After Words Paranormal

Send us Fan Mail  What says haunted more than an old crypt in a foggy cemetery? I mean, crypts put the goth in gothic! In our story, “The Affair of the Dancing Coffins,” by George Brockhart something very strange in going on inside a family crypt. I do have to make a disclaimer, however. The coffins aren’t actually dancing, but their behavior is odd, nonetheless. Uncounted horror stories and films...

Send us Fan Mail Mannequins…sales enhancement, or inducers of terror? When you see a mannequin in a store window, do you stop to examine its garment offering, or watch its eyes to see if they follow you? For me, they are just giant dolls, and fall into the “yikes” category. In our story, “The Mannequin,” by R. J. Lawrence, a young man discovers his brother’s disturbing experiments on mannequins an...

Send us Fan Mail In our story, "Blood Fortune," by Stephan Hudgins, a woman visits a carnival fortune teller. She asks her a rather grisly question, and unfortunately, gets exactly what she asks for.  What’s more fun than spending a day at a carnival or an amusement park? Spending the night at a haunted carnival or amusement park! So, we'll take a look at the most haunted amusement...

Send us Fan Mail  Have you ever heard a voice come through a radio that seemed misplaced? You might have heard a voice from beyond the veil. In our story, “The Message,” by Clinton Dangerfield, a death-row inmate and a chaplain hear a voice through the radio offering comfort. But is that truly what the spirit is offering?  Trying to contact spirits through radio waves is not a new technique for co...

Send us Fan Mail Working as a medical professional in a psychiatric hospital must be one of the hardest jobs in the world. And as one doctor finds out in our story, “Doctor’s Notes,” by Kitty Olsen, meeting face to face with the supernatural doesn’t make it any easier. What strange occurrences have real doctors and nurses experienced while on duty? We'll look to Quora for some great stories:...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode Holly Landis’s story, “Gnome Invasion,” shows us the darker side of those cute little ceramic statues that so many people collect to decorate their gardens. To be perfectly honest, they creep me out. I always wonder what dark, evil thoughts are lurking behind their chubby grins and if they are going to attack my ankle with a trowel. We'll take a look at the lo...

Send us Fan Mail In this week’s story, “The Boy That Brought the Asylum Home,” by Mike Nesbitt, a young boy is haunted by a ghost his roommate accidently brought home from a clandestine visit to an abandoned asylum. Let’s just say, in this case, three’s a nasty crowd. Haunted asylums are popular with ghost hunters hoping to encounter and record spirit activity. We'll look at a few real experi...

Send us Fan Mail   Hello, and welcome to episode #225 of After Words Paranormal. I’m your host, Shelby. For our story this week you must forget the Disney version of the Fairy world. No cute little tinkly fairies or wistful sing mermaids. In “Walter the Ghost,” by Kitty Olsen, a man must face down one of The Fair Folk with some help from his friend, Walter. We'll take a look at the old Fae wo...

Send us Fan Mail  On this episode we will dip our toes, very carefully into the lore of Cthulhu. In, "Happy Cthulhu to You," by Lance Zarimba, young boy loves terrorizing his younger brother because he is a Cthulhu fan. He learns, however, that sibling rivalry can be deadly. Cthulhu has a fan base of millions. He is a very popular monster. We'll take a look at Cthulhu and what makes...

Send us Fan Mail On this week’s episode we have a scientist experimenting with equipment designed to separate the spirit of a person from his body, then put it back in. It goes without saying that the experiment does not turn out well. Scientists and pseudoscientists have tried for decades to find a way to examine the soul or spirit once it has separated from a person's body. We'll exami...

Send us Fan Mail In our story, “Bones for a Pillow,” by Alexandra Seidel. A young woman notices something strange growing out of her floor. Her investigation into the mystery provides answers, but only the deadly kind. Bodies in the house found by new owners. We hear about this phenomenon quite often. We've got some great examples. Music Fesliyan Studios: "Ghost," "Halloween&qu...

Send us Fan Mail Our story for this week, “The Tin House,” by Simon Clark touches on one of the most horrible chapters in US history. The years of slavery. In the story, a policeman thinks he only taking photos of an old, tin house. But what he finds there is more horrible than he could ever have imagined. We'll also take a look at the real horrors of slavery in the U.S. Music Fesliyan Studio...

