Scareville, Blackened Hearts, and Paranormal Experiences (with Award Winning Author John Ward)

👻🖤In this new After Hours Chat I have a chat with Horror author and Paranormal Investigator John Ward.
 John is the author of the horror series for young people, Scareville (think Goosebumps, Fear Street, and the Scary Stories Trilogy) and the award winning paranormal horror novel .
 He also talks of his experiences as a paranormal Investigator and some of his personal experiences with the supernatural. 

You can follow John and check out his books on his socials and Amazon:

@john_ward_horror

https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Scareville-John-Ward/dp/B0BZBPPLM2

https://www.amazon.com/Blackened-Heart-Soul-ebook/dp/B0G3Q3XVWR

#paranormaltalk #paranormalhorror #horrorfiction 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Well, hey there, and welcome to another episode of the After Hours Chats podcast. We have another After Hours Chats going on, and this one is another guest that I uh met, another awesome person, artistic type that I met at the Horror Hotel International Film Festival. Last week's episode was uh with the uh filmmakers, the screenwriter and director of Legato, uh, Christine Jensen and Ana Perez. And this week we have horror author and uh very talented writer and paranormal investigator, John Ward. So, yeah, so I would love for you to maybe tell a little bit about yourself, for those maybe just being introduced to your work.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Yeah, absolutely, and thanks for having me on. I'm excited to be here. But uh, for those who don't know me, yes, my name is John Ward. I am a horror author from Northeast Ohio. Um got my start writing a series called Scareville, which is in the same vein as Goosebumps. So that middle grade, fun spooky horror series, uh trying to get a modern take on it. It's a little more plot-driven, a little bit scarier than goosebumps, but still safe for readers of all ages. Um, and then I started dipping my toes into the adult horror realm as well, just to kind of have both avenues covered, uh, and wrote my debut adult horror novel last year that just got published in January of this year, and it's called A Blackened Heart, A Blackened Soul. And that is a very bleak, heavy story. It's grief, horror, and possession horror kind of mixed into one, um, and absolutely terrifying for a lot of readers. So that was me and in that shape. I do paranormal investigating as well. Um, I've been doing that for a little 10 10 to 12 years now, somewhere in that range. I've lost track of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah. So, yeah, because when I was um chatting with you for a bit uh at the uh horror hotel festival, I was kind of taking a look at your books and I saw the Scareville ones, and I was like, ooh, like I was immediately uh reminded of Goosebumps and also a little bit of Fear Street and also the uh scary stories to tell in the dark trilogy. So, like, were you inspired by uh any of those in writing uh Scareville?

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yeah, absolutely. So I took a lot of inspiration from R.L. Stein with Goosebumps and Fear Street a little bit. Um, but wanted to definitely, like I said, give it give it a little bit more amped up fear and put that modern feel on it. Because if you if you go back and read the Goosebumps books, they're still highly entertaining. But as far as the scare factor, it doesn't age well, even looking back at it as a as a kid. I mean, kids are more resilient these days than they were when we were their age. Oh yeah, just the way things are now. But um trying to ramp it up a little bit, but still make it safe, um, and then just making the plots a little deeper too, right? Like uh make there be real stakes involved and and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

So yeah, yeah, very cool. And um now with Black and Heart, Black and Soul, you said you've kind of dipped your toes into adult horror. Now, what inspired Black and Heart, Black and Soul? Because I have not read it yet, but I do want to get my hands on it, and it looks you said it scares the crap out of people. So what if people and it's and I I saw it won an award recently, won a couple awards. That's really awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. So yeah, it's definitely on my to read list. So I would love like a little, maybe of course, without giving too much away, a little synopsis of it. And what inspired you to write it? Because if memory serves me correctly, when we were talking at the uh horror hotel festival, uh you said that it was inspired by actual events and things that actually happened to you. Um, or that I that may have been somebody else I was talking to, maybe someone else I was talking to, or was that you?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yeah. No, great question. So, yeah, um, yes. So the the overall synopsis of the story, and I will say this, that is loosely inspired by real things that I went through, particularly in my adulthood. Um, so part two of the novel is is has definitely touched on some things that I went through and experienced in life, um, both paranormal aspects and personal home life stuff, uh, where I think something was influencing things that happened. Uh, but long story short, um, you know, like the log line of the book itself is evil watches, it waits. Um, and the reason for that is uh early on in part one of the book, we learned that the main character, Johnny, lost his mother in a tragic car accident. And um, you know, my idea behind that was that there was basically a you know an evil entity in near proximity when that happened, saw it happen, and decided to capitalize and manipulate Johnny and his father both post accident and invest their lives and you know, go through that whole uh infestation, oppression, and possession kind of aspect of things, uh, with the demon's sole intent to basically destroy Johnny's life and just basically uh keep him going long throughout his whole life, more or less. So um part one is him as a kid, he's eight years old. Part two is is Johnny as an adult, um 25 years later. So um in part two, the demon has made its way back into his life after my main character, John, has become a paranormal investigator. Um so yeah, that's that's kind of it in a nutshell. Without giving too too much away, um but yes, the demon's intent was to um basically break him down methodically over a long period of time and take everything that he loves, more or less.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Oh, yeah, yeah. And yeah, because I'm getting back to doing my book reviews because I I I go through spurts where I do book reviews and then spurts where I get take a little break from them just because sometimes with time, you know, time you don't always have time to read a bunch of books, even though you'd love to. But yeah, but I'm definitely uh getting back to doing my book reviews. Um, so yeah, I definitely I want to add that to my to read list because it definitely I was looking at it at the uh festival and I was like, oh wow, this sounds really, really cool. So now what made you like want to be a writer and a storyteller and tell stories and especially spooky stories? Like what what made you go into horror writing as opposed to say maybe writing like more of like a Nicholas Sparks book or something?

