place, quiet, mood music, a favorite chair or sweater, etc.?

I live in a hundred year old home and my writing room is an upstairs bedroom. The walls are covered with pictures and posters of dragons, Bruce Lee, Count Gregore, and art work. My chair is a broken office chair in front of my Dell. I write in silence most of the time. 

Who is Dennis MacDonald? How similar are the two personas of author and  Dennis? In the real world, do you like sports or other pursuits? On any given day where would someone find you and what would you be doing?

I’m usually just sitting at home most of the time. I’m basically a recluse when I’m not at work. I like to watch Netflix and play a few games on my Xbox. If you want to lose your social circle, be a writer. It’s a lonely craft. On the other hand, I’m a convention junkie and love sci-fi horror cons, writing conferences, book signings, etc. These are the times I get out amongst people and away from long hours on the computer. 

What is the next big thing on your personal and professional agenda? 

Since I finished my trilogy of terror, I’m shifting gears into my fantasy novel. The first 100,000+ word manuscript is done in rough form. The project is too big for me to self publish, so I’m sending it to traditional publishers. I still write short stories when I need a break, and have a couple of horror novels on the back burner.

The evening was creeping up to peer in the windows at us and the after work crowd began to shuffle in bringing the scent of more cold rain.  As I left Dennis McDonald friends were hailing him and a discussion of a recent convention began to fill the void left by the departing musicians.  It looked like a perfect night to read his newest work....if I dared. 

Dennis McDonald: http://www.dennismcdonaldauthor.com/

PL INTERVIEW WITH MARILYN A. HUDSON

I caught up with author Marilyn A. Hudson on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in the Great Reading Room in the main library. It seemed a natural setting with the polished old wood and the gothic architecture for the author  of the chilling short story collection, The Bones of Summer and co-author of the horror novel, The Mound.  The spirit of learning and the sum total of human knowledge seemed to hover around like a phantom seeking to possess some willing soul.  A soft warm glow spilled in through old windows forming warm puddles of diffused light on the glossy floor.

  

Tell us how you got started as a writer.

My first foray into writing was scripting an episode of ‘Star Trek’ when I was twelve. No one ever read it but I had a lot of fun writing that and realized I really enjoyed the process.   It was later, though, in college when I realized I preferred to write papers that I began to think maybe, just maybe, I might become a writer one day.  I had several hundred articles published in small, regional or specialized publications, letters to editors, and company newsletters trying on styles and honing my craft.

What authors or films have most influenced you as a writer?

I read the classics – Bronte, Austin, Euripides, Poe, Wilkie, James, and even an author from the mid-fifties, Emily Loring, who had a gift for description – but had a fondness for suspense and mysteries of a more recent era.  I have had the joy of reading widely and well because I always love a good story or a well-written book. Therefore, I have enjoyed many Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Kay Hooper works.  

In ten years, what themes do you look forward to exploring or what new things do you expect to try in your work? 

I look forward to getting these - other stories - out of me. They are nestled close, incubating, biding their time but I know their time is coming.   

Will they be the same genre or will you be branching out?

Yes and no, because I think they will be more a synthesis of all that I am as a writer, or what I hope to be, as one.  I think that is the goal of anyone who truly writes, who creates, out of compulsion and deep need.  Genres are stepping-stones to get us to the place where we truly carve out our own territory in the landscape of words and the imagination.  In that place, we explore broader vistas and more meaningful themes with the tools and skills built over time.

Tell us about your fans and readers.

They are wonderful!  My readers are generally people who enjoy the genre work of the mysterious or those who are attracted to history.  These can be diverse audiences!  I enjoy meeting them at book signings and festivals.  

As an author, what have been your greatest challenges?

There is an old Jim Croce song, “Time in a Bottle”, and in that is a line which has always stuck with me. It is about it being hard to do the things you really want to do once you discover just what that is and that is descriptive of most people.  The challenge is to balance everything, all the demands life makes of you, and still have the energy, focus, and imagination left to create something of worth.  The focused, driven, single minded author can be a painful sack of self-centered, disconnected, and unhappy human being.  Keeping the balance and the inspiration can be tricky.

If money and time were not an issue, what would you like to do as a person or as an author?

Write all the time! I would travel and discover new things and actually walk in places where I wanted my characters to walk.  I have always had a strong imagination but to see, smell, and hear surroundings can add so much to how you construct a scene and develop a character. 

Sometimes people have ideas or have heard tales of writers who are very picky about how and when they write. When you write do you have any specific rituals or traditions? 

