PeterAndTheVampires.com by Darren Pillsbury

"Peter And The Demon" Ch. 19 thru 25

2012-01-29T16:12:00.000-08:00

Chapter 19 - Gone, Gone, Dilly Is Gone
Chapter 20 - Gunshots
Chapter 21 - Of Masks And Straight Jackets
Chapter 22 - The New Room
Chapter 23 - Preparations
Chapter 24 - The Hardest Thing Of All
Chapter 25 - "A Vewy Big Rat"

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"Peter And The Demon" Ch. 15 thru 18

2012-01-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

Chapter 15 - Thinking It Over
Chapter 16 - "Yo'uh Stoopid, Diwl!"
Chapter 17 - The Decision
Chapter 18 - "Dill Doesn't Live Here Anymore"

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"Peter And The Demon" Ch. 11 thru 14

2012-01-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Chapter 11 - OK FRIEND
Chapter 12 - Back On Drugs Again
Chapter 13 - The Fifth Sense
Chapter 14 - A Little Angel On Your Shoulder

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"Peter And The Demon" Ch. 8 thru 10

2012-01-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

Chapter 8 - The Pixie From Dimension X
Chapter 9 - "What are you up to, idjit?"
Chapter 10 - This Is Your Brain On Drugs

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"Peter And The Demon" Ch. 5 thru 7

2011-12-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

Chapter 5 - Not-So-Bad End To A Very Bad Day
Chapter 6 - Butthead Witches & Ouija Boards
Chapter 7 - HI DILL

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"Peter And The Demon" Ch. 3 and 4

2011-12-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Chapter 3 - Very Sad
Chapter 4 - Even Worse

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"Peter And The Demon" Ch. 1 and 2

2011-12-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

Chapter 1 - A Really Bad Afternoon
Chapter 2 - Say What?

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 64-67

2011-12-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Chapter 64 - Ding, Dong, The Wicked Witch...
Chapter 65 - So Not Interested
Chapter 66 - See Ya
Chapter 67 - Dreaming About What Might Have Been

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 61-63

2011-12-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

Chapter 61 - Attack Of The Poppets
Chapter 62 - The Poppet Strikes Back
Chapter 63 - Just Like THE WIZARD OF OZ

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 58-60

2011-11-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

Chapter 58 - Diva
Chapter 59 - Hurricanes and Werewolves
Chapter 60 - Shooting Blind

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 54-57

2011-11-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

Chapter 54 - Mindwipe
Chapter 55 - Claudo
Chapter 56 - A Girl Version Of Grandfather
Chapter 57 - Remus Lupin Wouldn't Wet His Pants

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 51-53

2011-11-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

Chapter 51 - Vente Espresso Macchiato
Chapter 52 - Bounty Hunters
Chapter 53 - Stickin' It To THE MAN

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 49-50

2011-11-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

Chapter 49 - Minions...
Chapter 50 - ...And Dominions

900th post!

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 44-48

2011-11-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

Chapter 44 - Bad Mojo
Chapter 45 - Puking Up Toads Is Better Than This
Chapter 46 - A Happy Reunion
Chapter 47 - A Fine Lookin' Lady
Chapter 48 - Heeeeeeeeeere's Enid

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 39-43

2011-10-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Chapter 39 - A Worthless Witch, At That
Chapter 40 - The Fine Art Of Burglaring
Chapter 41 - Grandfather Sees Reason
Chapter 42 - A Horrifying Discovery
Chapter 43 - Ding Dong, The Witch Is Gone

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 37-38

2011-10-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Chapter 37 - Doctors and Winnapotakans
Chapter 38 - The Plan

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 34-36

2011-10-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

Chapter 34 - Pins And Needles
Chapter 35 - The Ambulance
Chapter 36 - Foul Things

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 32 and 33

2011-10-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

Chapter 32 - A Carpet Full Of Nightmares
Chapter 33 - Wading In

No, there's not a chapter missing. After some deliberation, I divided the former Chapter 29 into two chapters, 29 and 30. So 30 became 31, and here we are at 32 and 33.

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 28-30

2011-09-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

Chapter 28 - Up On Your Feet
Chapter 29 - Alibis
Chapter 30 - Late-Night Musings

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 26-27

2011-09-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Chapter 26 - Over The Table And Through The Hall...
Chapter 27 - ...To Grandfather's Study We Go

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 24-25

2011-09-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Chapter 24 - 'Just Us Girls'
Chapter 25 - Red Eye

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 20-23

2011-09-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

Chapter 20 - Totally Lame
Chapter 21 - So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight
Chapter 22 - Guns And Mirrors
Chapter 23 - Blubbering For Bieber

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 17-19

2011-09-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

Chapter 17 - Ley Lines
Chapter 18 - Necromancy And Gingerbread Men
Chapter 19 - The Bum's Rush

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 14-16

2011-09-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

Chapter 14 - Revelations
Chapter 15 - She Only Flies First Class
Chapter 16 - Natural Magic

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 12 and 13

2011-08-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Chapter 12 - Dressed For Children's Birthday Parties
Chapter 13 - May & December Meet

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 10 and 11

2011-08-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

Chapter 10 - Party Time
Chapter 11 - Room For One Less

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 9

2011-08-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Chapter 9 - A Little Throw-Up In The Mouth

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 7 and 8

2011-08-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

Chapter 7 - Ms. Enid
Chapter 8 - ...What Just Happened?

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 6

2011-08-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

Chapter 6 - The Invitation

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 4 and 5

2011-08-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Chapter 4 - Haters Be Hatin'
Chapter 5 - Party Time!

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Ch. 2 and 3

2011-08-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2 - The Battle of Boss Hog
Chapter 3 - Purty Lady

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"Peter And The Substitute Teacher" Chapter 1

2011-07-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

Chapter 1 - School Is Hell

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 43 and 44

2011-07-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

Chapter 43 - Aftermath

Chapter 44 - One Last Call

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 42

2011-07-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Chapter 42 - Showdown At The S.H. Corral

(Shadow Hills, That Is)

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 40 and 41

2011-07-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Chapter 40 - Gonna Make It!

Chapter 41 - ...Or Not

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 38 revised and 39

2011-07-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Chapter 38 - Fireworks (Revised)

Chapter 39 - Everybody Out

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 38 partial

2011-07-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Chapter 38 - Fireworks

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 37

2011-06-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

Chapter 37 -
One Of The Smartest People In The World

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 35 and 36

2011-06-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

Chapter 35 - Checkmate
Chapter 36 - "But you ARE"

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 33 and 34

2011-06-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

Chapter 33 - The Devil You Know, Or...
Chapter 34 - Check

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 32

2011-06-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Chapter 32 - The Abyss Stared Back

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 30 and 31

2011-06-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Chapter 30 - King Takes Rook
Chapter 31 - The Truth

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 29

2011-06-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

Chapter 29 - Alter-nate Perspectives

Hey, AnakMoon, if you're out there, comment or let me know who you are by email!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 28

2011-06-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Chapter 28 - "What happened was..."

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 26 and 27

2011-06-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Chapter 26 - "Full Disclosure"
Chapter 27 - A Tragic History

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 25

2011-06-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Chapter 25 - "Taking Out The Trash"

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 24

2011-06-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

Chapter 24 - "Not That Way"

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 23

2011-05-30T17:02:00.000-07:00

Chapter 23 - "Jay-nay uz uh li’ul girl"

Buy the books!

Then review them, please!

If you still need to get into the Secret Society, email me at peterandthevampires (at symbol) gmail dot com.

And by the way, J.E. Taylor was kind enough to let me do a guest post on her blog at http://jetaylor75.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/manic-monday-with-darren-pillsbury/.

Go check it out if you'd like to know what a bad blind date said to me that made me start writing again after I'd given it all up.

And leave a comment on the piece! A testament to your presence, like footprints on the digital sands of teh internetz!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 22

2011-05-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Chapter 22 - "Out of the frying pan..."

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 21

2011-05-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

CHAPTER 21 - "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

By the way, please write a different review for each of the three books.

But remember, they don't have to be works of art. Just 2 or 3 sentences each. 9 sentences in all, at most.

And if you're not in the Secret Society, email me at peterandthevampires (at symbol) gmail dot com.

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 20

2011-05-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Chapter 20 - "Chopsticks"

Hey - please leave me a review for the books, if you don't mind! It can be really short.

I've sent out a PDF for instructions on Amazon.

Thanks again to everybody who bought the book!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 18 and 19

2011-05-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Chapters 18 & 19
"Into the darkness" & "Stank-caused insanity"

Hola, everyone!

First off, thank you to everyone who bought the ebooks yesterday. It was truly, truly appreciated - and quite effective.

I started off with a rank of around 250,000. I think Amazon's updates are probably 6 - 12 hours behind, because Thursday morning VAMPIRES peaked at around #4500, and in the low 30's for Kindle children's ebooks for "spine-tingling horror."

That's pretty amazing.

According to my Kindle publisher's reports (which may not be the final figures), there were 22 copies of VAMPIRES sold yesterday, and 15 each of WEREWOLVES and FRANKENSTEIN. And another 5 of VAMPIRES and 1 each of the others on Amazon.co.uk. Not bad!

I would especially like to thank everyone who pasted on Facebook and emailed their friends. You went the extra mile, and I really, really appreciate it.

A special shout-out has to go to MistyCat. If you haven't read his epic of the misery he went through in New Zealand to purchase the book - amidst earthquakes and repeated phone outages - it's stunning. Scroll down to his comment at the end of the page.

MC: For actions far above and beyond the call of duty, I hereby dub thee Sir MistyCat of the Order of Jax (What A Guy). You are the first Knight of the Secret Society, and entitled to all titles and privileges which this entails. (For instance, when referring to MistyCat, the correct honorific is to now add "What a guy" in parentheses after his name. Jax heartily approves.)