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Right, right. No, that's that's that's a great question. Um, so I've always been a huge fan of horror, even from a young age, and and that love came from reading goosebumps because that was at that perfect age when those you know blew up all over all over the world, right? So uh I remember those books having a big impact on me and then slowly easing my way into watching horror TV shows, horror movies, and stuff like that, and just became I won't oh I mean I guess I would say obsessed. I love horror, right? So um, but I was always told as a kid, teenager, all that stuff that I was a talented writer and blah, blah, blah, and all this stuff. But once you get into high school, you're never really told to pursue your passions, you're just told to go to college or get a job. So I did a little bit of both and found, you know, I've never really been happy. I've bounced from job to job to job and just never felt fulfilled. And then a few years ago, I was out at a local park, just kind of racking my brain on I I knew I want to do something in the horror industry, right? That's what was going through my head. But like, what can I do to get into the horror industry? And uh I was standing out on a little dock overlooking the water, and I just slowly turn around and obviously sublimally, I knew it was there, but I turned around and I saw this library up on the hill behind me.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

And I kind of had that light bulb moment. I'm like, oh, you know, I was always told I was a good writer, I'm gonna write horror books. And then I thought back to how excited I was to read goosebumps and full transparency. I didn't know R. L. Stein was still writing at that time. I'm like, I'm gonna bring a modern version of Goosebumps to the world. And uh got really excited and the floodgates opened, and you know, I kind of just uh started game planning from there and and it just took over my mind and my just obsessed over it for a while and started doing it. So yeah, uh it's been a long, not a long journey, but a fun journey. Um and it's a lot of work for sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Yeah, yeah. And you know, how many books have you how many books are there in the uh Scareville series?

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Uh there's nine so far. Ten will be coming out sometime this fall. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Okay. And um, and you said that it's uh it has like a little bit more of a scare factor than like say the goosebumps do. So what age range would you say um would would you say could read it and could maybe adults enjoy it too?

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Yeah, 100%. So um this is what I always tell people. They're they're targeted towards that 8 to 13 age range, right? But I've had readers as young as six buddy reading with their parents to adults in their 70s reading and enjoying them. So I just say they're for everybody now. Um obviously, people that grew up reading Goosebumps, there's gonna be that easy nostalgic factor that's gonna take them back to when they were kids and teenagers reading those books, uh, which makes it a really fun read for those adults as well. But I like I said, I've had readers in their 70s reading and enjoying them as well. It's just they're just fun, spooky stories where you're not gonna be overwhelmed with intense dread or fear or sadness. They're just fun spooky stories that everybody can enjoy.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

So oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And who might you recommend black in hearts, blacken uh souls to?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

That would that one I always give the caveat. Yeah, I give a caveat with that one. You have to go like if you're gonna read it, go into it knowing that it is a very bleak, probably one of the bleakest stories you're gonna read. It's very heavy, very emotional, because it's a lot of real life stuff, even though it is about possession and and all that stuff. But right, um there's a lot of real life subject matter in there, and and a lot of stuff, like I said, that I went through. Um, so I had that cathartic moment of writing those scenes out, even though I fictionalized a lot of it. But um if if people are open to bleak, heavy, emotional, scary reads, I would definitely say go into that. But uh, if you're someone that doesn't enjoy horror so much and you're kind of just starting out in it, I don't know that that would be one I would recommend right off.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Yeah. So okay, cool. So because um when you said that in the first half um it's following our the uh main character as a kid, and then in the second half, it's 25 years later as an adult. That kind of makes me think of Stephen King's It when they start out as as kids in like the the first the first part of the book, and like and then second, you know, second half there, at least in the movies. I know I in the book it's like more like flashbacks and they're going back and forth, but um but in at chapter one and it chapter two, the movies that were most recent, um that that's kind of like what that makes me think of. Um yeah, or and I think well, although the uh the one with Tim Curry, it was kind of like the book where it was flashbacks and then more concentrated on the second one, you know, as the as adults, but that's kind of like what that made me think of. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Yeah, that's true, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

Yeah, very cool, very cool. And um now you also have experience as a paranormal investigator, which I think is really, really cool. Um, has that inspired any of your works at all?

