Eliza Turner

Photo by Osie Turner The infamous Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada, is one of the area’s most unusual roadside attractions. A clown-themed motel in the historic mining town of Tonopah, right in the middle of nowhere, and located next to an old cemetery to boot seems almost made up. But it is real; in fact you can’t miss it if you drive through the town. I wrote a three-part article on the history and background of the Clown Motel already, so I’m not going to rehash all of the details here (links are provided at the end of this post). What I am going to focus on is my own experience while staying at the motel. If the sign and name don’t scare you away from getting a room here, you will have to enter the lobby—where the bulk of the clown collection is to be found. Hundreds of clown figurines, masks, pictures, and various other mediums of clownery cover the walls and bookshelves. And of course the life-sized doll, Bozo the Clown , spends his days sitting in the corner greeting ...

"Truck Cab in the Desert" by Osie Turner (2014) Abandoned vehicles are a common sight on the backroads of Nevada. This classic truck cab was a great, unexpected find. I found it alongside Nevada State Route 375, also known as the “Extraterrestrial Highway” because of its proximity to Area 51, near the turnoff from US Route 6.   The remains of this truck were too nondescript for me to identify much about it; I don’t know what type of truck it was, what year it is from, or much else. I would guess that it is from about the 1960s or so, but that is, of course, just a guess. What I do know is that this rusting old shell has sat there, a short walk off the highway, for so long that it has become a part of the landscape. It was probably used by some rancher back in the day until it stopped running—possibly where it lies today. I also know that this is not just some lump of slowly decomposing metal; this truck has a story—of that I am certain. How many miles was it...

A few months ago, I got a full-access tour of the historic Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada, and wrote a three page article for Examiner.com about the hotel. It would be redundant to go over the same info again here, so I will post a link to the article at the end of this post. The purpose of this post is to show some of the photos and share some of my personal observations that didn’t fit in with the previous article. As you could probably guess, since the hotel is well over one hundred years old, it is said to be home to a few ghosts. The Lady in Red, the ghost of Senator Pittman, and some impish children are some of the resident spirits of the old hotel. One oddity that I noticed was that my camera had a hard time focusing in certain areas of the hotel. Specifically, the shots taken in the basement and on the 3 rd floor of the hotel all came out strangely blurry. No apparitions or anything like that, but the photos were atypically blurry, sort of like an Orton-ish effect,...

This collection contains the bulk of Alma Newton’s work, as well as the only biography available for the obscure author. Newton wrote mystic fiction, with a touch of romanticism. Her style is particularly unique; all of her strange stories have dream-like quality that treads the borderlands between reality and the ethereal. The collection concludes with the only biography ever written about the life of Alma Newton; the biography includes rare photographs. Approx. 388 pages, or 103,315 words long. Available at  Amazon ,  Nook , and  Kobo . Or download it directly from us on  Payhip.com . No matter where you buy it, the price is $1.49. Table of Contents: Introduction Memories The Blue String and Other Sketches A Jewel in the Sand Dreaming True Shadows The Contrasts of Life Algernon Blackwood, Nature Mystic Alma Newton: The Life of the Romantic Mystic Bibliography

While doing research for an upcoming bio-anthology—which will be hitting the shelves of The Forlorn Press soon—I stumbled upon an interesting article. I was browsing through newspaper stories for the Tensas Parish region of Louisiana from the 1890s when a title caught my eye, Burned Alive at the Stake . The article was completely unrelated to what I was searching for, but with a header like that I just had to read it anyway. Did I mention I’m a huge fan of True Crime and criminal history? The article turned out to be fairly short—I’ve transcribed it in full at the end of this post—but I was not disappointed. The gist of it was this: a local woman was sent out on an errand by her employer and never returned. A search ensued, and her mutilated body was found; a “tramp” was suspected of murdering her and summarily hunted down. Upon confessing, as the headline states, the tramp was burned alive while tied to a tree. I found a few things interesting about this newspaper article. Th...

This anthology contains some of the best early occult detective fiction from the best late Victorian and Edwardian era authors. Join such illustrious paranormal investigators as John Silence, Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, Flaxman Low, and Jules de Grandin on their adventures into the supernatural and beyond. The collection is $2.99 and is available on  Kindle , Amazon UK , Nook , and Kobo . If you prefer, you can also buy directly from us via  Payhip  in all formats (.mobi, epub, and pdf). Approx. 820 pages or  248,874 words long.  As with all ebooks from The Forlorn Press, Occult Detectives contains a clickable table of contents. Table of Contents: Part 1:  John Silence, Physician Extraordinary 1. A Psychical Invasion 2. Ancient Sorceries 3. The Nemesis of Fire 4. Secret Worship 5. The Camp of the Dog 6. A Victim of Higher Space Part 2: Carnacki the Ghost-Finder 1. The Gateway of The Monster 2. The...

This collection consists of thirteen stories by some of the best authors of speculative fiction. While they all feature ghosts, these are not traditional ghost stories. These tales are all unique and will stay with you long after you read them. The anthology contains a biography of Oliver Onions, the author of “The Beckoning Fair One.” There are also some annotations within the book with additional information pertinent to the stories. The collection is $1.49 and is currently available on  Kindle ,  Amazon UK ,  Nook , and  Kobo .  If you prefer, you can also buy directly from us via Payhip in all formats (.mobi, epub, and pdf). It is even available in the  Google Play Bookstore  for any and all Android devices! Approx. 305 pages or  88,487 words long.  As with all ebooks from The Forlorn Press, 13 Ghost Stories contains a clickable table of contents. Table of Contents: The Attic by Algernon Blackwood ...