Up Next...

So this is the second week of Two-Sentence Tuesday and Jeanette has once again knocked it out of the park with the illustration she's done for it!  This week's is called "Needle in a Haystack" and is found HERE on Jeanette's blog.  I strongly suggest following the blog as well, so you can get updates emailed to you!  Here is the artwork she did for it, and as she suggests, I made it the background on my phone.  Just so you know, these two sentence stories are going to end up in a collection I'm putting together along with some other short stories and my horror haikus.  I may have already mentioned that, but if not, here it is.

After an extended leave...

So I'm teaming up with the vastly talented Jeannette Andromeda for something we like to call Two Sentence Story Tuesday!  It's her amazing artwork paired with my two-sentence stories for a quick break in your day.  You get to read a very quick story and see a spectacular piece of art from someone who knows her stuff.  You can find her blog HERE and the super awesome YouTube channel HERE.  She does art, video game reviews, movie reviews and a whole host of other creative projects and you need to check out what she can do!
On a related note, this is going to become a more regular thing for me.  My last post was February of 2014, so it's been 15 months or so since my last blog post.  Sad, I realize.  What have I been up to?  Well since the last time I posted I have been laid off from Bose, but that was only a seasonal position anyway.  I got laid off in June, and the position was only supposed to be through Christmas, so I lasted through several rounds of layoffs.  I started working part-time at Target in April and I'm still there.  I also started in August at 21st Century Biochemicals, where my wife works.  I started working there doing basic lab bitch work - weighing amino acids, etc.  Now I'm Document Control/Shipping.  I'm loving this job.
I am also working on a lot of different projects right now.  I've got my two-sentence stories, I'm also doing horror haikus, as well as some short stories that I'll be publishing soon.  So I'll have some new work out there soon!  I cannot wait!  Check out all our work in the coming weeks!

Working on a new book! So excited!

So I've been working on a new set of short stories for a collection that I am hoping to call "The Big Scary Monster Hunts at Midnight: Stories Inspired by the World's Greatest Monster Hunting Band" but there are some touchy issues with the title because it is the title of The Deadites' album.  Of course, I know these folks and I am hoping they okay the title because the stories are about them.  The best part is that I also have Ashleigh working on a story for me, and I have a surprise illustrator!  She's really talented and I've also got her working on a short story to add as well.
I've had this idea since October, when I got to see these guys play a show at the Lucky Dog Music Hall in Worcester.  I had seen them before, and I was very impressed.  And I started listening to the CD over and over and over and over and over and over.  Certain lines, the way certain things were said, the titles of the songs were all giving me great ideas, so I began to write.  Soon a whole world existed in my head.  I've got several stories written, and I've gotten some good feedback on them from a few of the folks I've asked to read them.  They're still a work in progress, but I'm happy with how they're coming along.
So if you are interested in how these stories came to be, or you just want to try and get a glimpse into what I've drawn my inspiration from, check out The Big Scary Monster Hunts at Midnight as well as the Deadites' weekly podcast to hear them review movies, talk about cool shit that you should check out and generally just do awesome shit!  Feel free to join them live through Google Hangouts, like their Facebook page and catch up on previous episodes!  Drop them a line, tell them what you think of the show, suggest things for them do talk about or do on the air.  Invite Michael Ravenshadow to do whip-its with you!  Make fun of Dynamo!  Tell Monster Zero you enjoyed Van Helsing!  Eat Tiny Wight's vanilla bean ice cream!  Watch as they get sidetracked and piss off Johnny Wolfenstein as he tries in vain to get them all on track to complete the three-hour podcast in just under four and a half hours!  All this and more!  Join the discussion and let your voice be heard and see where the inspiration for my new book came from!
That's all for now.  I'll be posting snippits from the stories soon.

What just happened??

So I'm a big sports guy.  I like watching, and I do follow several teams.  I'm a fan of the Boston Bruins, Boston Red Sox, Oakland Raiders and Boston Celtics.  I am also a fan of several specific players, and I will root for those individual players so long as it does not conflict with the teams for which I root.  Now I know that some of my teams will lose more often than they will win.  The Celtics and the Raiders are two of those teams.  But the Raiders loss yesterday was insane!  How do you give up SEVEN TOUCHDOWN PASSES AND A PERFECT PASSER RATING TO A BACKUP?!?!?!?!  It made me sad.  More for Charles Woodson than for anyone else.  He could have gone to another team that had a much better chance of winning it all, or at least making it to the playoffs.  He's one of my all-time favorite players.  Quick list of all-time favorite football players:
1.  Rod Woodson (Steelers, 49ers, Ravens, Raiders)
2.  Darrell Green (20 years with the Redskins and was the fastest man in the NFL for all of them)
3.  Charles Woodson (Raiders, Packers, Raiders)
4.  Howie Long (Raiders)
5.  Dexter Manley (Redskins, Buccaneers)
6.  Barry Sanders (Lions- retired at age 32 way before his time)
7.  Tim Brown (Raiders,one year with the Bucs after they crushed the Raiders in Tim's only Super Bowl)
8.  Art Monk (Redskins)
9.  Jerry Rice (49ers, Raiders, Seahawks, Broncos- but only for camp because he got cut.)
10. Wes Welker (Chargers, Dolphins, Patriots, Broncos)

Random, I know.  And yes, there is a pattern of Raiders players and defensive players as well.  But I prefer good defense, and I liked playing defense when I played in high school.  So anyway, back to what I was saying.  I know my teams will lose more than they will win.  I'm fine with that.  I know that my team is not going to dominate every single game, I'm not a deluded Patriot fan who thinks that as long as they have Brady and Belichick they can never lose, I do not expect my team to get crushed.  I want them to be at least competitive.  Not giving up record amounts of points or touchdown passes.  Again, I can understand if they run into a team that's ripping through the league like a buzzsaw, like the '07 Patriot offense, or a Hall of Fame-bound player putting up ridiculous stats.  But a backup?  Makes me so disappointed.  But I'm looking forward to seeing them bounce back next week and hopefully get back towards at least a .500 season.  I'm super excited for this offseason because the Raiders have so much cap room for the first time and they can surround Pryor with a more stable offensive line (and get guys back from injuries) and perhaps a new receiver like Hakeen Nicks or maybe even Larry Fitzgerald (here's hoping!).  Just as long as they don't go crazy spending too much money on stupid contracts.  So let's see what happens.    