I have be able to focus and to know that for this block of time I can devote myself to crafting words into story or to respond with freedom to the inspirational wave which might sweep over me.  I try to keep paper and pen with me so that when that scene leaps into my head full blown I can capture it.  Or, if I wake in the middle of the night from a dream I can do the same.   I often play mood music – soft, nature sounds, or light classical or pop – to be white noise and to influence the tone of the writing. If a certain type of music reflects a character, then I may play it to get under the skin a bit more.

Readers always want to know – where do writers get their ideas? What generates your creative thoughts in a novel?

A writer is a squirrel who has stored up experiences, people, sounds, emotions, and desires instead of nuts.  Everything we have seen, tasted, heard, or dreamed ultimately becomes part of what we write. It may be subconscious but it is there. A writer can do one piece of intensive research and then use that information or the ideas generated by them for years and in often strange ways.

In the immediate there are more appearances but what's next? What’s next for you as a writer? Any new titles  coming soon or different topics in the near future?

I am finishing some steam punk, gaslight mysteries, which are a fun departure.  I am also working on a novel about a serial killer and his victim. My co-author and I also have sequels roughed out for The Mound. I even have one about an ancient warrior woman – which should be fun!

--Ann Brown, for Paranormal Librarian

Talking to the Dark: Author Cullan Hudson

Beneath a sprawling canopy of moss-draped oaks, author Cullan Hudson snaps several shots of a weathered old tombstone.
“She was spotted standing near this grave. The witness told me that, although he could tell it was a woman, there really wasn’t anything there more than a free-floating shadow.”

We’re standing in the middle of an old cemetery in the historic heart of Mobile, AL. Ensconced within a lush carpet of green grass are numerous graves dating to before the Civil War.  The cemetery is also a refuge for several homeless men who often wander in for a quiet respite beneath the massive trees.

“They’re harmless,” Hudson says. “The worst they do is litter.” A look of mild reproof distorts his face momentarily before, wry mirth he asks if I’ve heard of ‘The Mobile Leprechaun’. I confessed I hadn’t and he launches into a ridiculous story about an Internet sensation from a couple years back. Apparently, some…colorful individuals spotted what they could only describe as a leprechaun (the mythical being of Irish folklore) in the boughs of a tree just outside the cemetery walls.

“I wasn’t living here at the time, but I recall the video on the Internet,” he says with a chuckle. “It had to be the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen—and I have seen my share of ridiculous.”

As the author of Strange State: Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma, Hudson spent years tracking down local ghost stories, UFO sightings, and Bigfoot encounters. Fueled by a passion for the unexplained and a love of writing, he uncovered rare tales and exposed new facts.  A recent book,Weird Oklahoma, in fact has labeled the author a "Fortean investigator."

“I’ve also heard some crazy stuff from people.  I mean, obviously hard to swallow stuff.  But you smile and you listen and you make them feel like at least somebody is taking them seriously. And while the stories might be incredible, I can’t say they haven’t inspired my writing.”

The writing he talks about includes his newly-released novel, The Mound.  He easily admits it’s a summer beach read and that he and his co-author (his mother, of all people!) didn’t set out to write the great American novel.

“If someone says ‘What a fun book,’ I feel like I’ve really accomplished something.”

Beach book or not, he managed to slip in some commentary in the over 300 page story about a group of disparate souls that converge on a turn-of-the-century hotel just as an ancient evil awakens. Laced throughout are observations on the field of paranormal investigation, reality TV, and alternative history—even art and architecture.

“The Mound happened because of Strange State.  Even before it was published, I was getting all these great story ideas from the different accounts I had been gathering: Indian mounds, haunted hotels, anomalous archaeology….”

Admittedly a novice at writing, he couldn’t quite get it off the ground. He says he had the plot laid out pretty well, but couldn’t quite see how to end it.

Enter mom.

“She has written a lot more than I have—much of it published. Although neither of us had tackled a novel before, I asked her for her thoughts on what I was working on and she came back with some great ideas. The chemistry was there right away and we really fed off that energy to craft the story.”

The same said energy he claims brought one character to life.

“The psychic, Shade, whom we first called Rain—a really overused goth name—began life as just another character, but as we began fleshing her out…. Well, she just came alive for us in myriad unexpected ways.”

But it didn’t all flow from the pen (or computer) in one night. Hudson says it took a frustrating eight years to finish the manuscript. Countless drafts, revisions, redactions, and hair-pullings took place before the two felt the project was done.

“Or maybe we were just sick of it,” he laughs. “You spend too much time with something, perfecting it as much as you can, and you start to resent it.  It really helped that we would take breaks from it, come back, and see new possibilities.”

