Graylock Cover Revealed

My next book, The Ghost of Graylock, comes out in August, but I've gotten permission to show you all the cover.

Ready?

Close your eyes... now... open!

You've seen it here first! Yay!

The illustration was created by the brilliant Shane Rebenschied with Chris Stengel, who is an Art Director at Scholastic. They captured the feel of the book perfectly.

I'm so very excited about this one. I hope you like it!

(this post was updated to include the names of the artist and designer on 1/13/12)

The Ghost of Graylock!!!

Hello there -

Scholastic has released the summary for my newest book, The Ghost of Graylock, which will arrive in stores this coming August 2012! Here it is:

Does an abandoned asylum hold the key to a frightful haunting?

Everyone's heard the stories about Graylock Hall.

It was meant to be a place of healing - a hospital where children and teenagers with mental disorders would be cared for and perhaps even cured. But something went wrong. Several young patients died under mysterious circumstances. Eventually, the hospital was shut down, the building abandoned and left to rot deep in the woods.

As the new kid in town, Neil Cady wants to see Graylock for himself. Especially since rumor has it that the building is haunted. He's got fresh batteries in his flashlight, a camera to document the adventure, and a new best friend watching his back.

Neil might think he's prepared for what he'll find in the dark and decrepit asylum. But he's certainly not prepared for what follows him home. . . .

Scary, suspenseful, and surprising, Dan Poblocki's latest ghost story will keep you turning pages deep into the dead of night.

Scared yet? You can pre-order your copy now at Amazon.com!

Murmuration & Chills

You know when birds do that thing . . . ? Swoop and swarm and swirl? When starlings do it, the behavior is called murmuration. This video captures a close-up view, practically from inside the flock. And honestly, it gave me goosebumps. Breath-taking!

The Short Career of a Spooky Girl

This is Chloe Moretz, aka Hitgirl from Kickass. And this clip shows how totally awesome she is.

Scary Girl with Chloe Moretz from Chloe Moretz

Halloween Never Ends

I wanted to get this pic onto the last post, the one about my brain melting... but this stupid website kept screwing up the formatting... so...

Here I am at my first Zombie Lobster Bake.

Happy Halloween, today and everyday!

I Have Lost My Mind

Well, not really. But after watching 31 Horror Films in 31 Days over the month of October, I'm pretty sure my brain has melted a little bit. I got the idea for this personal challenge from fellow author Daniel Kraus (Rotters) who Tweeted about it early last month. It was grueling, overwhelming, nightmare-inducing, kind of silly, and best of all, inspiring. Watching so many bad (and a few good) films in a row can show what works and what does not work when it comes to story-telling. So, even though I'm pretty sure I lost some muscle tone from sitting on the couch for approximately 70 hours, it was worth it... for ART's sake.
Here is my complete list (* = recommended):
(By the way, if you're under 17, ask your parents before watching any of these... Some of them are NASTY.)
1. Burnt Offerings
2. Case 39
3. Session 9 * Possibly the best haunted insane asylum movie ever made. Filmed in the now destroyed but forever EPIC Danvers State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts.
4. The Eclipse *

5. Lake Mungo * A twisted little mock-documentary about a haunting in Australia. When their daughter drowns during a vacation to serene Lake Mungo, the family doesn't expect her apparition to appear in their home movies. 6. Peeping Tom
7. Cronos *
8. The Sentinel
9. Dead Snow
10. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil * A horror comedy that turns the "scary cabin in the woods" genre on its decapitated head. 11. Carriers
12. Don't Go to Sleep *
13. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon *
14. Popcorn

15. The Howling

16. I Was a Teenage Zombie & 16. (oops, I marked 2 #16's) The Skin I Live In *
17. Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue
18. Dahmer *

19. The Ward

20. Requiem

21. Zombies of Mass Destruction

22. Deathdream * Vietnam Vets and a vampire of sorts. A creepy little supernatural serial killer flick - from the director of A CHRISTMAS STORY. Yeah.

23. Deep Red
24. Paranormal Activity 3 *
25. Sheitan
26. Scream *
27. Red State * A Kevin Smith nightmare about some totally twisted home-grown fundamentalist terrorists. 28. Child's Play *
29. Paranormal Activity (the original) *
30. The Phantom of the Opera *
31. The Exorcist *

Then, before midnight on Halloween, I squeezed in a few more . . .

32. Ghost Story

33. Hellboy: Blood and Iron

34. Alien *

So, I guess that's technically . . . 35 Horror Films in 31 Days (including the doubling of the 16th film). Not too shabby. It helped that I was waiting for my editor to get back to me regarding my latest project, so I had time to do this without worry.

To check out Daniel Kraus's entertaining list, his blog at Booklist Online is here.

If I can find some way to un-liquify my brain, maybe I'll try again next year. I challenge you to do the same... It's fun!

Rumors of My Marriage

I need to clear something up!

Yesterday, I gave a presentation at a local school here in Park Slope, Brooklyn about my new mystery series, The Mysterious Four. One of my good friends, Shirley Wooh, teaches third grade there. I arrived early, excited to see the faces of the kids who were expecting me. Slowly, the classes filed into the library on the school's top story. The students sat down on the floor. I tried to stay focused, going over my plan for the presentation. When Shirley's class came in, I was even more excited, not only to see her students, but also to see my friend.

Often times, when I see a good friend, I'll give them a hug hello and a kiss on the cheek. Well, yesterday, I didn't realize that when I hugged my friend Shirley hello, all of the students slyly observed my action . . . and they came to their own conclusions about what this gesture meant.

After I had gone, Shirley told me that a rumor was racing around her classroom that she and I were engaged to be married. I was so amused! First of all, I know Shirley's fiance, and he's a great guy, but he's certainly not me. Second of all, Shirley and I are just friends!

Shirley tried to explain this to her class, but they weren't having it! No, no, they told her. We saw you kissing!

Little did I expect that my excitement to see Shirley would turn into rumors of marriage! I'm impressed with the detective work, and the deductive reasoning, but a good detective remembers that not everything is exactly what it appears to be.

I'm writing this to set the record straight. I am not marrying Miss Wooh. Her fiance would be VERY mad if that happened, but never mind that because it's not happening . . . not because she isn't a lovely human being, but because we are just FRIENDS.

Here we are, being all friendly! Okay? ;^)


Cheerio!

Dan