About goddam time!

So I finally got a job.  I'll be doing inbound sales calls for Bose.  Granted it's temp to perm, but I have a good feeling about being kept when the temp position ends.  It's technically employment through Randstad a staffing agency but I'll take what i can get.
To catch you up on what's been going on since the last blog post.  Well I got married, which is really what has been keeping me from blogging.  Between getting ready for the wedding and all the craziness that has been happening since then.  A few days after the wedding, I was having the most incredible pain I've even experienced!  Nothing I could do to get comfortable or to relieve the agony I was in.  Now to put this into some context I worked for a week on a broken leg when I was with UPS and I dealt with a bruised spine a few years ago.  I actually called the wife (still sounds weird to say) and had her bring me to the ER.  Which is crazy, because I NEVER go to the hospital (took me a week after I broke my leg to go) and I have NO INSURANCE.  Nice.  Turned out to be kidney stones.  Terribly uncomfortable, still dealing with the pain on occasion.
Let's see what else...went to a wedding a week after that and the guy who fired me was there.  He actually came up to me and had the fucking audacity to offer me his hand and ask me how I was doing.  I replied with a curt "Unemployed" and turned away from him.  Ashleigh told him to go to hell, and to go sit down.  It was great!  People were talking about it at various Sprint stores for several days after.  Fantastic!
What else...trying to finish my stupid rewrite so I can start editing the goddam thing.  We did zombie ziplining courtesy of our friends Brian and Melanie.  If you've never done it, it goes like this: a zipline of 1000 feet, takes under 30 seconds.  Then you pile into a beat up van and get driven to another part of the park where you board a short school bus.  You then get driven through the infection zone and there are military folks all around firing at the zombies that are out in the woods.  These are real military folks with real weapons firing blanks.  It was fantastic.  At one point you have to run along the loose earth and gravel in the absolute pitch blackness.  At another you need to be perfectly silent as you walk by a zombie devouring an unfortunate victim.  The best part is that all the proceeds go to veterans, and all the military folks involved are veterans.
Oh, and went to Rock and Shock, sold a few books and met Dee Snider which was nice.  He was cool. Told him I just wanted to get a handshake and he replied "Instead of a kiss?  Sure!"  Chatted with Adam Green of Hatchet 1-3, Frozen, Chillerama and Holliston.  Then had a fantastic time for Ashleigh's birthday. I made her a cake, but I was worried because as soon as I put the cake into the oven......power went out. Fucking awesome.  I was so upset!  But it came back on and I was able to rescue it.  I mangled the shit out of it when I tried frosting it, but Ashleigh said it was the "best cake ever".  Then I gathered some friends and we had a fantastic surprise party for her.  She was totally blindsided, and it was awesome!  We all had a blast!
Other than that...The Deadites 17th Annual Halloween Extravaganza!  If you haven't checked out the Deadites, fucking do it!
YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/user/thedeaditestv
Website - www.TheDeadites.com
RadioShow - www.trickortreatradio.com/
Facebook Page - www.facebook.com/thedeadites
Either click the link or copy and paste into your browser and prepare to have your mind blown.
That's it for now.  See you back here soon, I hope.

Busy Day

So today I was very busy as far as sitting my ass down and just forcing myself to write.  Of course it started with me watching Prophets of Science Fiction on Netflix and playing solitaire, but at least I was sitting in front of the computer with Netflix on one side of the monitor and Cycle of the Hunter on the other.  Then I started getting inspiration from what I was watching.  I wrote an article on the scientific merits of invisibility.  But that wasn't enough.  Then I wrote one on time travel, and finally cybernetics.  I was very pleased with myself.  I sent all three to www.Paranormal-Association.com so that later they will end up on the site but I decided that I wanted to post them here first.  So here they are!  Tell me what you think!

INVISIBILITY – The Scientific Reality

Patrick Rahall

Invisibility is one of the most desirable of super powers.  Think of what you could do when no one else could see you.  The only limit of what you could accomplish is limited by your own sense of morality and ethics.  You could solve your financial worries or sneak into the Super Bowl undetected if you so desired.  But not all applications have negative implications, like I said it is all dependent on your morality and ethical code.  If you wanted to help people, imagine the law enforcement applications.  You could go deep, deep undercover and record or prevent crimes in progress.  You could apply it to the military and use it to infiltrate and spy on the enemy, or even assassinate enemy leaders.  Imagine the possibilities.

            But invisibility is just a pipe dream, isn’t it?  How ridiculous an idea is it that you could, Harry Potter style, throw on an Invisibility Cloak and move about unnoticed?  Not as ridiculous as you might think, actually.  There are currently many groups working on a technology that can actually reflect visible light and render the object below the ‘cloak’ truly invisible to the naked eye.  The technology is made up of ‘meta materials’ which acts as though it isn’t even there.  When light strikes a surface, it reflects in a single beam – picture a laser beam on a mirror or polished metal.  Put something in the path of the beam with an uneven surface and the light will break off in several beams instead of one singular beam and that is what makes that particular thing ‘visible’.  What the meta materials do is act as a shroud, covering the uneven surface and refocusing the light back into a single beam again.  This makes the object under the cloak invisible since the light cannot reflect off of it.

            As of right now, the cloak of meta materials is only capable of making invisible an object 1/100^th the width of a human hair.  Not quite enough to bring to life H.G. Wells’ ‘Invisible Man’ but it is a start.  We do have other kinds of invisibility in technology and nature.  There are actual life forms that are so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye, but they are indeed complex life forms.  And what about nearly invisible fish?  There are jellyfish that can easily be missed unless looking very closely for and at them, in addition to the fish that are nearly ethereal in their makeup.  And what about, say chameleons?  They can blend into their environment and there are animals that have evolved to blend in to their environments.  But none of these are true invisibility.  As of right now, we do not have the capabilities to become truly invisible ourselves, but advances in camouflage and stealth technology are indications that we have always been striving for a way to achieve it.