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Yeah, absolutely. Um, there's I mean, little bits and pieces of it sprinkled into a lot of my a lot of my books, um, whether it be some nightmares that I had involving locations that I would incorporate into books or or what have you. But um, yeah, I mean, instances that I've had experience-wise with the paranormal has given me a unique lens, especially when it comes to writing paranormal stories. Um, because I've I've experienced with it, I've dealt with it. It's it's one of those things. Like people that have suffered from addiction can write that into horror stories much better than I could because I've never experienced that, right? They can get into the nitty-gritty details that I just wouldn't have no experience with. So um, same thing goes for the paranormal. I've been doing it for so long and I've had so many experiences, both positive and negative, in that space. Um, there is a misconception with the paranormal that it's always negative and everything's evil. That's not the case. But uh, when you deal with something evil or negative, it can be a lot, it can be a lot to deal with. Um and I have, and I've taken some of the spirits that I've dealt with. Um I'm I've used one in particular. It was from this place called the Monroe House in Hartford City, Indiana. Um, I had nicknamed that spirit Greyface because that's how he would always appear to me. Um, and I dealt with now they there's some sectors of the paranormal community that will call that a demonic house or whatever. I I don't know that I would call it that, but it's definitely something malevolent that's there. Um but, anyways, I used that gray face spirit, and even though I didn't fully bring him in as a spirit into a black and heart, a black and soul, I did make it one of my demons' manifestations that it came through as a couple different times in the story. So um, but yeah, I've definitely taken some real life uh inspirations for sure.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yeah, yeah. And now the paranormal and you being able to see entities, is that something that you've had all your life? Because I know that that's pretty common for people that have those those experiences.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

So this will be unique, right? So I think I was sensitive to it as a kid, and then you know, as a kid, you're always scared of those things, right? So then your parents come in and they're like, Ghosts aren't real, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they hammer it home and they hammer it home. And uh, I think I became so hardened to it um that I stopped having those experiences for a long time. And I actually wound up becoming a skeptic as I grew up uh up until I was 21, so about 15 years ago. And then I started having some experiences with a roommate that I lived with out in Akron, Ohio. Um, and he told me when we first moved in together that, oh, well, I've got this spirit that follows me around everywhere I live. His name is Bob. And as soon as he said the name Bob, I'm like, dude, you're you're messing with me like this is crap.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah, Bob, I know, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Um, I did what most skeptics do, and I was provoking and and calling it out and just doing all the ignorant stuff, and um things got very aggressive, and yeah, things that science couldn't explain away, and that flipped me back into being a believer. And then a couple short years later, the movie The Conjuring came out, and I was like, Oh, maybe I could become an investigator, and uh the rest is history. But um, the more I started to interact with um the spiritual world or what have you, and the more I opened myself up to it, which can be dangerous, um, but the more I opened myself up to it, the more I started to feel and see and ex just I don't know how else to describe. It's very hard to describe unless you've become a tune like that. I don't know how if that makes sense or not.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

But right, no, no, no, that makes perfect sense because yeah, because I know a lot of the times as kids, it's you know, we're we're very sensitive to all that. And I was just on an episode of the of this Uncanny Earth podcast, and you know, I was talking about like I've been sensitive to energy and you know, spirits and all that stuff my whole life, but you know, especially uh when you have things like religion and all of that, and that gets hammered into you that no, that's evil, and you know what I'm talking about. Um but yeah, but you start to to shut that off a little bit, and but then it's not until you start to really look into it and everything. It's like to me, it's much better to be aware of all of that, it's much better to be open. I mean, not open to the point to where you make yourself completely vulnerable to anything that could be trying to enter through because you need to be discerning. And of course, and I understand because I know you said your your parents were like, oh no, ghosts aren't real, and and I and I I get adults mean well. However, I also think that it's better to know what you're dealing with, and especially if you're sensitive, like I know I am and you seem to be, especially if you're sensitive, it's much better to know how to deal with it and how to navigate it than it is to try to shut it down. Because to me, like for me at least in my experience, shutting it down only that that could only last for so long. And and it gets to a point to where it's just it it's who you are, and you're shutting out part of who you are. And I personally think that like I would rather, like I said, know how to navigate those situations and handle it. Like, what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 17:07

No, yeah, I think that's accurate, uh, 100%. I think. Um, but I will also add this there's not always a guarantee on anybody knowing how to handle it either. There's definitely things we can do to try to keep things at bay, but uh nothing is 100% certain. Um and I get so I'll add this too because this is a small part of a black and art of black and soul. So um in in the book, there is a doll that I named Lucy in the book, but Lucy is based on dolls dolls, I say dolls plural, um, that I had purchased for my vintage room, which I'm sitting in now. You can see the Ouija boards and stuff, but uh it's a room, it's a room filled with creepy old antiques.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