Long live Sir MistyCat! (What a guy!)

=====================

#1) For those of you who haven't bought the books, please do. It would be nice to not slip back to #250,000 overnight. And the longer I retain that #32 ranking in the children's horror section, the more exposure the book gets. So please buy the books!

#2) I would ask those of you who bought the book to submit a review to Amazon. I'll say more about that in tomorrow's post, like a quick primer on which stories (and plots) are in which books, but this would be almost as greatly appreciated as buying the book. Even a couple of sentences will do.

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 16 and 17

2011-05-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

CHAPTERS 16 & 17
"A More Familiar Face" and "A Blood-Curdling Surprise"

IT'S HERE! THE BIG DAY IS HERE! GO OUT AND BUY THE BOOKS!

Important heads up! It turns out that in order to buy the Kindle ebook, you have to have a Kindle or download the app first, which you can do by clicking here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000493771

As of 2:15PM Eastern Time (New York City time for my international readers):

VAMPIRES: #7139 in US Kindle with only 8 purchases made! And #46 in Kindle for Children's "Spine-Tingling Horror"!
WEREWOLVES: #17,389 in US Kindle with only 5 purchases made!
FRANKENSTEIN: #20,025 in US Kindle with only 4 purchases made!

And I don't even know what the UK Kindle rankings are! Quite possibly even higher!

The point is, you can bump up these books by THOUSANDS of ranking places with just one purchase!

Thanks to everybody who's bought the books so far! I really, truly appreciate it!

========================

1) Please buy the ebooks - you would really, REALLY be helping me out a lot. More than you know. And 50% of the profits go the charity www.SaveTheChildren.org.

Here are the links. Buy all three if you can, but if you can't, please buy VAMPIRES - it's only 99 cents.

Download Kindle App: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000493771

PETER AND THE VAMPIRES:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES-ebook/dp/B004ZQRLS4/
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012438874
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-WEREWOLVES-Peter-Monsters-ebook/dp/B005067YEE
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-WEREWOLVES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466082
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-FRANKENSTEIN-Three-Monsters-ebook/dp/B00506UA4A
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-FRANKENSTEIN/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466150

2) Please post on Facebook or write an email to friends extolling the virtues of these fine, fine ebooks! If you want a boilerplate email to sent, just send this (and ask them to forward it):
=================

I've been following this writer Darren Pillsbury for a couple of years now as he blogged his books page by page. Now he's publishing them as ebooks on Kindle and Nook.

PETER AND THE VAMPIRES is a bunch of stories about a kid who moves into his grandfather's house, and bad, baaaaaaaaaad things start to happen. It's similar to the HARRY POTTER books in that it has a kid battling a bunch of supernatural monsters.

On Wednesday, May 25th, the author is trying to get as many people as possible to buy his books, and he's donating 50% of his profits to www.SaveTheChildren.org for people who buy it then.

So check it out on the Kindle store or at BarnesAndNoble.com - it's only 99 cents (and $2.99 for each of the sequels, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN).

The best part is, you don't have to own a Kindle or Nook to read it: you can download a free Kindle app here for your computer, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or cell phones. In fact, if you don't have a Kindle, you'll need to do this first to buy the ebook.

It's a really good story, you'd be helping a struggling author, and you're donating to charity.

Check it out - and please forward this on, if you don't mind!

PETER AND THE VAMPIRES:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES-ebook/dp/B004ZQRLS4/
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012438874
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-WEREWOLVES-Peter-Monsters-ebook/dp/B005067YEE
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-WEREWOLVES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466082
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-FRANKENSTEIN-Three-Monsters-ebook/dp/B00506UA4A
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-FRANKENSTEIN/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466150

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 15

2011-05-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

Chapter 15 - "An (un)Familiar Face"

WE'RE ALMOST THERE.

Wednesday, May 25th. Big Launch Day.

Actually, some parts of the world are already there - shout out to MistyCat in New Zealand for being the first to purchase the books! Thanks!

1) Tomorrow, please purchase as many of the books as you can - preferably on Kindle, but Nook is fine, too. If you can only purchase one, buy VAMPIRES (only 99 cents).

2) If you don't mind, please post on Facebook or email people something like the following (change as you wish):

===========================

I've been following this author, Darren Pillsbury, for a couple of years now as he blogged his books page by page. Now he's publishing them as ebooks on Kindle and Nook.

PETER AND THE VAMPIRES is a bunch of stories about a kid who moves into his grandfather's house, and bad, baaaaaaaaaad things start to happen. It's similar to the HARRY POTTER books in that it has a kid battling a bunch of supernatural monsters.

On Wednesday, May 25th, the author is trying to get as many people as possible to buy his books, and he's donating 50% of his profits to www.SaveTheChildren.org for people who buy it then.

So check it out on the Kindle store or at BarnesAndNoble.com - it's only 99 cents (and $2.99 for each of the sequels, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN).

The best part is, you don't have to own a Kindle or Nook to read it: you can download a free Kindle app here for your computer, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or other cell phones.

It's a really good story, you'd be helping a struggling author, and you're donating to charity.

Check it out!

PETER AND THE VAMPIRES:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES-ebook/dp/B004ZQRLS4/
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012438874
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-WEREWOLVES-Peter-Monsters-ebook/dp/B005067YEE
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-WEREWOLVES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466082
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-FRANKENSTEIN-Three-Monsters-ebook/dp/B00506UA4A
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-FRANKENSTEIN/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466150

==============================

======

3) I'll save #3 for Thursday. And then I'll stop bothering all of you guys after that. (For awhile, anyways.)

4) As always, if you want to join the Secret Society, email me at peterandthevampires (at symbol) gmail dot com.

Thanks!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 14

2011-05-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

Chapter 14 - "When Tattoos Attack"

Hola all,

We're almost there.

Wednesday, May 25th. The Big Book Launch Day.

1) If you can, please purchase all three books, preferably on Kindle (Vampires, Werewolves, Frankenstein). If you have a Nook, you can get them here (Vampires, Werewolves, Frankenstein). If you can't purchase all three, just buy VAMPIRES - it's only 99 cents. The others are only $2.99 apiece. Remember, 50% of profits on Wednesday go to charity.

2) If you don't mind, please email friends or post on Facebook with a link to buy VAMPIRES. Here's a sample of something you could write (copy it if you like, or rewrite at will). I'm also including some thumbnails of the covers if you want to use them.

If you just want to write, "Hey, I like this guy, he's publishing ebooks, here's the links, he's donating 50% to charity on Wednesday," that's fine by me. But please put in the URLs (at the bottom of the email thingee I wrote), because people like stuff made easy for them.

==============

Hey!

I've been following this author for a couple of years now as he blogged his books page by page. Now he's publishing them as ebooks on Kindle and Nook.

PETER AND THE VAMPIRES is a bunch of stories about a kid who moves into his grandfather's house, and bad, baaaaaaaaaad things start to happen. It's similar to the HARRY POTTER books in that it has a kid battling a bunch of supernatural monsters.

On Wednesday, May 25th, the author is trying to get as many people as possible to buy his books, and he's donating 50% of his profits to www.SaveTheChildren.org for people who buy it then.

So check it out on the Kindle store or at BarnesAndNoble.com - it's only 99 cents (and $2.99 for each of the sequels, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN).

The best part is, you don't have to own a Kindle or Nook to read it: you can download a free Kindle app here for your computer, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or other cell phones.

It's a really good story, you'd be helping a struggling author, and you're donating to charity.

Check it out!

PETER AND THE VAMPIRES: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES-ebook/dp/B004ZQRLS4/ or http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-VAMPIRES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012438874
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-WEREWOLVES-Peter-Monsters-ebook/dp/B005067YEE or http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-WEREWOLVES/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466082
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN: http://www.amazon.com/PETER-FRANKENSTEIN-Three-Monsters-ebook/dp/B00506UA4A or http://search.barnesandnoble.com/PETER-AND-THE-FRANKENSTEIN/Darren-Pillsbury/e/2940012466150

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 13

2011-05-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

"The crazies are coming, the crazies are coming!"

Don't read this update right before you go to bed.

#1) Wednesday, May 25th! Big Book Launch Day! Buy the ebooks - or at least VAMPIRES! 50% of the profits go to charity!

#2) The original blog post got eaten by Blogger, so I thought I'd add it in here. Jim Zoetewey was one of the first people to promote PETER AND THE VAMPIRES years ago, and I wanted to let you know about his fiction blog http://inmydaydreams.com where he's putting down stories about superheroes. Check it out!

#3) Also, Amy D.C. sent me some way-cool drawings, and I posted them on this blog post. Check 'em out - they're halfway down in the green.

#4) If you're not yet in the Secret Society of Updates, email me at peterandthevampires (at symbol) gmail.com so you can get the latest 5 chapters!

#5) I'm out of town for several days. I'll try to send more updates, but no promises.

Again, I chose a lovely place to leave you in the story. >: D

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 12

2011-05-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

"In which the heroes squabble,
then come up with a plan"

I'm ba-aaaaaaaaack! And I come bearing Chapter 12 of "Peter And The Crazies"!

#1) Remember, Wednesday May 25th is the Big Launch Day! Buy all three ebooks if you can! Buy VAMPIRES at the very least if you can't! Tell your friends on Facebook - and email people, if you don't mind!

#2) Also remember that I'm donating 50% of everything I personally make on the 25th to www.SaveTheChildren.org! So telling people is for a doubly good cause!

#3) If you're not yet in the Secret Society of Updates, email me at peterandthevampires (at symbol) gmail.com so you can get the latest 5 chapters!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 11

2011-05-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

Dang Blogger, they wiped out the Chapter 10 page AND all the comments...

