Paranormal Road Trip Six Month Recap + $10 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Wow!  I can't believe that it has been six months since we began the From the Shadows original blog feature, Paranormal Road Trip.  Time flies by when we're scaring the bejeebus out of you all, right?

Since I'm on vacation this week, I thought it would be fun to do a Paranormal Road Trip recap and see where we've been over the past six months.

Come on and take a ride with us down Route 666!

It all began with a terrifying trip to Savannah...

Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Savannah with J.D. Horn.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination New Orleans with Suzanne Johnson.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Manhattan with Melissa De La Cruz.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination San Diego with Eileen Wilks.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Jacksonville with Rinda Elliott.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination San Diego with S.J. Harper.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Austin with Gerry Bartlett.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Tokyo with Steve Bein.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Detroit with Laura Bickle.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Bruges with E.J. Stevens.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Nightshade with Marlene Perez.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Detroit with Amber Lynn Natusch.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination L.A. with Melissa F. Olson.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination South Tom's River, NJ with Shawntelle Madison.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Twelve Acres, Colorado with Teri Harman.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination New York City.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Eden, KY with Sharon Buchbinder.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination San Diego with Jennifer Harlow.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Sydney with Yolanda Sfetsos.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Dublin with Ruth Frances Long.
Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Boston with Skylar Dorset.

*shivers*  Since I live near Boston, that last Paranormal Road Trip gave me chills! 

What do you think of Paranormal Road Trip?  Have you enjoyed letting our favorite paranormal and urban fantasy authors take us on journeys into spooky cities around the world?  Where would you like to travel to next?

Paranormal Road Trip Giveaway

To celebrate six months of Paranormal Road Trip blog posts, we are giving away a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card!

To enter, leave a comment on any of the Paranormal Road Trip posts linked above.  Receive an entry for EVERY Paranormal Road Trip post you comment on!  Leave us a comment on this post to let us know which Paranormal Road Trip posts you commented on.  This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL (if you cannot use an Amazon gift card, you may choose a book from The Book Depository with a value up to $10.00).  Giveaway ends February 9, 2015 midnight EST.

Good luck!

Next week we'll be back to our regularly scheduled weekly Paranormal Road Trip.  We'll be traveling to Banff with Nancy Baker.

Join us for another spine-tingling Paranormal Road Trip...
if you dare!

Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Bruges with E.J. Stevens

Come on boys and ghouls!  It's time to hop on Route 666 for a spooktacular Paranormal Road Trip.  This week's stop is Bruges, Belgium and our special guide is E.J. Stevens, author of the Spirit Guide, Ivy Granger, and Hunters' Guild series.

Hunting in Bruges, the first novel in the Hunters' Guild series is set in Bruges, Belgium so it seems fitting that our guide for this week's Paranormal Road Trip be E.J. Stevens.  Let's see what terrifying places E.J. has planned for our tour.

Bruges' Top 5 Spooky Places

The charming medieval city of Bruges, Belgium may seem like an unusual setting for an urban fantasy novel.  The city is known for its tranquil canals, historic buildings, and romantic vistas.  But the moment I saw a picture of Bruges, my mind began populating its cobblestone streets with bloodthirsty vampires, flesh eating ghouls, monstrous fae, and wailing ghosts.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there really was something sinister in the city's bloody history.  My research into Bruges began in earnest, and last year I completed my book research with a trip to Belgium.  The pictures included with this post are from that research trip.  These photos are taken during daylight hours, but I can assure you that the atmosphere becomes decidedly spooky when the sun goes down over West Flanders.  Do ghosts walk the streets of Bruges?  I will let you decide.

The Canals
The canals play an important part in my novel, Hunting in Bruges.  Jenna Lehane, a Hunter with a troubled past, arrives in Bruges to discover that something is killing humans and disposing of their bodies in the canals.  Not only are the canals filling with corpses, but there are supernatural horrors that call the canals their home.  While I was visiting Bruges, the canals were the watery grave for more than one unfortunate creature.  Did these ducks, pigeons, and small mammals die from natural causes, or is there something deadly lurking within these dark waters?

Jerusalem Church (Jeruzalemkerk)
I have to admit that I was completely unprepared for the experience I had within the stone walls of Jerusalem Church.  The macabre altarpiece and tomb were ghoulish, but the truly terrifying part of this church lay in a crawlspace in the vaulted chapel in the back.  A cloth wrapped body is on display, and though I've read that this is a replica of Christ's tomb, there is something chilling about that small chamber.  My travel companion bolted out the door...and I wasn't far behind.  (Note: No pictures came out of the rear tomb.  The photos were completely black.) 

Beguinage (Begijnhof)
Beguines were lay sisters who lived and dressed as nuns, but did not take vows.  The Beguinage continues to be a place of silence within the bustling city--a silence that can seem downright eerie.  During my trip, the courtyard was filled with a field of wilting daffodils.  Beauty with an edge of decay seemed to be the common theme of this place.  One house has been preserved in its original rustic state and visitors can wander the maze of tiny rooms filled with antique furniture and aging lace to see the way in which the Beguines lived.  I swear that someone, or something, was watching me during my entire visit.  With every creak of the old wooden floors, my unease grew and I made a hasty retreat to Minnewater Park.

Basilica of the Holy Blood (Heilig-Bloedbasiliek)
12th century basilica located on Burg square in the heart of Bruges.  The church houses the relic of the Holy Blood.  The Holy Blood is venerated daily, and is paraded through the streets of Bruges during the Procession of the Holy Blood on Ascension Day.

Saint John's Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal)
This place is not for the faint of heart.  The 11th century hospital is one of the oldest in Europe and contains the often grotesque artwork of Hans Memling, as well as many antique surgical implements.  The artwork and objects of torture are absolutely horrifying and the depictions of nuns in their traditional garb had me jumping at my shadow. 

A few other notable places to add to any ghost tour of Bruges are the Spookhuis, Retsin's Lucifernum, Sint-Salvator Cathedral, Belfort, Stadhuis, Blind Donkey Alley, Church of Our Lady, and a viewing of Heironymous Bosch's haunting triptych The Last Judgement at the Groeningemuseum.

To learn more about E.J. Stevens and her books, connect through Goodreads, Twitter, and sign-up for her newsletter.  There is an interesting article about Hunting in Bruges in the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.  Hunting in Bruges releases November 11th and is available for pre-order on Amazon.  You can add the Hunters' Guild series here on Goodreads.

Readers, was this your first visit to Bruges, Belgium?  Have you experienced anything supernatural in and around Bruges?

What did you think of E.J. Stevens' picks for spooky places?

Last week on Paranormal Road Trip we visited Detroit with Laura Bickle.  Next week we'll be traveling to Nightshade, California with Marlene Perez.

Join us for another spine-tingling Paranormal Road Trip...
if you dare!