Meghan: Welcome back, Somer. It’s always a pleasure to have you here during our extended Halloween shenanigans. What is your favorite part of Halloween?
Somer: There’s something about the coziness of the season juxtaposed next to the spooky decorations and scary movies that I just really love. I grew up with a mother and grandmother who LOVED Halloween and I inherited some of that. You snuggle up with those you love, have fun getting scared, eat junk, and hand out candy to kids. What’s not to love?
Meghan: Do you get scared easily?
Somer: I startle easily, but I don’t scare easily.
Meghan: What is the scariest movie you’ve ever seen and why?
Somer: The obvious answer here is a horror movie, but I’ve been watching horror movies my whole life. Like, waaaaaay before I should have been. I’ve seen movies that have gotten to me, disturbed me, and even thrilled me, but honestly, the scariest movie I’ve ever seen was the documentary Food, Inc. THAT’S scary.
Meghan: Which horror movie murder did you find the most disturbing?
Somer: The Korean movie, I Saw the Devil has a death early on that really disturbed me. Not so much the murder itself, although it was awful, but the aftermath of it. It’s a very severe and unrelenting film, but that first murder we see that gets that ball rolling on the rest of the plot is disturbing.
Meghan: Is there a horror movie you refused to watch because the commercials scared you too much?
Somer: Nope.
Meghan: If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?
Somer: The Mist. Look, you’re not safe in that grocery store, but you can stress eat before the monsters get you.
Meghan: If you were stuck as the protagonist in any horror movie, which would you choose?
Somer: Ginny in Friday the 13th Part II
Meghan: What is your all-time favorite scary monster or creature of the night?
Somer: Werewolves!
Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween tradition?
Somer: Making a big pot of chili on Trick or Treat night and watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show after the kids go to bed.
Meghan: What is your favorite horror or Halloween-themed song?
Somer: When I was in high school the gift store that I worked at opened a Halloween pop-up. It was so much fun and we played a CD in the store that took famous music that could maybe, possibly be linked to Halloween and my favorite was I’m Your Boogie Man by KC and the Sunshine Band.
Meghan: Which horror novel unsettled you the most?
Somer: The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum.
Meghan: What is the creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?
Somer: We used to be neighbors with a family that…had problems, I’ll say that. The youngest child, a boy, one night came to my house and said that there was a man in his house who kept trying to get in bed with him and would I please come over and look for the man. I was thirteen at the time and weighed all of ninety pounds but I went over there and looked for a man in this boy’s bed and found nothing. The next day the boy’s mom told me that he was sleepwalking and she thanked me for being so nice and not calling the cops. I was polite and didn’t tell her that I got NO sleep that night because I was terrified that that boy was going to get murdered or kidnapped after I left.
Meghan: Which unsolved mystery fascinates you the most?
Somer: When is Bigfoot going to make her star-making debut?
Meghan: What is the spookiest ghost story that you have ever heard?
Somer: The folk horror tale of Tailypo. I grew up in West Virginia and Tailypo was a story I grew up hearing and it creeps me out to this day. You can find the story on Google. It’s pretty famous in Appalachia.
Meghan: In a zombie apocalypse, what is your weapon of choice?
Somer: Oh that’s optimistic, but I assure you that I’m not surviving the initial wave. By the time we’re at the “survivor” stage of that apocalypse, I’ll be a zombie myself…eating my neighbors.
Meghan: Okay, Summer, let’s have some fun — Would you rather get bitten by a vampire or a werewolf?
Somer: Werewolf! As a woman I’m already on a 28-day cycle.
Meghan: Would you rather fight a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion?
Somer: Aliens!
Meghan: Would you rather drink zombie juice or eat dead bodies from the graveyard?
Somer: Dead bodies, for sure.
Meghan: Would you rather stay at the Poltergeist house or the Amityville house for a week?
Somer: The Poltergeist House had hot spots, so I think I could find a cozy corner there.
Meghan: Would you rather chew on a bitter melon with chilies or maggot-infested cheese?
Somer: I’m actually curious about Casu martzu, which is a maggot cheese. I mean, I’ll eat both. I’m not picky.
Meghan: Would you rather drink from a witch’s cauldron or lick cotton candy made of spider webs?
Somer: I’ll take my chances with the witch’s cauldron! It might be punch!
Boo-graphy: Somer Canon is the Splatterpunk Award nominated author of works such as Killer Chronicles and The Hag Witch of Tripp Creek. When she’s not wreaking havoc in her minivan, she’s avoiding her neighbors and consuming all things horror. She has two sons and more cats than her husband agreed to have.
You’re Mine — Insecure misfit Ioni Davis never thinks she’ll find love in her sleepy West Virginia hometown. Then the tall, fascinating stranger Raber Belliveau transfers to her school.
Their attraction is instant and red-hot. And a shared fascination with witchcraft bonds the young lovers even closer.
But while Ioni is responsibly studying her newfound religion of Wicca, Raber has chosen an altogether…different path.
Soon, Raber’s behavior becomes manipulative. Even abusive. And their love story for the ages is turning into a macabre farce. All Ioni wants to do is get out.
But Raber has discovered a dreadful way to control their relationship. A ritual which hasn’t been attempted in over a century. A spell to unleash a bloodthirsty terror which can never be satisfied.
Ioni finds herself trapped in a struggle for her life and even her free will against a once-trusted lover who has assured her…
YOU’RE MINE
The Hag Witch of Tripp Creek — A NEW HOME: Dawna Temple let herself be moved from the familiarity of Pittsburgh to the wilds of West Virginia, all so her mentally exhausted husband, John, could heal from a breakdown. Struggling with the abrupt change of location, Dawna finds a friend in her neighbor, Suzanne Miller, known to the locals as The Hag Witch of Tripp Creek.
A NEW FRIEND: Dismissing it as hillbilly superstition, Dawna can’t believe the things she hears about her funny and empathetic friend. Suzanne has secrets—dark secrets—and eventually she reveals the truth behind the rumors that earned her the wicked nickname decades earlier.
OLD WOUNDS: Now in possession of the truth, Dawna has conflicting emotions about Suzanne’s past deeds, but when her husband’s well-being takes a downturn, she finds there is no one else to turn to. Will she shun her friend as others have done before? …or can she accept that an act of evil is sometimes necessary for the greater good?
Slaves to Gravity — with Wesley Southard — After waking up in a hospital bed, paralyzed from the waist down, Charlie Snyder had no idea where life would take her. Dejected, broken, and permanently bound to a wheelchair, she believed her life was truly over. That is… until gravity no longer applied.
It started out slow. Floating from room to room. Menial tasks without assistance. When she decided to venture outside and take some real risks with her newfound ability, she rose above her own constraints to reveal a whole new world, and found other damaged individuals just like her to confide in.
But there are other things out there, waiting in the dark. Repulsive, secretive creatures that don’t want Charlie to touch the sky. And they’ll stop at nothing to keep her on the ground.
Meghan's Haunted House of Books 