From the same virtual concert, another powerful Epica song. The "growler" is band founder Mark Jansen.

I have fallen deeply in love with this performance of Unchain Utopia by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica. Lead singer Simone Simons is in top form here.

And story number 13 (oooo, spooky), from Ping, is up and it's a real barn-burner. Mad scientists, disease conspiracies, and horrible death await. And, yet, a remarkably personal touch so that we do feel for the protagonist.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/innocent-until-proven-gullible

Numerous parents on Monday:

Oooo, kids. It's a spoooooooky weekend!

We got some pumpkin spice chai in the teapot (ugh, but for those who can stomach it) and coffee is on. Kettle is boiled for people who want sane tea or some hot chocolate.

And Ping's entry is up so if you're looking for seasonal reading, there's always our comp. Anyone else got suitable stories to come?

Quote by Mendalla

Three more entries since this thread was last updated. Had to brush coarse white hairs off one, though.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/mystery/the-road-not-traveled (JamesPBear)

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/dark-image (TomEccleston)

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/tales-from-the-crypt-downunder-edition (curiousannie)

Got caught up with these three. An interesting set to say the least. Well worth your time if you haven't caught up with them yet.

And Ping is in! That puts us to, I think, 13 stories. Which I guess is a good number for a "spooky" comp but more would be nice.

Quote by Ping
Had started one about a psycho motorcycle serial killer who murdered people in their sleep

Write it as a screenplay. Sounds like a good B-movie or grindhouse homage.

Depends on the pie. Whipped on pumpkin, ice cream for apple, rhubarb, or berries.

With coffee or tea?

Chocolate chip, although I'll take either in a pinch

Apple pie or pumpkin pie?

Hi, wordpusher715. How are things? Nice to see you. Sorry to hear about your stories. Hope the team gets things sorted.

Snow is still a ways off here, it seems. We've had a relatively warm fall so far. I hear that Western Canada may be seeing its first snow soon, though, so who knows? If that system comes East...😨

Quote by JamesPBear
I'd like some orange pekoe tea, please. Hot.

There's always a big jar with orange pekoe bags in it. Red Rose, even. ☕ Just drop one in a cup and pour the never empty hot kettle into it. 😊

I mentioned it up thread, but Buddha's Blend is a blend of green tea, white tea, jasmine and hibisicus and it is yummy. The only reason I would still hand money over to David's Tea.

My week is over. Off tomorrow. Back to normal work weeks next week until Christmas, though.

Picked up a collection by Laird Barron for my Halloween reading. He's a Canadian author who has written some wonderful cosmic horror, but has been turning his hand to thrillers recently. This collection is titled The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and collects several of his horror stories.

Three days to go and things are getting spookier all the time. Three more entries in the comp, bringing us to twelve. Will there be more? Is one going to jump out from behind the bushes and go "Boo!" at the last minute?

Three more entries since this thread was last updated. Had to brush coarse white hairs off one, though.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/mystery/the-road-not-traveled (JamesPBear)

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/dark-image (TomEccleston)

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/tales-from-the-crypt-downunder-edition (curiousannie)

Yeah, where is G-man these days. Thought he said he had an idea for comp but it has not materialized yet.

Not a half-bad day. Meetings have all gone well and I got some actual work done in between.

Putting on a fresh pot of coffee and making a teapot of Buddha's Blend for the afternoon crowd. Oh, and opening another bag of mini marshmallows. Amazing how fast we go through them. 😊

Having a cup of tea and a snickerdoodle for afternoon tea.

Happy Thor's Day, all! We got coffee in the coffee pot and some nice Cream of Earl Grey tea in the teapot. Kettle is boiled for those seeking other teas, hot chocolate, etc.

There's a weird avatar showing as the last poster on this thread (well, until I click Submit on this post, then there will be an even weirder last poster 😜), but no post corresponding to it. Sara's post from last night is the latest post. Maybe Halloween weirdness? Or just some new flakiness from the new board?

Off work tomorrow and kind of flailing for something to write. Maybe I will wait and see what my imagination comes up with.

Quote by verbal
No Talia Wednesday! I am fashioning some sort of giant slingshot in the back yard for the cats. Air travel! They can't talk, but I sense they are enthusiastic.

