Blog Tour: Guest Post with Jessica Penot Author of Circe

Book Title: Circe

Author: Jessica Penot

Description:

Dr. Black is a good man with a few vices. He is willing to sacrifice his career for his wife, Pria. He takes an internship at a hick institution in Southern Alabama to make his wife happy, but once he is situated in this old hospital, he finds that old habits die-hard. He is sexually compulsive and easily seduced by his supervisor, Cassie, who takes him to the bowls of the institution and shows him its tragic history. As Dr. Black loses himself in his obsession with Cassie, he becomes convinced that she is the key to Circe's mythology and magic and a series of bizarre murders leaves him convinced that she has opened the gates to another world. Madness and sanity begin to blur for Dr. Black and he becomes entangled in the mystery at the heart of Circe. A mystery that's as old as the ancient hospital itself. A mystery that could incriminate Cassie, an old god, or Dr. Black himself.

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Five of the Most Terrifying Haunted Houses

All ghost stories hold unending fascination for me, but the ones that contain the most mystery are the haunted house stories. In my novel, Circe, the story is driven by a haunted psychiatric hospital. The ghosts there are fictional, but the real ghosts that inspired the book are not. I’ve borrowed ghosts from many famous hauntings to make the novel’s haunting moments seem more real. Some of the hauntings that inspired me are house hauntings. The terror held by house hauntings is unique. You are bound to the haunted location by financial obligation, family, and sentiment. It is your home that holds the shadows and that can't be easily escaped. The ghosts or dark spirits can catch you in bed, with your children, and in the shower. There is a unique vulnerability to being in a haunted house. So here is my list of the most compelling house haunting stories I've heard. I've written about many of these haunted houses before, but revisiting them still sends shivers down my spine.

5. The House on Larabee Street: This haunting story has always been one of my favorites because it does not have a history. The haunting on Larrabbee Street has often been compared to the Amityville case; however, the house on Larrabee Street didn't have the history the Amityville house had. It is a haunting that is unexplainable. The spirit that haunted Allen and Deborah Tallman came from nowhere.

The Tallman's found their dream home on Larabee Street and the house slowly turned evil. At first, the family began to get sick and sickness became nightmares and ghosts and monsters that crawled in and out of the woodwork tormenting the family and their children until they finally flee their home. For a more detailed write up on this fascinating haunting you can go to: Ghost Stories and Haunted Places

4. The Demon in the Shadows: This is a haunting I learned about during an interview for Haunted North Alabama. A young woman came forward and told me she wanted to talk to me and the story she told me was chilling. This young woman bought a lovely home with her husband and the house immediately showed signs of haunting. Doors opened and closed on their own. Light bulbs exploded. Phantom mists tormented the woman and her family. Finally, the woman would wake in the morning to find deep gashes in her back where the hostile entity had clawed her. She and her family had to flee their home. The complete write up for this haunting can be found in Haunted North Alabama.

3. A Haunting in Connecticut: This is one of the most famous hauntings. It was made into a movie that was not true to the facts of the actual haunting but was still an interesting movie. The real haunting in this case began with a house that had been a funeral home. The eldest son of the family that moved into this home was driven slowly mad by a hostile entity that lived in the house and when he went to an institution the entity turned to the rest of the family. Psychics involved in this case say an old evil lived in this house that preyed on the living. An exorcism was performed of the house and the case resolved, but the family still moved. You can read more about this case at: Dark Destinations

2. The LaLaurie Mansion: This infamous haunted house was home to the famous Madam LaLaurie. Madam LaLaurie was a sadist and the things she did to her slaves in this New Orleans Mansion are beyond horrific. She sewed slaves together and removed their appendages and reattached them to other places. After a fire, the community discovered Madam LaLaurie's sadism and she fled, leaving behind her a trail of ghost stories and a house that is so haunted it screams with ghosts. You can learn more about this ghoulish haunting at: Ghost Stories and Haunted Places

1. Hull House: This is another haunting that was so famous it inspired a movie. Hull House is tucked away neatly on a campus in Chicago. It was founded by Jane Addams as a refuge for displaced young woman. Jane Addams was a remarkable woman and the work she did for those in need is admirable on every level. That is why she hated that Hull House became most known as the house where Satan's baby was born. According to legend, one of the young women living in this house gave birth to a demon spawn in this house. Ever since then tails of ghosts and paranormal activity surrounding this location have proliferated. Hull House is a popular stop on the Chicago Ghost tours and is one of the few places I've photographed in which I got something that looked like a ghost on film. The story behind Hull House was the inspiration for Rosemary's Baby. Learn more about this one at: Ghost Stories and Haunted Places

I know there are many other house hauntings that aren't on my list. The Winchester House, Lemp Mansion, Whaley House, and The Myrtles Plantation all have wonderful haunted histories, but these five are my favorite and the they have stories that give me a chill every time. For me, these ghosts are an unending source of inspiration and Circe wouldn’t be the chilling novel it is without these hauntings to inspire me.

You can buy Circe in print or in eBook form at Amazon , Barnes and Noble, or at Lachesis Publishing .

Author Bio

I am a therapist and writer who lives in Alabama with my three corgis, children, husband, and other strange creatures. My short stories have been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies including CSM, Summer Gothic, Bound By Blood, and Outer Darkness. I have ghost story columns in theValley Planet and White Cat Magazine where I share my love for ghost stories that send shivers down your spine and keep you up at night. I also share my passion for all things ghostly and haunted at my blog, ghost stories and haunted places.

I am currently working on my next Haunted America Book for History Press, Haunted South Alabama.  Follow me at my blog to learn about the ghost stories I am chasing and collecting for this fascinating addition to Haunted America.  I'm also workng on the next book in my Circe series.  The demon is awake and waiting for my new heroine in the swamps of Southern Alabama.  

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Email: jessica.penot@gmail.com