Category Archives: Messages from Geoff

In which the author reflects on a quiet night in, on Halloween…

You may be familiar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. AKA one of television’s greatest creations. Ever.

 

In one episode, several of the characters call upon Spike the vampire on Halloween, and are surprised to find him home alone in his crypt, watching old movies on television. When they ask why he isn’t out terrifying the population, he replies that for him, it’s Halloween every night of the year. So on October 31st he likes to have a quiet night in.

 

Now, I may not be quite as toothsome as ol’ Spike, but I know what he means. Everyone assumes that, with my interests, I’m out getting involved in major spookiness on Halloween. But, given that my typical day involves sitting in a book-lined room decorated with skulls and gargoyles, and writing about subjects such as 17th century demonology, poltergeists, bodysnatching, ghosts, anomalous animals, and monsters – well, Halloween just doesn’t seem like an unusual date.

 

So it will be a quiet Halloween. I’ll work, walk the dog, work some more, and then do a bit of reading or watch TV. Nothing spooky at all. Now, has anyone seen my copy of Legends of Blood? I need to check out some vampire sightings…

In which the author looks in on ‘Poltergeist Manor’…

The other day I attended a talk by the fine author Lorn Macintrye, who had many interesting things to say about his family background of second sight in Argyll and Mull, and his own dealings with people involved in the paranormal, such as the Scottish medium Albert Best.

 

My main focus of interest, however, was Lorn’s investigations into Pitmilly House, which he dubbed ‘Poltergeist Manor’. The house in East Fife was demolished decades ago, but I’ve been pursuing its supernatural history for my forthcoming book Haunted St Andrews and District, so getting hold of a copy of Lorn’s booklet on the subject was a bonus.

 

Now here is the key question: does anyone reading this have a family tradition of a connection with Pitmilly? Perhaps you have a relative who visited the house, or worked there? If so, I would be delighted to hear from you – especially if the memories are from the 1930s or 1940s, as this was the period when the poltergeist was reportedly active.

 

You can get in touch via the contact form here.

In which the author is nominated for two awards…

Well I’m pleased to learn that two of my books have been nominated for prestigious awards. Scottish Bodysnatchers: A Gazetteer is up for the Katherine Briggs Folklore Award, awarded by the Folklore Society. And The Jacobites and the Supernatural has been nominated for both the Katherine Briggs Folklore Award and the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award.

 
 
 
 

The winners of both awards are announced in November.

In which the author actually writes a book…

There have been no posts recently because I’ve been sequestered away writing Paranormal Cumbria (deadlines are a wonderful thing). The text of the book is now complete so normal service (such as it is) should be resumed as soon as possible. As a sneak preview, I can promise witchcraft, monsters of sea and lake (oh yes, Bownessie gets a look in), twentieth-century fairy sightings, ‘scareship’ UFOS, the Cursing Stone of Carlisle, the Cumberland Spaceman and the Croglin Vampire. Crikey.

 

Just a reminder that the event at Ladywell in Glasgow, originally booked for Wednesday 24th August, has been rescheduled for 19 October. Same venue, same time, same vampire with iron teeth – just a different date.

In which the author gets a grand review from veteran Fortean Lionel Fanthorpe…

 

Back in the day, I enjoyed many a talk (at Fortean Times UnConventions and elsewhere) by the Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, the President of ASSAP (Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena) and the former President of BUFORA (British UFO Research Association). Among his 250(!) books, many written in conjunction with his wife Patricia, my favourite is an in-depth study of that enduring Fortean enigma, the Oak Island Mystery.

Just recently, Lionel and Patricia kindly got in touch with a splendid review of The Jacobites and the Supernatural. Here it is, reproduced with permission:

Review of The Jacobites and the Supernatural

 

By Lionel Fanthorpe

Geoff Holder already enjoys an excellent reputation as an author specialising in history and mystery – and The Jacobites and the Supernatural enhances that reputation yet further. What he has done in this highly readable and informative book is to take the reader through the period from 1689 to 1745 and the grim battles of Culloden, Sheriffmuir and others. He has also brought the Jacobite period vividly to life again with accounts of witchcraft, talismans, sorcery, psychic phenomena and portents: all of which coloured Jacobite society.

 

Geoff takes the reader to fascinating sites and locations including Lord Pitsligo’s ruined castle at Rosehearty, Blair Castle, Loch Rannoch, Dunkeld and Eilean Donan Castle. He introduces the reader to many larger than life characters of the Jacobite period: James II, Louis XIV, Viscount Dundee, Duncan Forbes and the beautiful Mary of Modena. All this relevant and worthwhile historical and geographical material provides an ideal background for the accounts of the anomalous and paranormal events which make the book so interesting.

In which the author tiptoes into podcasting…

 

If you are unable to get to a live event to watch me wave my arms about and witter on in front of an audience, there is now an alternative – The Fortean Freak-Out with Geoff Holder, a downloadable podcast of me wittering on in front of a microphone (in the best traditions of radio, the associated arm-waving will have to be imagined).

The first podcast is entitled “The Vampire with Iron Teeth” and deals with an episode covered in Paranormal Glasgow – a children’s hunt for a cannibalistic vampire in 1950s Gorbals. I expand the story into Glasgow’s wider history of children’s hunts – from ghosts and ‘maniacs’ to Spring-Heeled Jack – and look into the cultural context of the events, from American horror comics to crypto-Communists and the only time the Houses of Parliament have debated the activities of a vampire.

The podcast can be downloaded FREE from the official Fortean Freak-Out with Geoff Holder page, or alternatively listen through the Podcast page. The Fortean Freak-Out will be a regular feature, so check back for future podcasts on cannibalism in Scotland, fairylore, Jacobite paranormalism, bodysnatching, poltergeists and much else.

 

Thanks to Jamie Cook for editing and engineering.