            With the advancement of social media and the total immersion in technology of today’s world, who wouldn’t want to become invisible?  Who wouldn’t just want to have some privacy, to not have their every move documented and put online for anyone and everyone to peruse at their own leisure?  The appeal of invisibility is not just limited to those who want to rob banks or watch their neighbors undress without being detected.  Will we be able to become truly invisible?  Will meta materials actually become useful and implemented in our lifetime?  It’s a strong possibility.  The real question is will it be helpful, or will it be destructive?

You decide.

THE TIME TRAVEL REALITY

Patrick Rahall

Back to the Future.  Terminator.  The Philadelphia Experiment.  The Final Countdown.  The Time Machine, of course.  All of these fantastic tales are centered around the possibility of moving through time, both forward and backward.  Now there are many other tales, published and unpublished that involve time travel.  And why not?  It is one of the most intriguing concepts man has ever come up with.  But is it a possibility? 

            First, let’s discuss the possible paradoxes.  The first is my favorite – the Grandfather Paradox.  It was first posited in the 1943 Rene Barjavel novel Le Voyageur Imprudent (Future Times Three).  In essence, it says that one cannot travel back in time to kill their own grandfather before he has children.  Because if you kill your grandfather before he has children, then he did not give life to his son- your father- and then you.  So if you were never born, how could you have gone back in time to kill your grandfather?  There is also the philosophical concept of autoinfanticide- killing the baby version of you.  Again, if you kill yourself as a baby you can’t ever grow up to become the adult that travels back in time to kill the baby you. 

            The next paradox is the Temporal Causality Loop.  A great example of this is the Black Sabbath song Iron Man.  In the story of the song the protagonist travels back in time via a magnetic field –which turns him into the mute Iron Man- to warn humanity of impending doom.  But because he was unable to communicate, he was ignored and mocked.  This led him to become enraged and destroy the world as we know it- causing the very cataclysm he traveled time to prevent.

            Another problem with time travel is that while you might be going back to do something noble – killing Hitler or preventing Martin Luther King’s assassination – could have far reaching ramifications, the consequences of such are incomprehensible.  It’s basically the Butterfly Effect – if a butterfly flaps its wings in San Diego it causes a tidal wave in Tokyo.  In essence it says that even the smallest actions could affect life in ways that could be cataclysmic.  You cannot possibly imagine what your actions could lead to; by changing the past you are setting into motion an alternate reality that may in fact be far worse than the reality before you changed things.

            As far as time travel as a scientific possibility – it has already happened.  When an astronaut goes into space and travels as fast as spacecraft actually travel when he or she comes back, they are actually a fraction of a second younger than they would have had they stayed on Earth.  Not very impressive, I understand.  But based on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, time slows as speed increases.  So if you could travel at the speed of light in a spacecraft, you would age slower than you would on Earth.

            Another way of manipulating time would be with the creation of a worm hole.  A worm hole is like a shortcut in space.  It’s like a tunnel through a mountain; instead of traveling around the base of the mountain you can travel directly through it drastically reducing travel time.  Imagine two points on a piece of paper.  Now fold the paper so that the two points are touching.  This is the concept of a worm hole as demonstrated by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku.

            Is time travel possible?  In Carl Sagan’s book Cosmos he describes a craft called Orion which would be capable, at the time of the writing in 1980, of attaining a speed of 18,600 miles per second, or one tenth the speed of light.  If there was a way to make this a reality and also a manned craft this would provide a way to cheat time.  Because of the vast distances in space from planet to planet and the incomprehensible distance (and time it would take to travel) the only way to get from one place to another in the galaxy is to travel at speeds that would retard the aging process.  Scientists theorize that traveling through black holes is one way of circumventing space and time.  Of course, there is no way of knowing where or when you will come out on the other side of the black hole or a worm hole, should we find one or develop a way of artificially creating one.  Then of course, we would need to then construct a craft capable of traveling through the crushing gravitational forces of a black hole.  Is this something that is achievable in our lifetime?  Is it something that could even be accomplished at all or is it just science fiction?

            You decide.

THE POSSIBILITY OF CYBORGS

Patrick Rahall

Cyborg.  Cybernetic Organism.  It is a term that has been used to describe many different creations; James Cameron’s Terminator, Robocop, The Six Million Dollar Man and even Darth Vader.  It means a mechanical part interwoven into organic, living tissue.  In a way, there have been cyborgs amongst us for decades.  Anyone with a prosthetic limb, pacemaker, or even surgical implant could technically be considered a cyborg.  But when we think of the word, we do not think of surgical implants or pacemakers.  We think of mechanized limbs, shoulder-mounted laser cannons controlled by thought and the like.

But what is the real reality of the cyborg possibility?  For years we have had the ability to manufacture prosthetic limbs.  If you like, you could technically consider the first ‘cyborg’ as someone with a peg leg, or a hook hand.  Granted, there is no mechanical aspect of a wooden leg or steel hook but it was really the first attempt at enhancing the human body by replacing it with a sturdier substance.  We have for a while had the ability to make a prosthetic limb that can move in ways that human limbs cannot.  For example, there are prosthetic hands that can rotate a full 360 degrees.  In fact, we have even been able to advance science and technology to include prosthetic limb replacements for dogs, cats, horses, elephants and even a prosthetic tail for a dolphin or flippers for a sea turtle!  It seems as though no limit exists for prosthetic technology.

 

 

            Then along came Modular Prosthetic Limbs.  These leaps in technology are truly modern marvels.  They are actually surgically implanted into a person’s neural cortex and allow the person to control the limb via thought – making the limb truly a part of them.  These prosthetics also have complex computer systems in them that aid the limb in interacting with its environment by taking readings and measurements and interpreting them and allowing the person with the prosthetic to ‘feel’ by sending the computer signals into the person’s brain.  Using the complex system of wires and circuitry to duplicate the human nervous systems is one of the most spectacular uses of technology that humanity has achieved. 