While Hudson admits it was easy to start with a basis of familiar themes (readily acknowledging that the book is an homage to horror masters such as Lovecraft and King) and inspiration in the form of real life Oklahoma mysteries, it all sprang from the two author’s united imaginations. 

“The Skirvin, a famous Oklahoma City hotel, was a big inspiration for The Montford Arms (the novel’s fictional hotel); however, we had the concept of renovation years before the Skirvin became revitalized as a Hilton property.”

He says this with an air of pride, as if his work somehow inspired events to unfold in the universe.

“If only!” he laughs. “If I had that kind of power, I’d have more money.  No, it’s just that you send a message with your work—intentional or not.  That was one of my early messages: Why is this hotel being left to languish?  It was just nice to see it spared the wrecking ball.  Maybe in some cosmic sense, my good ‘vibes’ had something to do with that.”

Messages aren’t something Hudson is known to shy away from. Strange State is replete with passages where a dispassionate narrative suddenly takes a nosedive into full-on diatribe, attacking everything from sloppy research and paranormal zealotry to salaciously exposing hoaxes and daring various institutions to embrace their haunted heritage.

“I don’t set out to be antagonistic or controversial. I just have opinions and an Irish mouth.” At this, he only manages a half-hearted chuckle, as if to telegraph the truth behind these words.

Controversy has come with a rising profile within the state and the paranormal community at large. While he admits to sometimes being affected by this, he says he tries to shrug most of it off and forge ahead.

“I guess I demand more from those who investigate these mysteries,” he says, launching into an impassioned spiel worthy of his status as a minister’s son. “I often see ‘true believers’ wearing science like an ill-fitting Halloween costume when they’ve little interest in following that discipline’s precepts.”

But it isn’t as dire as all that. Hudson agrees that if you want to go heedlessly chasing ghosts in the dark, “By all means, do it!  It’s one of my favorite things. Just don’t call it science.”

From haranguing readers about the evils of the orb-loving, matching t-shirt crowd of paranormal investigators to challenging people to look at the mysterious from new perspectives, Hudson’s blog (the aptly titled “Strange State”) is his outlet for many of his musings and rants—as well as his dark humor.

“Humor—sly, sardonic, and dark—is a big part of my writing.  It’s a part of who I am and I simply can’t divorce it from what I say.  I think a lot of people appreciate it.  At least, I hope they do.  It balances what otherwise might be considered a raging bitterness with much needed levity.”

Sharing concerns that sometimes he needs a hard-nosed editor to tell him to keep his mouth shut now and then, Hudson says that, overall, he’s happy with his work and appreciates it when others take notice.

“I was surprised after ripping into a book by cryptozoologist Loren Coleman—during which heated comments were expressed on my blog—that my own book was fairly judged by the man.  I was stunned. It would have been easy for him to rip into mine, but he refrained.  I learned a lot from that.”

Much of the press Hudson has received has been favorable, which baffles him. “I’m so grateful, but I can’t help thinking there’s some odious journalist just waiting to gut Strange State or The Mound.  I wouldn’t blame them.”  He laughs at this, admitting he could easily point to the very soft spots such a writer might attack.

“Still, I must be doing something right,” he imparts with a look of bewilderment, as if he can’t believe it when success knocks on his door. “I’ve been asked by three or four production companies to audition for various paranormal reality programs in production.”

He’s turned them all down. When asked why, he shrugs. After a moment of silence, he arrives at an answer that seems too kind to be the whole truth.

“I suppose I’m not comfortable being in front of the camera like that. And I was really hoping they wanted me for research or writing purposes.”

Research is where Hudson excels.  The arcanum churned up in his wake could fill a book—two, in fact.  2012 will see the release of Stranger State: MORE Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma.  The mountain of notes he shows me is nearly equal to that of the folders in his file cabinet for the first book.

“Growing up with a librarian mother, you learn tricks on how to get the information you’re looking for. And sometimes the information you didn’t even know you wanted.  I spent a lot of my youth in libraries. There are secrets in there, if you know how to look.”

It shows. His first collection of strange-but-true tidbits brims with stories that haven’t seen print in more than a century (if ever).  Several of the accounts are unique to his work and he’s proud of that.

“I think of them as my ‘babies’,” he chuckles.  “It’s my legacy for Oklahoma.  I’m not the most….” He scrunches his face, as if trying to squeeze the word out.  “Statriotic? I don’t know what you would call patriotism on the state level, but I feel proud of my work.  I’ve brought a lot of neglected legends to light and shared them with a whole new generation.  I think that’s really cool.”

Many of these orphaned enigmas piqued his curiosity. He wasn’t satisfied to simply retell them; he had to track them down, find out more, uncover the truth, and—hopefully—experience something for himself.

