Haunted Canada Road Trip (Virtual)

If you have young ones in the home looking for something fun (and a little creepy) to do, why not check out this great series of videos from my friend and fellow horror author, Joel A. Sutherland.

(In all honesty, you don't have to be a kid to enjoy them - you can be, like me, a kid at heart. Because I've been loving this series)

Click here to see the Playlist of YouTube Videos

Joel is the Silver Birch Award-winning author of the Haunted Canada series and has been called Canada's answer to R. L. Stine by Quill & Quire.

To top it off, he's a great guy, and a librarian. C'mon, how COULDN'T you love the guy?

Joel, who was born in Ottawa, kindly wrote the introduction to my adult non-fiction book Creepy Capital: Ghost Stories of Ottawa and the National Capital Region.

As of today (March 26, 2020), there are 9 segments of Joel's daily Haunted Canada Road Trip.

Definitely worth checking out.

Here's the first one in the series about a haunted hospital in BC.

 Enjoy!!!

Free Author Reading for Children

It can be extremely challenging when people are quarantined or self-isolating and are looking for something different to do other than sitting on the couch and watching television or binging online streaming services.

I've enjoyed seeing authors and celebrities reading stories, either adult reads, or even children's picture books, in order to provide something unique and entertaining for people to enjoy for free.

To that end, even though most of my writing isn't all that family friendly (a side-effect of writing horror and speculative tales from the darkness of the shadows), I thought I would share a couple of recent readings I did, specifically with the goal of providing some family-friendly content that could be enjoyed by middle-grade aged folks.

Adults, of course, might also enjoy these tales.

The first, That Old Silk Hat They Found is a dark-humor look at what might actually happen if a snowman were to come to life. Would he really be happy and jolly, and be able to dance around and march in a parade? Or would his life be significantly different?

That Old Silk Hat They Found appears in both my mini story collection Snowman Shivers which is available in eBook, print, and audiobook. (BTW, you can download the eBook for free on most eBook retail platforms).

The second story, Looking Through Glass was published in an anthology edited by Julie E. Czerneda called Stardust. This was part of the Tales from the Wonderzone series of books that were science fiction tales drawing upon the Ontario curriculum of science for grades 3 through 6.

My story was inspired by a combination of states of matter and properties of light from the Grade four curriculum, and the bit of a science fiction mystery story about a boy and his uncle Zak, an inventor.

Here is hoping that you enjoy these family-friendly and child-safe stories.

Wait! Did You Hear That? Anthropomorphic Snow Sculptures

Have you ever wondered what might actually happen if a magic hat were able to bring a snowman to life?

Have you ever cast an uncomfortable glance over your shoulder when passing the silent snowy sentinels that stand so eerily quiet as you pass by on the icy sidewalk?

Have you ever marveled at the secret life of anthropomorphic snow sculptures?

Then you might enjoy Snowman Shivers: Two Dark Humor Tales About Snowmen.

 

Free Audiobook Download

Since today is March 15th, the Ides of March, I thought it might be fun to share the audio version of this mini story collection. Click the link above to download the audio file.

The eBook is also free on most eBook retail platforms.

The collection includes the tales Ides of March and That Old Silk Hat They Found. It also includes a "behind the stories" section as well as a short history of snowmen in popular culture.

You can also ask for the book in print, audiobook or eBook at most public libraries. Here is the OverDrive link to the eBook and Audiobook version.

In addition, here's a reading I did of That Old Silk Hat They Found back in April 2018.

Enjoy!

Announcing FREE FRIDAY FRIGHTS

Starting on Friday April 6th I will be starting a weekly feature that I'm calling FREE FRIDAY FRIGHTS. It'll be hosted on my main website at www.markleslie.ca/freefridayfridays and use the hashtag #freefridayfrights.

Every week I will post, for approximately 24 hours, a free frightening read. I'll alternate between fiction and non-fiction.

Some time during that same 24 hour period, I will host a live video on my Author Facebook Page where I'll either read the short story or I will discuss/share details from the non-fiction / true eerie/ghostly tale that is posted.