And I just find it, yeah, like the Ouija boards in the background, and yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Yeah, and I I just I collect a lot of creepy old antiques, and I had found this. There were a trio of little clown dolls, and I found them on eBay, and I was gonna donate them to a uh paranormal uh convention raffle for someone to just take home. Yeah, and I remember looking at them and and the listing, they didn't claim them as haunted. They just said, Hey, I've got these creepy old dolls. I got them from an abandoned orphanage in Australia, and I'm in my mind, I'm like, okay, these could be haunted, that's kind of cool. And yeah, um, that's one of the things like curiosity can kill the cat sometimes, and that's very true when it comes to haunted items because that's become very popularized because of Ed and Lorraine Warren's museum. Um, so, anyways, I I buy these, they they get shipped here, and I don't know, there's something dark attached to those, very, very dark. I I would venture to say that those were demonic. Um whatever was attached to them, anyways. Um but long story short, I I think it put like a veil over me, and I couldn't sense anything. I couldn't feel anything. I didn't like I was oblivious to all of it.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Uh, and then I started getting into this string of bad luck where my everything in my life was falling apart. It was just like the tongs and the wheels were just going and going and going and um get too far in the wheeze, but my wife and I had a lot of issues. We we lost a a child, an unborn child, unborn. Um but yeah, it was a lot, a lot of difficulties and things like that. And I can't say that those were the direct reason for it, but I think they were a cog in the wheel making things happen. And anyways, I I I I should have been smarter about this, but I freaked out that one day because my mom had been talking to me about everything that was going on, and she was like, you know, it's probably all that creepy stuff that you keep in your house, something's haunted, and blah blah blah blah blah. And I was like, Well, no, I've had all this stuff for a long time. This just all this stuff just started happening in the last six months, and then I realized I brought home those clown dolls, and it was like the veil lifted, and I had this light bulb like flashing my face. I'm like, oh my god. And I ran home and and grabbed the the clown dolls, stuffed them in a box with a Bible, the only Bible I had in my house, and yeah, posted a picture on on Facebook saying, Hey, whoever wants these can take them. And my buddy Eddie, who's also he's a good friend of mine in the paranormal community, he took those dolls, um, and then his life started to fall apart and crumble as well. Oh, yes, and then he wound up giving those away to our friend Steve, who ran a um ran a paranormal museum that was called Archive of the Afterlife in West Virginia.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Who kept them in what was called his dark room, like for the malevolent evil stuff. Um, but that store has since closed. So I don't know if that's health reasons or what, but he's had issues and that store is no longer. So I say all that to say this. Sometimes things happen, you can't sometimes you just don't recognize what it could be. Like that there's no definitive answers for any of this stuff, but uh it's definitely scary when you're in that moment. You feel very helpless, even if my level of experience I felt completely helpless to it.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

So yeah. Oh my gosh, yeah. Well, that's the thing too, because I I myself like thing I like things like vintage, antique items, but with those things, you you do have to be careful of what what you bring in because you don't know who might have owned that beforehand, what kind of energy they had attached uh to them, and what they might have been into. Uh you you never know. And you know, and that's the thing too. And you also, if you're gonna bring vintage and antique things in, I know a lot of people say to cleanse them and you know, bless them, pray over them, and whatever you know, and just try to get rid of any energy that might be might still be attached.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

So something else that's crazy. I forgot to add this. So I had my buddy Sean um come over. He's very um he's he's an empath and he's very good at Doing cleansings and things like that. So after I had given the dolls to Eddie, I had my buddy Sean come down and basically try to bless the house and do all that kind of stuff. And so he came in with his Florida water and and uh oh goodness, sage. And he was trying to like stage the house and stuff. He gets down to my vintage room, and three separate times the flame on the sage burned out three different times in a row. And it was just very and it was the only time it happened was in the vintage room. Three, like every time he would come in, as soon as he came in, it would just blow right out, and you'd have to relight it. Just very trippy stuff, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

What what's your favorite conjuring movie?

SPEAKER_00 22:39

The first one for sure.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

Yeah, I like the first one. Um, what did you think of the uh the last uh the last one that they had? What was it this no, it wasn't this past summer, it was last year actually. Um, what did you think of the final one? Did you see it?

SPEAKER_00 22:55

I did see it. I thought it was better than the third one. Um, didn't I I would say it was good, but not as good as the first two. The first two to me are the best in the series. Um there's just I don't know, like I feel like James One needs to be in the director's chair for those movies because he did the first, he directed the first two, and he's just got a knack for making it feel more real.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

And yeah, I don't know, like it's like you're there with the characters.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah. So yeah, yeah. No, I totally get that because the first two, I like it too. I like the first two as well because he really knows how to create that tension. And they're kind of slow burns, but at the same time, they're not such slow burns that you're just kind of like, all right, can something just happen already? Um but but he's really, really good at just building it up, building it up, building it up, and just having creepy things here and there happen, kind of giving you a little taste of what's going on, and then boom, all the action happens. And I know the well, the appearance of the crooked man, I was like, oh my gosh, in that when I first saw it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was just like, like, I thought it was cool and like kind of really kind of scary at the same time. And and I know that they they were gonna be doing a crooked man movie or something, and that never happened.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Who knows? I mean, it could happen. I just I wish James Wong would get back in the director's chair. He's I know he's doing the producer thing now, and he probably makes a lot more money doing that. But if I was the studio, I would throw in, I would write him a blank check to make make a horror movie. Like you whatever you want, make make me a horror because it's gonna make money no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. But oh goodness. Yeah. So what um what would you say of all the places that you've investigated in your paranormal investigations? Um, what would you say you've had the creepiest experiences at?

SPEAKER_00 25:03

That's tough. I've had creepy experiences at a lot of places. Um I would say top three would be easier than just one. Um, top three would probably be the Monroe House in Hartford City, Indiana, that we had talked about earlier. Um and then I would say the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. Okay. Um, and then last, I would say Madison Seminary in Madison, Ohio.

unknown 25:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Yeah. Yeah. Like what what happened at some of those places?