Send us Fan Mail New techniques and better equipment are developed for photography all the time. But one thing remains constant; ghosts have been making their way into photos for 200 years. Spirit Photography is as popular as it ever was. Paranormal investigators seek out spirits to photograph, but in our story, “In Every Picture,” by L. A. Cavanaugh, a young woman accidentally stumbles upon somet...

Send us Fan Mail What does the word twister make you think of? A fun game with colorful dots and tangled up bodies, an action film, or a deadly windstorm? My maternal grandmother was raised on Kansas farm, and the blood would drain from her face at the mere mention of the word. As a child she had spent many times down in the storm cellar scared to death. Tornadoes kill 20-100 people a year in the...

Send us Fan Mail Haunted houses have always attracted those who want a little scare and the chance to see a ghost. In our story, “Dark Mummery,” by Thorp McClusky, a daring group of friends into a local haunt to have some spooky fun. What they get is much more than they bargained for. Be careful what you wish for. Perhaps if they had followed some simple “don’ts” while investigating the haunted ho...

Send us Fan Mail Rather than just a horror story, this week we offer a horror story about a horror writer writing a horror story. In “I was Commissioned to Write a Horror Story. I was Given Strange Rules to Follow,” by Quincey Lee, an author must construct stories according to his benefactors wishes and bizarre rules. If he doesn’t follow the rules…well, that would be telling.   This begs the ques...

Send us Fan Mail This week tree conservation takes a twisted turn for the worse in David Longhorn’s story, “Old Growth.”  A young man wants to help preserve a growth of old oaks from a construction company, but his involvement goes a bit farther than he planned. Oak trees have been considered sacred for thousands of years. We'll take a look at where and why. Music Fesliyan Studios: "Ghos...

Send us Fan Mail Our story for this episode is “Grotesque,” by Ian Fortey. A young man moves into an apartment with a gargoyle right outside his window. After some strange incidents, he begins to wonder if the gargoyle is just for show, or some more sinister. Have you ever looked up at a building only to see something staring back? Gargoyles have decorated churches and other buildings for centurie...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s episode will give you something to chew on or rather chew with. Silas Grimm’s story, “The Room that Grows Teeth,” is a weird and disturbing story about a family that discovers teeth growing in their home. Not all tooth encounters are bad. We'll look at some teeth rituals from around the world. Music" Fesliyan Studios: "Ghost," "Halloween"...

Send us Fan Mail Which witch is which? In our story, “The Watcher at the Door,” by Henry Kuttner, a man is besieged by a witch’s ghost, who beckons him to a hellish realm with glowing eyes. Are there other places haunted by a witch’s ghost?  Of course there are! We'll highlight a few. Music Fesliyan Studios: "Ghost," "Halloween" "Scary Music,"  Audio Jungle: &quo...

Send us Fan Mail This week we present a story by author Quincey Lee, “The Baby’s Pram.”  It’s always delightful to see a sweet baby’s face smiling up from its carrier.  However, in this story one glimpse inside the pram sends everyone running away, screaming their heads off. The “evil child” trope is one of the most successful in literature and film. We'll look at an excellent article on the...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features the story, “Lucy Comes to Stay,” by Robert Bloch. A young woman is being held for insanity against her will. Her dear friend Lucy is willing to help her. But what kind of friend is Lucy, really. Can she be trusted? This week we dive into the horror sub-genre of psychological horror. We'll take a look at how this sub-genre differs from just regular "...

Send us Fan Mail Our story for this week is, “The Last Three Ships,” by Margaret St. Clair. Scavengers and treasure hunters avoid the last three ships in a line of wrecked ships set aside as junk. The last three ships are full of treasures for those who know where to look. Unfortunately, something more deadly lurks there as well. What treasures can be found on derelict ships? There are huge salvag...

Send us Fan Mail Our story, “The Best Teacher at Pleasant Hill Oak Elementary,” by Anica Mrose Rissi, is a tale of an unusual teacher. One who inspires her students but has a dark secret. The teacher in the story is indeed unusual, and I wondered if there were any tales about ghostly teachers out there.…apparently not. At least I couldn’t find any stories.  However, haunted elementary schools are...

Send us Fan Mail Our story, by author Gary Raisor, is perfect for this time of year. “The Old Black Hat” is a different take on a Christmas Icon. It’s a delightful “what if “story that offers up some dark holiday humor. Not so humorous are some of the beasties that make their appearance around the world during winter. We'll look at a few. Very carefully... Music Fesliyan Studios: "Ghost,...