Nope, it’s not Game of Thrones, nor is it Hamlet. It’s The Ghosts of Grief Hollow, the sequel to his macabre tale The Tear Collector (recently renamed The Tears of Grief Hollow). It’s amazing when you get to the end of a book, and think, what the hell did I just read, but in a good way. I really enjoyed Shawn’s first offering, and if you read my review, it was a tough act to follow. Once again, Stephen King’s It blended with Monster Squad, Shawn manages to up the ante on the horror and thrills, taking us back to the tiny Appalachian town of Harper’s Pass. Its haunted and troubled past comes back to bite its descendants in a big way.
The Markland X grew are trying to settle back into some sense of normalcy after grappling with the evil spirt of Samantha Mellinger, whom they (thought—spoiler alert) vanquished in Grief Hollow. Of course, if it seems too good to be true, it is. In this sequel, their loyalty and trust to one another will be stretched to the breaking point. And, like in the first novel, the kids realize that they are on their own. They know that either no one will believe them, or in the case of their one adult ally, Detective Holt, he’s become too wrapped up in his police work and in the unravelling of his marriage to pay attention to what’s really going on—until it is too late.
Shawn builds up some compelling new characters in the sequel. Lady Zuuva is an intriguing local legend that plays into the darkness of Grief Hollow. I didn’t think Shawn could top the centipede scene from the first book, but dang, I’m not sure which was creepier, the scene with the roots, or…well, I’ll put it this way, if you have phobias about giant bugs, this book is probably not for you.
Speaking of trigger warnings. All of them. Yep. With this book Shawn pretty much nails every trigger you could think of and does it beautifully. Kind of like Game of Thrones. This book is not for the faint of heart, and don’t get too terribly attached to any character. Shawn will kill your favorite character ruthlessly. And I love it.
Thanks for reading! You can also check out my unique brand of Alaska Backcountry horror, The Dark Land series
Some places were never meant for humans to trespass.
So we decided to camp out under the Skookum Volcano in the name of researching my writing.
Skookum Volcano getting more ominous as darkness falls.
Did I mention there’s local legends about creepy things watching from the hills that like to cut off heads?
Yeah…
So, where did I leave off last week?
It got dark. Really dark.
Only available light was from our fire and our one gas lantern.
No ambient light whatsoever. Not even from the moon or stars since the night was overcast. Beyond the firelight, the woods were black as pitch. We enjoyed our evening by the fire, drinking wine, and watching the shadows shift in the woods.
Enjoying the fire and a glass of wine. Trying not to think about the legends of the Cet’ aenn, “The Tailed Ones” of Ahtna Legends who live in the mountain.
Not being able to see far is an uncomfortable feeling in the backcountry. Not just because of stories of mythical creatures, but because of the real threat of bears. As I mentioned in another post, when you camp in the Alaska wilderness, it’s important to keep the food away from the bears. We pack everything in bear resistant containers and make sure to properly dispose of all food waste.
Bear resistant container. All food products that have a scent need to be packed in a container like this.
As you can see from the size of our cooler, it’s not very big, so meal planning is essential. We do a lot of single pot meals to maximize space and minimize waste.
To maximize space, we pre-plan single pot meals like pozole (pictured above)
Even with careful planning, there is risk of a bear attack. We typically sleep in the tent with a pistol between us. We leave the bear spray and outside so as not to risk discharge in the tent. We also leave an extra weapon outside (usually the rifle) if someone has to leave the tent in the middle of the night. We do everything we can to ensure our safety in the Alaska Backcountry.
Campsite out at Jack Creek, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
We had a great night camping out at Jack Creek in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We hope to go back next year and hike to the mines. The Devil’s Valley (coming 2021), sequel to the Dark Land, is set on this side of the park, in winter rather than summer.
If you haven’t read The Dark Land, it is currently available on Amazon. The setting for this story is on the McCarthy side of Wrangell-St. Elias, near McCarthy and Kennecott. I have done a few posts about my research:
Hey, let’s go camp under an ancient volcano in the middle of the Alaska wilderness.
Oh yeah, this area has a longstanding oral tradition of creepy creatures watching from the hills that want to kill humans.
Sounds like the plot of a horror story, right?
