Hollywood star Mary Astor (Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke, 1906-1987) is a May 3 baby.

If you’re like me, you know her primarily, maybe entirely, by her LATE roles, most especially Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941), but also the Princess in The Palm Beach Story (1942), the mother in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Marmee in Little Women (1949), and her small role in Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). And I’ve seen a couple of her better known early talkies like Holiday (1930), Red Dust (1932), Dodsworth (1936) and The Hurricane (1937). And then there are her famous silents, such as Don Q Son of Zorro (1925) with Douglas Fairbanks, and her films with John Barrymore, such as Beau Brummel (1924, adapted from the Clyde Fitch play); and Don Juan (1926).

But there are other tidbits. Did you know she was voted a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1926? Did you…

Otherworldly Vampires by Brian McKinley

This is, admittedly, a catch-all category for vampiric creatures of several varieties with the common element being that they originate from a non-human source. Demons, ghosts, spirits, gods, and even fairies are found here. Yes, I said faeries, so we’ll start there. Most of the cutesy, Tolkien-esque fae of our modern folklore come to us thanks to people like the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen and a general romanticizing that took place throughout the Victorian age. In their earlier, pre-Christian forms, many fae creatures had distinctly vampiric characteristics. In my post on “Irish Vampires,” I discussed the Leanan-Sidhe and Baobahn-Sith as well as the White Ladies. Our final example of vampiric fae comes from Germany and it’s perhaps the most surprising.

The Alp is also considered a demon in Germanic lore, but in a lot of ways their fae and demons are closely related…

The doll-faced man followed the woman in the billowy red dress into the desert.

He followed her unwillingly. For she held a strange magic over him that compelled him to go anywhere and everywhere with her.

She knew this.

Yet, he was not allowed to get too close. He was not allowed to touch. For one touch would be enough to break her bond on him. And he would be free.

She knew this as well.

He yearned to beg for his freedom, but his lips were forevermore sealed.

She looked at him with a cruel smile on her face. “Tonight.” Her voice was as warm and as unsatisfying as honey. “Tonight you will dance for me. But remember this: You cannot touch me. You can dance circles around me and I will be amused. If you touch me, I will be deeply disappointed and displeased.”

She flung a black…

Irish Vampires by Brian McKinley

Ireland is not particularly known for its vampire legends. Strange, in a way, because the Emerald Isle gave birth to two of the best-known and most influential vampire authors in history: Bram Stoker and Sheridan LeFanu. The authors of both Dracula and Carmilla, respectively, were both born and raised in Ireland and likely owe some of their literary creations’ characteristics to stories they heard growing up.

The most famous of Ireland’s vampires is a specific woman known as the Dearg Due (dar-ag dua) or “red blood sucker” said to be buried in Waterford, Ireland. The story is told of a beautiful young woman who, forced to marry a cruel and abusive clan chieftain, committed suicide. At the anniversary of her death, she rose from the grave with a blood lust. She began with her father and former husband, but her rage and thirst could…

Heart-heavy and lacking words.

Marge.Jennifer.jk died this morning.

She always talked about the great

adventure of the Ever After.

Now it is a part of her and she a part of it.

love.

She was more than bad company, she was toxic. Even her name had a hint of evil in it: Elvira. Sam was sorry he tried talking to her.

Sam was always taken in by a pretty face, and Elvira wasn’t shy on looks. Her curly black hair stretched down to the small of her back. Her bright green eyes were hypnotizing. Sam had never seen such beauty.

When Elvira spoke, it sounded, to Sam, like fingernails running down a chalk board. He was polite, and continued to take to her even though her voice annoyed the hell out of him.

She offered Sam a cookie, and he graciously accepted it. He bit into it, it tasted funny so he spit it out. Elvira’s eyes turned to a demonizing red. She wrapped her hands around his throat, squeezing slowly. Her fingernails piercing the back of his neck.

Sam slapped her on…

Author’s Note: Diana over at Mythos of the Mirror has put up a new photo prompt for this month. And let me tell you what: It’s a good one. 😉  Here is my take on it…

Jo’am had known all along that his time was limited.

His master had crafted him out of an eclipse’s darkening shadows. He was created to be something more than a silhouette, but something a lot less than a human. He had no face, no voice. His feet left no imprint in the city’s sand-stormed streets.

His time was limited. For the magic binding him together would be undone by the next eclipse. His master searched for ways to strengthen his bonds. He read through manuscripts and dust-old tomes and delicate sheets of vellum and stone tablets. He spoke to every wizard he knew – both dead and alive.

But there was no solution.

There…

Friends of the Secret Keeper, I am writing this for Marge – or, as many of you know her, Jennifer/jennifer kiley/jk – because she cannot.

Marge’s stay in hospital and then short-term care has turned into hospice care. I am hoping to bring her home when she is able – and when I can be sure home is the safest, most comfortable place for her to be.

Until then, we take it one day at a time, treasuring every moment we have together.

The posts she had scheduled will continue to be published….

Good energy, thoughts, and, if you are so inclined, prayers are welcome.

Thank you.

Shawn MacKenzie