What Lies Beneath - staring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. (2000). Free on Amazon Prime right now. This is a supernatural horror story with a twist that makes it all the more interesting. I started watching it last night and got so scared I had to finish it this morning! Yes! I do recommend.
Jan Darrow / Poetry and Fiction
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Friday, March 1, 2024
Somewhere up ahead..is spring.
I wanted to let you know that my story The Disappearance Of Jackie Blue is moving along. I still can’t say for sure when it will be finished, but I’m hoping for summer/fall. I’m taking a much needed break for now but will be back in a couple of weeks. While I’m gone please make yourselves at home.
❤️ Jan
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
The Woman In Black
The Woman In Black by Susan Hill. If you’ve never read the book you won’t be disappointed in this English ghost story. My vintage copy (with illustrations) came from Etsy. Yes! I recommend.
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Abandoned Hunting Lodge - Scotland
I just had to share this. If you have seen my many posts you know that I am totally taken by abandoned buildings. I love mysteries and moody places. I found this on YouTube - Abandoned Hunting Lodge - Scotland. Just looking at the photo below I thought..is there anything more haunting and beautiful than this scenery? I’m drawn to it - the narrow road that leads as far as the eye can see, the silver river that twists and turns, and the painted grey sky. The vistas are stunning and magical. The video takes you inside the hunting lodge for interest, but in this instance the outside scenery far surpasses what was left behind.
Friday, February 9, 2024
Amélie
I’m absolutely recommending Amélie for Valentine’s Day. If you haven’t seen it..you should! I know..it’s not my usual mystery/ghost selection - it’s something a little closer to the heart. Love!
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Saturday, February 3, 2024
The War Room
On a venerable road north of town a Victorian house sat empty for two decades. Wild grape vines and roses covered the
front porch. Queen Anne’s Lace covered the drive. Tall grass stretched around
to the back and rolled out behind.
Inside, oak mantels slept under a blanket of dust. A walnut banister
curved up to the second floor where closets in bedrooms held secrets and relics
from the past.
And up there, at the end of a hall, was a room where soldiers
stood in rows with cannons, bayonets, and drums. Battles were fought. And a
young boy ate oatmeal in the morning and took baths in the evenings while
the sun slid behind the tall pines.
His mother read to him at night.
But on a mild spring day he took to his bed,
and from that he never recovered.
In the years beyond there were no more children, and his mother
filled her stale afternoons in the room with the soldiers and cannons until she
was dry as an Egyptian tomb. How often she folded the sheets back on an
empty bed.
As time went on the house bore a river of all things past and it
lived to repeat them over and over. What eerie sounds it learned to make until
one day when the gravel road gave way to bulldozers and men in trucks. The
sound of the distant highway grew nearer.
The war room took notice.
And before one wall came down cannons fired from the second
story window at the equipment below and blew pieces of metal into the sky. Again,
and again the sounds came like none the workers had ever heard. That was of course
before they drove away.
That night the boy, the soldiers, and the mother looked out into
the autumn sky.
For now, the house had won.
The War Room is from The Blue Hour: Flash Fiction (available on Amazon)
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
America
Have you ever wanted to walk off and look for America? The great experiment...and it’s still unfolding. America (1968) written by Paul Simon.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Gratitude
Gratitude
In winter
darkness
falls upon the trees
in afternoon
then wraps itself around the room
in shadows colored by
the grays and blues.
And in the darkness
falls another light.
The moon has traveled
to the room.
I stop and see myself -
reflection in itself.
A distance traveled, yes,
not measured
by a room.
Included in Winter Poems: Building Sound
Originally published by BlackPoppy Review