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Yeah. I mean, I've had a lot happen at the Monroe House, and it's just a tiny house. Like if you drove past it, it just looks like just any other small house in a, you know, in a I don't want to say a poor neighborhood, but it was just, you know what those kind of like it's a smaller house, like maybe 1200 more footage, just a little house, and that that place is just insane. But yeah, um, one thing that happened to me there that really had me freaked out was we were doing a Facebook live in investigation or whatever, and I was holding the camera and responding to people commenting and stuff while everybody else was asking questions. And at some point during that, I blacked out and apparently some older lady had commented something on the video, and I freaked out and started cussing her out. And I'm most like I'm like a teddy bear, right? Like, I'm not that kind of person.

SPEAKER_03 26:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Anyways, when that happened, um I apparently everybody dragged me out of the house, and and um I once I got out of the house, I finally started to clear in my head and calm down, and I had to post an apology video and stuff, but um don't recall that ever happening. So losing control of yourself and not realizing that that happened, that's a scary thing for sure. Um and then at OSR, uh, excuse me, the Ohio State Reformatory. Um this it wasn't anything super crazy, but it was the only time I've ever been scared out of a section of a building while I was doing a solo. Uh, and I was in solitary, which is notorious there. Um, and I was just doing some laps around that's there's two floors to it, and I was on the second floor. And I I could feel like when I passed this one little doorway into the second half of it, I felt this very tall presence behind me, and so I knew something was there. And anyways, I I wrap around and I'm starting to ask questions, and I stop because I I again I feel like I'm being surrounded, and then I hear this very loud, pronounced knock on the handrail of the stairs.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Um, so I'm starting to get my my heart rates going and stuff, and I start um saying, like, oh, you did a good job. And you could hear it in my voice. There's a video of it, but I I you could hear it in my voice that like I'm a little bit scared. And yeah, if you want to come forward and tell me anything, that'd be great. And then you hear footsteps like shuffling across the floor, walking straight toward me, and I was left. I darted out of it. And it and it like normally footsteps don't scare me, knocks don't scare me, but it was the way that it happened, the combination of it happening, and it felt like they were closing in on me. And I was standing by the staircase, I'm like, I gotta get out of here and start.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

Oh no, yeah. Oh my gosh, wow. Yeah, yeah. Cause I've I've been on some paranormal investigation. I've not had anything like that happen. I mean, I've had stuff happen, but I've not had anything like that happen.

SPEAKER_03 28:11

That's yeah, it was that was bizarre, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Yeah. Yeah. And um, like what are your theories? Um, what's your opinion on what the paranormal um actually is? Because I know some people say it's residual energy, some say they're actual human spirits, others say it's all demonic. Um, I think it's a little bit of all of the above, depending on the situation. Uh, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Yeah, no, I would agree with that. I think it's a combination of everything. Um, and it's all theory. Like there's no way to prove what it is. We just know it exists, right? There's no concrete way to say yes, but we know because we've had those experiences. Um, but yeah, I think it's a combination of the three. It's it's residual, it's it can be demonic, it can be just people. Um, then you've got other people that delve even farther down the rabbit hole and say it's uh uh interdimensional beings. I'm not getting into that because that's way above my intelligence level.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

But yeah, I've had guests on here that talk about interdimensional beings, and it's like mine won't, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

It's much easier for me to just say they're ghosts. So that's what I'm dealing with. Um but yeah, it's um it's a lot of fun. I I enjoy doing it. Um, it can be scary at times, but in a lot of cases, they're just friendly and want someone to talk to. And um, one of my theories with the paranormal, I know a lot of people like to sit and wait for things to happen. I when I investigate and people that I investigate with, I'm very much an up and moving around and um try to bring high energy on my investigations because, and I and I'll say it like this because if you're at a party or you're hanging out with people, you're gonna be, as a person, more inclined to go talk to someone that's up and moving around and upbeat versus someone that's just sitting back and right, you know what I'm saying? So I try to bring that to the paranormal as well. That's just a theory, it doesn't mean it's accurate, but uh I feel like if if it is humans we're dealing with, they're gonna be more inclined to come talk to me because I'm upbeat and bouncing around and having a good time and bringing the high energy. So that's something else too.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Okay, no, that's cool. And uh because I know a lot of people, that's it's something that a lot of people want to uh start doing and get involved in. And I've I've talked to whispering souls, uh paranormal investigators, I've had them on the show and ask them for their, you know, with their, you know, what what advice they would have for somebody looking to get into paranormal investigation. So I'm asking you that now. What advice would you have for somebody uh getting into paranormal investigation?

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Yeah, just just do it. I mean, you don't have to have all the latest and greatest equipment to get into it. Um, so when I start, and and you don't have to do private events either, like you can do public ghost hunts. So uh a lot of these locations they'll offer public ghost hunts for you know, general people that haven't gotten really into it yet, maybe they aren't part of teams yet or anything like that, and you can just go there and a lot of times they'll have equipment that you can rent or just free to use equipment while you're there. Um, but I know when I started, uh we me and a few friends, we were doing the public ghost hunts at the Ohio State Reformatory, and that's kind of where we got to start. And all we had was a flashlight and a digital recorder. That's how we got our start. We just wanted EVPs and we wanted to walk around and get EVPs. That's how we started, and then uh over the years I started to collect more and more equipment, slowly adding to that arsenal, and started doing the the private investigations, the documentary, filmmaking, that kind of stuff. Um but yeah, I mean the easiest way is just look at the the notoriously haunted places in in your state, see if they offer public ghost hunts, and then slowly build up. You don't have to buy a bunch of stuff right off the bat.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Right. What is your uh equipment piece of choice as far as ghost hunting goes?