Such was the case at the Overholser Mansion, a stately three-story home in Oklahoma City’s historic Heritage Hills neighborhood long thought to be haunted. 

“That place is haunted.  I try to keep an open mind and remain skeptical, but there are some experiences you just can’t shake.”

While waiting for a private tour, Hudson says he heard the faint tones of some bygone tune—just a bar or so—as he stood on the porch.  The neighborhood was dead quiet, he insists, and the music “wasn’t like anything you’d hear in the 21^st Century.” 

“It was just old fashioned chamber music, like you’d hear on a gramophone.”

Later, an unseen presence brushed past him as he crossed the second floor landing.

“I thought maybe it was a spider web, at first, but there was nothing there. Not on the wall, not on my clothes. Besides, they keep that place clean.”

Another account he recalls happened twenty minutes west of the city, in El Reno.

“In the old downtown are a number of buildings dating to the early 1900s. I was asked to help guide volunteers through the sprawling structure as a part of an experiment being conducted by a local investigation team.  On the final night of the trials, we had very few people, so we decided to just enjoy the place; do some ghost hunting. As we stood in one darkened apartment above and old store front, we asked the usual EVP questions. If we were lucky, we’d get some great responses on playback. To our surprise, a man’s muffled voice came to us from the doorway nearby. We couldn’t tell what he was saying, but it was crystal clear that it was a man talking—like from inside a box or something. Very garbled. Unfortunately, from what I hear, nothing was recorded of that event.”

His curiosity for investigating these bizarre encounters hasn’t ended at the Oklahoma border.  Hudson has investigated such disparate locales as a haunted department store in a small West Texas town to poking around the ruins of mysterious pyramids built by unknown hands on an island in the Canaries; visited Mayan ruins at the heart of 2012 prophecies and examined the famous Chase Vault on Barbados, known for its mysteriously moving coffins. He even spent three years living in and examining ghosts, UFOs, and the legend of the Chupacabras in Puerto Rico. 

“You truly come to understand the socio-political influences on how different cultures perceive the paranormal when you spend time investigating these things abroad. For instance, in England and France, I found ghosts under every welcome mat; but in Spain and Portugal, that wasn’t the case.”

I ask him if he will be writing about these ghostly globe-trotting adventures.  With a wide-eyed sigh, he tells me, “I try to write about what’s been overlooked. The impetus for Strange State was just that. In as far as I knew, nothing had been written about Oklahoma. I wanted to remedy that.”

Later, while working on the manuscript, he learned another author, David Farris, had beaten him to the punch.

“Once I found his books, I was a bit dismayed.  But only for a moment.  I decided, I’m going to do it better!  More! And I did.  I researched the hell out of that book.  And I was still finding more.”

That more will be included in 2012’s Strange State: MORE Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma. This volume, he says, will include sections on true crime, mysterious disappearances, and cattle mutilations.

You can look for both Strange State: Mysteries and Legends of Oklahoma and The Mound for sale on www.amazon.com, or visit his blog at www.strangestate.blogspot .com to learn more.
__________________

(Stephanie Cahill, 2011, used with permission for this installment in the Paranormal Librarian Blog Author Interview Series)

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PL INTERVIEW SERIES: AUTHOR NICCI SEFTON

Paranormal Librarian caught up with the youthful author of the paranormal as she prepared for another whirlwind book signing tour. 

The author is as much a surprise as her novels: a youthful, petite young woman with a sparkle of life and joy unlike the sometimes moody and mysterious stereotypical author of vampires or similar creatures of the night. Tulsa native, Nicci Sefton, is author of the popular The Deadly Sins Vampire Series.

A dynamic and intuitive character she can often be seen getting into the flavor and fun of an event. Her appearances can be a unique experience. Joining PL on the patio of a local coffee shop, sitting beneath the shaggy umbrella of golden hued leaves from a nearby tree, the author sipped a tall, toffee colored cold drink as she responded to questions. 

Like a well-written character, you have a fascinating 'back story' of your own as an author. Tell us how you got started as a writer.

I began writing in 2nd grade when my teacher assigned the class to enter a writing competition. I lost the competition but ever since then I was in love with the fact that I could put my imagination on to paper.

What authors or films have most influenced you as a writer?

The biggest influence on me is probably J.K. Rowling. Her books were the first real chapter books I read and loved how she would make up words and the characters would get in the most peculiar incidents.

In ten years, what themes do you look forward to exploring or what new things do you expect to try in your work? 

