Waiter, another Stuffed Mushroom Frosty over here! please! (Patreon)

I gotta say, the middle of summer is not super-conducive to spooky feelings. It’s hitting 88 degrees every day, it’s light until almost 9, and the grocery store near me has moved their Astro Pops up toward their meanest cashier to thwart shoplifters. This sort of sunny atmosphere tends to slow down my writing and even crush my desire to watch The Shining every other day. (I mean, of course I still will; I just won’t be as into it.)

While I wrestle with some new ideas that can properly be considered horrific, why not wet your whistle for about twelve minutes with bonding, the latest dorky entry in my series of free campfire stories cruelly rejected by Ranger Rick magazine for being “about as scary as the Halloween episodes of The Gilmore Girls.”

Meanwhile, some folks have requested a guide to the Knifepoint Horror references made in traces. If you don’t like spoilers, avert your eyes immediately!

0:00  May Billings is the daughter of Rourke Billings, who is mentioned in school; he has written books about Seacrist Elementary and the Spinning Boy from circles.

1:40  Billings is in the motel room from guest.

3:14  Billings visits Robin Song from town.

7:30  Visits Gullis and the cannery from landmark. He briefly mentions Ellawyd, from hometown.

12:33  Visits the site of the sinkhole disaster from outcast.

16:19  Tells a story of the town of Lenore, from rebirth.

20:03  Visits the Strongbone Road, from The Crack. Sees the ostrich first glimpsed in mother.

24:06  Visits the shore dunes from A Convergence in Wintertime.

26:46  Visits Blaine Fountain and the tract from fields, encountering the researchers Jill and Kurt Kapremian.

34:43  Reflects on Flight 111 from transit, and mentions a sinister book that plays a role in proof.

38:54  Visits Grenza from legend; mentions Lenore and Ellawyd.

(More creepy art from S. Patrick Brown--yes, it's Grandma from drop-ins, just sayin' How-do.)

P.S. I’ve had a couple of recent internet conversations that wound up with more silly laughter than is even usual for me:

Reviewing the early 80s camp novel The Nest (and answering a few podcast listener questions) on Reader’s Labyrinth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-STPsPs4TEI&t=475s

Cranking up the craziness factor with a rambling conversation on improvised xenomorphs (including Xeno Fozzie Bear and Xeno Count Chocula) created and depicted with the help of A.I. by host TheFinalGirly, plus a little talk about the Alien franchise itself:

https://youtu.be/gATEiRIOEfU

And for those who occasionally dip their toes into some things I write of a non-ghostly persuasion, the new short audiobook Little Boy Games is all about good memories, national pastimes, and a frightful creature of myth called the Slump Chicken.