Other Genre Guest and a Giveaway!

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Jessie: Watching the leaves flutter past my window.

I am always pleased to get to know a bit about new to me authors so it is with particular pleasure that I am hosting Stacy Finz and her co-authors of cafe Between Pumpkin and Pie. Welcome, Stacy!

Thanks so much for having me and featuring The Café Between Pumpkin and Pie on the Wickeds today. Though my co-authors and I are not mystery writers (we write romances), there’s a good amount of intrigue running through our stories in the Halloween anthology about Moonbright, a small, fictional town in Maine.

According to local legend, on Halloween night a woman will see her future spouse in the reflection of a mirror. It’s been happening for centuries in Moonbright. And while our protagonists are modern-day women who have no time for antiquated town myths nor are in the market for husbands, they find themselves face to face with their future. 

Writing my story made me think of real-life town legends, which as writers are wont to do sent me down an Internet rabbit hole. I didn’t find anything quite as romantic or sweet as the mysticism in Moonbright. But I found plenty of hair-raising stories that are Halloween worthy—and excellent fodder for mystery aficionados.

Of course, there’s the legend of Charlie No-Face, a radioactive green ghost that haunts an abandoned freight tunnel in western Pennsylvania. Apparently, the myth is rooted in the true but tragic story of Ray Robinson, a boy who was electrocuted by a trolley wire in the early 1900s and was horribly disfigured. 

Fisherman in Connecticut claim they can hear eerie piano music coming off Gardner Lake. According to regional accounts, a house sunk to the bottom of the lake while a family tried to move it over the frozen water in the 19th century. Newspaper reports confirm that there is indeed an intact home resting down there. But as far as the weird piano music . . . well, who knows? 

Then there’s my favorite urban myth. This one is about Hell’s Gate Bridge in Alabama. The story goes that a couple drove off the bridge and drowned sometime in the 1950s. According to local legend, if you drive to the middle of the bridge and turn off your lights the couple will appear and leave a wet spot on your seat. Alternatively (this one being my favorite), if you drive halfway across the bridge and look over your shoulder, you’ll see the burning flames of hell behind you. Good thing the bridge is now closed to cars because I’m pretty sure hell fire would cause one heck of a traffic jam. 

There’s the Chesapeake Bay Monster, the Spirits of Hoosac Tunnel, the little girl on Knock Knock Road, Bigfoot (or Sasquatch), and tales of buried treasure. There are more urban legends than I can count.

Readers, do you have one in your town? One randomly selected commenter will win an ARC of the book! US/CAN only.

About the Café Between Pumpkin and Pie: In Moonbright, Maine, there’s a pumpkin on every porch, fresh brewed apple cider in every cup—and the sweetest sorcery in the air . . .
 
Before, after, and even during the excitement of the annual Halloween parade, gathering at the Corner Café is a beloved Moonbright tradition. Costumed revelers of all kinds come for the famous whoopie pies, the heartfelt hospitality, and the chance to hear the town’s spookiest stories and local legends whispered to the younger generation . . .   
 
The most magically romantic legend of all promises that a Moonbright woman will marry the man she sees reflected in a mirror on Halloween. For three such singles, the crunch of fall leaves and the fragrance of fresh-baked pie sets the perfect stage for this most tantalizing trick—and most delightful treat—the genuine enchantment of true love.
 

Published by Jessie Crockett

Jessie Crockett wears a lot of hats, both literally and literarily. As Jessie Crockett she is the Daphne Award winning author of Live Free or Die and the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove series. As Jessica Ellicott she has received starred reivews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal for her historical mystery Murder in an English Village. As Jessica Estevao she writes the Agatha Award nominated Change of Fortune Mysteries. She loves the beach, fountain pens, Mini Coopers and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.

32 Thoughts

  1. Welcome to the blog, Stacy! What a delightful concept. Best of luck with the new anthology.

    I don’t know of a myth in my town, but I should ask around – I’ve only lived here nine years (which, as I’m sure you know, is NOTHING in New England).

  2. None in Lincoln Nebraska but the state has a few some about native americans which are my favorite. Interesting how rivers in nebraska get there names.