I would love to write more fairy tale books or even children’s books. I’ve already been working on three completely different books from my Deadly Sins series and I’m really excited to get more involved in them once I feel Annabell and Derrick aren’t demanding my full attention.

Will they be the same genre or will you be branching out?

No. The new books will be fairytale, a true story, and a comic book.

Tell us about your fans and readers.

I love my fans! I especially love how my readers aren’t restricted to one generation. I can literally say my books are for all ages because my youngest reader is a second grader and my oldest is an 89 year old lady. I love how I can see that these characters affect their lives. I get emails every day demanding the next book! Even if the newest one does come out I’ll get an email the next day.

Great problem to have for an author! Sometimes talented people make things seem so easy. Usually, the road to those shining moments are after a tough climb. As an author, what have been your greatest challenges?

My greatest challenge is living in the Bible belt; there really aren’t too many people with open minds about vampires. So, as soon as they see the word, they literally drop the book and run!

If money and time were not an issue, what would you like to do as a person or as an author?

I would love to be able to travel with my books. In my stories the characters travel all around the world, places I’ve never been, but crave to experience.

Sometimes people have ideas or have heard tales of writers who are very picky about how and when they write. When you write do you have any specific rituals or traditions? 

I have to be in a crowded area, like a classroom, at one of my signings or something similar. When I’m alone the t.v. or radio must be on. This helps my brain not to wonder. Almost like the noise creates a barrier so my mind doesn't stray off!

Readers always want to know – where do writers get their ideas? What generates your creative thoughts in a novel?

Anything I hear or see. There will be times I’m just sitting gazing off into space and I’ve just jumped up after seeing a flash of what happens next in a project and I start writing it down. I've done this more than twice with my friends and I scared them by my sudden movements.

In the immediate there are more appearances but what's next? What’s next for you as a writer? Any new titles or topics in the near future?

I’m still deciding what to write next, Gula [the fourth installment] or one of my other books I mentioned that I’m very interested in.

The tall cool drink depleted, the sun setting a little lower in the afternoon, the young author said goodbye and left.  The multi-colored carpet of autumn leaves danced about her feet as she walked off down the sidewalk. I hailed the waitress for a refill of my tea.  I opened my bag and settled down with a small sigh as I opened the pages of one of the novels of the departing author.  It had not been on the required pre-interviewing reading lists but then it would be my own little secret. Only right,  after all  the series was called, The Deadly Sins and I know you won't tell.

Thedeadlysinsbooks.com

PL INTERVIEW SERIES: BRIAN YOUNG AKA "DR. FEAR"

PARANORMAL LIBRARIAN settled down with the author, artist, and scholar in his mythic lab tucked away high in the craggy, snow laden Alps, far removed from humanity and its petty toils and trials.  Seeing the man sitting in the high backed antique chair  it was hard to find words for the surroundings.  It was ... a mad scientist’s laboratory as the sparks and sizzling of the energized machinery behind him created an exotic nimbus effect.  A white draped shape on a wheeled trolley behind twitching nervously - a mad counterpoint to the electricity dancing in the lab.  Every once and awhile the figure concealed by the drapery seemed to move and rise. The good author, however, ignored the slowly reanimating corpse on the gurney nearby but it drew the glance of the interviewer more than once!   The strains of  Ataraxia, an Italian music group, filled the air as he causually offered me a drink and then sat back in some satisfaction sipping a Code Red Mountain Dew!

Thank you Brian Young aka Dr. Fear for allowing this interview. I know you are busy with your wriitng and other creative activities.  Tell me though, when you are not writing or being Dr. Fear, what are your past times?

I usually am designing and running roleplaying games on Friday nights or studying my Celtic studies to some degree, working towards earning my PhD in Celtic Studies someday soon.  Mostly my hobbies have become my expertise in things over time and a career but with gaming that isn’t possible. I have been doing that hobby since 1984 and it has been my source of inspiration of ideas, storytelling, etc. to this day. When the season is right I like to camp too and be away from the drama of things and the noise and simply keep things peaceful and serene.  

When did you become Dr. Fear,  how did it develop, and what was your inspiration?

My love for Halloween and horror was so great during my time in Undergrad School that I had to do something about it and aside from my hobbies and art, I had no other outlet that I could think of until I was about of school.

In 2002, I was working at a local cable station as Board Operator to maintain the auction. I ran the audio, cameras, etc and basically produced it every night.  One night for New Year’s we did a Rocky Horror ‘Time Warp’ show and wanted people to participate in costume at the studios. The turn out was not great but the idea suddenly hit me that I had the means to make a horror show and should. My mind leaped back to the days of watching Count Gregore and slowly I, and my (then) and now late ex-wife Jaemi, started to work on the show. I wanted to do something that honored horror in a campy way, a little mysterious and creepy but mainly fun for kids.

