Book Trailer for The Haunting at Blackwood Hall
About the Author:
Barrymore Tebbs is a
photographer and writer living in Cincinati,
Ohio. His writing draws on a long
Gothic tradition from the cult TV classic Dark Shadows and Hammer Films, to
20th Century Gothic writers known for deep psychological undercurrents such as
Shirley Jackson, Daphne Du Maurier, and Thomas Tryon, to create the
Psychological Gothic, all served with a liberal dose of black humor. Very
black. He is the author of Night of the
Pentagram, The Yellow Scarf, and the psychological thriller Black Valentines.
Title: The Haunting at Blackwood Hall
Author: Barrymore
Tebbs
Genre: Historical
fiction, Paranormal, Thriller, Romance, Suspense, Mystery
Publisher: self-published
Ebook
Words: approx.
63,000
Purchase:
Book Description
Blackwood Hall is a house shrouded in silence. Nine-year-old
Alice Fenn communicates only through her music. Jonathan Fenn and his sister
Judith guard a terrifying family secret. The servants refuse to discuss the
mysterious disappearance of a former governess. A drawing room séance attempts
to make contact with the spirit of Elizabeth Blackwood. And when a diabolic
madman holds the residents of Blackwood Hall hostage to an insidious reign of
terror, governess Claire Ashby finds herself in a living nightmare of drug
addiction, pagan rituals, and murder.
In the tradition of the great Gothic Romances, The Haunting
at Blackwood Hall is a thrilling ghost story brimming with bold new twists on
the beloved conventions of a bygone era.
Excerpt:
It was early, but I felt myself
growing sleepier by the moment. I hadn’t been given laudanum since I was a
child, and the effects were completely foreign to me. My vision grew dim, and I
found I could barely hold up my head. Alice,
bless her heart, came to me and pecked me lightly on the cheek, then made an
effort of drawing a blanket over me.
I fell into a strange and troubled
sleep. I dreamed of a line of monks marching solemnly through the ruined abbey
by moonlight. Their torches cast dancing shadows against the crumbling stone
walls. Then, I saw a rider on horseback, a proud black stallion which I
recognized as Nigel Kent’s mount, only the face of the rider was an ugly,
twisted visage like the face on Alice’s
doll. Alice was
there as well, and her mother came and took her by the hand and the two of them
disappeared behind a stone arch and Alice
was lost to me forever.
I struggled up from the nightmare
and looked about the room. Alice
was asleep and the fire had died down low. It must have been the dead of night.
But I distinctly heard the sound of the door handle turning, and when the
person on the other side of the door realized it was locked, the handle began
to shake and rattle so loudly and with such force I thought the door would be
torn asunder.
“Stop it! Stop it!” I yelled, and
with great difficulty I hauled myself from the bed. The moment I was on my feet
the shaking of the door ceased abruptly. I went to the door and laid my ear
against it. I listened for a moment, but heard neither dog nor man on the other
side of the door.
Satisfied that what I had heard was
only a figment of my imagination, or the remnants of that horrid nightmare
clinging tenaciously to my mind, I turned to go back to bed…
…And distinctly heard the sound of
footsteps running down the hall.
Find the Author:
Interview Questions….
\ 1. What
inspired you to become a writer?
I’ve tried to write
off and on my entire life. When the economy bottomed out a few years ago, I got
serious about it and for the first time actually finished a book. Now it’s
become a bit of an addiction.
2. When
did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Probably when I was
twelve or thirteen and started reading spooky supernatural thrillers by a
wonderful writer named Barbara Michaels (more famously known for her Amelia
Peabody mystery series as Elizabeth Peters).
3. What
genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
Right now I am
writing in the Gothic genre, which combines elements of horror, the
psychological thriller, and romance. The
Haunting at Blackwood Hall is paranormal to the degree that it involves
spirit contact with the dead through a series of séances. I’ve been drawn to
Gothic since I was a child and watched Dark
Shadows on TV, and movies like the Vincent Price Edgar Allan Poe movies.
4. Where
did the inspiration for your book come from?
