PennHurst Haunted Asylum - Pennsylvania Haunted House

PennHurst, the legendary haunted hospital complex has opened its doors after 25 years and is accepting new patients! Pannhurst haunted asylum is Pennsylvania's newest and best destination haunted house! The fear is real at Pennhurst!

The Mayflower building is open this year - This building is said to be haunted. You will be given flashlights and go on a ghost hunt in the dark, spooky building. But be careful what you wish for. You might just find it!

Enter If you Dare!,

Fear of the Unknown

Have you ever noticed that sometimes the most frightening images is not so much the vision of someone with a gun or some other obvious threat? I find that it is the “subtle” nuances that can be more effective. For example, the movie “Silence of the Lambs” was particularly frightening because of Hannibal Lector. His calm, yet menacing communication style inflicted more terror for Clarice than if he were to hold her at gunpoint. Why? Because he is a sociopath and thinks much differently than a “normal” person. She can’t anticipate or prepare for his actions which leave her all the more vulnerable. And, sometimes that can be much more frightening than trying to escape or fight off an attacker.

When writing “The Pond” I tried to incorporate several fabrics of terror. Hearing things in the house that are unexplained, noises that are unexplained, friendly personalities of neighbors who present a secret dark side. The idea of unexplained, mysterious or the unknown can present more anxiety for people than expected results.

Then aside from danger situations involving people, there are the natural disasters or an act of God such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes or tsunamis. These come without warning and many times, can occur without people realizing just how close the danger is lurking. The usual exception are animals. I remember that I was working on "The Pond" and out of the corner of my eye, my dog woke out of a sound sleep and looked intently at the door. Her ears were perked and her nose was attempting to smell what was around the corner. As I watched her, I listened closely to my surroundings. I couldn't hear anything unusual. However, within 10 minutes, a nasty thunderstorm with dangerous lightening descended upon my area of town.

If I didn’t have my dog to alert me to a weather change, I would have been caught off guard. If I were the type of person to be afraid of lightening storms, I would have been terrified! The storm came quickly and made an impressive presence. And, somehow my dog was able to hear and or smell the unexpected. This is true of most animals; horses, cows, dogs, cats etc. are usually very sensitive to the unknown such as storms. They can also be sensitive to potential danger from people.

As a result of my experience with my dog, I wrote about animals and their “extra sensory perception” to danger(s). Be on the lookout for these animals in my book, “The Pond.”

Guilt

Definition: (noun) A term denoting an unpleasant feeling associated with blame; bad conscience over responsibility.

Such a simple term and definition that affects countless people all over the world. While guilt is a horrible feeling and it often makes a great plot line in a novel! In my book, The Pond; you will find a boy who friend drowns in a pond. An unfortunate, terrible thing for a child to die. Not long after the event, the boy and his family move out of town. Twenty-five years later, the boy has become a man and moves back to his childhood home with his family. Being in the setting of his childhood causes him to ponder about his friend’s death. What exactly happened? How did it happen? Could he have done anything to prevent it? See? Guilt subtly sneaks in as an underlying, yet prominent theme.


Guilt has the power and strength to invade most anyone with an Achilles heel. The slightest bit of vulnerability in our psyche provides a perfect and shortest path to feelings of guilt. Often times, feelings need to be explained or described. I am willing to bet that everyone has felt the pangs of guilt at least once in their life. And, the feelings were so overwhelmingly unpleasant, that no one wants to experience it again. In fact, anyone else that is suffering from guilt is often pitied by others.

Interestingly enough, the main character’s guilt is suddenly causing things to go bump in the night. Pick up a copy of my book, The Pond and rediscover guilt and fear.

Panic Attacks

According to Wikipedia, the definition of a “Panic Attack” is as follows:

Panic attacks are very sudden, discrete periods of intense anxiety, mounting physiological arousal, fear, stomach problems and discomfort that are associated with a variety of somatic and cognitive symptoms. The onset of these episodes is typically abrupt, and may have no obvious triggers.[1]

If you have ever suffered from one of these attacks, you will quickly discover that there is nothing psychosomatic about this disorder. It seems that at one time or another, everyone has experienced some form of a panic attack. I know some friends who have difficulty with this horrible attack and the experience can be terrifying.
The type of attacks can vary by including one or a combination of feelings or physical agitation:
Trembling, fear, rapid breathing, feeling of having a heart attack, heart racing, sweating and mind racing and a host of other types of emotions and physical feelings.


Sometimes, describing a fearful situation can bring on a panic attack…in my book, “The Pond,” I wrote the main characters to have similar experiences with panic attacks that they never had before. Why? Perhaps just reading about a panic attack can bring one on. The only cure is to buy a copy of the book, “The Pond” and read it!


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack

Dentistry and the Vulnerability of being the Patient

As I was plotting and planning the characters and plot of “The Pond,” I began to wonder about what vocation Mike Adams, the main character would have.

Taking into account that his family was well-to-do when he was growing up, I considered the usual employment ideas; doctor, lawyer, stockbroker, entrepreneur etc. Then I began to wonder about what some consider to be a step below a doctor, either a dentist or a chiropractor.

For some reason, dentistry provides interesting character development. Consider the number of people who have dental phobias and movies that have perpetuated that fear even further by creating films like Marathon Man. Watching Dustin Hoffman’s character is particularly horrifying as he is tortured with dental procedures.
While I didn’t push the envelope to that extreme, I did plant the suggestion by having Adams be a dentist. And, surprise! One day, he is paid a visit by long lost childhood friend, Bill Simpson. Discussions of the past and certain neighbors cause Simpson to feel vulnerable as “Little Mikey Adams is messing with his teeth.”

Some fears are never outgrown. They simply intensify with age.

"The Pond" is available in Paperback for $16.95 and can be PURCHASED HERE

"The Pond" is available in Kindle Format for $2.95 and can be PURCHASED HERE

"The Pond" By Author Tamera E Lawrence

Do the Adam's have more to fear from the living or the dead?



"He grabbed the edge of the ice, clinging desperately. Murky water filled his boots, becoming as weighted anchors. Numbing cold squeezed his limbs as he tried to scream for help. But his chest hurt. It was hard to breathe. His heart beat wildly in his thin chest. Water seeped inside his clothing, his skin turned to ice. He stared up at the sky. The ice cracked again, creating fragments of drifting sheets. As his glove caught on the jagged edge, his hand slid out. Dark water swirled over him as he began to sink into the frigid depths of the black void."


Twenty-five years have passed since eight-year-old Carl Weber drowned in Gray's Pond, and now one member of the Adams family has returned to Kimberton, Pennsylvania, to reside once again in the old mansion. It is time for Mark Adams to revisit his past, and for his wife Donna and daughter, Kim, to become acquainted with their neighbors, a rather odd old couple who own the farm next door.


Each day, however, brings strange occurrences, increasing paranormal activity, till it becomes agonizingly clear that ghosts of the past are trying to make their presence known. As the search for the truth be.

Brings up the question, Can you ever go back?

Author Tamera E Lawrence

"The Pond" Available in Paperback and Kindle Format!

Kindle Format is available at the Special Price of $2.99