So I thought about having the role being played by someone as my mad scientist character and I would produce it. I didn’t want to be on camera but no one was brave enough to take on the role and I was stuck playing my own creation. So we had covered all of the most basic elements of horror: a mad scientist, vampire and ghoul in our core cast. We would have on endless fun characters that would fill the other monster/horror archetypes.

We did six live shows on Friday nights initially at that station and midway went to Saturday nights until things became tense there due to internal problems, but I called the show ‘Dr. Fear’s Friday Fright Show’ at that point. We later moved to the local public access channel called Pegasys and I reworked the show and concept now calling it ‘The Mysterious Lab of Dr. Fear’. Every show is a learning process and still is to this day, the ‘Lab’ being where all of the action happens in the show obviously. It is the nexus point to the strange, demented and weird from show to show, though on its own it has never done a show but maybe someday soon it will… 

What are some interesting events from your career as Dr. Fear?  Any bloopers?

For our first Halloween event, we hosted a live Trick or Treat for the kids on Pegasys and had over 700 people during our hour and a half show, it was a tough night but very fun.  The next year, we and our friend Tammy Wilson, wanted to make a massive Halloween event for the town and over months created Scare on the Square. We had her on the radio show we do on Sunday nights interviewing her about ghost-hunting and one idea lead to another. Needless to say that event is Enid’s tradition now and has unequalled attendance for any and all events in town. After the previous year’s live Trick or Treat, I wanted something that could be epic and bring the holiday back to town in grandeur and this was it!

Another thing we did was give fun hexes and curses to the rival Indoor Football teams that would come to town. Our hexes jinxed many teams, or they thought that we had done so and it was a fun, eccentric period of the show in the early days (2002-3).

In 2005 we shot a show with our inspiration and mentor Count Gregore for the first time and we brought him to Enid in honor of our show’s third anniversary. That caused a fun stir and we even aired the fans speaking to him and getting autographs and giving him gifts of appreciation. Sporadically since, we have filmed with the Count many times over and each time it is magical and very fun to do.

We have hosted Improv acts at Sci-Fi conventions in OKC and I have many panels on horror, and still do to this day. I love doing it because it gets our efforts out to a crowd that is more populous and appreciative to what we do rather than just remaining in Enid.  There are many more unique and quirky things we have done to add to the list…

And as for bloopers, we have many of them! One of the first ever was by me shamefully. We had an old luggage crate for the first episode that I had to open to find Mr. Grimly’s body parts that we shipped over from our trip from Germany and I could not figure out how to open it. Again and again during the shoot I was trying to open the latches and could not do it and so we had our first blooper, luckily we were not live anymore and could pick the best take and I can edit it, but this was a humbling blooper.

Next year (2012) is our tenth anniversary and I plan to write a book on the TV show and its history, involvements in events and various functions and just a fun guide through the Mysterious Shows of Dr. Fear. I also will be filming and producing some small documentaries on our local haunted house and other interesting and fun people and things in our state too.

How marvelous! Broadcasting for such a long time you have had many interesting episodes and many stories to share. Something to definitely look forward to in the days and years to come will be both the book and the films.  What do you think your impact has been among members of your audience?  Your community?

For a while it seemed like we were unknown in town. We had no response or fan-mail and I felt that we were doing it all for nothing but gradually during our Scare on the Square events, haunted house visits and by word of mouth, I found out that people were talking about us. Children spoke of our show during lunch-hour and we were finding out that people would sit up at night and eat popcorn and laugh while watching us, so I know that are being seen by a devoted following after nearly a decade and that feels good.

As for the community at large, it sadly has appeared one of apathy and no appreciation generally. We are skipped over by the local arts magazine and newspaper.  Often it feels like the general populace would rather not have us present since we inspire the interest of Halloween and horror in a strongly religious community. But also, the public access channel is only viewed by less than half of the total population as well and that is a factor in some of the ambiguity of why we are not paid attention to.

Our influence will show in time. Maybe someday in the far future some fan will want to do the same thing and carry on the tradition that I inherited from Count Gregore myself? The trends in TV though leave little room for old fashioned horror shows because they are not Reality based or full of ‘real-life’ drama sadly and our way is one that is fighting to remain alive. There are more horror hosts than ever before now spread across the country, most are Shock hosts and not the classy old fashioned style horror shows that most of us have grown up watching, but at least the genre is still existing in some identifying form.   

What would you have liked to do with your show had there been more time, money, wider support, funding, staff, etc.