Part One of our night in under the Skookum Volcano
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the inspiration for my currently Published horror novella, The Dark Land, and the sequel The Devil’s Valley (coming 2021). As you can imagine, I was thrilled to get to travel this summer to a part of the park I had never been to before.
But with many trips, getting there is just half the adventure
The Nabesna Road is one of only two roads leading into the park. Only the first 10 miles or so of the 42 mile stretch is paved. My husband used to live and travel in this area, so we were fairly prepared for the rough ride, still there were a few surprises. As you view my pictures, keep in mind that this is considered to be a “maintained road.”
Creek Crossings
One of our biggest trepidations were the creek crossings. Multiple creeks cross the road deeper into the park. Depending on rain and run-off, the creeks could be impassible. The creeks are notorious for stranding unsuspecting tourists. We made sure to keep and eye on the weather, before venturing out. We managed to cross the deepest one with ease.
We put the definition of 4WD to the test here.
Ruts in the Road
This was a surprise. And it was even deeper than it looked. We bottomed out both front and back. Decided to grab some rocks on our way back to fill in the holes.
Deep rut in road
Devil’s Mountain Lodge
The Road dead ends at the Devil’s Mountain Lodge. The lodge sits at the base of Devil’s Mountain. A B&B that has been in business since the 1950’s, they provide flight tours, and guided hunting tours into some of the more remote areas of the park.
View from the Devil’s Mountain Lodge
Camping
This side of the park is pretty remote, and not generally a huge tourist hot-spot. Thanks to Covid, there were even fewer people. We didn’t have to fight anyone for a campsite.
Watershed Divide
Our campsite at Jack Creek was just stunning. An interesting fact is that this creek is on a water shed divide. While Wrangell St. Elias National Park is known for being home of the Copper Glacier, headwater of the Copper River, this creek does not flow into that watershed. Though less than 30 miles from that river, it flows into the Tanana instead. This river cuts north across the state before dumping into the Yukon. Many of the local native legends revolve around these two diverging water sheds.
Jack Creek Campsite in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Skookum Volcano and Devil’s Mountain
Inspiration for my novels came from local Ahtna (Head Water’s People) legends of the area. It’s no coincidence, looking at the terrain, that there are oral tales of things watching from the mountains above. The Skookum Volcano and Devil’s Mountain are both rich in heavy metal mineral deposits and are riddled with caves.
The Volcano is riddled with caves, can you imagine what might be lurking inside?Native copper flakes floating in puddles
We spent the evening setting up camp and marveling at the beauty around out campsite.
Pond behind our campsite at Jack Creek in Wrangell-St. Elias National ParkEnjoying the fire
Then darkness fell…
Hmmn…why did I think it was a good idea to go camp in an area known for creepy creatures????
To be continued next week…
Thanks for reading. My Alaska wilderness horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon:
Though he provides a brief synopsis at the beginning of what has transpired in the previous book, without missing a beat, Michael brings us right back to where we left off in the land of Lythinall. And in doing so, we start the story with a battle between a Dar’Krist and a dragon.
The action doesn’t stop there. When we left our heroes in the Darkness Returns, they had just faced off against a Wolvren, with Rhoe severely wounded. They’ve been taken to River Vale to be healed before continuing on their way home to Everknight.
New Characters
Michael introduces some new and unique characters in his sequel.
Trashcan-guy
Spoiler alert: this ain’t going to be an easy journey. Treachery awaits around every bend. And new characters come out of the woodwork, or in this case out of the trash pile to assist them on their way. The mysterious recluse Graf who at first appears to be just some crazy, ragged, smelly homeless guy, saves Allissanna (Liss) from assassins and become and unwilling recruit in getting them to Everknight in one piece. As with many of Michael’s characters, he is much more than he seems.
Evil Queen
A new villain joins the pantheon. It would appear that the awakening of the evil incarnation Dar’Krist is being orchestrated by a legendary elf-queen to the south. I’ll leave most of the details and description out, but I have to admit I liked her style. She reminded me of Salma Hayek’s Vampire in From Dusk til Dawn, when she pushes George Clooney to the floor and tells him he’s going to be her dog, and his name will be Spot. He establishes right away that this chick means business, and the word ‘empathy’ is not in her vocabulary. But my intuition tells me that her plan to control Dar’Krist isn’t going to pan out the way she thinks.
