Category Archives: Mermaids

Paranormal Odyssey

3
Posted on by

A super fun interview with Paranormal Odyssey Podcast, now available for download HERE. Here’s what the hosts had to say about it.

 

Author Varla Ventura takes the stage on the Paranormal Odyssey Podcast, and scares the shit out of us with tales of Werewolves, Irish monsters, and Banshees. Keep the lights on when you listen to this one! The Mighty Ants Lipanovic takes the center seat on this one!


http://paranormalodyssey.podomatic.com/entry/2013-03-20T05_01_23-07_00

 

malevolent Banshee

I Am an Android

2
Posted on by

robot valentineAnd I’m a tablet, and an iPad and all kinds of other robotic things.

Freaky stories available now as apps for your devices! Including awesome bonus things like interviews with me!

 

My publisher just released the following information:

 

Dare to explore the dark side with this superbly disquieting collection of tales featured in our Paranormal Parlor, Magical Creatures, and Antiquarian Curiosity Shoppe apps!  Now available in iTunes, Android, and soon for Kindle tablets.

 

Enjoy this compendium of hauntings, seances, psychic investigations, magic, trickery, and more…at a great price!

 

Download the free BiblioBoard app for access to our anthologies.

 

For iTunes click
https://service.biblioboard.com/featuredContent/refer/SEO/APPID-00000000483/Tp

 

For Android click
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.biblioboard

Immortal Jellyfish

2
Posted on by

Fans of vampire squids, goblin sharks, and mermaids can delight in the latest research about a jellyfish that–in times of stress and duress–actually reverse ages. The cells change to become YOUNGER. Not sure what pharmaceutical companies have snatched up these beasties to start their quest to provide reverse-aging creams and the like but put it on your vanity with your bee venom masque and you’ll have a display fit for a sixteenth century queen. Now if you can just track down enough virginal blood to bathe in, you’ll look like a baby by the time you die!

Read the NY Times article on the jellyfish here:

Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?

Sex on the Beach with Mermaids~A Happy Hour of Horrors

2
Posted on by

As the cold of November settles upon most of us, sinking into the bones and sharpening our breath, even the most heavy-caped of us might find ourselves–even for just a moment–wanting the feel of sand beneath our toes and the lapping of warm waters against our flesh. So how can we achieve these sensations, even with a few inches of snow on the ground? It’s not as (ahem) hard as you may think. Just grab yourself a copy of one of my Magical Creatures eBooks on the topic of mermaids, mix yourself up a potent Sex on the Beach, crank up your heater (and maybe your humidifier) and get wild!

Available now for under $3 you can read these on your Kindle, Nook, iPad or whatever digital creation you’ve managed to procure. Just make sure you read them before you’ve had too many cocktails, as they don’t recover from sticky spills like hardcover books!

The Mermaid of Druid Lake by Varla Ventura and Charles Weathers Bump

Amazon

B&N

Among the Mermaids by Varla Ventura, T. Crofton Croker and William Butler Yeats

Amazon

B&N 

The Mermaid’s Prophecy and Other Stories by Varla Ventura

Amazon

B&N

And once you’ve had your night of wild fun, don’t forget to read my post on my forthcoming, full-length book (pre-order here) coming this next year. I’m still accepting submissions about your mermaid encounters. I know you’ve had them. Or if you’ve got some other sea-creature or water-beast hiding in your bathtub, I want to know! If you know pirates, scuba-divers, or oceanographers, please share the call for entries with them.

Sex on the Beach

I got this basic recipe from DrinkNation but I’ve made some notes on variation to really Horror-fy it.

  • 2/3 oz. Schnapps, peach (you can add peach juice if you’d rather, but the Schnapps give it an extra kick, thus insuring you’ll get drunker. I like to use a few frozen peaches as well, but the drink can get muddled–much like your mind when you’ve had a few!)
  • 1 1/3 oz. Vodka
  • 1 1/3 oz. Cranberry Juice
  • 1 1/3 oz. Orange Juice
  • Sometimes I add a splash of coconut rum here, if I have any leftover from my most recent romp with the pirates. Instead of juice you can use a syrup like Torani, and you can even sub raspberry for cranberry.

Mixing Instructions

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass filled with ice.

I like to add a mermaid swizzle stick or at minimum a mini-paper parasol. You can also serve this in a martini glass but once you’ve had your third one you might want to switch to the highball. It doesn’t spill as easy!