  4. This sounds like a great book to read, plus pumpkin pie on the cover, yumm!! Lots of ghost stories in my part of Maine – there’s Devils Footprint, a boulder at a church in Manchester, where a farmer supposedly sold his soul to the devil to move a large boulder on his land, which the devil gladly did and now there’s 2 footprints on that boulder, one big and misshapen and the other one the size of a man’s foot. And just this morning, a local newscaster for station 98.5 posted that both she and her husband saw what they thought was Bigfoot on a road near Augusta! Hey, you just never know what might be out there!

  5. I am sure there are many stories of paranormal happenings in our town but I am not aware of any. We are a town with a harbor as well as being an Underground Railroad stop prior to crossing over to Canada. Every town has some story behind it.

  6. I don’t know of any in my town but we did a ghost tour in Gettysburg recently which was a lot of fun

  7. I don’t know of any scary legends in our town, but I think it was the Tonkawa that labeled this area “Land of Good Water.” We are blessed to have a river that flows through town and natural springs that support it. Cafe between Pumpkin and Pie is a cute title for the anthology!

  8. This book sounds amazing, I am always up for some strange happenings but especially at this time of year. Apparently, the high school that 2 of my children attended, Galt Collegiate Institute in Cambridge, Ontario, has a ghost living on the top floor. The building itself is old by Canadian standards, built in 1852, “Staff and students through the years have seen and smelled pipe smoke in the top floor corridors; a lifelong and spectral habit of Dr. William Tassie, principal from 1853 to 1881. Witnesses have also heard boys whispering after hours on the main floor; ethereal voices attributed to past students who died as soldiers during the Great Wars”.
    Neither of my children ever saw or heard anything spooky but I still find it intriguing.

  9. Welcome to the Wickeds, Stacy! I love the idea for The Cafe Between Pumpkin and Pie (and also the title). I live right across the street from the oldest cemetery in Portland, Maine and though I amuse myself watching the tourists, I could as easily be watching for ghosts, especially on our frequent foggy nights.

  10. I don’t know of any urban legends in the town I live in, but there are plenty of them in Chicago. I enjoy reading about the paranormal and would really like to read “The Cafe Between Pumpkin and Pie”.

  11. Doesn’t every town? I’m sure my my very small rural town does but don’t know the stories. I do know Indians used to live in my town and the name it used to be called means Bear. I think we have several stories with Indians previously lived here.
    The book looks likes a fantastic read. Would love to read & review book in print format.
    Hope I Win

  12. Welcome to the blog! I love your title and premise! Where I live now has the legend of Bunnyman Bridge. A young couple were parked out at the bridge and a man in a bunny costume came out and threatened them.

  13. No urban legends in my town but a town or two over has a spook light that brings people to town looking for it…lol. I have never seen it but I did go out there and it sure is spooky being out there at night anyway…lol.

  14. We had the hook handed escapee. He escaped from various institutions depending on which was proximate to various towns. He preyed on necking couples in cars and always managed to lure the male out – well, the rest is too gruesome. I’m pretty sure the legend was invented by parents in the 1950s to try to control activities in lover’s lanes!

  16. I am not aware of any in our town. Thank you so much for sharing. I love the cover. God bless you.

  17. I’m not aware of any paranormal happenings in my small town. I’ve heard of a bunch for my state though! Spooky to think about, LOL.

    Love the book cover! Thanks for the chance!

  18. There is a house in Columbia,SC that is preserved and open for tours. It’s called the Robert Mills house for the architect. A friend worked there and said many nights, they would douse all light and lock up only to look back with all lights blazing! Also one bed would be straight and the next day there would be an imprint like someone had laid down.

  19. Sounds like a great book and I love the cover! The only I can think of is that the lighthouse here in Pensacola is believed to be haunted. There was even an episode of Ghost Hunters held there.

  20. Not that I know of (but then, I don’t actually live IN town. There used to be one about a ghost in a building on the college campus, but that building has been gone for more than twenty years. What happens to ghosts when the place they haunt is demolished?

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