SPEAKER_00 31:47

So uh it's tough. Um, I used to love all the gizmos and gadgets. Now I'm more enamored with the um the spiritual side of things, more so. So I I'm not great at using them. I love dousing rods, I love anything that divination tools, I love yeah, dousing rods. Uh uh what I can't think of what it's called. The the pendulum.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

Yeah, the yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

I've used the Ouija board once. I'd that was an intense experience. Um, but yeah, I I like using my body. I like feeling my body, but if I had to pick actual equipment, digital recorder is still one of my favorites. Um and then the REM pod. I love the REM pod uh because it detects sudden drops in temperature, it detects the electricity and the way it's sweeping and stuff. Like I like those too.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

So yeah, what are your thoughts on uh some of like the the apps like Ghost Tube and the the um the app where I can't think of the name of it, but it's supposed to record uh the voices and sounds of any entities that are that are there. What are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Or do you put I can't speak too much on them because I never used them. Um I know when I was really heavy into the paranormal, I I chose not to use them because I didn't believe in them.

SPEAKER_03 33:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Um, but that being said, I can't disprove them because I've never used them. Um but yeah, that I would say that if I was to, you know, go on an investigation tomorrow, I probably wouldn't use the apps, but I would never tell anybody that they couldn't either.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

So yeah, yeah. I mean, people have to find uh what's what works for them. Now I know some people are skeptical of ghost tube. They say it's more of like, okay, party game, we're all a bunch of friends getting together, let's see what the ghost tube has to say. You know, like a lot of people don't really, I guess, take that as seriously as say the more practical ways of doing things. And I know some people use cat balls as a way of, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

So those things are a depth drink, though.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Yeah, you gotta watch where you're walking when you if you're gonna use this because you don't want to go flying. So yeah. So uh do you have any more uh writing in the works? And are any of your paranormal experiences um inspiring any of it?

SPEAKER_00 34:10

Or uh so for my future books, I don't have anything planned for paranormal stuff right now. I I will eventually bounce back into the paranormal world for stories. Uh, but I do have my tenth book for Scareville coming out sometime this fall, and then my second adult horror novel, which is kind of like an isolation survival folklore story set in Mount Rainier National Park. Uh that'll be coming out in January. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Like what kind of folklore do you do you like?

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Is it more Yeah, so so I I kind of gave it a broad generalization. Um, so I've got a an old antique book here. It's called Rubazol, and it's about a German mountain spirit. And I loosely took a little bit of inspiration from that. So basically, if if you came into his section of the woods or the mountain or what have you, if you treated him nicely, he would you know lead you to nice things or treasure or what have you. And if you didn't treat him well, he would basically give you a gruesome end.

SPEAKER_03 35:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Um now, while I didn't add that piece to it, I I flipped it a little bit and kind of made it more about shape shifting and people not obeying the rules and respecting nature.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Um, and I kind of tied it into Wendigos and Shapeshifters and Skinwalkers, because they all have very similar lore, right? They all do similar things and it's all spread across the country. And so I tried to make it like this is a worldwide thing, and even though it's different names for it, um, so I didn't give the actual creature a name or anything, but I based it on the folklore of creatures being able to shape shift and mimic voices and stuff like that, um, and kind of meshed it into my own story and creature.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

Nice, very that's so awesome. I love it, I love it. And um, are you uh planning like when like when can we expect those to be out?

SPEAKER_00 35:59

Uh so the 10th scareable book will be sometime this fall. It's with uh the publisher being edited now. Um, and then my second adult horror novel, which is called An Unforgiving Nature, that will be out in January. It's also in the process of being edited.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

So just so Halloween and then The Dead of Winter. I love it. Very cool. I love it, yeah. And um, and I know I I mentioned that Scarable kind of gave me scary stories to tell in the dark vibes, the scary stories trilogy, which I know a lot of people say um traumatize like millennials everywhere when they were but um but yeah, but did you read those at all while you were growing up?

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Yeah, I definitely read those for sure.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

Yeah, yeah. Which um which story uh really got you?

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Oh god, I'd have to go back and actually look through it.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

I know that's a loaded question right there.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Yeah, yeah, I'd have to go back and look. I'm not sure because I I'd be honest with you, I probably read that 25 years ago and haven't picked it up since. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 37:03

So Yeah, yeah, I have the books actually. Um on eBay. I was like, yay! And then I also got the um it's like the hardback that encompasses all three of them. Yeah. Yeah, so I found on eBay the three original copies because for a while they weren't selling those. Like they were, they they had somebody completely come in and take out Stephen Gammel's um artwork and replace it with I think the guy that did Lemony Snicket, and not that he's not talented, it's just you can't compare to Stephen Gammel. I'm sorry. Yeah, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Kind of similar with the Goosebumps books, like Tim Jacobis did all the original covers back in the 90s, and now if you look at the goosebumps covers of today, I mean I'm sure they're fine or fun, but they're not as good as the originals from the 90s. And I'm not one of those gatekeepers that says all the older stuff is better, but in this case, those goosebumps covers from the 90s are they're way better than what they're making today, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely. There's just something about there's just something about those covers and even the original Fear Street covers and in you know Stephen Gamel's drawings in the scary stories trilogy that just even if the stories themselves aren't necessarily scary, the artwork sometimes is what makes it like, oh my gosh, this is freaky, and I don't want to turn out my lights and I'm afraid to get up and go get a drink of water, you know, in the middle of the night or something. So yeah, yeah, but uh but when you're not doing paranormal and writing, what do you like to do in your free time?