            One thing that science is still struggling with is the completion of a prosthetic eye.  Scientists have been able to unlock the code in the retina of blind mice to allow them to see.  They have claimed to be able to do the same with monkeys as well.  Humans have not yet been able to be ‘cured’ of their blindness, but medical science is hopeful.  The issue they face is replicating the output cells of the human retina known as ganglion cells.  So far all that has been achieved is restoring rough sight that is blurry, like vision through tears that allows the seer only to distinguish rough shapes.  It can be likened to not being able to distinguish shapes of people – not being able to tell a man from a woman but being able to tell the difference between a person and say, a car.

            The other advancements in prosthetic technology are those of exoskeletons.  They are sometimes no more than pneumatic braces to help people walk but they do extend to fully wearable suits that augment strength and stamina.  Not quite to the level of Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit (no flight ability or hidden missiles) but a huge leap forward.  There have been a couple of advances in the technology of returning ambulation to quadriplegics.  

            Will cybernetics advance to the level of Isaac Asimov’s The Bicentennial Man?  In this tale, humans and robots become virtually indistinguishable as robots can get human parts, humans can get robot parts and extend their own lives.  Granted the story is more a morality tale about what the concept of inalienable rights really means, but the question remains.  Given the abilities we currently have to create these incredible feats of technology, is it out of the realm of possibility to consider that we can achieve Iron Man or Robocop levels?  Or even to extend life beyond natural limits?  Or if we do achieve it, should we take advantage of that?

            You decide. 

Weird...

So I just had a weird, weird dream.  I was trying to take a nap on the couch (which for some reason always makes me wake up with a nasty headache) and I wasn't really sleeping...more dozing than anything else.  So I'm dozing and here's the dream.  I'm walking around near some large body of water, probably an ocean.  Abe Lincoln walked by with those really high wading overall things that fly fisherman wear.  He was singing 'Black Hole Sun' by Soundgarden, which is my favorite song so I started singing with him.  I was sitting in the water, which was nice and warm, and the waves were coming up to about my shoulder.  It was very relaxing.
Then suddenly I was walking around with a cat carrier with my cat who recently passed, Butterscotch.  He was a great cat, he died the other day after battling a thyroid issue for about a year.  He was literally skin and bones- even the pin that was in his hip from when he was hit by a car about ten years ago came out and when he tried walking around his legs splayed out but he was a fighter.  Add that to the fact that he was 18 and well, it was really his time to go.  Doesn't make me less sad, don't get me wrong.  But at least he had a good long life.  Everyone loved this cat, despite his trademark which was stealing food off your plate if you turned your back for a second.  Sandwiches, steak, fish he didn't care.  He used to eat Cheez-Its, Goldfish crackers, Cheetos, etc.  Well anyway, I'm carrying him in the carrier (sorry, didn't know how else to word that- transporting sounded wrong because I was walking) and finally I come across a vet, who tells me I can't bury him and offers to do an autopsy to see if they can figure out how they can learn about thyroid diseases and try and find a cure.  I say yes. Then we opened the carrier (my mother somehow materialized, unless she was waiting for me there) and he looked at me.  He was alive!  I was so happy, but I really wasn't because even though it was a dream I still knew in my heart that he was dead.  After all I buried him the other day.  So that was it.  I woke up all depressed.
I think I understand part of it, not the Abe Lincoln part though.  I am thinking that the reason I said yes to the autopsy thing is because of what happened with my brother's dog last year.  He was an old man too, Barney the Beagle was.  He died from an unfortunately common cancer in dogs called Hemangiosarcoma, you can read about it HERE on Wikipedia.  Basically it's something that by the time you notice symptoms, it's already too late.  He refused to donate his body to science to help learn about the disease.  I remember him saying "No, I want him to cross over whole."  That really struck me.  He never talks like that, but in my family we love our pets.  I understand it completely.

Butterscotch last year, staking claim to a bone we left downstairs for the dog!

Butterscotch's grave I dug.

Still Standing

So I'm still, STILL looking for work.  It's been one month, twelve days.  It's getting on my nerves that I cannot find a decent job.  The worst part is that I have yet to get any unemployment benefits.  Six weeks with no income!  I have a car payment and rent coming due!  And every time I call or go online for information I get the same response: your claim is being processed, if additional information is required to complete your claim you will be contacted.  Great.  Since no one has contacted me, I expect that they have all the information they need.  So where's the check?  I wasn't fired because I was an asshole and I was rude to people.  I wasn't fired because I stole, skipped work or was incompetent.  I was in a sales job and the economy sucked.  As a matter of fact, the metrics used to quantify your worth as an employee that ultimately let to my firing show that in the six or seven days that I did work in May I may have been below my goal, but they were STILL better than some of the numbers that people who worked the ENTIRE month attained.  So basically I was better in a WEEK than some people were for the MONTH!  But I'm the only one who got fired.  Figure that one out.  I sold more accessories than one employee and my composite score (based on the total of all your metrics and weighted according to importance to the company) was higher than at least one other employee.
On the plus side, I'm losing weight and gaining some muscle definition.  I really want to join my brother's basketball league at the Jewish Community Center in the next month.  He just finished up one league and he said another will be starting soon.  Also, I'm writing again.  I've put down ten pages and done some heavy editing in my Cycle of the Hunter rewrite and it should be ready for Rock and Shock.  Personally I'm excited to see Michael Rooker.  He was great in Cliffhanger with Lithgow and Stallone.  Matter of fact, he had three of the four best lines in that movie!