Sexy Bard
Jenna the Bard, appears on the scene. One of the things I like most about Michael’s fantasy is that it includes unique magical characters. They’re not the typical elves, orcs and trolls (though worls has some of that too). In this case, Jenna is a bard and a warrior on a mission, but you also quickly realize she’s something more. I’ll let you read and find out what. Her side quest to seduce Karsis cracked me up. I was waiting for Karsis to just tell her, “Look, I’m not a piece of meat!”
Character Development
Most of the other characters take a back seat in this story, but Liss is pushed to the forefront as she realizes that leadership isn’t as glamourous and easy as the songs and stories make it out to be. While she’s still rash and impulsive at times, she learns to consider others as she leads the group of refugees toward Everknight, knowing that they are being pursued all along the way. I feel Michael does a credible job here as she doesn’t lose her underlying temper/impulsive nature instantly, she is still slowly learning to control it.
Pacing
Michael sets a fast pace with this story, with non-stop action. The sequence with Karsis and Caerlyn fighting the Demon is pretty epic. Almost more Dreampunk than fantasy. And we finally get the big reveal on who/what Karsis is. There was one point, I thought for sure Rhoe had naively screwed up (won’t spoil it, but I was saying in my head, don’t fall for it—he’s the villain, doh!). My one hesitation is that at times the story felt compressed. He has several complex plot lines and character arcs going on. I would like to have seen more emotion and detail at times, and I was left saying to myself, “wait that’s it?”. He has enough here that I felt it could have been split into two stories with ease. Don’t get me wrong, this is in no way going to deter me from reading the last book, because I just have to find out how he’s going to wrap this up. More the difference between four and five stars.
If you’re looking for fast paced, high fantasy, check out Micahel Nadeau’s The Darkness Within. You’ll enjoy his complex world of Lythinall and his cast of compelling characters.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned. My next reviews in the queue will be Danielle Anacona’s By Immortal Honor Bound, and Beth Anderson’s The Vine Eater. I will also be catching up on some of our projects from this summer. In the meantime, if you are looking for a great horror read in time for the season of darkness, my own Alaska backcountry horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. It’s hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be tested to the limits on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.
Acetylene Generator out at the cabin in Chicken, Alaska
Acetylene is a highly flammable, unstable gas used in welding and cutting of metals (particularly steel). Before acetylene could be generated and bottled safely and reliably through dissolving acetylene in acetone, it was generated with a device like this. Feeding calcium carbide into the tank to mix with water, the reaction would create acetylene. The downside of this method was that the gas was typically heavily laden with moisture, so the cutting temperature is lower (typical temperatures for modern oxyacetylene torches range from 5700-6300 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the mixture of oxygen to acetylene).
In my Romantic Suspense novel, Torched, my main character Brigit is a welder. She gets one of these as a gift from a friend.
If you would like to see what it looks like to cut a cake with a modern oxyacetylene torch, you can see that here.
Thanks for reading, We’re going to be off the grid until at least Mid-October. They stop maintaining the road 10/15. If you are interested in some of my other writing, my horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits in on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.
The last ten months of my life have been spent in a frenzy of “hurry up and wait,” as we like to phrase it in the military. Life has been a rollercoaster from the moment the announcement was made at the end of August 2019, that my business unit had been sold, until the last week of June when I shut down my email and handed in my laptop and badge.
Many people were disturbed by my decision to package out. I was too young—committing career suicide. Shouldn’t I want to continue to work, develop my career? Some were jealous, chained to the need for a steady paycheck for personal or family reasons.
It wasn’t an easy decision, but as time went by and the date got closer. Any doubt in my mind that it was the right one disappeared.
Am I quitting working forever?
Not necessarily. I’m taking a pause to re-evaluate what’s important in life, and how much I really need to work, while Ray and I turn 31 acres of Alaska wilderness into an artists’ retreat and our future summer retirement getaway.