SPEAKER_00 38:41

Uh I honestly I don't even know what free time is half the time work time. I legitimately between events and trying to take care of the house, working my day job, and then writing and reading, it's just like I don't have much free time anymore, honestly. And and you know, part of it is I'm I have lofty goals, like I want to be a full-time writer one day, so I'm really grinding and pushing to try to make that happen. Um, so I don't take very many breaks to go do stuff, and then events take up pretty much all the PTO I get. So I don't really get vacations, but I I do love to travel. I love um I was I'm a big foodie, so um stuff like that, and then watching horror movies is another another big part of my life too.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

So have you ever done any uh film work or anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 39:22

Or not movies, no. Um, I have filmed a couple of paranormal documentaries. I don't even know if those are available to watch anymore. Um, but I've toyed around the idea with doing um like a short a short film with one of my buddies whose name is also John. Um he does screenplays and writes out um um what are this? I'm having a brain far. What are they called? The scripts, scripts, the scripts, yeah. Um so he's he's that he's got experience with that, and we've talked about doing like a short horror film. And I wanted to do just a feature-length, full-length thing, not not like a high quality thing, but like do found footage style because you can make those for relatively cheap. And he's like, honestly, dude, like the cost isn't the issue with the found footage, it's it's the time and the resources and and stuff. Like, you're better off making a short horror film and taking it to indie film festivals and seeing if someone will give you funding to make it a feature-length film. I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:18

But we've never we've never pursued it yet.

SPEAKER_01 40:20

So yeah. Well, hey, you know, maybe at the horror hotel festival or the indie gathering or one of those, if you do any other, which I'm sure you do, other like film conventions that you know, they might look at your one of your Scareville books or Black and Hearts and be like, hey, you know, that might be that might be a cool movie. Of all the books you've written, though, like what do you think, is there one that you would like to really see adapted to screen?

SPEAKER_00 40:49

That's that's a load of questions. And I'll say this. Um I think the one that obviously a Black and Heart of Black and Soul, I think would make a really solid feature film, and I've had a lot of reviews saying that. Um, but the Scareville series um is actually I have people in Hollywood actively pitching that. They've they've signed a contract for exclusive pitching rights right now. Um, so we'll see what happens. I know Hollywood's a very long stretch. I know how fickle they can be with things, but um they've they've had a couple pitch sessions, they've got a strong pitch deck, so we'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Yeah, yeah, because I know sometimes with Hollywood it's like it seems like okay, they're all in, and then the next second it's like, oh no, now it's shelved. And it's kind of like you have to pick your poison because if you're going the indie route, it's especially if you're overseeing it, it's more likely to get done and to get done the way you would like to see it get done.

SPEAKER_03 41:47

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 41:48

Um, whereas with Hollywood, yeah, you might have the larger budget, but they might take your book and turn it into something completely different. Because I I know I've read about people that have gotten Hollywood deals on their book, like with their books or manuscripts or what have you. And but then when they go to actually watch the film, they're like, This isn't my work. They're still getting credit, they're still getting paid, but it's it's not their vision, so it's kind of like, do you find that happy medium there?

SPEAKER_00 42:22

Yeah, yeah, it's hard saying. Um, right now, with where I'm at as a writer, I would love for them to make it as close to my work as possible, but I know it's not always realistic. Um, but if it was something that got made and it brought more eyeballs onto my work and led to more sales, like I'm okay with that for right now because I do have, like I said, those lofty goals of being a full-time writer. But um there are it's not super common for books to be made close to the to the movie or the movies being made close to the books, excuse me. Yeah, um, I would say one of the most prevalent cases of one actually being close to the book was The Exorcist, um, by William Peter Blatty. Like, if you watch that movie, it's almost identical to the book because William Peter Blatty, who wrote the novel, also wrote the script for the movie. So um that was very, very well done. So if you ever read The Exorcist, you're like, oh my god, I can picture this just like the movie because you got to see the movie. So like it's it's really good.