If I had the money and extra means I would have many more sets, characters and editing done by others. But because we are a ‘No Budget’ horror show, we are cast and crew. I had envisioned many sets, new story directions, better acting and production and a consistently well made show. We jokingly call our (not so) special effects group ‘Industrial Cardboard and Duct-tape’.

Where do you see yourself in the coming years?  You have a series of books in the steampunk genre being published. in the coming months. Will Dr. Fear remain or transform within the steampunk culture?

I see us still making the shows until our means to show them dries up. Pegasys’ funds are slowly fading due to some dirty business with the City of Enid that happened many years ago, and once that goes away we may move to internet based productions somehow. But so far we have made over a 112 episodes and will keep going.

This season I hope to make a Steampunk themed episode to honor my novel series and merge the two interests for one moment in time. I will play a Jules Verne movie and try to find some way to drag our show into it and make it harmonize with my previous work.  There are not enough Steampunk styled movies that were made to make a long running set of episodes after but I will look for what I can.

At conventions and events I will be mixing my booth now and merging the Horror show with my Steampunk Horror novels, meaning that my costume will be the same but with some Steampunk elements.

As a writer, what are your influences?   The perennial question of any author is always , "Where do you get your ideas"?

Over the years my influences have been mainly Robert E. Howard and H.P Lovecraft, in both story-telling and writing techniques. My horror influences are derived from several sources. First the dislike of the modern vampires and how influences like Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyers have created vampires that are less frightening and inhuman. They have made the ancient vampire into a pretty, seductive superhero that is still very human and it makes the alien and sinister aspect of them less so. So with this dislike of the modern vampire, I wanted something that is a return to the Old World vampire in its full glory, a hideous, blood swollen pallid corpse that thirsts for more and is sinister through and through.

There are no pretty vampires in my stories and romance is hinted at but the grim and ghastly reality of how awful that would be is emphasized, there is no necrophilia in my stories, at least not directly as a story focus. If you study early European vampire lore and my own books over time you will see how they agree unlike modern vampire literature which has pigeon-holed itself in a way by its assumed limits.

My next influence is music. I do a weekly radio show on Sunday nights called ‘The Mysterious Hours of Dr. Fear’ where I play horror, Halloween and Gothic music and stories, and it has helped me to explore the music in a way that I would never been able on my own. Music is one of my greatest influences ultimately. I see sounds as shapes in my mind that somehow, if it is the right tone and theme, can inspire me greatly.

Another influence was an old set of unused ideas about the origins of the vampires that no author has ever discussed really. Folklore and myth generally use the Bible as their basis for such origins but there had to have been an earlier Pre-Christian set of theories in Antiquity, and I look for those sources or deduce them on my own with some speculative academic hypothesis.

But as my common practice goes with my creative projects, I avoid all other works in the same medium and genre to keep from being an unwilling copyist of their ideas. I haven’t read one book in the Steampunk genre ever, only dabbled in some of the popular works to see what is out there that might be similar to my own. So far there is nothing and that makes me happy and content that what I am creating is original. There was just luck and chance that my ideas had a genre ready and waiting for them that is labeled ‘Steampunk’ and that makes it easy to classify it due to my strange and unusual technologies and inventions.

Readers often like to find authors similar in tone, subject, or style to another.  Who would most enjoy your work: readers of Stoker, Lovecraft, Shelley, King, Koonze, etc? 

Readers of Robert E. Howard may like my action sequences and how I set them up but I have no idea who would be the most fond of what I do, at least not until the other books in the series comes out.  My first novel in the series is minimalist in style due to me writing an unfamiliar perspective and genre but after the first book my style has more depth and color. I am excited to see the following books in the series in print more than the first actually! In book two I am comfortable in this style of writing and genre and let it all go.

My other novel projects have closer ties to many other authors but those books are yet to be written or finished. Once they are, people will see a great change from my current Steampunk Horror style I think, in perspective and story.   

When you write do you require a special place, quiet, mood music, a favorite chair or sweater, etc.?

Usually I listen to my iPod in headphones and sit at my laptop with plenty of chips or some snack and something caffeinated to drink and focus. Book one was written in my dining-room over three months bringing my notes and outline to life but in book two I wrote it sitting in my front-room on the coffee-table oddly. Once I get my music going, I can create and it always works.

I believe that I could almost write anywhere if I had my outline, music and laptop.

Who is Brian Young?  How similar are the two personas of author and Dr. Fear?  In the real world do you like sports or other pursuits?