Alternative Energy
I’m definitely going to be putting my technical skills to the test, working on our new solar kit and performing a battery study this summer. I also plan on doing a wind study to eventually install wind turbines to complement our system
Writing
Even with all of the physical work we have going on, being disconnected from the constant chatter allows me to focus on my story and blog writing in a way that I just can’t in town.
Collage of the Lilly of the Valley sculpture in Chicken. Many more to come as we turn 31 acres of Alaska Wilderness into an off-grid artists’ retreat.
Stepping off the Merry-Go-Round
Take care everyone. I’ll have some auto-posts on social media over the next few weeks, and when we come back into range for supplies, I’ll post updates on where we are at with our off-grid adventures. Hopefully someday some of you can come join us.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.’—
T.S. Eliot
Thanks for reading. Follow my blog or sign up for my newsletter if you would like to find out more. My first self-published novel, The Dark Land, is Available on Amazon.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. It’s hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be tested to the limits on the isolated boundaries of The Dark Land.
How has Individualism gone astray in America in 2020
And how can we bring it back on track?
“You wouldn’t abandon a ship in a storm because you couldn’t control the winds.”
Sir Thomas Moore
Everywhere I turn lately I either see the mantra of:
“I have the right to do what I want and you can’t make me do anything against my will.”
And Conversely
“The government needs to come in and force these people to do (what I deem) is the right thing.”
As a Libertarian, both these statements disturb me highly, though I understand where both sides are coming from. To say 2020 has been tumultuous would be an understatement. Adding fuel to the simmering cauldron is the amount of misinformation available through the media. The emotions are a maelstrom:
Confusion
Anger
Fear
Frustration
Despair
Hopelessness
On this eve of our nation’s conception, I decided to put together this short blog on my take on Individual Liberty, and what it means to me. Here is a link on the history of Libertarianism for those who are interested:
“Laws could be passed to keep a leader of a government from getting too much power.”
Sir Thomas Moore
Libertarians Believe in Anarchy, Right?
No, not as a whole. Libertarians just believe in limited government. The core belief of Libertarianism is that the individual best knows how to govern themselves.***
The government’s role should be to protect the rights of citizens, and should only enable them to act when rights are infringed upon. The laws should restrain the government more than the people.
***Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my moments lately, shaking my head as I look around at what is going on and thinking that if this is the best our society can do, we’re screwed
So That Means I Can Do Whatever I Want?
Nope, not so fast
“…Individuals should be free to behave and to dispose of their property as they see fit, provided that their actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others.”
Their identity of community centers around consent, rather than coercion. We can make laws to protect rights, but we cannot legislate human behavior.
“The fact that the majority wants something good does not give them the right to use force on the minority that don’t want to pay for it. If you have to use a gun, it’s really not a very good idea. Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It’s just ganging up on the weird kid, and I’m always the weird kid.”
Penn Jillette
Winds of Change
I hear so many people crying that they are ashamed of America and they want to leave, but what I see gives me hope, despite the violence and disorder that other countries mock us for while they ignore their own problems.
Change takes time, and is often painful. People inherently resist change, even if what they have at the moment isn’t so great. If you don’t believe me, just google search, “Why do people resist change.” I’ve even included an article below.
But what gives me hope is that people are talking and acting, rather than just sitting by passively letting things fester and spread like a cancer between the surface. And I hate to break it to you, it is probably going to get even uglier before it gets better. But if we are to survive as a country, we have to change.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.’
-Barack Obama
Thanks for reading, these are my own personal thoughts on Individual Liberty. I hope it gave you some food for thought, or maybe I just stirred up the internet Trolls a little.
Take care and have a safe and happy Independence Day Weekend. My self-published Alaska horror novella is available on Amazon. Subscribe to my newsletter to get sneak peeks and updates.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits in the frozen boundaries of The Dark Land.
While I love to write, I love to read just as much. Fantasy, horror, scifi, historical fiction and non-fiction are my favorite genres in which to read. While I have been neck-deep in self-publishing my own book, it is always a pleasure to take a break and review a book from one of my fellow authors.
This past Memorial Day Weekend I had the pleasure out at the cabin of sitting down and reading The Soul Web, by Steven Nedeau. Those of you who follow me know I love to do deep dives on my reviews, but I am going to refrain on this one (as much as I can) because I don’t see how it would be possible to discuss all the things I want to without spoilers. I will share what I enjoyed about my adventure into Nedeau’s world of Melanthios and his complex high fantasy novel.