If you left a comment after my announcement about the Monkey Rodeo, please re-comment it!

Chapter 11 went out eaaaaarly Friday the 13th (boo-haa-haa), and here's the notice that went with it.

By the way, if you want to join the Secret Society of Updates, email me at peterandthevampires(at symbol)gmail.com.

=============

#1) Remember the Big Launch Day! Wednesday, May 25th! Please buy at LEAST a copy of VAMPIRES (more if you can afford it on that day) so the book can get a big promotional push as it zooms up the Kindle charts, and more people will see it!

#2) I’ve been thinking: I’m going to donate 50% of the money I make on May 25th to a charity, Save The Children (www.SaveTheChildren.org).

I figure if an author I liked asked me to email people and let people on Facebook know about his books, I might be a little uncomfortable. A lot of you don’t feel that way, but some of you might.

HOWEVER…if I were not only promoting the work of a struggling author, but also promoting giving to a charity, that would make me a lot more comfortable.

Plus, it’s a good organization. I donated to Childfund International for years until a spate of bad economic breaks forced me to stop. (The bad breaks also forced me to move back home with my folks, just so you don’t think I ditched the charity instead of, I don’t know, iced lattes.)

When I looked it up, though, I found Save The Children ranks higher in the percentage of funds that go towards helping kids, so I’m going with them.

Plus, not only do I write about kids (and thus giving to needy kids worldwide makes sense)…I couldn’t resist the name of the charity in relation to the stories I write.

“Save the kids!” sounds like a wailing plea from Dill as he points at himself.

#3) As I noted in one of my comments on the blog yesterday, I have decided that one of the next four stories after CRAZIES will contain a monkey rodeo.

Yes.

You heard me correctly:

A monkey rodeo.

I have not yet decided if this might be Jax’s favorite event of the year…or if he would just shake his head in dismay. I guess it depends on how the monkeys are treated.

I know it will be Dill’s annual highlight.

Either way, it’s ON like Donkey Kong.

#4) I have friends coming from out of town for the next four days, so you might not get any more updates until Monday. I’ll try, but no promises.

And what an unfortunate point to leave you on a cliffhanger… ; )

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 10

2011-05-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Chapter 10

"In which Dr. Prescott freaks OUT."

#1) The new "Buy An Ebook" date is May 25th!

Wednesday, 5/25/11!

That's right. That's the Big Launch Day. Make your preparations to buy a book - all three if you can afford it, VAMPIRES if you can only afford 99 cents!

If you've already purchased the books, that's cool, don't worry, I am super stoked you bought them! And if you are behind - like, you missed half of the stories - and you can't wait any longer or you will pee your pants like Dill, go ahead, you have my blessing.

But if you haven't bought any yet, please buy at least VAMPIRES on May 25th!

It will help enormously to push the book into the top 1000 (or top 100? Do I dare hope?!) of Kindle, which will give it more exposure, and hopefully more people will buy it!

Which means YOU will get more updates and books...and faster.

And if you have a Nook (BarnesAndNoble.com), that's cool - I love Nook, too. Buy it on Nook - but if you have neither, download Amazon's free Kindle app for your PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android phone, or Windows phone and buy the ebooks off Amazon.

More info to follow. MAY 25TH! That's the Big Day!

=========

Update 1.5:

By the way, Jim Zoetewey was the first guy to put PETER AND THE VAMPIRES on the Web Fiction Guide three years ago. (My thanks to Eldoran and others for their positive reviews on that site, too.) Jim's got a fiction, story-based blog of his own (much like how I did PETER) about modern-day superheroes at http://inmydaydreams.com/ , which he's planning to self-publish in the months ahead.

Drop on by and give the story a read - it seems pretty cool! And thanks, Jim, for helping me get the word out back in the day!

Update 1.75:

By the way, Amy D.C. busted out some awesome drawings I wanted to share with you guys. I think there's a certain antler-chewing li'l dude down in the second one...and I especially love how Dill looks in the second! Actually, Gwen and the werewolf are pretty awesome, too...

Thanks, Amy! Awesome pictures!

Click to embiggen:

#2) I hate Google Groups, however.

I will try to send updates out through Gmail. If they slap me for BCC'ing everybody (I assumed you might not want your emails revealed to all the world - this IS a Secret Society, after all), which they regard as Spam, I will try Google Groups again.

But I hate it.

I have attached Chapters 8, 9, and 10. This is not normal, but so many people missed 9 because of my ineptitude with Google Groups, I have included them all.

=============

#3) If you are reading this off the blog, are part of the Secret Society, and have not received 8, 9, or 10 (all three will be attached in the #10 email), then please email me at peterandthevampires(at symbol goes here)gmail.com and I'll set you up.

=================

#4) If you would still like to join the Secret Society, just email me at peterandthevampires(at symbol goes here)gmail.com and put NEW MEMBER in the subject line. This will help me see you and get you set up faster.

Thanks!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 9

2011-05-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

Chapter 9

"In which Dr. Veedermeier asks for a favor, and gives a strange piece of advice."

UPDATE: I just sent out Chapter 9 as of 9:35 PM Eastern on May 10, 2011. If you are a member of the Secret Society and didn't get your email, email me again and I'll make sure you get on the list. I've never had to delve this deeply into Gmail before, so getting everybody into "My Contacts" might be a bit sloppy at first...

Hola, folks! Welcome to the Secret Society of Updates! If you haven't read previous days, be sure to email me at peterandthevampires(at symbol)gmail.com to continue getting these chapters through email!

Here's the update that Secret Society Members have received:

Hola, all!

First, a little business:

1) Many have asked when physical copies of the books will be available. I definitely plan to do them, but each book will cost somewhere around $400 to get ready for printing (I would pay someone else to format them and do the back covers). Since I’m already in the hole for the ebook covers and formatting, I’m going to wait awhile to do the print versions. It might be 6 months – I would love to have them ready for the holidays.

2) But don’t wait to buy the physical copies! If these stories have given you ANY enjoyment over the last months (or years), I ask you to please buy a copy of the ebooks. If you can only afford 99 cents, get PETER AND THE VAMPIRES. If you can afford $7 US, get all three. The reason is not for money, it’s for the exposure. I hope that if I concentrate enough buyers on one day – right now, I’m thinking May 18th – then the book might land somewhere in the top 400 on Kindle, and maybe in the top 10 on some of the lists (like Horror and Fantasy > Supernatural). If it does that, more people will see it. And the people who see it, the more people will buy it. Which will hopefully build like a snowball in promoting the book. And if that happens, I can devote more time to writing – which means you get more PETER AND THE… stories faster. It may not happen like that at all, but it’s worth a shot.

3) I’m still working out other tactics, but if you are willing, I would really really REALLY appreciate you posting something about it on your Facebook page when we do the Big Book Launch Day. I know that I buy a lot of stuff on the recommendation of friends; if you’re passionate about the PETER stories, I could really use the help in telling people about it when May 18th rolls around.

4) In fact, if you don’t mind, go ahead and friend me now on Facebook: I'm darrenpillsbury1 (look for a guy with a red shirt in the profile picture).

5) Also, I’ll need reviews on the books. That will be key. If you don’t mind, please post a review on Kindle (or Nook/BarnesAndNoble.com if that’s where you buy it) after May 18th. In fact, I think there’s a way to review things you haven’t specifically bought, so even if you can’t afford to buy the books, you can still leave a review.

6) What else…if you have a blog and wouldn’t mind reviewing the book, that would be awesome. If you’re a member of Goodreads or another website that reviews ebooks, a review would be DOUBLE AWESOME.

7) I am open to giving bribes. For those who want a little something extra for your efforts, let me know. Want your name to be mentioned in one of the books, perhaps as one of Peter and Dill’s classmates? Hmmmm…what would you be willing to do for a bit of immortalization in the Peterverse?

I also have a lot of villains to name over the course of the next 60 stories or so. The promotional “pricetag” on that would require a lot, but I’m open.

Send me your ideas, either through email or on the blog, and I’ll put them out there for all Secret Society Members to see!

Anyway, enough shameless promotion. Thanks to those who have continued posting on the blog – which will still continue, in its currently altered form – and drop by and post if you haven’t already!

Enjoy the next installment! It’s not creepy yet…but we’re getting there awful fast. Soon I will be advising you to not read the updates before bedtime. Or before meals with marinara sauce.

Get that installment by emailing me at peterandthevampires(at symbol goes here)gmail.com!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 8

2011-05-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

CHAPTER 8

"In which Dr. Veedermeier chats with Peter, Gwen, and Dill"

HEY! If you guys didn't read yesterday's announcement, I'm discontinuing the blog - but I've started a "Secret Society of Updates" via email! (Thanks to Kyle for the name.)

Part of that is to make sure that people who read the ebooks but have never heard of the blog, don't find this blog and read spoilers on stories that won't be released for several more months.

Some of it is that I don't want to frighten away somebody who sees a particularly scary entry (or a kind of boring one, either).

And part of it is just plain mercenary, as I don't want to compete against myself.

However, for all my long-time readers (whether 3 years or 3 weeks), email me at peterandthevampires(at symbol)gmail.com and I'll add you onto the list to get these updates by email.

(Just put in @ instead of (at symbol) up above. I don't want to have the email harvested for spam by robots, that's why I didn't just provide the full address.)

Do it quick! NOW! Email me at peterandthevampires(at symbol)gmail.com! DOOOOOO EEEEEET!

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 7

2011-05-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

A very important update. PLEASE READ!