I’ve always been
fascinated with the Spiritualist movement of the 19th Century,
drawing room séances and the like. Plus I wanted to try my hand at the type of
Gothic Romance popular in the 60s and 70s. Reading those books as a teenager,
and becoming addicted to Dark Shadows
at an early age, has had a lasting effect on me.
5. How long did it take you to put the story
together?
The outline and
character profiles took about a month; the first draft about two months to
write; it sat for six months while I battled some serious health issues. I did
one revision, then went and wrote two novellas, and came back and attacked it with
a vengeance. I cut 13,000 words out of it, dropping a few subplots in the first
half of the book. It’s a lot leaner up front now. We get to the spooky parts a
lot quicker.
6. Can
you share a little about your novel with us?
Claire Ashby is a
piano teacher who accepts a position to teach a young girl who today would be
considered an autistic savant. Blackwood
Hall is a dreary country estate. The child’s father despises her, her aunt
despises her, and they have trouble keeping governesses for very long. If
you’ve ever read a Gothic Romance you know where this is going. Something is
very wrong at Blackwood Hall, and our heroine quickly uncovers one shocking
secret after another. I tried to remain true to the style as it was written
forty-fifty years ago, but there are also elements to the plot that would not
have been acceptable to readers in that era which I think make it more exciting
for today’s readers.
7. Who
is your favorite charter in your novel and why?
If I told you I would
have to kill you! I’ve nicknamed him “Mr. Sandman” for reasons which will make
sense when you meet him. Everyone who has read the book cites this man as their
favorite character. You wouldn’t want to meet this guy alone in a darkened
drawing room, or anywhere else for that matter.
8. Now
that your eBook is available for download, describe how you feel in one
sentence?
I’m relieved that I
finally was able to finish it and put it on the virtual bookshelf to give
readers a few evenings of spooky thrills.
9. What
has surprised you the most about the whole processes of getting your book on
the market?
Being self-published,
the surprising aspect is how much work goes into editing, formatting, cover
design, and marketing. A lot of self-published writers tend to skimp in these
areas, but this is where your book turns into a product. Like it or not, that’s
ultimately what it is. At a certain point you have to set the author aside and
embrace the role of publisher 100%.
10. Would
you like to share what the reviewers are saying about your book?
I have a tendency to
create characters with disturbing psychological elements. Jonathan Fenn and his
sister Judith are some of the most reprehensible people you might ever meet. One
reviewer called them “irritating”, another called them “absorbing.” I take both
as compliments!
11. How many books have you written?
I have four published
works in total. My first novel is a tongue-in-cheek blood-drenched horror
story, Night of the Pentagram. I have
two novellas, Black Valentines, a
deviously twisted psychological thriller, and The Yellow Scarf, an all out horror story which scared the pants
off quite a few of my female readers.
12. What
are you working on next?
I am working on a
Southern Gothic novel with a post World War II setting, about a board housewife
who becomes sexually involved with the wrong guy. If you like voodoo, steamy
bayous, and even steamier sex scenes, this one will be right up your alley. I’m
not sure erotic would be the proper word for it. Some of the sex scenes in it
even freak me out!
13. What
do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?
As an Indie Author I
draw a lot of inspiration from the local Indie Rock scene in my city. I can
often be found hanging out with my buddies in various bands and regaling them
with stories of going to concerts by everyone from Queen and Pink Floyd to
Talking Heads and The Clash in my younger days.
14. How
can readers contact you?
15. When does your book go on sale and where can
we buy it?
16. Last
but not least is there anything that you would like to add?
When I planned to start
self-publishing, writer friends told me I had to have a blog. They didn’t say I
was supposed to blog about writing, so I began The Midnight Room, where I post
weekly commentary about Gothic fiction, old Gothic movies and TV shows, as well
as some interviews with artists and other writers. If you’re a fan of any of
the above, stop on by! Something new and spooky pops up every week.
Stop by the other stops for more chances to win a copy of The Haunting at Blackwood Hall
July 10th
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I'd like to Thank Barrymore for this great giveaway and for the chance to learn more about your new novel.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting the promo Leigh!
ReplyDelete