Winona's Grown Up!

I can't believe that Winona Ryder is now 41!  It doesn't seem like five minutes ago that she was one of the hottest teen stars around.  I have been watching her films for most of my life and it is hard to believe that I am nearly grown up too.  Let's just hope that the future brings us some more iconic characters to add to the ones that she's already given us.  Watch this little video that I made celebrating this amazing lady.  I have blogged it before but I think that it deserves another look.

Lick it up baby, lick it up!

NocturnalWanderers.com

Here is another short story for you to read.  It is an idea that I had a while back and is the basis for a book that I am currently working on.  The finished book will be slightly different from this little story but it does have the same theme.  I had the idea of combining rich sociopaths, lonely outcasts and the dangers of the internet, with a little bit of macabre history thrown in to make it a little more interesting.  I hope you enjoy reading it and understand the lesson that I was trying to convey.

NocturnalWanderers.com.

13 High Street South.  That was definitely the address that she had given her.  The message clearly said; ‘Meet me at 13 High Street South, 6:30pm, and don’t be late.’  This was the place, but she was not here, nor was anything else.  No. 13, was just the site of what used to be a bungalow.  It had been burnt out years ago, and all of the windows and doors were still boarded up.  Laura looked at her watch, it was still only 6:15.  Maybe she hadn’t arrived yet.

            When she first signed up to NocturnalWanderers.com, Laura had only wanted to make new friends.  What she had found, was a group of people, pretending to be members of the undead.  At first she was unsure of the site, but curiosity kept her going back to it.  She soon found herself being drawn in to the fantasy.  She had even made friends with a girl named Mia Dulaarc.  They had been talking online for almost a month, and then one day, she asked her if she would like to join her crypt.  Even though she knew it was wrong, she was not able to stop herself from coming here.  There was a part of her, that desperately wanted to find a place where she could belong.  Now that she was actually here, it no longer seemed like such a good idea.

            Mia had seen the girl arrive, and watched from the shadows as she waited patiently outside.  Many girls had decided not to stick around after seeing the burnt out house.  Every so often, one of them did, just like this one was.  They were so desperately lonely, and wanted so much to be a part of something, anything, that they were willing to take the risk.  These were the girls that she wanted for her little family.  The hopeless loners with nowhere else to go.

            As soon as the clock struck 6:30 she made her move.  The girl did not move, as she stepped out of the shadows behind her.

“You must be Laura.”  She said.  “Welcome home.”

At first Laura was unsure of the woman that was suddenly standing there in front of her.  She was dressed all in black and her face was pale, but at least it was a friendly one.  The side door of the house was now open, and she could feel the heat that was coming from within.  It was a cold evening, and so she decided to go inside.

            The inside of the house was not at all how she expected it to look.  Someone must have redecorated at some point.  It certainly didn’t look as though there had been a fire in there.  The walls had all been painted red, apart from one, that had been painted with a strange mural that gave her the creeps.  It was a large, wall sized painting that depicted women with stakes through their hearts, being burnt on top of large bonfires, before being decapitated by soldiers with long, silver swords.

            There appeared to be just this one big room.  On the wall opposite the one with the strange painting, there was a fire.  It was giving out a warm, welcoming heat, and she felt herself being drawn towards it.  The rest of the room was empty, apart from the large sofas, arranged in a u-shape around the fire.  The room was lit by one giant chandelier, which she noticed used candles instead of light bulbs.  There did not appear to be any signs of electricity anywhere.  Someone had gone to a lot of trouble, to make this place look as authentic as they possibly could.

            As she sat warming herself by the fire, Laura suddenly realised that she was alone.  The woman who had greeted her, was gone.  Her heart was racing, as she looked for the exit door, and then found it locked.  She was trapped.  Panic set in as she remembered her phone, that was sitting on the kitchen table.  She was starting to wish that she’d told someone where she was going.  No one knew that she was here.

            Not knowing what else to do, she sat by the fire and waited.  An eternity seemed to pass, before she heard a sound coming from behind her.  Laura turned to see a doorway suddenly appear, in the middle of the mural.  The mysterious lady appeared from within, followed by six girls of about her age.  They looked pale, and walked slowly with their heads bowed down.  None of them looked at her, as they made their way to the front of the room.  They sat in a circle in front of the fire.  The Lady gestures to Laura that she should join them.  The fire was warm on her back, but she felt cold.  A couple of the girls looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t work out where she knew them from.  There was only silence, as they sat and waited.

            The Lady placed a large, silver cup in the centre of the circle, and each of the girls held out one of her hands.  Then she took out a silver dagger, and cut them across their palms until the blood flowed out.  The girls then held their hands over the cup, and it started to fill with their blood.  Laura watched in horror, until The Lady turned to her, and asked her to hold out her hand.  The other girls were now looking at her, and the blank expressions in their eyes, seemed to tell her that she had no choice.

            Reluctantly, Laura held out her hand.  At first, she felt no pain, but as the blood started to flow, it stung like crazy.  She could feel the tears burning the back of her eyes, as she let her blood drip into the cup.  Her head started to spin as she felt herself grow weak.  The blood just kept on dripping from her hand, until finally, it started to congeal, and she was allowed to take her hand away.

            The Lady picked up the silver cup, and studied its contents with a strange, glazed look in her eyes.  The girls sat silent and motionless, as she carefully poured the blood into what appeared to be a jam jar.  Then she went off through a door that Laura had not noticed before, and returned a few seconds later empty-handed.

            “A fine harvest this evening ladies.  The new member of our family, has made quite the addition to our bounty.  Arise now, and return to your lair.”

The girls stood up, and Laura followed them as they went back through the door from which they came.  She followed them down a narrow stairway, and into what appeared to be a cellar.  There were several large mattresses lying in the corner, and the large table in the middle, was covered in bowls of fruit and bread.  Each of the girls picked at the food, before lying down to rest.

            Laura looked around the room, and knew that she had made a big mistake.  She was trapped here, and before long, she would become like the rest of them.  Her blood would be drained little by little, night after night, until she no longer had the strength to carry on.

            Mia Dulaarc studied the jars of blood that filled the tiny fridge.  She opened two of them, and poured the contents into the steaming hot water, that filled her red-stained tub.  As she lay back in the water, she looked up at the picture of Elizabeth Bathory that was hanging on the wall, and she smiled to herself, as she made plans for reeling in her next victim.

Prehistoric London

Q:  What do you get if you cross Jurassic Park with Pompeii?

A:  Crystal Palace Park, London.

Well, they’re not really fossilized Dinosaurs, but simply the strange creations of the sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins.  Built in 1853, they are one of the strangest parts of the Victorian era that still survives in London today.  The park itself is a nice place to visit, with plenty of open space, picnic areas and a children’s play area.  There is a café in the park which is a nice, cheap and cheerful little place for a cup of coffee or a bite to eat.

            The walk around the Dinosaur Pond is well sign-posted with the names and descriptions of the Dinosaurs on show.  There is even an audio app of Darwin’s views on evolution that can be downloaded as an extra guide around the walk.  Just be warned that the path can get rather muddy if the weather has been wet, so you might want to bear that in mind when choosing which shoes to wear.

            It is a shame that you don’t find Crystal Palace Park in a lot of London tour guides, as it is one of the more interesting parks in the city and well worth a visit.  It is especially a good place to visit with children, particularly little boys who like their Dinosaurs.  They don’t even have to know that they are only made of concrete.  It’s always fun to see just how far you can pull their little legs!