Most have described me as eccentric and I used to not see it but over the recent years I do so now, it has taken time but I guess they have some truth in what they say. I was always very nerdy and still am to this day very much but until two years ago I didn’t want to admit it. Now I am happy of who I am and have embraced it finally. Personally I am academic and creative, those are the two words that describe me the best I think. Doing the shows and having been in the public eye for so long I try to remain humble and shy because I have never had much of an ego. Many people I have seen over the years are consumed with ego and do not possess much talent or skill and that keeps me grounded well when I am in their company.

Dr. Fear is different. He is a clumsy egocentric mad scientist that wants to conquer the world at any cost and do so without remorse. I wanted him to be the Straight Man in our humor that juxtaposes his evil aims and schemes and is almost normal in his morals in some twisted way compared to the lab assistants Grimly and Trinka and the other list of characters on the shows. I jokingly call Dr. Fear ‘the Doctor that couldn’t’ because none of his plans have ever worked or ever will, but he gets close. I am by no means similar to the Doctor! Once I put on the costume I become him for the shoot or event and then I am me again after it is off and I am away from it all.

Personally I am the furthest thing from a sports fan. I have more to do with my time than the fawn over over-paid jocks that simply move a ball from place to another, it is existential and does not benefit me, the fans or the world in the end. I usually like to pursue purely creative outlets in some degree or another, either with my artwork, writing, TV and radio production, gaming or planning and participating in events. Ultimately I want to live a very productive life and leave a legacy behind of the arts and culture that have influenced others and spawn other derivative ideas and be remembered for what I have done for the world, or my little part of it. I aim to always be a contributor and not a spectator in life...

The music faded and in the silence the hissing of the equipment seemed muted as well.   The good author, artist and scholar sipped his drink and the early evening shadows dimmed the snowy glare outside.  On the long journey back from the misty mountains of the imagination I contemplated the interview. Brian Young aka Dr. Fear will see published a striking and original trio of works in the near future.   They will be unique additions to the mythos of the vampire and the emerging steampunk genre and the astute will no doubt look for them.  One thing is very clear,  If the books are as complex and deep as their author, they should be a certain hit with readers.  

Brian Young will have his Silent War series released starting this spring. A dramatic and intriguing story line is inventively woven through the first book De Civitate Sanguino: The City of the Bloodthirsty. It is set for release on March 1st by Damnation Books. Others, will soon follow.  Young holds degrees in history from Northwestern University, Oklahoma and University of Wales, Lampeter.

[The PL Interview Series is a quirky approach to learning more about up and coming authors. For an interview contact whorlbooks@gmail.com. Put "Paranormal Libarian" on the subject line.]

'Ghost Teller' At the Overholser Mansion, Oct. 27-28

(c) Fresh Eire Designs, Cullan Hudson,
Used with permission.

Returning for a 3rd year, Oklahoma author and storyteller, Marilyn A. Hudson, aka The Ghost Teller, will share scary tales at the Overholser Mansion.   The historic 1903 mansion is reportedly haunted, with many reports of lingering residents.

The benefit event is by reservation and will include two storytelling sessions followed by a staff led tour each evening.

To make reservations, inquire as to costs, etc. visit the webpage for the Mansion. Space is limited and event best suited to those over 10 years of age.

NORMAN AUTHOR  AND STORYTELLER SCARES UP A GOOD TIME

Norman author and storyteller, Marilyn A. Hudson, will be performing for a third year at the historic Overholser Mansion in Oklahoma City on October 27, 28 for “Scary Stories and Twilight Tours.”   The program will feature two story sessions, at 7p.m. and at 8 p.m., each followed by a museum staff led tour of the mansion built in 1903. 

Marilyn A. Hudson is co-author of the recently released paranormal suspense novel, The Mound,  set in a fictional eastern Oklahoma community.   She is also author of a collection of chilling tales, The Bones of Summer, a historical look at some strange deaths along Oklahoma railroads from 1900 to 1920, When Death Rode the Rails,  a collection of historic tales of early Oklahoma City, Tales of Hell’s Half Acre, and a commentary on women and the Bible, Those Pesky Verses of Paul.

Hudson has been active as a storyteller for over ten years  in Oklahoma and is a member of the  Oklahoma Territory Tellers, the Tejas Storytelling association, and the  Network Storytellers Network.

BOOK SIGNING FOR PARANORMAL SUSPENSE NOVEL

WHORL BOOKS announces a book signing with author Marilyn A. Hudson, co-author for the paranormal suspense novel, The Mound.   The event will be held at the historic Carriage House at the Overholser Mansion, NW 15th and Hudson, Oklahoma City on Oct. 7 from 7-8 p.m.

The fast paced novel is set in a mythic community in eastern Oklahoma and a hotel under renovation.