Trust me, drink enough of these and you’ll remember a mermaid encounter or two…

Church of Mabus and Varla’s House of Horrors

3
Posted on by

Just had a great interview with Jeffery Pritchett. Jeffery  is the host of The Church Of Mabus Show “bringing you high strange stories from professionals in the carousel of fields surrounding the paranormal.”

Read about hospital horrors, magical creatures, psychic premonitons, and body snatchers~

Interview on Examiner dot com, Varla Ventura on Real Life Horrors

This video explains how to write a successful horror story by keeping your reader gripped and always wanting to know what's in store for the characters.

Coast to Coast: Friday September 21st

9
Posted on by

Werewolves, banshees, vampires, ghosts! Come tune in for TWO HOURS of lively banter with George Noory and moi!

Friday, September 21st, 10pm-12pm PST

Listen LIVE via the web or your local AM radio station.

Remember, you have to either listen live or subscribe (for a small fee) to listen to archived shows. Click the link and find out what local station the show will be on.

COAST TO COAST AM

I’ll be discussing the Magical Creatures e-book collection and other spooky, ookie, freaky fun!

Here There Be Pirates

0
Posted on by

Today is international Talk Like a Pirate Day! So if you don’t already swagger and curse, chug rum and sing songs of the salt salt sea,  today is the day to start. And if just being a cool person isn’t enough to motivate you to talk like a pirate, Krispy Kreme donuts is giving away a free dozen to anyone who comes in (today only, September 19th) dressed like a pirate.

Here are a few scurvy facts in honor of today, taken from the chapter “Yo Ho and Up She Rises: Stories of the Sea” from my book, Beyond Bizarre:

Pirates traditional  gold earrings weren’t fashion statements: they wore them to be sure they could afford a proper burial.

Pirates sustained themselves through months on the high seas by imbibing LOTS of alcohol. Booze was safer to drink than “fresh” water which often carried illness and grew slimy after months in wooded barrels. The favorite drink of pirates was rum, also known as grog, kill-devil, demon water, and Barbados water.

Most of the treasure captured by pirates didn’t last long enough to get buried. It was spent on gambling, women, and alcohol.

The St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum  Florida, is “the largest and most authentic collection of pirate artifacts under one roof.” Among their spoils:  the 1699 journal from Captain Kidd’s last voyage.

Pirates used nicknames so that government officials couldn’t persecute their relatives on land.

It is said that when Blackbeard was captured and beheaded by Lt. Robert Maynard, his headless corpse swam around the ship three times before sinking to the watery depths below.

During the golden age of piracy, many a port town was host to debauchery and dubious delights, but one city in particular was known as “the richest and wickedest city in the world.” Port Royal, Jamaica boasted extensive taverns, brothels, and various illegal and illicit activities. Port Royal is now a premier tourist destination.

You can read more about Talk Like a Pirate Day by clicking the link below!


http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

 

 

Calling All Mermaids

3
Posted on by

Image

Have you ever seen a mermaid? Do you know someone who has? Do you have a family legend or terrifying (or delightful tale) that involves a sea creature, a mermaid, or a magical creature relative to the mermaid? Or perhaps you know a real-life mermaid and/or you can hold your breath for a really long time under water? If any of these questions have sparked your imagination or memories send them to me at varlaventura@gmail.com and I may include them in my next book. Note: I am NOT looking for lengthy fiction submissions. This is a collection of facts and folklore, so your great grandmother’s Irish tale is a yes, but your own romantic short-story is a no. I’d love actual encounters with the merfolk–I know they are out there!!!  This includes your first-hand account of the giant squid! And watch here for more details on the forthcoming new book on mermaids–a real print book!! If I pick your story you’ll be notified and receive a signed copy of the book when it comes out in the Spring of 2013.

Of Magical Creatures: A Pre-Preview

2
Posted on by

You may have noticed the question or the requested comment that I’ve asked you, dear readers, to answer for me as part of this Bizarre Giveaway. What is your favorite magical creature? Dear Varla, why-ever do you want to know?

I’ve been working on a series of e-book only books for my publisher, Weiser Books, on the subject of Magical Creatures and we are very pleased to pre-announce that one creature in particular is making it to print early next year. And more will likely be on the way. So your comments are serving as more than a mere factoid–they are helping me help the publisher pick from my menagerie of banshees, werewolves, mermaids, phookas, and other crazy, creepy, cute, crawling creatures of mythical and magical proportions. So stay tuned, weigh in, and write to me about your favorite freaks! And in the meantime, buy my digital books!! Image