THE BLACKSTONE VAMPIRES: I LIVED IT AND WORKED IT.

There are two Victorian madhouses depicted in my novel, The House on Blackstone Moor. I was fortunate enough to work in a hospital in Yorkshire that was, historically, an insane asylum as well as a workhouse.

Work House 

I even spoke with a very elderly man who had been in the workhouse as a child. And yes, it was in use that long. Of course in fairly modern times it wasn't quite the dire place it must have been in earlier times.

When I worked there, I was told that the dining room had been the chapel. For those of you who have read the novel, you know I depict chapel going on Sundays. I found the chapel sad really. I could picture the inmates in attendance, praying and wondering perhaps if they'd ever be somewhere else. There was a story with each one, each and every human being that ever passed through a workhouse or insane asylum must have had horror tales to chill any horror writer.

As for the rest of this former workhouse and asylum, there were numerous out buildings all around the grounds; buildings that were over time converted to offices. But in earlier times they were bake houses, cook houses, stables and various workshops.

The Victorians admired practicality and institutions like Marsh as depicted in my novel, were entirely self-sufficient. What the inmates (never called patients) consumed, was farmed on the grounds or grown there.

As for the depiction of the moors in the book, well goodness! I have been to the Bronte Parsonage many times and have walked on the same moors the Brontes walked upon.

Top Withens ruin

I have been obsessed with Top Withens which is reputed to be the inspiration for Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. It is on a lonely, desolate moor, the most lonely moor I have seen really and I've seen lots.

Moors are unique places, they are beautiful in their own way covered in carpets of purple heather in summer but at other times, on cold damp days, with the howling winds one can easily imagine all sorts of scenarios.

As you can see I have my inspiration all around me!

The novel was truly a work of love on my part. And that's good because The House on Blackstone Moor began The Blackstone Vampires Series.

Each novel in the series sold singly for $2.99.

AMAZON 

or $3.99 boxed set

for all four full-length novels. 

                                         

AMAZON

2014 - Amazon Bestseller in Dark Fantasy

2015 - Amazon Bestseller in Vampire Horror

"92 Horror authors you need to read right now"

Carole Gill -- the Blackstone Vampires series

~Charlotte Books - EXAMINER

, efestival of words 2014, BEST HORROR, BEST VILLAIN, ECO

Best Horror - Top 10 - ALL THINGS FANTASY 2013

."In the attempt to find the just measure of horror and terror, I came upon the writing of Carole Gill whose work revealed a whole new dimension to me. The figure of the gothic child was there. Stoker's horror was there. Along with the romance! At the heart of her writing one stumbles upon a genuine search for that darkness we lost with the loss of Stoker." 

DR. MARGARITA GEORGIEVA ~ Gothic Readings in the Dark



99 cents! Did Rose's Father Let In Evil?

AWARD WINNING, THE HOUSE ON BLACKSTONE MOOR IS 99 CENTS. Limited time!


After discovering the murder of her entire family by her mad, incestuous father, Rose is incarcerated in a madhouse where she is cared for by Dr. Bannion. While there, she experiences other terrors.

Excerpt:

"Night, I decided, was the worst time in this place, for I heard sobs and screams, too. Rarely did anyone come to comfort those who suffered. I tried to shut my ears to the noise but it was impossible.

There was one woman near me, who just wept. I crept out of bed to see if she was alright.  I whispered to her. I was afraid to reach over and offer a comforting hand for fear as to what she might do. But I did ask her if I could help. There was no answer. Not even a word.

As I walked back to my bed, another called me over. “There’s nothing you can do for her, no one knows why she cries, not even the staff. They don’t even know her name. They just found her that’s all, found her near dead outside. Someone nearly killed her. Best go back to bed now, ‘fore they see you up.”

That was all she said before she turned over. This was an awakening for me. I wasn’t the only person to have suffered hell on earth. I lay back and thought about what I had heard. And between my thoughts and the occasional scream and sob, I was serenaded until sleep finally came.

An attendant woke us all with a bell. “Time to get up. Breakfast now. Time to get up!”

No one grumbled or said anything. The faces looked as they usually looked, blank for the most part, sometimes sad. It varied. The unknown woman was just rising when another attendant yanked her out of bed and began hollering.
I nearly called out but was advised against it by one of the other inmates. “You can’t do nothing. Best not to try.”

