Thanks for stopping at the Dark Phantom today, Christine. How long have you been writing dark stories?
For a while now. Funny as while I lean towards mystery first, I always seem to want to write horror. Blame it on Stephen King. Ha!
Tell us about your story, The Witch Tree. What inspired it?
Jimmy Grayson thinks he’s found utopia – a new house, a nice porch to relax on… and then THEY came…. Day by day, they arrive by the dozens, the hundreds, their beady eyes, watching, waiting. Jimmy fears for his sanity.
How will it end?
Who will survive?
Will it be him-or them?
I can tell it’s spring out here in Wisconsin when the red-winged blackbirds appear. We’ll get hundreds sitting in the trees, swinging on the cattails. They flock in hundreds, then do the same in fall, until they suddenly disappear, flying off to wherever they go until next spring. It’s a screeching, noisy, eerie mass.
Have you written other books with paranormal or supernatural elements?
My middle grade book, Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery, from Quake/Echelon Press, has some spooky elements and a creepy family legend. Sam and her friend, Lita, are staying at her great aunt’s old Victorian while they search for a missing miniature replica of Van Gogh’s famous painting, Starry Night. They’re working in an old shed that Aunt Hilda once used as her painting studio, and where a family barn burned down, inspiring the family legend. Plus, Sam tends to like to tease Lita, who is kind of skittish about ghosts.
Do you have a website and/or blog where readers may learn more about you and your works?
Readers are welcome to stop by my website, http://cverstraete.com and also see some of the miniatures I collect. I also am featuring various Halloween miniatures at my blog, Candid Canine.
Bonus: Visit my blog for a Scavenger Hunt this week and a chance to win some Halloween miniatures and a pdf copy of “The Witch Tree.” See question at end.
What’s your favorite horror novel? What about movies?
I have several favorites, Salem’s Lot, Dracula, Pet Sematery… Movies: We’ve gotten into a tradition of seeing a creepy movie near Halloween, probably Saw. I like suspense too.
What do you usually do on Halloween?
I usually go with my sister to a few local Haunted house events. Nothing like a good scare!
Anything else you’d like to say to our readers?
Visit Candid Canine this week for details on how to follow my Spooky Scavenger Hunt.
Scavenger Hunt Clue 1:
On Halloween, we go door to door
To get candy, look up to get scared and more
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