SPEAKER_01 43:17

Yeah, yeah. Well, because I know um, because I love Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, but I also love the book The Shining, but I know that there was a big debacle for the longest time with Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining, because it wasn't, I mean, there were some elements of the book there, but it really wasn't the the book, you know. So, and and I know that there's theories as to why that was, um, but and I know Stanley Kubrick, he obviously had just this very abstract view of like of art and and way of going about things. And he obviously had his own systems and I mean he's acting you know, like brilliant. Uh, but I can also understand it from as a creative myself, I can also understand it from Stephen King's perspective too. And and I know years later he then made like a TV, like a made-for-tv movie series uh that was a lot closer to the book. And people often pit those two against each other. And I'm just kind of like, you know, number one, you can't really compare uh anything to Stanley Kubrick, because Stanley, I mean the guy's a legend. And number two, uh that movie was kind of like they're they're both kind of their own things. They're they're just called the shining. And they both, and they both have uh really interesting messages uh beneath that. And Stanley Kubrick had his thing that he was trying to say, and Stephen King had his thing that he was trying to say. And to me, there's something uh to be enjoyed about both of them. Now I can understand some people might say, well, Kubrick's um production quality is better because you know, well, he had like the budget and everything. And you know, you can't really compare a major studio production to uh like a TV miniseries, it's kind of like comparing apples to oranges, but um, but I I mean I enjoy both versions, uh, to be honest. Uh which version do you enjoy more? Kubrick's or the TV?

SPEAKER_00 45:25

Probably Kubrick's.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

I mean, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. But you know, I like I said, I if I had to pick one, I'd pick Kubrick's, but uh, but I think there's something to be enjoyed about about both of them.

SPEAKER_02 45:38

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

Because I love the book too. Like, you know, like so I was obsessed with the book. And that's one thing about the horror hotel um where where it was uh where it was held at. There were some areas where it because I was like when I was vlogging about it, there were some areas I was like, this is kind of giving overlook vibes.

SPEAKER_00 45:58

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 45:59

I love it. This is giving overlook vibes. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

If you want to know what's funny, I actually have an author event at the overlook hotel later this year. Yeah, excited.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

That is awesome!

SPEAKER_00 46:11

Yeah, it's called uh Massacre on the Mountain. Uh it's September 27th, I think. Whatever that last weekend is in September. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Oh, that'll be awesome. Yeah, it's gonna be a good time. Get up there and and see, you know, hey, this is the overlook, you know. Yeah, yay! I'm sure that'll be really exciting. And yeah, you better post pictures of that.

SPEAKER_02 46:35

I will for sure.

SPEAKER_01 46:36

Yeah, definitely. So, so yeah, so where can uh people discover you in your work?

SPEAKER_00 46:42

Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty easy to find. I don't have a website yet, so um, if you just type in John Ward Horror, pretty much on anything social media-wise, whether it's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, you're gonna find me. Even if you Google and you type in John Ward Horror, you'll find me. Yeah, um, same thing if you're on Amazon or anywhere books are sold. If you type in John Ward Horror, it's probably gonna bring up my scareable books, a black and art of black and soul, all that stuff. Um, yeah, people are free to follow me anywhere. Um easy, easy enough.

SPEAKER_01 47:09

So yeah, yeah, and I definitely I recommend um absolutely uh checking John out and uh checking out uh his books, especially if you're looking for a little goosebumps nostalgia with a little bit more of a bite. Check out the Scareville books. And if you're looking for something that's a little bit more bleak and darker and gothic and creepier, uh check out Blackened Heart, Black and Soul. I I definitely will be, and adding it to uh my book reviews that I'm going to be uh getting back to doing. So yeah, yeah, very cool. So uh anything else you wanted to add?

SPEAKER_00 47:52

No, I I thank you for having me on. It was a blast talking about all things spooky spooky and and haunted. Um always always down to chat about that stuff. So thank you for having me on.

SPEAKER_01 48:01

And uh yeah, no problem. And what um event are you going to be at next?

SPEAKER_00 48:07

Uh what is my next one? So I've got one in Pennsylvania at the end of this month. It's called Haunt the Readers. Um, I'm I'm volunteering at that event. It's mostly traditionally published, like big names in the uh, but they are gonna allow me to sell copies at like the indie table. I won't actually be at the table, but they'll be able to sell my copies there. Um but yeah, I'll be volunteering at that one, which will be cool because I'll get to rub shoulders with some big bigger names in the industry, and their agents are gonna be there. So it's it's a good opportunity for that. Uh and then I've got one in August a couple weeks later. It's called ShiverCon. Uh in Indiana. So nice.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

Very cool. Well, definitely, yeah, check check them out and check them out on uh the socials. And uh thank you so much, John, for coming on and sitting down and uh chatting with me a little bit more. I did a mini interview with you um at uh Horror Hotel, but it was nice to have a more in-depth conversation and really really discuss your work and uh your experience and thoughts on the paranormal. And yeah, and I, you know, as you do more stuff, I'd love to have absolutely love to have you on again.

SPEAKER_00 49:19

So yeah, absolutely. I would love to be back on. And uh again, thank you for having me. It was a blast chatting with you. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 49:25

Well, thank you. And I want to thank everybody else. Uh, thank you all for uh listening. I keep getting surges and listenership every week, and I thank you so much for that. And uh once again, thank you, John, uh, for coming. And uh, we have some other really cool guests coming up uh next week. Uh, we're going to have um another horror author, uh Nathan uh Ludwig, on, and then we're also gonna be chatting with the haunted housewives and um also Paul Grammatico. So those are who we're gonna be having on for the foreseeable future, and there's a lot more to come. So be sure to tune in every Friday for a new episode. And while you go about your day or your evening, please stay safe, stay fierce, but always stay spooky.