I've decided that, as people start to buy the ebooks, they might start looking online and find this blog. However, this chapter holds some major spoilers, and it's also going to be pretty gruesome in parts. If you've already read DEAD MEN, SWAMP MONSTER, and EVIL CARNIVAL, it won't be that shocking (I think)...but a newbie might freak out at some of the things coming up.

So, here's what I propose: email me at peterandthevampires( at symbol )gmail.com (I didn't put the actual email because I don't want it getting harvested by spam bots - just stick the @ in there instead of the parentheses). I'll start emailing updates to everybody who does this.

EMAIL ME, QUICK, because I'll probably start doing email updates only within the next 7 days.

Since people like commenting - and I like SEEING the comments - I'll probably continue posting blank pages on the blog with a simple descriptor (such as "Dr. Prescott returns"), and you can put in comments below that. It'll be a slightly wacky secret society, kind of. We'll see how that goes.

But definitely be sure to email me NOW at peterandthevampires(at symbol)gmail.com if you want to continue to get the rest of the pages on "Peter And The Crazies."

Thanks!

They turned the corner and came to yet another guard station. The man on duty buzzed them through another set of gates, too – but this time Peter was happy to go through, because once on the other side, the muffled moaning and screaming died away.

They were in a completely quiet hallway of metal doors. Dr. Prescott strode purposefully to one at the end, took out a plastic card, inserted it into a slot over a keypad, and punched a few numbers.

“We’re here,” he announced, and opened the door.

In the middle of the room sat Dr. Veedermeier.

Peter froze. Nightmarish images played in his mind as though from the scariest movie he had ever seen – except this was a movie he had lived through.

Dr. Veedermeier was the mad scientist who had graverobbed bodies and used them to construct a collection of horrific monsters. Dr. V had attempted to kill Peter, Dill, and Grandfather when they tried to stop him, and had only been thwarted when one of his own creations turned on him. The last Peter had seen of him, Veedermeier had been taken away in an ambulance, screaming and cackling, to Shadow Hills.

Now he sat here on a rickety chair, dressed in a white t-shirt and prison jumpsuit, surrounded by a jumble of chemistry equipment. Behind him was an elaborate structure of glass tubing that dripped a clear fluid into a metal cup.

The short, chubby, bald man looked up. His eyes were unnaturally large through his oversized, thick glasses.

He smiled. “Hello, Peter.”

Peter felt Dill tense up beside him and grab his arm.

“You, too, Dill – good to see you!” the little man said cheerfully.

“What’s he doing here?!” Peter cried out.

“He’s a patient here at Shadow Hills,” Prescott said. “You know that.”

“No, I mean, what’s he doing HERE?! In this room with us?!”

“This is part of your therapy. You obviously have a shared history of trauma, which you need to address. In addition, I believe Dr. Veedermeier is one of the sources of your delusions and paranoia, which you have to confront if you’re to break through the elaborate fantasy world you’ve constructed for yourself.”

Peter wasn’t quite sure what all that meant, but he knew he didn’t like it.

“I don’t care about that – get us out of here!”

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen,” Prescott said.

“He’s a mad scientist! Why did you give him this stuff?! He’s probably making something horrible!”

“Yeah, a nuclear bomb or something!” Dill wailed.

“I highly doubt that,” Prescott sniffed.

“I’m not making a nuclear bomb, Dill.” He smiled slyly as if sharing a little joke. “For one thing, I don’t have any plutonium or uranium.”

Dr. V and Dr. Prescott both chuckled, which alarmed Peter even more.

“Well, he’s probably doing something bad!” Peter looked up at Prescott. “Why’d you let him in here with this stuff?”

“It’s occupational therapy,” Prescott explained mildly. “It’s part of his rehabilitation.”

“Peter,” Dr. V said, “I know that the last time we saw each other, it wasn’t under the best of circumstances – ”

“You tried to kill me!” Peter yelled.

“We all make mistakes, and I certainly made my fair share with you,” Dr. Veedermeier said apologetically. “I really am sorry, and I hope that we can move past that.”

“Okay, fine, I forgive you, can we GO NOW?” Peter snapped at Prescott.

“No, you’re all going to talk with Dr. Veedermeier for 15 minutes,” Prescott said as he physically pushed them inside the room.

“Why me?” Gwen asked. “I don’t even know him!”

“You all have shared delusions. Dr. Veedermeier is an integral part of them, thus you all must participate at once.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Nonetheless, it’s what I prescribe.”

Dr. Prescott stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. Peter, Dill, and Gwen stood there in horrible discomfort. Dr. Veedermeier just sat smiling pleasantly as the clear liquid drip, drip, dripped out of the glass tubing into the metal cup.

There was a moment of silence.

“Well?” Prescott asked, irritated.

“Well what?” Peter barked back.

“I’m not talking to you,” Prescott said, and looked at Veedermeier. “I’m talking to him.”

“I was waiting for you to leave,” Dr. V explained, “so the children and I could talk privately.”

“WHAT?!” Peter cried.

“Oh, hell no,” Dill said.

“Leave you alone with them?” Prescott asked Veedermeier. “Are you insane?”

“Uhhh, YEAH-uh,” Peter snapped in a DUH tone of voice.

“Doctor…I really don’t want my interaction with the children psychoanalyzed,” Dr. V said with a smile. “As one professional to another, I’m sure you understand.”

“That wasn’t part of our agreement,” Prescott snapped.

“What agreement?” Peter asked in alarm.

“I’d like to alter the arrangement.”

“I’m afraid that’s out of the question,” Prescott answered.

Dr. V reached over, took the metal cup from under the piping, and held it over a small drain in the middle of the room’s bare concrete floor, as though he were about to pour out its contents. “Oh…that would be very disappointing.”

Prescott’s sweaty, pale face went ghostly white. “You wouldn’t,” he whispered.

“All I’m asking is fifteen minutes.”

Prescott hedged. “Five,” he finally said.

“WHAT?!” Peter almost screamed.

“Let’s say ten,” Veedermeier said, and tilted the metal cup even farther.

“Fine,” Prescott snarled between gritted teeth.

“You can’t be serious,” Gwendolyn said in horror.

“He can’t touch you, he’s shackled to the chair,” Prescott said crossly.

To prove the point, Dr. V lifted up one leg. A metal band was locked around one ankle, and a short, heavy chain linked it to the chair leg – which, Peter noticed for the first time, had all four legs bolted to the concrete floor. It was immovable.

“He’s a genius!” Peter snapped. “He can get out of that no problem!”

“I promise I won’t,” Dr. Veedermeier said, holding up his free hand as though pledging an oath. “Scout’s honor.”

“I’ll be right outside the door,” Prescott muttered.

“That’s not going to help us when he kills us!” Peter shouted.

“I wouldn’t do that!” Dr. Veedermeier exclaimed in a voice both shocked and hurt.

“Don’t kill them, Doctor,” Prescott said ironically, as though scolding a naughty child. He opened the door, then eyed the drops of liquid plopping quietly on the tabletop. “And for god’s sake, please put the container back.”

Dr. Veedermeier smiled sweetly. “As you wish,” he said, and placed the metal cup back under the dripping spout.

Prescott, visibly relieved, stepped into the hallway.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Peter howled. “DON’T LEAVE US!”

“I’ll be right outside,” Prescott said, not at all reassuringly, as he shut the door.

Peter turned around, horrified, and stared at Dr. Veedermeier.

They were alone with the madman.

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 6

2011-05-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

What up, peeps! Want to see the covers for PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES, and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN? Head on over to www.DarrenPillsbury.com and leave me a comment on my first official post!

Dr. Prescott stepped over the threshold into the hallway, but Peter froze to the spot. Dill and Gwen didn’t budge, either.

Prescott realized he wasn’t being followed and turned around. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Peter craned his neck and peered down the fluorescent-lit hallway. Door after door, metal slabs painted white, stretched a hundred yards. They had small glass windows, maybe six inches square, about five feet above the floor. Palms pressed against a few of the windows. A fist thudded dully against one, over and over and over.

“They’re not going to hurt you – they can’t get out,” Prescott said impatiently. “Come on, let’s go.”

When none of the kids moved, his face contorted in anger. “I said COME ON.”

Peter reluctantly stepped into that hallway, for the moment more afraid of Dr. Prescott than of the horrors around him. Dill and Gwen followed just a few inches behind him, staring up at the windows.

Peter was glad he wasn’t tall enough to see inside.

Satisfied, Prescott turned around and started down the hallway again.

The heavy metal door CLANGED shut behind them. Dill moaned and pressed close to Peter’s right arm.

“Don’t wet your pants,” Peter whispered in an effort to make a joke.

“I’m trying,” Dill whispered back.

“Ew,” Gwen muttered, but it was a testimony of how scared she was that she didn’t step away in disgust. Instead, she pulled closer.

Peter tried to focus on specific details that didn’t have anything to do with people screaming or pounding on glass. He noticed that beside each door was a little keypad with a slot – for a card, maybe? Like a fancy hotel room key…

…except for the worst hotel in the world.

Down the hallway, two figures were approaching. The one in back was tall and wore a white lab coat; the one in front was short and wore a white top over a calico print dress. As the two people drew closer, Peter could see that the taller person was one of the doctors in the lobby photographs, an older man with a bald head and a pointy, well-trimmed beard.

The other was a little girl about Peter’s height.

But the white top wasn’t regular clothing.

It was a straight jacket. Her arms were tied tight across her chest.

And her face…her face was horrible.

She was bald like the doctor, except for a few wisps of long, black hair that sprouted from patches on the top of her skull. Most of her face and neck was covered with scar tissue, a dull, unnatural brown. Peter could see that it wasn’t her regular color, because as she got close, one eyelid was a soft pink, while the other was thick and brown. She had no lips to speak of, just a slit where the flesh of her mouth stopped. One ear was crumpled down to a tiny bud, the other was completely gone. Also, when she walked, she hobbled along in a jerky manner, as though one leg were a couple inches shorter than the other.