My first Monday at Marsh. There were buckets of water so that we could wash. After which we had to put on the same shift again. Then we were marched two abreast, toward the dining room to get our meal. We weren’t supposed to talk, although many did. Some spoke gibberish and others in half sentences no one understood.

I decided those that inhabited a far-off world, were better off than those like myself who had most of our wits about us. It was one of my first lessons. The lesson of Marsh.

Breakfast was pottage and watery tea. I just stared at mine until an arm reached out and took both the pottage and the tea away. When I glanced after it, one of the women shook her head. “If you don’t take it quickly that’s what happens. Serves you right love, this ain’t Buckingham palace.”

There was a ripple of laughter after that, although I think in retrospect few understood what they were laughing at.

* 

“Yes, of course, any information you can give me is of great importance.”
Monday morning found me staring at Dr. Bannion’s ink bottles trying to summon up the courage so I could go on.

“Please Rose, it is good to tell me these things. You are brave and I admire you, do go on. What kinds of fairy tales were they?”

“They were different than those my mother told me. These were about monsters and demons…you see Father was so different after his stroke, so very changed.”
He admonished me gently for not having told him of this before. I said I was sorry and went on. “They were dark stories filled with violent deaths and sometimes even things children were not meant to know about…”

“What kinds of things?”
“Just things that were upsetting about ladies and gentlemen.”

“And?”
“Dr. Bannion, please…”
“But you must give me an idea, Rose.”
“He told me things they did to one another, vile disgusting things! Things he did to me…” I broke down then. There I was, a sobbing mess with Dr. Bannion shaking his head.

I felt I knew what he was thinking—he was thinking of my father and the effect that recent assault must have had on me. He told me to rest and get my breath back, which I did.

“They are terrible things you have locked away in your mind, best let them out and they will go away.”
“Yes, sir.”
He was studying me carefully. “And there was violence, too. Your mother you say suffered as well as your siblings?”

“Yes, quite.”
“But that is all?”

We both knew what he meant by that. “Yes,” I replied. “I am certain of that.” My mind began to wander, or not to wander really but to fix itself upon a thought I had had.

“Rose, you look far away, what is it, can you tell me?”
“Dr. Bannion, do you believe people can invite evil in?”
Every drop of blood appeared to have drained out of his face. I watched him put the pen down.

Now I began to worry that I really sounded insane, but he started speaking just then, “Let us be clear, Rose. When you say, ‘let evil in’, what exactly do you mean?”

“Well, I mean he changed so much and as I was a child, I hadn’t connected his actions with other things…”
“Like what other things?”

This was difficult. “I don’t know. Our home seemed to have changed when he did.”
“You mean his actions caused things to be different.”

“No, Dr. Bannion. I think I mean more than that. I mean, truthfully I had forgotten about this for the longest time. But now, what I mean is, I remember clearly feeling the house was different. We were all unhappy, yes—and suffering too—but there was something else. Something dark had come to dwell amongst us.”

Dr. Bannion stared at me. It was difficult to say what he was thinking. “Did anything happen then?”

“No, it was more like a feeling of dread that came upon me. I asked my mother if she felt it too, and she told me—I was a child you understand—not to worry about such things. And that’s when the fairy tales started.” Suddenly I paused:.“Dr. Bannion, now that I am an adult it seems to me that he was using those fairy tales to accomplish something evil.”

He didn’t reply for the longest time. He looked quite thoughtful, then he said, “Sometimes bad things happen to nice people through no fault of their own. Sadly, it is what happened to all of you, including your father.”

(end of excerpt)

AMAZON

99 cents! AWARD WINNING, THE HOUSE ON BLACKSTONE MOOR!

"Do you believe evil can be invited in?"
Rose Baines, The House on Blackstone Moor

Unimaginable horror awaits you in The House on Blackstone Moor... Rose Baines' journey into the dark begins with the murders of her family by her insane, incestuous father. Evil has found a way in, as has the world of the undead. Will she become one of them?

The horrific discovery causes her to be incarcerated in two madhouses. Doctor Bannion, superintendent of Marsh Asylum, helps his favorite patient obtain a position as governess at Blackstone House, but why is he so adamant? The house, her charges tell her, is built on haunted moorland. Nothing is as it seems for Blackstone House, and its inhabitants have hideous secrets; the greatest secret of all is that of the blood.

