Featured Author Edgar Allan Poe
(January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)
was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement.
Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre,
Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story
and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre.
He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
Source | Book of the Month 
Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1st edition cover, Archibald Constable and Company, 1897
The novel is mainly composed of journal entries and letters written by several narrators who also serve as the novel's main protagonists;
Stoker supplemented the story with occasional newspaper clippings to relate events not directly witnessed by the story's characters.
The tale begins with Jonathan Harker,
a newly qualified English solicitor, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's crumbling,
remote castle (situated in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania and Moldavia).
The purpose of his mission is to provide legal support to Dracula for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer,
Peter Hawkins,
of Exeter in England.
At first seduced by Dracula's gracious manner,
Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the castle.
He also begins to see disquieting facets of Dracula's nocturnal life.
One night while searching for a way out of the castle,
and against Dracula's strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night,
Harker falls under the spell of three wanton female vampires,
the Brides of Dracula.
He is saved at the last second by the Count,
however, who ostensibly wants to keep Harker alive just long enough to obtain needed legal advice and teachings about England and London
(Dracula's planned travel destination was to be among the "teeming millions").
Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life.
Not long afterward, a Russian ship, the Demeter,
having weighed anchor at Varna, runs aground on the shores of Whitby,
England, during a fierce tempest.
All of the crew are missing and presumed dead, and only one body is found,
that of the captain tied to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey.
These events led to the gradual disappearance of the entire crew apparently owing to a malevolent presence on board the ill-fated ship.
An animal described as a large wolf is seen on the ship leaping ashore.
The ship's cargo is described as silver sand and boxes of "mould", or earth, from Transylvania.
Soon Dracula is menacing Harker's devoted fiancée,
Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her vivacious friend, Lucy Westenra.
Lucy receives three marriage proposals in one day, from an asylum psychiatrist,
Dr. John Seward; an American, Quincey Morris;
and the Hon. Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming).
Lucy accepts Holmwood's proposal while turning down Seward and Morris, but all remain friends.
There is a notable encounter between Dracula and Seward's patient Renfield, an insane man who means to consume insects,
spiders, birds, and other creatures — in ascending order of size — in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly.
Lucy begins to waste away suspiciously. All her suitors fret, and Seward calls in his old teacher,
Professor Abraham Van Helsing from Amsterdam.
Van Helsing immediately determines the cause of Lucy's condition but refuses to disclose it,
knowing that Seward's faith in him will be shaken if he starts to speak of vampires. Van Helsing tries multiple blood transfusions,
but they are clearly losing ground. On a night when Van Helsing must return to Amsterdam
(and his message to Seward asking him to watch the Westenra household is accidentally sent to the wrong address), Lucy and her mother are attacked by a wolf. Mrs Westenra, who has a heart condition, dies of fright, and Lucy apparently dies soon after.
Lucy is buried, but soon afterward the newspapers report children being stalked in the night by a "bloofer lady" (as they describe it), i.e. "beautiful lady"
Van Helsing, knowing that this means Lucy has become a vampire, confides in Seward, Lord Godalming and Morris.
The suitors and Van Helsing track her down, and after a disturbing confrontation between her vampiric self and Arthur, they stake her heart, behead her, and fill the mouth with garlic.
Around the same time, Jonathan Harker arrives home from recuperation in Budapest (where Mina joined and married him after his escape from the castle); he and Mina also join the coalition, who turn their attentions to dealing with Dracula.
After Dracula learns of Van Helsing and the others' plot against him,
he takes revenge by visiting—and biting— Mina at least three times.
Dracula also feeds Mina his blood, creating a spiritual bond between them to control her.
The only way to forestall this is to kill Dracula first.
Mina slowly succumbs to the blood of the vampire that flows through her veins, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to a state of semi-trance during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. It is this connection that they start to use to deduce Dracula's movements.
It is only possible to detect Dracula's surroundings when Mina is put under hypnosis by Van Helsing. This ability gradually gets weaker as the group makes their way to Dracula's castle.
Dracula flees back to his castle in Transylvania,
followed by Van Helsing's group, who manage to track him down just before sundown and destroy
him by shearing "through the throat" with a Knife and stabbing him in the heart with a Bowie knife. Dracula crumbles to dust,
his spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the marks. Quincey Morris is killed in the final battle,
stabbed by Gypsies who had been charged with returning Dracula to his castle;
the survivors return to England.