The way she moved reminded Peter disturbingly of the mummy in the Charterton Museum…the thing that had almost killed him and his friends, and which had started the chain of events that had brought him here.

He shivered.

“Dr. Prescott,” the bald, bearded man said as he and the girl approached.

“Dr. Unnington,” Prescott said in return.

As she limped by, the burned girl turned her head to watch Peter and the others pass, and they watched her as well. Peter wanted to be friendly, but he couldn’t bring himself to smile or wave – partly because he was scared of her appearance, but also because she watched them with eyes deader than those of a fish: unblinking, uncaring, just barely curious at these new visitors to her fluorescent-lit world.

She was still gazing at them long after they had passed in the hallway.

And all around them, the shrieks and moans of the inmates buzzed through the air.

“I don’t wanna see anymore crazy people if they look like that,” Dill whined to Dr. Prescott.

“Shut up, Dill,” Gwen said.

“Yeah,” Peter said, jumping on the bandwagon. He felt bad that he was frightened by the little girl’s appearance, so scolding Dill made him feel better – even if his friend was just saying out loud what Peter felt inside.

But what he felt inside wasn’t polite.

“It’s probably not even her fault she’s here,” Peter added.

“Well, one might quibble over the meaning of ‘fault,’ especially as it relates to psychiatric disorders, but she did burn down her family’s house while they slept, killing them all,” Dr. Prescott said, as casually as if he were talking about the weather. “Then she set herself on fire. So you might want to revise your statement.”

Peter looked up at Dr. Prescott in horror, then back down the hall.

The little girl was still watching them as she waited for the bald doctor to unlock one of the rooms.

The song from the jump-roping girls echoed in his memory.

“Is that…Janey?” Peter asked.

“No, Janey liked to play with knives, if you’ll recall the song. Fleur is a pyromaniac with catatonic tendencies who suffers from occasional psychotic episodes.”

All three kids stared up at Dr. Prescott, who finally realized they were all waiting for him to speak English.

He sighed in an exaggerated manner, like You really should know all this without me telling you. “She likes to set fires, she rarely speaks to other people, and she occasionally has violent outbursts where she loses touch with reality.”

Peter looked down the hall again with dread.

The little girl was still staring at him as the doctor ushered her into her room.

“You know the song?” Gwen asked Dr. Prescott.

“Of course. If you grew up anywhere within a hundred miles of Shadow Hills, you know that nursery rhyme.”

“Was she…real?”

“Oh yes. I’ve seen the admittance records. Jane Milledge. Committed to Shadow Hills in 1922 at the age of 15 for the murder of her father with a meat cleaver – ‘knives’ and ‘parents,’ plural, was a bit of artistic license in the song. Diagnosed with hysteria, though I believe she suffered from bipolar disorder, as she cycled constantly between mania and deep depression.” Dr. Prescott sniffed disdainfully. “The doctors in attendance could have made a similar diagnosis, since Kraepelin had effectively introduced the basics by the date of her admittance…but the staff here has been rather mediocre until the last ten years.”

Peter barely understood what Prescott said, but he latched onto the final sentence. “What happened in the last ten years?”

Dr. Prescott looked down at him with an air of surprise, but without an ounce of humor. “Why, that’s when I started here,” he said simply.

Peter was beginning to believe that ‘butthole’ was not quite strong enough a word to describe Dr. Prescott.

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 5

2011-05-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

The front hall of the building was big and echo-y, bare and kind of boring. The walls were painted off-white with photographs of various people on the walls. Dr. Prescott was one of them, so Peter guessed that they were pictures of the doctors at Shadow Hills. The others all seemed to be much older than Dr. Prescott – women with white hair, men with thick glasses and beards streaked with grey.

About the only nice thing in the front hall was the dark woodwork of the stairs that led up to a second level. But to get to that they had to go through the first guard.

He was another man dressed in a policeman-like uniform. He stood behind a wooden barrier that separated the interior of the building side from the lobby. The only way to the other side was a conveyor belt x-ray machine and a seven-foot tall frame that Peter knew was a metal detector.

“Doctor,” the guard said politely.

Dr. Prescott barely acknowledged him before he turned to Peter, Dill, and Gwen.

“None of you are carrying any weapons, are you?” Dr. Prescott asked. “Gwendolyn?”

“Of course not,” she answered resentfully.

“Fine. Put anything metal, like cell phones or keys, on the conveyor belt for the x-ray, and then walk through when the gentleman tells you.”

Peter and Dill pulled their cells out and set them down. Then, one by one, they were waved through the metal detector, followed finally by Dr. Prescott.

The guard tapped on a keyboard next to the x-ray machine, and the conveyor belt started to whir. The guard watched on a white and purplish-looking monitor as the cell phones’ ghostly outlines paraded by and then emerged next to him.

As soon as Peter and Dill had their phones back, Dr. Prescott said, “Alright, let’s go,” and led them further into the building.

The hallways were the same boring off-white as the lobby. The doors were metal with glass windows set into them; doctors’ names appeared beside the doors on little plaques on the wall. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, and their footsteps clicked on the white linoleum. There were no windows except at the very farthest end of the hallway, where sunlight peaked in almost a football field’s length away.

Dill looked around suspiciously. “Where are the crazy people?”

“As in our regular sessions, Dill, we don’t use the term ‘crazy’ around here,” Dr. Prescott said mildly.

“Riiiight…cuz they might get mad and try to chop us up,” Dill said as though he finally understood.

“No, because it’s disrespectful, biased, and usually inaccurate. The separation between ‘sane’ and ‘insane’ in our modern-day society is increasingly razor-thin.”

“Yeah, I’m not worried about…whatever you just said, I’m worried about getting chopped up. So where are the crazy people?”

Dr. Prescott gritted his teeth. “I think I’m walking with one of them.”

“Wha – oh. Haha,” Dill said without laughing. “That was funny, Doc.”

“Doctor,” Prescott corrected him.

“Where are we going?” Gwen asked.

“To start our group therapy,” Prescott answered.

“Yeah, but…weren’t those offices back there?”

“Those are administrative offices. My session area is further inside the building.”

“With the crazy people?” Dill asked.

“Yes, Dill, with the crazy people,” Prescott snapped.

They walked up a flight of stairs, down a hall, and up to another guard station, which was far more restrictive than the first. This one had metal bars from floor to ceiling, with a jailhouse door set in the middle. On the other side was a guard, who pressed some buttons and made the door swing open to let them through.

But they weren’t inside the facility yet; they were only in a small office with a few television screens, the guard’s computer, and a camera up in the ceiling. Across from them was a solid metal door set into a concrete wall.

Once the metal bar door CLANGED back into place, the guard typed a few commands into his keyboard.

SHUNK.

The sound of deadbolts drawing back – big, heavy deadbolts – vibrated through the floor. Then the guard walked over to the solid metal door and pulled out a ring of keys.

There’s two different areas, with a tiny tunnel between. Just like the two chain link fences, Peter realized.

“Why are there two different doors?” Gwen asked, her normally cool voice a little worried.

But Peter already knew before Dr. Prescott said anything. As soon as the guard swung open the heavy steel door, the answer was all around them.

Voices filled the air. Maybe it was more accurate to say sounds filled the air – because some of them were obviously human voices, and some were anything but. They were all muted, the way Peter had heard neighbors arguing back in his apartment building in California.

There were moans and shrieks and howls. Whining, whimpering, sobbing. Wails of misery, screams of rage. Babbling that was halfway understandable – “He said he would let me go in broad moonlight, the angels were there, they heard him, they asked for a book, too” – and garbled yammering that sounded like baby demons.

And because they were muted, they blended into one another like a faraway choir of pain and madness.

It was the sound of hell on earth as heard through a padded wall.

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 4

2011-05-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

Gwen was standing by another truck 10 feet away, although it was a much more recent model than Grandfather’s ancient Ford. She looked just as surprised to see them. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re going to see Dr. Prescott. What are you doing here?” Peter asked.

“I’m going to see Dr. Prescott, too,” she said with a frown.

This was a problem because Mr. Wainwright, Gwendolyn’s father, had forbidden her to make contact with Peter and Dill. He was convinced that Peter and Dill were troublemakers and had gotten his only daughter involved in a bunch of ‘monkey business’ that had landed her in court and on the wrong side of the law.

Which wasn’t entirely false.

Of course, they violated his orders every day at school when they ate lunch together. Gwendolyn lied to him about that. But as for hanging out after school? Completely out of the question. Peter had called her during the Boogeyman mess to see if she could help, but she was under lock and key at the time.

Much to Peter’s surprise, when he and Dill told her what happened at school on Monday, she was grumpy that she’d missed out on their near-death experience.

“We almost died,” Peter had explained in a I don’t think you heard me kind of voice.

“You would've been fine if I’d been there,” she’d said sullenly.

In fact, Mr. Wainwright so distrusted Peter and Dill that he had demanded his daughter have completely different therapy days with Dr. Prescott so that she wouldn’t see the boys.

Now that they were there, all in one place at the same time, and on a day Gwendolyn shouldn’t have even seen the doctor, Mr. Wainwright was going to be P.O.’d.

Sure enough, he didn’t disappoint.

“What the hell is going on here?!” he barked as he rounded the truck. He was a tall man with a bit of a middle-aged gut. He had a rugged, tanned face and streaks of grey over his ears. He wore the work boots, plaid shirt, and vest of a hunter – fitting, since that was the thing he loved to do most in life. He had passed on his great love of guns and marksmanship to his daughter, who was the best under-18 shot in the county. Probably the state. Maybe even the entire world, from what Peter had seen. And probably not just under 18 years, either.