Definition of High Fantasy
Fantasy is a broad category of fiction with multiple sub genres. The Soul Web fits squarely in the category of High Fantasy. This genre is defined as taking place in a world that is completely separate from our own, usually with magical elements, complex characters and subplots. Oftentimes, this world has a medieval setting and involve a quest. These books are often longer than typical fiction, as the world building involved takes more description than a story set in the regular world as we know it. Examples of High Fantasy are: Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings; The Dragon Lance Series, by Margret Weiss and Tracey Hickmann; A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin.
High Fantasy can also devolve into some very well-known tropes, clichés and traps. I think one of the most well known is bogging down the plot with too much description. Tolkien was infamous for this. As was Martin. This is where Nedeau does a really good job. His story is very plot and action driven. The characters move quickly from one scene to the next, filling in the gaps as they go. I would say there were a few times I could have used a little more description, but all in all a very fast paced storyline.
Revitalizing old Clichés and Tropes of Fantasy
As mentioned above, fantasy and in particular High Fantasy, tends to fall into stereotypes and clichés. Here are 5 of the most well known:
The Chosen One
Oversimplified Good vs. Evil Dynamic
Setting Medieval Style Monarchy
Contrived Romance/Insta-love/Love Triangle
The All-Powerful Magical Object
Nedeau does a great job of turning each on its head or reinventing it in a fresh, engaging way. I will explain how in my review.
The Chosen One
After years of living and working in a library reading history, Jaron learns that he is the son of a King. All of the people around him who he thought were his friends were really assigned to be his bodyguards. Fearing that his father is dead, they are thrust into a quest with a land surging into war. Nedeau does a great job here of creating an awkward, studious teenager that doesn’t magically morph into Superman, Aragorn, or any other legendary character. Throughout the story you do question whether he really is the guy for the job.
Oversimplified Good versus Evil
As the kingdom of Melanthios plunges into war all kinds of creatures come out of the wood work. Unlike in Tolkien where:
Goblins, orcs= bad
Elves and dwarves = good
Humans something in between
There’s a different dynamic here. The races of Melanthios choose sides based on their own political agendas and past histories. Centuries of grudges and bad blood come to light. Nedeau does a good job of creating empathy in the reader behind the different races and helping to understand why they are allying with either side in the battle to come. And even as the story progresses, there’s hints that even the main characters are not as virtuous as they seem at first blush.
Medieval-style Monarchy
Nedeau does use this trope, and it is considered the most forgivable of the High Fantasy trope because the magic and themes blend well into this frame work and are more believable than in a modern setting. It works well for his plot of an ancient king who has in a sense sold his soul and the souls of his knights in a pact for immortality. Now the current rulers are battling for control, and one has made a pact with this Army of the Dead thinking he can control it. This also ties back to the oversimplified good vs. evil above. There are times when you are looking at both sides (kind of like politics today) and wondering why are heroes want to fight for either side. They are being forced to choose between the lesser of evils.
Contrived Romance/Insta-love/Love Triangle
At first when I saw the set up between Joran and his protectors Keras and Ellian I wondered if Steven was going to go in the love triangle direction. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but he takes us in an entirely different direction. He builds Keras as a skilled and powerful female warrior, but also as a charming young woman. So he doesn’t devolve into what I like to call the female stereotype of the “bad-ass.” She’s worthy of admiration, but so is the other companion Ellian. His strength and strategic ability get them out of trouble on their journey more than once. Nedeau uses these characters as foils to show Joran growing and changing as he confronts his own securities as the purported future leader. There is love, but it blossoms slowly. I won’t spoil it, but I will give you a teaser from one of my favorite lines where the three have to crawl through a tight space. I think I really liked this scene because it reminded me of some of my interactions in the Navy.
Before Keras entered she pointed at Joran, “Don’t look at my butt,” and then to Ellian, “Don’t touch my butt.”
“Wait,” Ellian clarified, “So I can look then?”
She hit him and squeezed through the opening.