1. If you're looking for Mr. Qualen try about 4,000 feet south of here.  He'll be the one wearing the helicopter. (After the climactic final battle of Lithgow vs Stallone AKA 'the Tiff on the Cliff'.)
2. He's not here.  He decided to take a swim to Arizona. (After Stallone killed the secondary bad guy and he fell into the ice-covered river and floated under the ice with the current.)
3. Sissy.  You hit like a sissy. (This one was Stallone, he was getting his ass kicked and up to that point had not mounted any offense or defense in any meaningful way.  However, he was about to grab the bad guy, Kynette, and impale him on a stalactite - those are the ones that grow down from the ceiling.)
4. Season's over, asshole! (after Delmar- one of the bad guys- kicked the shit our or Mr. Rooker and taunted him by doing play by play like it was a soccer game.  While Rooker hangs off the cliff after taking many vicious kicks he reveals a concealed knife and buries it into Delmar's leg.  He leans forward, allowing Rooker to grab the shotgun strapped to Delmar.  Then he screams the line and shoots Delmar in the chest.)
Honorable mention:
Right before the 'fight' with Delmar (I say that because it was no contest).
"Hey Delmar.  From me to you.  You're an asshole."
"And you're a loudmouth punk slag who's about to die."
"Maybe.  But in a minute, I'll be dead.  You will always be an asshole."  Takes off his coat and throws it to the ground.  "So shoot.  I'm getting cold.  Shoot!"
Delmar grabs him by the front of his shirt, points a gun at his face.
"Who's shooting?" he asks, and then gives Rooker a brutal headbutt.
Now I may be a tad off on the quotes, but forgive me.  I'm going by memory.  Sure I could look it up on IMDB, but they don't always get it right either.  I plan on asking him to sign Cliffhanger and writing "Season's over asshole!" as an inscription.  That would be awesome.

Damn!

I really need to get on this more often.  Now that I'm unemployed...well I really have no excuse.  So I've written almost NOTHING in a long time, but I'm trying to get back into it.  This is obviously a start.  I did do a short story regarding some of my characters in the upcoming Cycle of the Hunter re-release as well as another article for Paranormal Association about Atlantis you can find here. 
I'm working on another right now regarding ancient aliens as I've been watching the History Channel series on DVD while I can't sleep and I find it fascinating.  Some very interesting stuff, although to be honest all I keep thinking about is the end of the original Planet of the Apes where Taylor (Charlton Heston) is in the cave with Dr. Zaius, Cornelius and Zira and he is looking at the remains of what he believes is a fabricated heart valve and eyeglasses and other relics.  Dr. Zaius tells him that he can give alternate explanations to each one of the objects in question "as ingenious as your own".  This is how I feel about the ancient alien stuff.  They're taking things from the Bible and other religious texts to interpret interactions with angels and the like as alien encounters.  Each side giving explanations that suit their purposes is the point I'm trying to make.  The one part I really liked in the movie that corresponds to the alien theory is when Taylor finds the doll and Zaius says "My granddaughter plays with human dolls!" and he throws it on the ground and it says "mama" and Taylor asks him if an ape would make a human doll that talked.  Same with ancient aliens - there are several statues and figures and carvings of what look like modern-day aircraft and astronauts.  Why would Aztecs and ancient Egyptians and Mayans do such a thing?  And then you have the people on the other side offering their ingenious explanations saying that what some people are calling air/space conveyances are actually insects.  Interesting stuff, I must say.
So I'm also getting married three months from tomorrow, Friday September 13th.  And let me tell you, not having any money to help pay for things is really tough.  I mean, we did most of our spending already and it was good that I got a decent amount in taxes back because that's where almost all of my tax money went.  But there are still a lot of things that need to be taken care of and I don't need to tell you that weddings can be very expensive, especially when you're paying for it all yourselves.
I'm also very excited for the Bruins tonight!  Game One of the Stanley Cup Final!  I'm hoping they tear through Chicago they way they did with Pittsburgh, but I don't think it will be as lopsided.  I think they'll win in 6.  I'd love a sweep, but I don't think it's in the cards.  Chicago is just too good.  I'd love to win tickets and get to go see them.  We didn't get playoff tickets this year or last year.  We haven't gone since Game Two of the Canadiens series in the championship season.  And we went to the one when we got engaged, April 21, 2010 in the double-overtime victory against the Sabres.
Well that's all for now.  I promise I'll be back soon.
Stay Weird.

Monsters in the Closet

So I couldn't help but notice that my short story collection Monsters in the Closet is ranked #693,741 in Kindle sales.  That's atrocious!  How can I be ranked so low with reviews like this :

Patrick Rahall and Justin Graves have teamed up on a creepy Kindle horror book. Consider this a "USA Today" for horror junkies. It's filled to the gills with short blasts of horror gore that will raise the hair on your neck and keep you flipping the pages. A satisfying and captivating read!

and this:

Ok I found this collection of short stories very entertaining. The first story plays on the fear of being trapped, powerless and incapacitated add to that mix the fear of fire and you have the fist story.

The first story is shocking and very well written and well thought out. The authors have fantastic imaginations, or are very good researchers or both.. Having set a high standard with the first story, time soon passes as you read from story to story and all too quickly the end.. leaving the reader wanting more. It's good value for money at 99 cents. Recommended for horror fans only. This is dark stuff and not suitable for those of a nervous disposition.

This was a review of the kindle edition

and this:

The stories in this stunning horror collection run the gamut, from grisly to amusing to poignant. And they obey Edgar Allan Poe's short story law of being brief enough to be read in a single sitting. Patrick Rahall shows that less is more, and the short lengths are a plus for today's busy readers. In addition, the author's voice is fresh and real, and his style is perfect for the horror genre--lean and punchy. And terrifying! Highly recommended.

and this:

Much like Pill Hill Press's Daily Frights books (Of which the 2012 edition features two works from this collection), this is a great read for those who want to finish a story but don't have a lot of time on their hands. Interesting, well paced, horror stories ranging from creepy to gruesome and nightmarish in their scope, each of these stories manages to pack environments, scenes, characters, plot development, and truly unique and sometimes startling endings into a very small bite.

I want YOU to help rectify this oversight and get your copy today!  For only $.99 you can own a piece of awesomeness that has gotten spectacular reviews and as a bonus contains the prologue of my upcoming novel, Cycle of the Hunter!  Help me afford my wedding this year (September 13th) by picking up your copy either in Kindle form HERE or the print version for $5 HERE.