The one that landed three blocks away in front of a large, angry dog is probably less than amused. 😜

Quote by verbal
I see there are two more story entries! I shall get to them soon!

Two? Must have a look. I knew that the bear entered but there is another apparently.

Need to find a version of that for gorillas. 😜

Good day, all (morning is almost over here). Coffee is one, kettle is boiling, there's some Tea Haus Breakfast (my local shop's house blend) in the pot.

I just deleted a 5000 word story draft. How's your day going? (for the record, I am still interested in the basic story and characters but was not happy with how I approached it).

By the way, I am dressing up as a human for Halloween.😉

Well a certain festive day looms so maybe pumpkin cookies with orange icing and cute (or spooky) faces. And some other spooky ones like skulls and bats. Probably save them until Sunday, though, so we can give some out for trick or treat.

Quote by verbal

Quote by Mendalla
If your old one is USB just use it. Keyboards are still interchangeable. Or hit a computer store and find a nice new one.

It's a laptop. I'm looking into replacing the keyboard, but that's a bit beyond my skillset.

Just buy a regular external keyboard that you like and plug it into one of the laptop's USB ports. I have been doing that for years at work. My current laptop is tiny and the keyboard is barely usable for more than short emails or chats, so I rarely use it.

Quote by verbal
I don't like the action on the keyboard

If your old one is USB just use it. Keyboards are still interchangeable. Or hit a computer store and find a nice new one.

Good evening. Enjoy the game. Not my cuppa and I'd have to find someplace that streams it in any case.

Quote by JamesPBear
Now, may I have some tea, Earl Grey, hot, please. IN a cup this time, thank you very much!

What, I thought everybody just poured it down their throat straight out of the teapot. 😳

I will hopefully get to your entry tonight. I have heard some really spooky stories about your lot sneaking up on people and peering in through windows. Bears. Yeesh. 😋

And besides a pot (with cups available) of Earl for the white fuzzy types, I have put on a fresh pot of coffee and boiled the kettle for those inclined to some other variety of tea. I have been drinking Scottish Breakfast today myself.

Unfortunately, someone was standing next to the tree.

Quote by verbal
Wireless optochemical stimulation of dopamine receptors using a network of Ring doorbells = the end of the world.

And not a pleasant Apocalypse either I am thinking.

Glad to hear Talia is recovering.

Putting on a pot and a kettle for the afternoon.

Quote by JamesPBear

Just submitted a comp entry, and it'll be published whenever the moderators stop ROFL. So, maybe sometime next week. I'm not a spooky kind of guy, so don't get your hopes up. And you can definitely wear white pants while reading it!

Looking forward to it. Still not up yet but we don't have exactly have a slew of staff here right now. In fact, I am not sure who is staff here right now other than the admins. Rump is a story mod here but per his message above, is still struggling to get on.

Quote by Rumple_deWriter
If I crank up a new account, will it delete my current one? I seem to remember there being a way to put an account into something like hibernation.

I think you would create the new account and then get an admin to deal with the old one. Nothing would happen automatically to the old one.

The one problem you might run into is using the same email address. Usually forum software won't let you use the same email on multiple accounts so you might need to set up a new email or get an admin to change the one on the old account before you setup the new account. I have a Microsoft account with about five aliases on it for just this reason. 🙄

Nice to see you made it in for a visit anyhow. They have asked about you a few times over in the bar that bears your name and I have let them know you are still around and trying to get in.

Quote by verbal
I read was the first book

Which, really, is enough. The law of diminishing returns kicked in pretty quickly. The series is technically still going but Kevin J. Anderson, well known as a mediocre writer of media tie-ins and franchise novels, is writing the new novels with Herbert's son Brian. I hear they have already retconned some important stuff from Frank Herbert's originals.

Right now, I am kind of stalled. It is one of those, "I know where to go but not how to get there" stories. Which is probably part of why it is getting so long. It is meandering rather than following a nice clear road like The Healer's Secret did.

Somehow did not discover Keiko Matsui until today. She's been around and has played with the likes of Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder over the years.

Interesting trivia: the bass player on her last album was Kyle Eastwood, one of Clint's kids. According to his Wiki bio he has worked on nine of Clint's films. Doesn't surprise me given that Clint is a jazz fan and occasional composer himself.