Scene from The Soul Web
The All-Powerful Magical Object
Instead of the One-Ring, or sword or book, they are searching for something magical. But Nedeau puts a unique spin on this one as well. Once again, I won’t go into detail here, but it involves the title of the book itself. He reveals snippets of what the group is really questing for little by little as the story goes on. The scene between Joran, Sir William and Lord Baros had a definite Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Tales from the Crypt feel to it and is one of my favorite scenes.
Nedeau’s addition to High Fantasy is a fast-paced, magical ride with unique and real feeling characters. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next and how the characters develop in the sequel to The Soul Web.
Thanks for reading. I have a great line-up of authors in the queue for this summer while I work and write out at the cabin. Hoping to dive in to Eric Lahti’s The Henchmen, next.
I am also working hard on the sequel to The Dark Land, available on Amazon now. Sign up for sneak previews.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits in the isolated boundaries of The Dark Land.
Writing Sex (and other activities) in Alaska in the Summertime
Since many of my followers got a kick out of my last post about sex scenes in the cold, I thought I would follow-up about writing realistic romance (and life) in the outdoors of Alaska in the warmer times of year.
Yes—it does get warm here.
I can already here the question from a few of my followers:
So have you…you know…?
That’s a whole other blog post. For now, I’d like to share some of the more realistic parts of writing steamy romance in the great outdoors in Alaska (or extreme northern climates) in the summer.
The Midnight Sun
Whenever I have friends from other places visit in the summers, I always give them a beautiful sleeping mask as a gift—because while the midnight sun seems great at first, it makes it impossible to sleep. People always ask me if I have trouble with the constant darkness in the winter. Not as much as the perpetual light in the summer. Picture this…the sun is shining and everything is green, with a perfect temperature of 70 degrees. Sitting up and reading a book on the deck with an extra glass of wine is too tempting. Doing more yard work or taking another walk is too hard to turn down. Up north, in Prudhoe Bay and Barrow, the sun will be above the horizon for 24 hours a day until August. By fall, I’m exhausted and you just can’t override that diurnal urge to be awake when the sun is up.
View of the sunset from our cabin. Time is approximately midnight. The sun will only dip below the mountains for a few hours before rising again. It never gets truly dark this time of year.
Here’s a great article from 2019 explaining the phenomenon.
One of the things to keep in mind is in the summer is that there won’t be any real darkness. Unless your characters have great blackout curtains, they still be able to see each other when they turn off the lights. At the same time, the low light is gorgeous. The sun does go down here in Anchorage for a few hours, creating a soft twilight setting. Use that to your advantage in your story.
The Mosquito—Our Other State Bird
Ahh—the bugs. And not just the mosquitos. But they are out there, and I have even managed to incorporate these annoying little pests into my stories at times. It doesn’t matter how much deet is in that bug spray, they’re still coming for your blood. That being said, they definitely like certain temperatures and of course boggy wet areas and forests.
Cow Parsnip
The scourge of Southern Alaska (and parts of the Pacific Northwest), you can find these plants over most of Southeast Alaskan trails. The stems and leaves contain a photosensitive chemical called furocoumarins. While some people have a more intense reaction than others, this chemical causes blistering burns on the skin after exposure to ultraviolet light. An article below details one hiker’s horrific encounter with the plant. It also gies you details of what the plant looks like and its growing conditions.
I mention this, because it could make a great plot point for some of you that may be writing revenge-type stories. My husband has a great story of a friend from the lower 48 who went camping for the first time in Alaska, chopped down a whole mess of it and used it as bedding. His trip did not end well to say the least.
Erratic Weather
There’s a saying in Alaska:
If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.
Ray and I love to joke about the inaccurate weather forecasts. To counter this, whether on a hike or a drive, prepare for changing conditions, and be ready for a little (or a lot) of inclement weather. Sure, the gorgeous blue bird days here in Alaska are wonderful to behold, but since the warm season is so short, we don’t let that hold us back from enjoying the outdoors. To be honest, we don’t let winter hold us back much either, but a hike in the summer is way more pleasant than a hike in the winter. At least in the winter, there’s no mosquitos or cow parsnip!