Over and Over

So I'm torn.  I don't know if I should try and finish my re-write of Cycle of the Hunter or if I should shelve that for now and concentrate on my short stories and get to work on Monsters in the Closet Volume Two.  The issue is that I have been stagnating on Cycle.  Haven't written anything in a few months.  It's sad because for a while I was flying through it.  I know the story.  I know what I want to happen.  I also have the sequel ready to go.  My issue is getting the story out of my head and onto the computer so I can finally have it all out there and I can edit, re-write and get going on other stuff.  I HATE when I get stuck.  I love writing.  Thankfully I have the paranormal-association.com site that keeps me busy.  Seriously, if you like the stuff I've written, make sure you check out the other contributors, or if you would like to start a conversation/topic do so in the forum!  We welcome that stuff!  And if there is a topic that you would like to see me write on, please suggest it!  I am thinking of the following:

Hell's Gate at Bobby Mackey's
The Jersey Devil
Peter Stubbe - An actual account of a werewolf?
Porphyria - the disease that gave birth to the vampire legend

Please vote on what you think you would like most!

Paranormal Activity!

So my first article went so well on Paranormal-Association.com that they asked me to do another!  I did, and it can be found here.  The first one is on the deeply disturbed Sarah Winchester's attempt to keep the spirits of the people killed by the guns that bear her name from haunting her by building the Winchester Mystery House.  As you can see from the picture it is massive.  It was built 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 38 years.  Non stop.

The second one is about haunted/possessed dolls on an island just outside Mexico City.  The dolls were said to keep evil spirits at bay...but some say it failed miserably.  Spend a night there, just don't expect the locals to be waiting with their boats to take you back until the sun comes up.

The hut built to house the nicest dolls.

Dolls hung from trees.

There will be more articles in the future.  I am already working on more!  If you enjoyed reading my articles, please check out my collection of short stories Monsters in the Closet available on Amazon Kindle and/or the paperback.  Both are available on Amazon.
Thank you and I look forward to adding more stuff for you!

Tagged! I'm it!

So I was tagged by my friend, the very talented Alyn Day (@z0mbiegrl on twitter- check out her blog here) so now I have to get into this "The Next Big Thing"...thing.  Right now I'm working on a couple of projects.  I'm rewriting my original novel, Cycle of the Hunter.  I'm making it better, getting into more detail than I did with the first one.  Also I am working on the second installment of my short story compilations, Monsters in the Closet.  Volume one can be purchased for Kindle here and the paperback here.  I do have an excerpt that I would like to share however.

PROLOGUE

There were three of them in the house that night, all dressed in black and wearing ski masks...  Their orders were simple: slaughter everyone in the house.  Make sure they die, nothing less would be acceptable.  There were two men who were under the command of the third.  The first two men were Rudy Davenport and Terrell Jackson – low-level thugs who occasionally dabbled in drug sales.  The third man was referred to simply as ‘Boss’; they were not to know his real name.  All things considered, they preferred it that way.  Considering what they were planning to do, they wanted to know as little as possible about the people who hired them and the man they were now reporting to.  They had been paid ten thousand dollars cash, and as a result they were not inclined to ask questions.

            Rudy and Terrell followed the Boss into the bedroom on the first floor where they found a sleeping couple.  Rudy was unnerved by the Boss.  He didn’t seem to make a single sound as they moved through the house.  Floorboards didn’t creak under his feet and papers did not rustle as he passed by them.  It was like he was a ghost.  He also didn’t carry a gun.  He had a long silver dagger instead of the Glock complete with laser sight and silencer that Rudy himself carried.  He had a feeling that the Boss liked being up close and personal with his prey, liked the connection you could only get with a knife.  It was surpassed only by the feeling you got with bare hands.

            And teeth.

            They went over to the sleeping couple on the bed.  The Boss had a wide smile across his lips and his teeth shone in the limited light of the bedroom.  He walked over to the side of the bed where the man was gently snoring and looped his rope around the man’s wrists and tied him to the bedpost.  Then he handcuffed the man’s ankles around the post at the foot of the bed. 

            “Hey, asshole, wake up,” he whispered and lightly slapped the man’s face.

            “Huh?  Wuzzat?” he said.  Then he tried to move.  His eyes opened wide when he couldn’t move and he struggled against his bonds.  “What the fuck is going on?” he screamed.

            “Mark?” The woman was awake.  Rudy and Terrell grabbed her.  She struggled but the two men were powerful and she had no chance of getting away.

            “You may not know why we’re here, but that doesn’t matter anyway.  The only thing that matters is you’re both going to die.  Normally we would have to be quiet and hurry up, but unfortunately for you we have plenty of time.  I haven’t decided who will be first.  I have a few ideas.  I’ve thought about cutting your eyes from your head so you have to listen to your wife scream and you have to imagine what we’re doing to her.  But then you wouldn’t be able to watch her die, so you can see the difficult position I’m in.”

            “Why are you doing this?  Please, just take whatever you want.  We haven’t seen your faces!”  Mark said.  The woman was blubbering.

            “We’re not here for your stuff, Mark.  We’re here for the sole purpose of killing you and your wife and then when we’re done we’ll go upstairs, get your son and give him a choice.  He can either join mommy and daddy in Heaven, or he can join us and fulfill his destiny the way he ought to.”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “I told you it doesn’t matter why we’re here.  All that matters is that this is going to happen.  And there is nothing you can do about it.  You’re going to die.  Your wife will die.  And your son…well that’s up to him,” the Boss said with a smile.

            The Boss took off his coat and revealed his muscular arms.  He was wearing gloves and holding his knife.  He walked over to the woman and grabbed her by the hair.  He told Rudy and Terrell to move so he could enjoy himself.  He sliced her nightgown off and pulled her over in front of Mark.  He slid the knife gently against her body.  He started at her right hip and began drawing a thin line of blood with the incredibly sharp knife.  He cut across her stomach and up her sternum between her breasts.  She was begging and pleading and felt her bladder let go and hot urine flowed down her legs and made a puddle on the floor.  The Boss was disgusted.  He jammed the knife into her windpipe and she started coughing.  He yanked the knife sideways, tearing the flesh of her throat.  He was scarcely able to contain himself as her arterial spray covered her husband.  Mark screamed, tears running down his face.  The Boss let go of the woman and let her drop to the floor where she coughed and wheezed as her life flowed onto the carpet around her.