Grandfather walked around the truck. “John,” he said gruffly.

“What exactly are you and – and those boys doing here, Mr. Flannagan?” Gwendolyn’s dad fumed.

“Going to their court-appointed head-doctor visit,” Grandfather said.

“Why are they here at the same time as my daughter?”

“Well, since this is their regular day, and the only things that have changed are the hour and the place, you’ll have to ask the good doctor about that.”

“I – well – I – ” Mr. Wainwright stammered.

“You can ask the good doctor right now,” said a thin, high voice.

Peter looked over and actually stepped back in surprise.

Dr. Prescott was walking towards them through the parking lot, but it was not the same man Peter was used to seeing. For one, he had on a black turtleneck and a navy blue jacket that sailors wore in movies (a ‘pea coat,’ Peter thought they called it). Dr. Prescott normally wore a suit to their sessions – either that or a long, white jacket, the kinds doctors wear in hospitals.

For another, he looked pale and sweaty. His hair was stringy and damp, and he had dark circles under his eyes as though he hadn’t slept in days. And the cheek under one eye kept twitching slightly, over and over.

But he sounded exactly like the Dr. Prescott Mom had talked to over the phone: a real butthole.

“My daughter is supposed to have sessions on Thursdays so we don’t have to be near – near them,” Mr. Wainwright said, pointing at Dill and Peter.

“Yes, well, we’re having group therapy today,” Dr. Prescott said. “Which necessitated the presence of all three children at once.”

“Group therapy? Why the hell does she need group therapy?”

“I believe Gwendolyn is repressing certain issues. I’d like her to confront them on a conscious level, and the only way I can do that is with the presence of the other children. Also, I need her in order to do a full investigation of the psycho-social group dynamics of the trio, and the effects I think that all three of them are suffering, including paranoia and shared delusions . A folie a trois, if you will.”

Mr. Wainwright’s was frowning, but now more from confusion than anger.

“I…what?”

“I think your daughter is suffering from shared psychotic disorder, Mr. Wainwright, and the only way I can diagnose it properly is to see her under the effects of the inducer with the primary delusion.”

“The…? Look, doc, you can talk fancy-shmancy all day long, but you’re lucky I even agreed to Gwenny going in that nuthouse. She is not going in there with those – ”

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you have a degree in psychiatry?” Dr. Prescott butted in.

“Wha– no, you know I don’t.”

“A medical degree then? How about a doctorate in – ” Here, Dr. Prescott shuddered the slightest bit. “ – psychology? No, not even that?”

He grabbed Dill by the crook of his arm and snapped his fingers twice, and beckoned to Peter and Gwen the way he might command a dog.

Normally Peter would have been angry to be treated this way, but he was so unnerved by this new, sweaty, jittery, mean Dr. Prescott that he obeyed without question and walked over to him. Gwendolyn followed.

“When you do complete your residency, let me know, Dr. Wainwright, but until then, I’ll treat your daughter and her friends the way I see fit.”

The tall, thin man turned to go.

Mr. Wainwright stepped forward angrily. “Now look here – ”

Dr. Prescott whipped back around. He spoke firmly, but not angrily; more than anything, it was amazing how cold he was as he stared Gwendolyn’s dad in the eyes.

“No? You don’t like that? Then here, take her.” He pushed on Gwendolyn’s back and forced her gently towards her father. “I’ll let Judge Glendak know as soon as I get back in the building that you’ve decided to terminate her court-appointed sessions, and that you accept full responsibility in having her original sentence restored. I’m sure the sheriff’s department can pick her up tomorrow morning to transfer her to juvenile hall.”

Mr. Wainwright’s face looked pained, and all the fight went out of him. He shrank a little like a slowly deflating balloon toy.

Dr. Prescott saw it, too. He didn’t smile or gloat. He knew he had won, but he acted like the outcome had never been in question.

“No? Alright then, we’ll see you in two hours.”

Prescott turned to go again –

“Doctor,” Grandfather said roughly.

Prescott cocked his head in irritation, turned slowly around, and stared at Grandfather without saying a word.

“Are you feeling alright, Doctor?” Grandfather asked.

Prescott straightened his head and smoothed down the lapel of his jacket, a little taken aback. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You’re sweating…and that’s quite a heavy jacket to be wearing with such mild weather.”

The doctor straightened up even further. “I had to run down here to collect the children, that’s all. Thank you for inquiring after my health, but we really need to start the session, Mr. Flannagan.”

Grandfather looked long and hard at the other man…and then nodded the slightest bit.

Prescott averted his eyes and bowed his head at the neck – a little mockingly, and maybe a little unsure of how that last conversation had just gone. Then he turned around and strode through the rows of cars.

“Come along,” he said brusquely to Peter, Gwen, and Dill, and they followed him helplessly into Shadow Hills.

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 3

2011-04-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

What up, folks!

The first two books (VAMPIRE and WEREWOLVES) should be out on Kindle in the next 10 days, FRANKENSTEIN will be out a week after that, and PETER AND THE MUMMY will probably follow about two months after that.

I'll give you more updates soon!

Peter and Dill sat in Grandfather’s truck the next day as they rode to their appointment. Grandfather and Peter were still not on the best of speaking terms, but Dill chattered away the entire time.

“Dude, this is messed up – you know the jump rope song, right? ‘Janey was a little girl – ’”

“‘Who liked to play with knives,’ yeah yeah, I’ve heard it,” Peter grumbled. “What’s the problem? I thought you would’ve loved to go see this place.”

“Why would I love to go see a place for crazy people? I already live in a house full of ‘em.”

“You wanted to find out about the werewolves on Thanksgiving – ”

Dill clapped his hands over both ears. “I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!”

“ – so you could tell everybody at school,” Peter finished.

“Dude, we’re going to a place for crazy people. Why would I tell anybody? I don’t want people to think I’M crazy.”

“Too late,” Grandfather muttered from the driver’s seat.

Peter smiled the tiniest bit, though he tried not to show it. He didn’t want to give the old man the satisfaction.

“Hey, you’re old,” Dill said to Grandfather, as though he was just realizing it for the first time. “Did you know that Janey girl in the jump rope song?”

“They were singing that song when I was your age, idjit,” the old man growled. “I doubt there ever was such a person.”

“Well…is there anything else we need to know?” Dill asked.

“Like what?”

“Like Indian stuff.”

Grandfather looked puzzled. “‘Indian stuff’?”

“Yeah, old Indian stories that we’re gonna find out are true after something really bad happens to us.”

“You know…like what usually happens,” Peter said as he stared out at the road.

“Ooooooh, burn,” Dill chortled.

Grandfather glared down at them. Peter could feel the old man’s gaze boring through his skull, but he wouldn’t turn around. Dill, however, cowered behind Peter.

The old man scowled and turned back to driving. “There aren't any Indian legends associated with Shadow Hills, if that’s what you mean.”

“How about anything else?” Dill asked.

“Like what?”

Dill struggled to find the words. “Like…anything I wouldn’t usually want to talk about.”

“Shadow Hills is a very reputable institution,” Grandfather said. “Despite what your idiotic school friends might say, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Except for the crazy people,” Dill added.

“There hasn’t been a single breakout in the time I’ve lived in Duskerville,” Grandfather snapped. “It’s a mental hospital that serves a useful function.”

“To keep cra-A-zy peo-ple,” Dill said in a sing-song voice.

“Shut up,” Grandfather snapped, and that was the end of that.

Until they came to Shadow Hills.

They turned off the main route to Charterton and drove down a two-lane road through a mile of forest – and then emerged into an expanse of rolling hills completely devoid of trees. Fields of yellow grass rippled spookily in the wind.

Up on the horizon was Shadow Hills.

It looked like a giant square, two stories high and made of brick. The walls were dotted with regular patterns of windows and the roof was apparently flat.

Two towers rose from the center. They were notable not just because they loomed twenty feet above the rest of the building, but also for their slanted green roofs that gleamed in the late afternoon sun. Each one had a tiny, sharp spike sticking up into the air. And the color of brick in the right tower was slightly different from that in the left.

“Why are those roofs green?” Peter asked.

“They’re copper,” Grandfather said. “Copper turns green over time. There was a fire here 50 years ago, when I was a young man. Lightning hit one of the copper roofs and exploded the tower. After they rebuilt, they put in those lightning rods.”

“That’s the little pointy things?”

“Yes.”

“Nobody got out when the roof exploded?” Dill asked.

Grandfather was silent for a long moment. “There were four men who got out. But two were killed and the others were recaptured.”

“I thought you said that there wasn’t a single breakout your whole life!” Peter snapped.

“I said there hasn’t been a single breakout while I’ve lived in Duskerville,” Grandfather growled. “I wasn’t in Duskerville when it happened.”

“That’s a good one, I gotta remember that,” Dill said. “‘I did my homework every night I was at home…except I’m never home at night.’”

Grandfather just scowled.

As they drove closer, Peter noticed that the entire complex was surrounded by a giant chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. At each corner of the fence was a wooden guard tower, thirty feet high. On the tower nearest him, he could see a lone figure standing with a rifle, watching as Grandfather’s truck approached.

“Why does that guy have a gun?” Peter asked, slightly alarmed.

“Duh. To shoot the crazies if they try to escape,” Dill said.

“Oh.”

“But they don’t ever escape, right?” Dill asked Grandfather.

“As long as I’ve lived here. Correct.”

“Do the crazies know you moved back?” Dill asked. “I don’t want ‘em saying, ‘Hey, that crazy old dude doesn’t still live here, right? Let’s go escape.’”

Grandfather ignored Dill this time.