The Wildlife (they like to watch)
Okay, I don’t know if they LIKE to watch. But they definitely like to interrupt. I think what many people lose sight of, even here in Anchorage, is that we’re on their turf, not the other way around. One of the things that people comment on in my writing is that the characters ALL carry guns.
Is that for real?
Do I REALLY do that?
The answer is yes, I do. I also carry bear spray. What I will also say, is that I have never had to shoot an animal in self-defense (though we have had some pretty close calls). Most wild animals are curious, but really want nothing to do with people. If you make enough noise while hiking, most bears will go the other way. The two most dangerous animals are as follows:
Just a black bear cruising the a neighborhood in Anchorage. If that’s what comes into town, imagine what’s in the backcountry.
Females and their young:
Moose
We see so many tourists trying to get close to the baby moose. I understand why. They’re cute, fuzzy and really awkward on those long spindly legs. But always keep in mind that nearby is one of the most dangerous animals in Alaska. Mama moose is about 1000 lbs of sheer rage when she thinks her baby is threatened. She can turn on a dime, too. More people get injured or killed in Alaska by moose than bear for two reasons:
There’s more moose than bear (ratio of around 3:1)
They seem less threatening
Here’s a great article from Alaska Fish and Game about agreesive moose if you’re looking to incorporate one into your story.
There’s a reason why there’s many jokes about protective Mama bears. It doesn’t help that the cubs are inherently curious and like to wander. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, avoid at all costs. I’ve heard more than one horror story of a person inadvertently getting between mama bear and baby.
Any animal that has become habituated to humans and is no longer what would be considered wild. These animals now consider humans to be a source of food. This happens quite frequently with bears. Tragically, when this occurs, this is when an animal has escalating and dangerous encounters with humans. Fish and Game can sometimes tag and relocated the animal, but often the animal has to be put down. This is why there are so many strict regulations about food and bear proof containers in the back country. If you are writing about the backcountry and bears, here’s the specific page related to that:
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, check out my Alaska backcountry horror novella, The Dark Land, available on Amazon now.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.
When the Excelsior pulled into Seattle with a “ton of gold”
mined from a small tributary of the Klondike River in 1897, a million people
made plans to head north. One hundred thousand people crossed the Canadian
border. Forty thousand people passed through Dawson City during the summer of
1898, only to find that most of the claims had already been taken. Tough
conditions, disease and back breaking work weeded out the weakest.
Plain cross, person unknown
Ghosts of the Yukon
It’s not surprising that the Alaska-Yukon Goldfields are riddled with ghostly tales. Spectre dog-teams in the night, towing evanescent passengers. Haunted ships cruising on empty lakes under the midnight sun. But one of the most famous haunted places is Dawson City’s Palace Grand Theater.
The Palace Grand Theater, built in 1899 by Arizona Charlie. One of the Most haunted buildoings in Dawson City.
The Finest Theater in the Paris of the North
Built by showman Arizona Charlie, The Palace Grand Theater didn’t open until 1899. By then, Dawson’s boom was almost over. People were already moving on to the next strikes in Nome and Fairbanks. But the Palace Grand was the finest theater in the “Paris of the North.” When the boom finally faded, Dawson’s historic buildings were abandoned and left to decay. In the 1960’s Parks Canada made an effort to restore the buildings and retain the Gold Rush history.
The Palace Grand Theater puts on multiple shows a day as part of their historic presentations. Multiple people working in the theater have recounted paranormal tales and activity. I have included a link to this video from Yukon paranormal.
Yukon Paranormal, Episode 3 Ghosts of the Klondike
Some believe the footsteps echoing through the second story
belong to Arizona Charlie, the famous showman and friend of Buffalo Bill. Does
he come back and visit his box to watch over his theater? Or is it one of the
other “Kings of Dawson,” who dug a fortune out of the Yukon and lavished it on
the “Goodtime Girls”?
“The poor ginks just gotta’ spend it, they’re scared they’ll die before they get it out of the ground.” –“Diamond Tooth” Gertie Lovejoy on the miner’s spending habits
As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, one of the
disappointing aspects about researching is that you can’t include ALL of the
fascinating things you find. While writing my series about Dawson City in 1898,
I have tried to include as much as I could about the real characters of the
Klondike Rush.