            The Boss stuck the knife into Mark’s stomach.  He screamed even louder as the Boss pulled the blade towards himself.   A hole like a grotesque mouth opened up in his side, Boss used the flat side of the blade next, spilling Mark’s entrails onto the floor on top of his wife.  Mark’s screams rapidly faded and became less intense as he slowly died.  The Boss turned to Rudy and Terrell, who were shocked into silence.  They were just looking at the two dead people and the Boss, who was covered in their blood and guts.  The Boss had a huge grin on his face. 

            “What the fuck?” Terrell whispered.  The Boss’ grin faded.  There was a hint of movement that Rudy detected and the next thing he knew Terrell had the hilt of the knife protruding from his chest.  Terrell looked at it, as if to say ‘Who put this here?’ turned to look at Rudy and then slowly slumped to the floor.

            “Looks like old Terrell didn’t quite have the stomach for this job.  Well he shouldn’t have taken it,” the Boss said as he shook his head.  “But not you, right Rudy?”

            “N-no Boss.  I can handle it.”

            “Excellent!” the Boss said, his happy grin returning.  “Then by all means help yourself to Terrell’s share.  You’ll find it in his jacket pocket.”

            Rudy had no problem rifling through the dead man’s jacket to find the stack of cash.  While he was busy the Boss looked over and saw the kid standing in the doorway.  He had what looked like a slingshot in his hand.  The cup was drawn back and pointed at the Boss.  At first he thought Oh how cute! but there was something in the kid’s eyes.  Something that wiped the grin off the Boss’ face.  Rudy looked up and saw the Boss standing still. 

            “What’s the matter, Boss?  Isn’t that the kid you wanted?  Want me to grab him?”

            “Shut up!” he hissed.  Something wasn’t right.  The kid was supposed to be docile, weak.  The kid standing in the doorway was neither.  The Boss changed tactics.  “Why don’t you put that down before someone gets hurt, huh kid?”   

            The kid responded by pulling the cup back a little further.  He had a look of focused fury and rage in his blazing blue eyes.  He looked straight into the Boss’ eyes.  He refused to look at his parents’ mangled corpses.  The Boss opened his mouth to say something and took a step forward at the same time.  The kid let go of the cup and a fraction of a second after the Boss heard the twangg! sound of the elastic he felt a burning pain across his face.  He put his hand to his face and howled in anger.  Whatever the kid had shot at him had not only torn through his ski mask but it ripped his face open from the left corner of his mouth to his hairline.  His eye was obliterated and the shredded flap of his cheek hung grotesquely against his neck.  The Boss dropped to his knees in agony and intense hatred filled his mind.  He wanted nothing more than to tear the kid apart with his bare hands.

            Rudy was saying something but it sounded like he was at the top of a deep well calling down to the Boss.  No one had ever hurt him like that before.  He looked at Rudy, who was pointing wildly in the direction of where the kid was standing.  Fearing, for the first time in his life that he would be attacked and hurt again, he raised up his right hand (the one not pressed against the wound that was pouring even more blood onto the floor, adding to Mark’s and his wife’s)  and braced for more pain.  It didn’t come.  He opened his eyes. 

            The child was gone.

Smashwords...interesting...

So i just started a Smashwords account.  I guess that means I should get going as far as getting some goddam writing done.  I've been stagnating.  Of course, I haven't had time to even write anything here, and this really just requires me to spew/vent.  So what's been going on?  Well I have just been named Godfather to my friends' first born.  That's right - someone trusts ME enough to take care of their child in case the unthinkable should happen.  Guess I'm not all that bad, eh everyone that said I wouldn't amount to anything?

We had a hurricane and luckily for us it wasn't so bad.  We did lose power for a few hours, but nothing too terrible happened as a result.  None of our food spoiled and we were not forced to resort to cannibalism.  At least for the time being.

I just want to direct anyone who reads this to check out not only the folks who follow my blog but to check out the highly skilled OM Grey.  Her blog is here so do yourself a favor and go check it out.  She's incredibly talented and can wield words the way a surgeon wields a scalpel - with great skill and extreme precision.  Do it now!  And while you're at it, follow her on Twitter because she's full of the insight, poignancy and humor you would expect in such an awesome wordsmith.

What?

So I've been working on my re-imagining of Cycle of the Hunter, and I'm hoping to have it out by the end of the year, but I've been running into issues.  Like the other day for instance.  I'm writing, chilling with Miss von Nitemare and all of a sudden my cursor starts backtracking through my entire book!  It was like I was holding the back arrow, but I wasn't.  Not so awesome.  By the time I was able to stop the goddam thing, Word had shut down and I was forced to restart my laptop.  Aaaaaaand....everything I had written was in the black abyss of nothingness.  Gone.  I still had what I had saved up to that point (which is awesome because I have lost everything before) but I was really on a roll and was getting quality work done.  Pissed me off.
PS
Please pick up a copy of Monsters in the Closet HERE
I am trying to save up for a wedding here!  It's 360 days away!

I am finally back on here after an extended absence.  I was shocked and dismayed to read the blog of fellow horror writer Alyn Day. You can check it out here but I can give you the gist of it.  Someone published her work under false pretenses.  They hacked, mangled and butchered her story until it was unrecognizable.  Obviously, she was enraged, which was totally understandable.    I don't blame her.  I would be too.  Please read her blog and do what you can to help spread the word!

Monsters in the Closet

The day has finally arrived!  Monsters in the Closet is finally out on Amazon Kindle and can be found HERE so what are you waiting for?  Read the book!  Here's what people are saying about it:

“Patrick Rahall’s style is masterfully chilling.  Prepare for a doors locked and lights on all night experience.”- Thomas Amo, author of An Apple for Zoe

“If you’re a horror fan, you won’t read anything better.  Patrick Rahall is an amazing writer, terror drips from every syllable…get ready to be scared.  Everything he writes is a sheer terrible treat.:- Christian Jensen, author of tons of stuff.


