Mercur Cemetery

Mercur Cemetery (check out all the pics on the public link to my Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=208020&id=583339135&l=16fd084bbb


You’re walking on the unmarked graves of gold miners, prostitutes, and children when you set foot in the old Mercur Cemetery near Tooele, Utah. It’s a creepy place, with a strange amount of dark beauty. Think haunted forest with a view.

What I’m referring to is my third ghost hunt with Wasatch Paranormal Investigators on April 9, 2010. It was quite interesting, but had a different vibe than the last hunt I went on. This time I was only freaked out a couple of times, and only very briefly. The feeling at the cemetery was more peaceful, than terrifying.

We tramped around the forested cemetery on a ridge for several hours looking at the marked graves and wondering how many unmarked graves we were walking on.

We did have some strange encounters. At one point during the freezing night (32 degrees) we were standing around a small campfire, taking a break, when I was inviting any spirits present to come and join us. I was shushed by Tom Carr and Larry Correia. Very loud, heavy footsteps were right behind us on the gravel path, not more than ten feet away. We shone our lights on the path, but no one was there and our whole group was standing still around the fire.

We also had some serious K2 sessions. A K2 meter is an electromagnetic field monitoring device that lights up when there are changes to the electromagnetic field. At Annie’s grave, the little girl’s grave is in my pictures, we had a long yes/no session with a spirit—probably hers. We would ask yes or no questions and the spirit would respond by tapping the device once or twice. Once for no, twice for yes. It was very creepy.

We had a few other K2 sessions that night, but we didn’t see any full-bodied apparitions. Tom Carr describes his first investigation at the cemetery in his book, Talking to Myself in the Dark, and sadly, we didn’t have that sort of experience. That time, Tom and his group ended up fleeing the cemetery not long after they arrived.

You just never know what sort of experience you’re going to have when you go on a paranormal investigation. Some crazy part of me wanted to be terrified out of my mind, but the more rational part was relieved we left on our own terms, instead of being chased away by angry ghosts.


Paul Genesse
Author of The Dragon Hunters
www.paulgenesse.com

The Lion King Musical/Aspiring Authors Conference

Jack Bagby, his mom Christy Bagby, with Paul & Tammy Genesse at The Lion King musical at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.


Hello,

I went to Vegas to teach at an Aspiring Young Authors Conference. Tammy went along and we met up with my friend Christy Babgy and her son, Jack. We hung out, went to The Lion King and had dinner at Tratorra Del Lupo, then went to The Excalibur to play some games at the Midway. It was lots of fun.

Here's the public link to the pics on Facebook. Sorry that some of them are blurry. A few of the "helpful" photographers had unsteady hands.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206453&id=583339135&l=23c7814e1a


Best wishes,

Paul Genesse
Author of The Dragon Hunters
www.paulgenesse.com

The Gangsters of Little Moscow

This photo, by Clemens Kalischer, was the inspiration for a free writing project I did recently. I sat in during a writing seminar given by a fellow presenter at a Young Writers Conference in Las Vegas. Cindie Geddes of Flying Hand writing services, www.flyinghand.com, had us write for three minutes after looking at a random image. She had a pile of postcards and she gave me this one.

This is what I wrote in three minutes. No editing has been done to my story, which I guess is flash fiction. Enjoy.


The Gangsters of Little Moscow

By Paul Genesse


Grandfather was a killer. Father was a killer. I am my father's son. The family business is complicated, but our methods are simple. People pay us or we cause them pain. My father is a master of this. He learned from the best. The Russian way is not a way of niceties and kind words. It is a way of suffering and winter. We provide a service and for those who cross us we provide a different service. I will continue the family business and if I'm not gunned down like a dog, my sons will be gangsters of Little Moscow like me.