Kings of Dawson
Some of the other potential candidates for the male ghosts
haunting the Palace grand would be “Big Alex” Mc Donald who dug a fortune in
gold out of his claims, but died a pauper in 1909 after spending it all, always
assuming there would be more. To his credit, he didn’t spend it all on ladies
of the demimonde. He was known for donating money to charity or lending money
to people in need. During the Typhoid outbreak in Dawson when the first crudely
build hospital burned down, he donated money to fund the building of a new one,
earning him a knighthood from the pope.
One of the Kings of Dawson, “Big Alex” McDonald. He made and lost a fortune, but he was remembered for his generosity and civic responsibility, even though he died a pauper on his claim.
“Swiftwater Bill” was well known for making a fool of himself with the ladies of the redlight district of Dawson. According to Lael Morgan’s book, Good Time Girls of the Alaska Klondike Gold Rush, he made and lost three fortunes during his stint in Dawson. He frequented the saloons and dance halls, lavishing gold on his wives and mistresses. He even commissioned this gold belt for Rose Blumpkin.
Gold nugget belt made for Rose Blumkin. Image UAF-1964-79
Klondike Kate: “Queen of the Klondike”
“To us she was laughter and beauty and song. She was
forgetfulness of hardship and homesickness. But she was more than that, she was
our friend—a square shooter.”—The introduction as Klondike Kate was honored at
the annual Alaska-Yukon Pioneers Stampede in Oregon in 1931.
Klondike Kate Rockwell, Queen of the Klondike ASL-P-41-56 P. E. Larss Photograph Collection, 1898-1904. ASL-PCA-41
A Lonely and Queenly Presence
Multiple people have described encountering a presence in
the dressing room that once belonged to the most famous and boldest of the “Good
Time Girls,” Klondike Kate. Others have seen a lonely red-haired woman on the
second floor in the boxes or on stage after the theater closes when they are
locking up for the night.
Sweetheart of the Sourdoughs
A woman ahead of her time, she made her way north to seek
her fortune, purportedly disguising herself as a man to get around the Mounty’s
restrictions around women rafting over the “Five-Finger” Rapids.* She was
determined to get to the Klondike, where she was sure fortune awaited. When she
got to crowded, muddy Dawson city, she set about making a name for herself. She
was known for her famous “Flame dance,” where she would use fans to keep 200
yards of chiffon airborne while she danced in front of red lights. She was also
known for roller-skating on stage in a skimpy leotard. While a talented
actress, she was well known amongst the miners for her kindness, and quickly
became the “Sweetheart of the Sourdoughs.”
*The Five Finger Rapids was one of the more treacherous parts of the “weeding-out” process. Especially considering many of the rafts were home-made. So many of the boats wrecked going through the canyon that the RCMP started inspecting the rafts before they launched. They felt that women should not shoot through the rapids and forced them to hike around.
The Wrong Man
Unfortunately, she fell for the wrong man. Head-over-heels
for bartender Alexander Pantages, he fleeced her for thousands of dollars then
dumped her for a younger woman. Heartbroken, she tried to recover the money by
suing him (they were business partners). But after a year she was only able to
recover a few thousand dollars. A few years later he was accused of raping an
underage girl and was sentenced to 50 years in San Quentin. He served 2 years
before being later acquitted, he died five years later never recovering from
the ordeal. Some accounts speculate that the entire crime was a set up by some
of the miners who loved Kate and had a spite at Pantages for the heartbreak he
had caused her.
“I was the flower of the north, but the petals are falling awfully fast honey.” Klondike Kate at 71, in an interview she gave before her death in 1956.
She lived life to the fullest, marrying 3 times. Now when the lights go low in the Palace Grand Theater, her ghost walks the stage and the boxes. People smell roses or rosewater in her dressing room. Perhaps this summer when we visit Dawson again as part of my research, I’ll get the chance to say hello to the spirit of this amazing pioneer woman.
A picture of me at one of our favorite surprise stops in Dawson, the Sternwheel GraveyardThe Dark Land, Available on Amazon
Lured by her high peaks and vast forests, adventurers swarm to the siren call of Alaska’s backcountry. Her harsh bite scars many. Some never return
The legend of the Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter.
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