Along the road, right in the center of the chain link fence, was a small brick building with a sign above it:

SHADOW HILLS INSTITUTE
FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE

Through the middle of the building ran a tunnel. Two cars could have driven through it side-by-side without any problem. At the end of the tunnel, metal gates stopped vehicles from going any further.

A man in a police-looking uniform came out of an office inside the tunnel and held his hand up. Grandfather stopped the truck.

“Visiting hours are over,” the man said. Peter noticed that he had a gun holster strapped to his belt.

“I’m dropping off Peter Normal and Dill Bodinski to see Dr. Prescott.”

“Driver’s license,” the man said.

Grandfather handed him a card from his wallet, and the guard stepped back inside his office. Peter could see him working at a computer terminal, typing in some words on a keyboard. A printer spat out a colored piece of paper, and the guard carried it back out to the truck.

“Put this in your windshield for as long as you’re on the premises. Do not touch the metal fences, they’re electrified. You will be electrocuted if you touch them.”

Peter gulped.

“Drive up and park anywhere in the visitors section on the left. Dr. Prescott will meet you at the front desk,” the guard finished.

Grandfather took the piece of paper and his driver’s license and nodded curtly.

The guard walked back inside and typed something in his computer. The metal gates shrieked, split in the middle, and pulled back to the left and the right on grooved tracks in the ground.

As the truck pulled out of the tunnel, Peter was shocked to see they were surrounded by chain link fence on both sides – and then, after about 15 feet, it stopped. Peter looked behind him and saw that there were not one, but two chain link fences surrounding Shadow Hills, separated by about 15 feet of grass. The walls of chain link they had driven through were the single pathway between the two fences (the two ELECTRIFIED fences, Peter thought), and the only way out was through the small brick building with the guard and the gates.

Wow, they REALLY don’t want anybody getting out of here…

Grandfather pulled up into a regular parking lot with about 40 cars and stopped the truck.

“Out,” he barked.

Peter and Dill piled out of the truck…only to find themselves staring at Gwendolyn Wainwright.

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 2

2011-04-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

It was Monday night. Therapy was supposed to be the next afternoon. Grandfather usually picked Peter and Dill up from school, drove them to the appointment in Charterton, and then left. Mom would then come pick them up and drive them home afterwards.

Peter was sitting at the kitchen table picking at his meatloaf and lima beans. Mom was feeding Beth in her highchair. As usual, Grandfather was in his study.

When the phone rang, Peter leapt up from the table and ran for it – mostly to get away from his lima beans. “I’ve got it!” he cried, then picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello, Peter, this is Dr. Prescott.”

Even before the psychiatrist identified himself, Peter recognized the slightly high, reedy voice. However, he was shocked to hear him over the phone, since Dr. Prescott had never called the house before.

But after he got over his surprise, Peter felt a bit smug about the smackdown he would be delivering the next day. “Oh, hi. I’ve got something to tell you about – ”

“Excellent, tell me tomorrow, please put your mother or grandfather on.”

Peter held the receiver out and looked at it with a frown. Dr. Prescott was odd, but he wasn’t rude. This stranger on the phone was kind of a jerk.

“Uh…okay,” Peter said into the receiver. “Hold on.”

He walked the phone over to Mom, who took it from him. “Hello?”

Dr. Prescott’s voice was loud enough that Peter could hear him clearly. “Hello, Ms. Normal, this is Dr. Prescott, Peter’s psychiatrist.”

“Yes, hello, Doctor.”

“I have a bit of a conflict tomorrow. I’m going to need to see Peter and Dill at a different location and different time.”

“Um…okay, I guess…where?”

“The Shadow Hills Institute at 5 o’clock.”

Peter’s eyes grew wide.

Shadow Hills was a mental hospital for crazy people.

Who had committed violent crimes.

As Dill would say, ‘the looney bin.’

Peter only knew these things through vague comments made by adults (“Oh my god, I’m going crazy, they’re gonna send me to Shadow Hills”) and whispered stories by kids at school. Some girl in Duskerville had supposedly killed her parents in their sleep 50 years ago; Peter had heard some girls singing a song about her as they jumped rope.

Janey was a little girl

Who liked to play with knives;

The day her parents made her mad

She ended both their lives.

They sent her off to Shadow Hills

They didn’t have a clue;

Cuz crazy is as crazy does

She killed the doctors, too.

After Dr. Veedermeier had tried to kill Peter and Dill, the sheriff’s department had sent him to Shadow Hills.

Dr. Prescott was a psychiatrist on staff there – in fact, he was Veedermeier’s doctor. However, Dr. Prescott normally saw outside patients in an old building near Charterton University. Other than when he testified in court during Peter’s trial, he had never mentioned Shadow Hills once.

Until now.

Mom’s eyes went wide, too. She had grown up in Duskerville, so she probably knew 100 times more stories about the mental hospital than Peter did. “Um, I’m sorry…I’m not comfortable with that.”

Dr. Prescott’s voice sounded impatient over the phone. “I assure you, madam, that the facilities are 100% safe.”

“Can’t we schedule for the next day?”

“No we cannot. My schedule is entirely full, I need to see Peter and Dill at Shadow Hills tomorrow at 5 o’clock.”

“Well then, let’s just skip this week – ”

“Absolutely not, the court ordered weekly therapy sessions for twenty weeks contingent on my final analysis. I need to see them weekly for the process to be effective.”

“I think the court would be okay with them skipping a week for emergencies,” Mom said sarcastically.

“Except you have no emergency, madam, so I will expect to see them at Shadow Hills at 5 o’clock. Drive into the visitors area, I will meet them in the parking lot.”

“Dr. Prescott, I don’t – ”

“Or I will have to report to the court that you and your son are being uncooperative, and I will recommend that the suspended sentence of two years in juvenile detention be implemented immediately.”

Mom looked like she could not believe what she was hearing. Peter stared at her in horror.

“It’s your choice, but I hope to see Peter and Dill at Shadow Hills at 5PM tomorrow.”

CLICK.

Mom stared down at the phone and said a dirty word.

“Yew said uh baaaaa’ wor’, mama!” Beth exclaimed from her high chair.

Peter was pretty taken aback, too.

Mom looked at Peter guiltily. “Sorry. But he’s being a world class…”

She searched for a less objectionable term.

“Butthole?” Peter suggested.

“Exactly,” Mom agreed, then sighed. “Sorry, kid…I guess you’re going to Shadow Hills tomorrow.”

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"Peter and the Crazies" Chapter 1

2011-04-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long wait...I've been editing the ebooks for the first three books: PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES, and PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN. The first will be coming out in the next week or two...I'll let you know more as the situation develops!

Updates on "Crazies" will be spotty until I've finished the editing process, which will take at least another week...

PETER AND THE CRAZIES

For the first time since he started seeing Dr. Prescott, Peter was looking forward to therapy. The whole mess with the boogeymen had happened the previous week, and Peter finally had something to talk about: a real, live, honest-to-gosh secret his grandfather had been keeping from him.

Of course, Grandfather had tons of secrets he kept from Peter. Unfortunately, most of them involved curses and other supernatural stuff. Which were things Dr. Prescott didn’t believe in, so anytime Peter mentioned them, Dr. Prescott brushed him off and instead asked, “How does that make you feel?”

But now Peter had found out a secret that even Dr. Prescott couldn’t pooh-pooh: Grandfather had a stepbrother he had never mentioned before.

It just so happened that the stepbrother was evil, and had tried to kill Peter twice now – once with gingerbread men and a second time with a Ouija board – but that was supernatural stuff, so Peter was planning to leave that part out.

And he was pretty sure the ‘my long-lost stepuncle wants to kill me’ part wouldn’t go over so well, anyway.

But that wasn’t important. What was important was that Grandfather had a stepbrother named Fallon! Living in Duskerville! A mysterious relative he had never talked about before!

To be honest, Peter wasn’t that angry about Grandfather keeping secrets. The old man had told him as much after Peter’s stay in the hospital a couple of months before: That’s one of those things I need you to trust me about, boy. Do you understand? That’s one of those things I need you not to ask right now.

Well, actually, Peter was kind of mad about Grandfather keeping secrets, because some of those secrets had a way of almost getting Peter killed. Often.

What he was really furious about, though, was that Grandfather had lied to the rest of the world about it and made Peter look crazy. Or stupid. Or both. He had Peter stand up in juvenile court and tell the truth – and Grandfather told him to INSIST to everybody that it was the truth – and then the old man climbed up in the witness stand afterwards and swore that Peter was making the whole thing up.

That was the thing that really made Peter mad: Grandfather had made a fool out of him.

Worse, Grandfather had betrayed him.

The second thing was that Dr. Prescott, like every adult, believed Grandfather instead of Peter. And so he just treated Peter like he was crazy. Or stupid. Or both.

And the third thing was that Peter hated, absolutely hated, when Dr. Prescott asked, “How does that make you feel?”

Which he did about 150 times every session.

Now Peter had proof that Grandfather lied. Proof that Dr. Prescott couldn’t deny. Proof that would finally shut Dr. Prescott up.

How does that make me feel? LET ME TELL YOU HOW THAT MAKES ME FEEL.

But then the phone call came, and things got weird.

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 91 thru 94

2011-04-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 88 thru 90

2011-04-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 86 and 87

2011-04-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 83 thru 85

2011-04-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 82

2011-03-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 80 and 81

2011-03-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 77 thru 79

2011-03-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 73 thru 76

2011-03-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

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Dead Men Prologue

2011-03-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Got a favor to ask of you before we continue on with BOOGEYMEN.

I'm editing the text of the first ebook, PETER AND THE VAMPIRES, and I though I maybe should add in a bit to the first story, "Peter And The Dead Men."