Amid the unimaginable horror there is love - which comes at a terrible price. The House on Blackstone Moor is the first novel in Carole Gill's Blackstone Vampires Series. It is an epic tale of the eternal struggle of good vs. evil, and a story of love that strives to prevail, despite all odds.

eFestival of Words 2014: Best Villain, Eco/ Best Horror, The House on Blackstone Moor

Top 10 Books - 2013

Aoife Marie Sheridan - ALL THINGS FANTASY

Publisher, Ultimate Fantasy Books

"92 Horror authors you need to read right now"

Carole Gill -- the Blackstone Vampires series

~Charlotte Books - EXAMINER

I for one found this gloriously gothic, refreshingly brutal, honestly horrific and a great read.

~Taliesin Meets the Vampires

Excerpt:

"The air was still and somewhat warm. Low clouds hugged the horizon. There was thunder too from somewhere far away. I would have preferred to see the moors in the sunshine, for the moody atmosphere made it look grimly forbidding. Yet I didn’t wish to spoil the children’s fun.

“When you walk to town, go along through there—you see at the bottom of that cliff, there’s an old footpath there—too, you can’t miss it.”

I made a mental note of it, although I didn’t know when I might go.

The children both held onto me. “Mind your step.”

I listened, as they had already frightened me as to the moor’s dangerous conditions.

“And the weather changes so quickly, too.” Simon’s voice was grave. “Sometimes an entire herd of sheep have been known to perish!”

Ada shook her head. “Not so many as that, Simon; don’t be such a liar!”

Simon looked angry. “It’s true, I know it is so.”

“Well,” I said. “Whether it is or isn’t, I’m certain I shall be very careful where I tread.”

Each of them, it seemed to me, was vying with the other for my attention. Ada pointed out rocks and brush and Simon spoke of yet more doom and gloom.

Suddenly, they began to pull me forward. “This is the most fantastic thing you will ever see! Oh do hurry, Miss Baines!” Ada was most impatient.

Simon tapped her. “She will see it in her own good time.”

“What is it, children? What do you wish me to see?”

They exchanged mysterious looks to further dramatize the situation.

“Yonder, Miss! Do you want to see the ancient stone of legend?”

“What legend is that, Simon?”

Ada spoke up. “The legend of Blackstone Moor!”

They began to drag me then toward a rocky mount. “Just in here.”

I was led through a narrow crevice. It quite reminded me of Stonehenge. I wondered what it could be and began to grow excited, too.

Suddenly we stopped as Simon pointed at a large flat rock. “There, that’s it!”

It looked like a ledge that had been deliberately laid down. I went to touch it but Ada warned me. “Touch it only if you dare!”

“I dare!” I cried. The surface was far smoother than I would have imagined.

“See how black it is, Miss?”

“Quite black,” I agreed.

Simon nodded. “It’s as black as the eternal night! And do you know why it’s black, Miss Baines? It’s black with blood!”

“Simon!”

“Yes, truly! It has blackened with blood and gore and innards and guts and things that soaked into the stone!”

“What a thing to say! Where did you hear such things?”

“I just know! Ada and I both know!”

I drew him aside. “Simon,” I chided. “You should know better. This is not something either of you should think about, but it’s worse for Ada since she’s younger than you. You ought to know that.”

He looked down. “I suppose, but Ada’s older than you think!”

“Is she indeed, well I don’t think it appropriate, alright?”

“Yes, Miss Baines.”

“I don’t think it’s a subject for children. Besides, it’s probably not true anyway.”

He was agreeing with me, yet there appeared across his face the most quizzical look. “But there were human sacrifices practiced on these moors once and all manner of dark rites, too. Many people died here.”

This was making me feel sick.

“Who told you this?”

“No one.”

“Don’t lie, Simon.”

“Someone I can’t say…” Ada was watching him wide-eyed. Clearly she didn’t want him to give me a name, but I continued to press him.

At last he cracked. “Dora! It was Dora! Do you feel better now?!”

“It’s not that I feel better, I just wanted to know who told you such things.”

Ada looked at me intently. “Please, you won’t have Dora punished, will you?”

“No, of course not, but whatever do you mean?”

Ada shook her head. “She might be severely punished, that’s all.”

She quite unsettled me with that. But then I took it to mean she might be sacked. “Well, I shall only speak to her then, alright?”

“Oh yes, Miss. Thank you, Miss.”

I took their hands then and we headed back to the house, the children walking just ahead of me, whispering. And I watching their backs, wondering what they were saying."

BUY FOR 99 CENTS NOW!

AMAZON