The ghosts crawl in, the ghosts crawl out: Friday the 13th at Paxton Manor

Wee Ghosties Case file: 9.13.13

Paxton Manor, Leesburg, Virginia

The ARC of Loudoun had done a fabulous job promoting Friday the 13th at Paxton so the Wee Ghosties team was met with 19 explorers for our night amongst the ghosts of the manor. After a brief history of the large house and its first family by the staff, I did a quick ghost hunting 101 session on what to look for and some simple tools to use while investigating, focusing on dowsing rods, voice recorders, and paying attention to their own senses as their most valuable resource.

It's a bit revealing but...

The new cover for Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls, and Other Creepy Collectibles has been released into the wild! A huge thank you to the team at Llewellyn for a spectacularly spooky (and moldy) cover image! Haunted Stuff will be released August 4th, 2014. 

I think it's staring at me. Is it staring at me? 

Don't forget to visit the Haunted Stuff website for stories of a cursed Victorian doll (you thought this one was ugly, hoooo-boy), the madness of Theodosia Burr, and the chair.of.death.

Forget-Me-Nots: I love the smell of boxcars in the morning

My kids were never this self-sufficient, but after living with the Boxcar Children for five weeks, they're going
to be. I'm thrilled to announce that I'm currently working on Albert Whitman & Co's new how-to book for the new era of Boxcar Children fans to be released next fall!

Forget-Me-Nots: A Boxcar Children's Guide to Adventure will be a fun romp for kids with advice on
games (did you know there are a crazy amount of ways to play tag? I'm including my fifteen favorites including Fainting Goat Tag and Flip the Bird), plus other great ideas to play outside with friends. Also included are chapters (introduced by my alter-ego Jessie Alden) on travel, detective work, spooky stuff, loads of crafts, camping and wilderness ideas, fun and easy science experiments, and Benny's Belly -- that kid could eat!