The book closes with a note about Mina's and Jonathan's married life and the birth of their first-born son,
whom they name after all four members of the party, but refer to only as Quincey in remembrance of their American friend.
| Contest Winners Click the photos to view full size. Creepiest Halloween Story BloodyPassion A young girl of about seventeen was quarantined to her room with a terrible illness. As her immune system had been beaten down by the weather, she was suffering from a terrible case of pneumonia. It was a stormy Saturday evening as her parents left for a social event, leaving their daughter, Cecilia, with their beloved maid, Laina. They gave Laina specific instructions to aid to Cecilia as they knew Laina would follow their every word.
Every fifteen minutes the maid would check on her and supply water and medication when needed. Cecilia seemed to be doing better as she could speak, even though just above a whisper. Laina thought Cecilia just needed sleep as she was speaking strangely on occasion.
Just after ten pm, Laina stepped in to check on Cecilia as if it were a routine.
"I'll be going soon." Cecilia whispered.
"What do you mean?" Laina stared at her strangely.
"I've been invited out."
"You're far too sick, Cecilia, the doctor visited and said you must stay in bed. Who is it that invited you out? Don't they know you're ill?" Laina straightened her skirt with the palm of her hand.
"Why yes, they're quite ill, too." Cecilia grinned.
Laina nodded slowly, "Get yourself some sleep dear, you won't be going anywhere for awhile." Laina turned on her heel and left, closing the door behind her.
Around eleven pm, as the social event was just in full swing, loud music and alcoholic beverages for everyone, Laina called Cecilia's parents in a frantic state. After leaving multiple messages on their voicemail, she decided to stop calling and just wait for their return.
She sat at the edge of the Cecilia's empty four poster bed. A loud rapping at the door made Laina nearly jump out of her skin, she hoped it was Cecilia's parents, home from the event. She pulled open the door and met eye-to-eye with a police officer who had Cecilia next to him, looking more ill than ever. She was covered in mud and soaking wet from the rain.
"CECILIA!" Laina screamed, as she pulled the girl into the house, wrapping a blanket around her. "Where ever did you find her, officer?"
"Digging up graves in the local cemetery." He nodded, slowly.
Laina looked at him in shock, "Why on Earth would she be doing that? She's sick! She was told to stay in bed!"
He sighed, "She's been mumbling something about being invited out with friends who are sick. And I found her in a graveyard? I think she needs some new friends, you know, living ones?"
Cecilia let out a shriek of laughter, which scared both Laina and the officer, just before she fell to her knees and hit the floor, letting out the very last breath she would ever know.
Best Reading Photo Broken-Mirror  Poetry.1 Sith_Philosopher Livin' My Life
Insomniac habits ain’t healthy,
Not that I care or nothin’ really.
Jamming out here to good rock
I’ll lose myself in Slash’s riffs
Since dreams can’t come to me
On a wakeful night spent listening
To hard rock and I’m about to dance.
I’ll explore the depths of my mind,
The psychedelic cosmos opened wide
Within my mind’s confines.
Welcome to my personal jungle,
My paradise city where all can come.
Bring a friend and join the party
As I strap on a gold Les Paul
To let my fingers roam where they will.
Dancing around in large top hats
Covering my burly curly mane,
I’ll give you what you need
To have a damned good time.
Take me down, oh sweet music
To that girl so pretty, right there.
I’ll dance with her and play my songs,
Write her a tune or two even.
My boots will cuff the stage
As I go on my solo rampage.
Feel it, understand my connection
With this holy sacrament, music.
Here we go!
Lithe fingers rapping, tapping along the fretboard,
I’ll strum out my love on these strings.
Nothin’ I can do to stop it comin’
These notes are gonna pour from me,
A true manifestation of my Paradise City
Built on standards of a heaven of song.
Follow me to the place of memories
From way back when on a river of chords.
My guitar will lead my fingers, pull us in
So we drown in the blissful whirlpool
Leading to the past we once had.
Someday I’ll be able to talk to a
Sweet child of mine, with a good family.
Right now I’m content living my style,
The stage is my home, I’ll play you my dreams.
I’ll show you my memories, sweet and sad.
To you, my audience, I am opened.
Judge if you must, but I’ll stand strong.
I’m still here whether you like it or not.
The past has built me to who I am,
And I’ll make my future how I like.
Where do we go now, from a place like this?
I’m headed to the top of the food chain,
I’ll walk outside along the city streets
And play my guitar freezing but living,
In the cold November rain I’ll play for just you.
Believe in me, I’ll make it happen.
All we need is just a little patience.
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