The argument for: readers who are new to the story might not stick with the story 17 pages until the bad guy initially shows up. "Dead Men" is a bit slow to get started, what with Peter moving in and all. The new 3 pages are basically like a "teaser" in front of an X-FILES episode, showing you something creepy that will hook you until the main story really gets going.

The argument against: you lose a little more of Peter's uncertainty about whether Dill and GF are crazy, or if there really IS something out there in the garden. Might be a little confusing to the reader to be reading about "a boy" and "an old man" and not get any names until page 5 or 6. (Dill recounts the watermelon story to Peter in their first meeting.)

So, tell me what you think! Do I need the prologue or not? Good idea or not? Why or why not?

Thanks!

CHAPTER 1

There was something out in the garden, he was sure of it.

The boy watched from the roof of his parents’ one-bedroom house, where he sprawled out on the tar paper shingles.

Next door was the crazy old man’s place, a giant mansion straight out of a horror movie. Four stories tall, with beat-up wooden siding, shutters that hung halfway off their hinges, and mismatched windows of all shapes and sizes.

Behind the house was an overgrown hedge of roses that nobody ever trimmed.

And behind that was the garden.

The boy had been fascinated with it ever since his family moved in three years ago. The garden was an overgrown jungle of every type of plant you could imagine – corn, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, even strawberries – and was almost as big as a football field.

The boy had tried once to go over there and ‘borrow’ a watermelon. Five minutes later, as he ran from the field with a shotgun going off behind him, he had learned that the old man was as crazy as everybody said.

But there was something very, very strange going on with the garden.

The old man never planted anything in it, yet every year it bloomed with new life. He never saw the old man go out to pick anything from it, and yet the fruits and vegetables all gradually disappeared over the summer and fall.

And every night, there was something out there moving in it.

The boy had noticed it this past summer, when the plants were still green. At night, the corn stalks would sway and shiver. From the roof, he could watch the path of whatever it was make its way through the greenery.

And now that the plants were brown and dead, he could hear the soft shhhh shhhh shhhh of something moving out there.

Weeks of curiosity had built up in him. He was about to burst.

As much as he feared the old codger with the shotgun, he had to know what was out there.

Tonight was the night he was going to go see what it was.

The boy swung off the roof, into the tree on the side of the house, dropped to the ground, and made his way inside.

His two older sisters were screaming at each other from opposite sides of the bathroom door. (His mother was still at work at the diner, or she would have been yelling at them to shut up.) His older brothers were in the den watching TV. And his dad’s beer-soaked snores drifted out of a bedroom in the back of the house.

The boy crept into the den without being seen and stole his father’s cigarette lighter from the table by the couch. Then he ran outside.

He walked along the wooden fence that divided the two properties. On his family’s side of the rotting rails and posts were acres and acres of forest. The old man’s property extended far beyond the garden, but it was just rolling, moonlit fields as far as the eye could see.

The boy came up even with the garden, though it was still almost a hundred feet away from where he stood. He waited there in the darkness, watching the house for a sign…for any hint of lights in the windows, or a glimpse of the old man.

There was none.

He bolted across the field.

He hesitated at the edge of the garden and looked up at the cornstalks towering overhead. They were so tall…and the shadows between them were so dark…

He balled up his fists and plunged inside.

It was hard going, but he forged on anyway. He had been pushing through the dried-out husks of plants for almost a minute when he heard it up ahead:

shhhh shhhh shhhh.

The boy paused to listen, and strained his eyes to see. Even though the moon was bright in the sky, barely any light penetrated down into the maze of dead stalks.

He pulled out the cigarette lighter, an aluminum Zippo with a flip top, and popped it open. It took him three or four swipes of his thumb on the flint wheel, but he finally got it to light.

He stood there in the gloom, the brown cornstalks around him flickering in the glow of the orange flame.

Something touched his foot.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” the boy screamed.

He dropped the lighter and ran.

There was a crackling sound behind him, and everything began to get brighter. He realized as he hurtled through the dead plants that it was getting warmer, too…

He burst out of the cornstalks and turned around, huffing and puffing.

The entire garden was in flames.

The boy watched, mesmerized, as the fire spread in waves. Vines wilted and stalks blackened and smoke billowed into the air.

POOOM.

The boy flinched and looked around wildly. The sound was like a gunshot, but not as loud.

POOOM.

Bits of wet goop fell from the air and spattered on the boy’s blond buzz-cut. He touched it, grossed out at first. Then he sniffed his fingers, and finally licked.

Watermelon.

The watermelons were exploding.

POOOM! POOOM! POOOM!

This was the coolest thing ever.

“YOU! IDJIT!” thundered a familiar, gravelly, terrifying voice.

The boy almost peed his pants.

Actually, he did pee his pants.

But just a little squirt.

The old man was rushing from his house towards the garden, a scarecrow in a white shirt, grey vest, and tie. His dress clothes stood in stark contrast to his wild, overgrown beard.

In his hands was the shotgun.

The boy screamed and raced for the decaying wooden fence.

Behind him, the watermelons continued to explode.

POOOM! POOOM! POOOM!

The old man watched him go, made sure the little fool was safely in his one-story house, before he turned back to the garden.

Thirty feet away, a skeletal man in a long, black coat stood at the edge of the fire. Atop his head perched a tattered hat. His face was impossible to see, silhouetted as it was by the orange glow behind him.

He raised his arm slowly and pointed one single, accusing finger at the old man.

Then the black figure turned and walked into the fire, disappearing within the rows of swirling flames.

CHAPTER 2

Ten Months Later

Five days after leaving California, Peter Normal was about to see his new home for the first time.

He hated it already.

Peter sat in the front seat of his mom’s beat-up Honda, his forehead pressed to the window, and watched the small town of Duskerville go by. It was so different from what he was used to. A two-lane road that stretched through miles and miles of forest, broken occasionally by a farm or clump of houses. The actual town itself had seven blocks of shops, five stoplights, two grocery stores, and one movie theater. Peter knew this because he had counted them all.

Most of the storefronts looked old, like something out of black and white television shows. Leave It To Beaver or Andy Griffith. Not many people were out. A few men in short-sleeve shirts, a woman in a flowered dress. And a tall, strange man in a black suit and hat, with an ancient face and grizzled beard. Who was also carrying a pitchfork.

Curiously, nobody on the street seemed freaked out by that.

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 70 thru 72

2011-03-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 68 and 69

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 64 thru 67

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 60 thru 63

2011-03-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

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"Peter and the Boogeymen" Page 58 and 59

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Announcement

2011-02-23T20:49:00.000-08:00

We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast...

What up, folks. I thought I would let you know about some exciting things in store in the next month or two.

I'll eventually be publishing the Peter stories on a variety of ebook platforms. Definitely the Kindle and the Nook, plus several others. At some point, the books will also be available in print.

No, I don't have a publishing deal. It's just little ol' me going it alone.

What I plan is to do is to publish PETER AND THE VAMPIRES (Dead Men thru Swamp Monster) first. It will probably be for free, although I don't know that for sure.

Then I'll publish PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES the month after (Mannequins thru Werewolves). I'll probably price it between $0.99 and $2.99, but again, I haven't made up my mind yet.

I'll continue to publish the stories after that until I've reached the current book, which is PETER AND THE MUMMY (Helpers through the next story after Boogeymen).

There's some changes that will be going along with that.

1) This blog will eventually go away. In fact, I'll probably start deleting the posts before BOOGEYMEN fairly soon, but I'll keep the comments (I want to keep those in place as a sort of record - if for nothing other than to memorialize "What a guy"). I will, however, finish out BOOGEYMEN at the very least, and maybe the next story. Don't know yet.

2) I'll shift more daily blogging, just about 'stuff,' over to www.DarrenPillsbury.com (which will be much improved over its current state). I definitely hope everybody comes and checks that out, and that I'll see all of my regular commenters (and "long-time-readers-first-time-posters," hint hint) over in the new blog.

Now, some of you are asking, "HEY! What does this mean for ME the reader?!"

Wellll...there's a small minus, but a mighty big plus.

The minus is that you'll have to start paying for the stories.

(For those of you shouting, "I don't have a Kindle or a Nook!", never fear: you can download a free Kindle app for your computer and read ebooks on your desktop or laptop.)

The big pro is that, after a four month hiatus while I publish the first four books, the stories should start coming a LOT faster.

Right now you guys are getting stories at (roughly) the rate of one page per day. 365 pages a year, give or take. That's about a book every 9 months or so, on average. (By the time we get to the end of Book 4, it will be almost 3 years since I started this blog.)

If I can make some good bucks at this self-publishing route, I'll be turning PETER into my day job.

Which means I hope to be cranking out a book's worth of stories every 3 months.

So, potentially, you'll be getting 3 times as many PETER stories per year...for the paltry sum of $2.99 per book (at most - maybe $0.99 per book).

I haven't worked out all the details yet, but that's what I've got going on in my head right now.

Why the seismic shift, you ask? I'll go into it more in a later post, but there were some pretty massive shake-ups in the past year - not only in my life, but in the ebook industry as a whole.

The Kindle has become the best-selling item on Amazon...EVER. Ebooks now account for over 10% of book sales, even with the relatively few numbers of e-readers out there. And a handful of first-time authors are making enough money off their works that they're able to write for a living.

And I can do this without having to go through a freakin' agent and traditional publisher.

It seems that now is the time to strike. Start to bring PETER to a larger audience, and try to achieve my lifelong dream of being a writer whose day job is to...wait for it...write for a living.

Anyway, we're probably a month or two from the beginning of this scheme, but I thought I'd give you a heads up.

Let me know your thoughts in the Comment section!

And the next pages in BOOGEYMEN will be arriving in the next day or so.

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