"The stories in this stunning horror collection run the gamut, from grisly to amusing to poignant. And they obey Edgar Allan Poe's short story law of being brief enough to be read in a single sitting. Patrick Rahall shows that less is more, and the short lengths are a plus for today's busy readers. In addition, the author's voice is fresh and real, and his style is perfect for the horror genre--lean and punchy. And terrifying! Highly recommended."- Amazon Review

At last check I was ranked 19,750 in sales on Kindle, which is awesome!  Tell your friends, tell your family, shout out the window at strangers as they walk by your room!

Monsters in the Closet

Finally, finally, FINALLY almost done with Monsters in the Closet, which will be available exclusively on Amazon Kindle shortly.  It's my first collaborative project with Justin Graves and Ashes von Nitemare (@Justin_Graves_ and @MissvonNitemare on Twitter - follow them if you don't already!) and we are very excited for it!  It includes a few of the short flash stories I've posted on here and on other blogs.  I'm hoping to get some positive feedback on it and I'm really excited for its release.  It will be available for only 99 cents, so please help me out and pick up a copy and tell your friends!

Latest in a Line...

So here is another flash story.  I am trying to put a bunch together for an anthology that I am writing with Justin Graves.  Here's one that I think you'll like.  It's called Home Early, about what happens when a cheating wife's husband comes home from work unexpectedly during a zombie outbreak.
Enjoy!

Home Early

Allison was horrified to hear the front door open.  She had no idea what had been happening as she was far too busy with the pool cleaner to have her television turned on to the news reports of the carnage and mayhem that were rampant on every channel.  She was more concerned that her husband was home early.  She was half right. 

            As she and Gregorio scrambled to put their clothes on her husband Jeff made his way up the stairs toward the bedroom.  Allison was getting nervous; her and Jeff’s bedroom was at the top of the stairs so there was no way for Gregorio to sneak out of the house unless he attempted to go out the window.  They were debating the merits of this versus Gregorio hiding in a closet or under the bed when the bedroom door swung open.  Jeff’s mouth was wide open.  Too wide open – he was missing his lower jaw and his left eye was torn out.  His tongue was stuck to his throat with caked blood and saliva.  The front of his shirt was soaked to his skin and he was missing two fingers on his left hand.  Jeff looked from his wife to her lover and shuffled towards the man who was sharing the marital bed with his wife.  Gregorio screamed something in Portuguese and leapt from the window.

            He never hit the ground- he landed on top of a horde of Walkers and they snapped his legs like two kids splitting the wishbone of their Thanksgiving turkey.  His left leg was ripped sideways at the knee and torn off.  His entire right leg was ripped out at the ball and socket joint of his hip.  He would have screamed except for the fact that a Walker had sunk its fingers into his eyes like a bowler gripping a fourteen pound ball and ripped his head from his lower jaw.  All that remained was his tongue that wagged with involuntary nerve impulses and his ragged stump of broken spine.

            Allison was frozen in fear.  She had literally lost her mind at the sight of her mangled husband shambling into the room.  The only thought running through her mind at the end was the registration of terror and agony as her Jeff ripped ragged mouthfuls of flesh from her prone body like a shark tearing sustenance from the carcass of a whale. 

Another Flash Story!

This is a story I submitted for publication but it was after the deadline expired so it was denied.  I think it's a fairly good story,maybe not as good as my Pot Roast story, but still pretty good.  Let me know what you think!

Hide and Seek

“The woods are haunted you know,” Josh said as they walked.

“Bullshit,” Bob said grumpily.  “There are no such things as ghosts.  Don’t be so stupid.”

“You guys are so stupid.  Why do you have to argue all the time?” Tanya said, rolling her eyes.  “We’ll just go into the woods to where the house is supposed to be and see for ourselves.”

“Fine with me.  How are you feeling, Josh?” Bob asked.

“I’m not scared if that’s what you’re asking,” he said but didn’t sound too convincing.

“Yeah right.  If we need to find our way back we can just follow your urine trail.”

“Shut it, Bob,” Josh said.

They walked in silence through the woods to the shack where the ghosts of the murdered children were supposed to be.  They opened the door and went inside.  Everything had a thick layer of dust…everything but the toys that were scattered around the floor.  There were no footprints anywhere except from the three of them.

“This is creepy.  I want to leave,” Tanya said.

“You can’t leave.  Now that you’re here, you have to stay,” Bob whispered.

“What?” she asked, her voice almost a scream.

“The children need playmates,” he said, and looked her in the face.  “And you’re here.  Time to play.”

Josh grabbed Tanya by the arm and pulled her back through the door.  His face was pale as a sheet and he was terrified.  A wet spot manifested itself on the front of his pants.  The two of them ran, Tanya chancing a glance over her shoulder saw Bob standing in the doorway of the shack looking out at them.  A second later she fell to the ground hard on top of Josh.  He had tripped over a root and tried to use her to maintain his balance. 

A shadow fell over them.  Two people wearing dirty, ragged clothes were looking down at them.  They each wore crooked smiles that were short several teeth.  The one on the left brought a rock down on Josh’s skull.  There was a cracking sound like an egg being dropped on a tile floor.  Josh’s body began to shake like it was electrified and the horrible creature brought the rock down again and Josh was still.

Tanya saw hands reaching for her and she screamed and passed out from terror.

                                                            ***

“Be careful with your new ball, if you break that one it might be a long time before I can get another one,” Bob warned the children.  They grunted something unintelligible that he took to mean that they understood him.  They gently rolled Tanya’s head back and forth between them, her face locked in a frozen expression of fear.  Bob shook his head.  He warned them.  There were no ghosts.  Just the grown up children everyone thought were dead.  And they needed playmates.  Bob left the shack, eager to find more playmates for the children. 

They tired of their toys so quickly…