Paranormal Romance Blog

Author Bonnie Vanak has a reason to celebrate this month: October is the release month for Immortal Wolf, her latest Silhouette Nocturne book, and the mass market version of the Midnight Cravings anthology. Bonnie kicks off our October Paranormal Party with a post about killer veggies and gives you a chance to win a copy of Midnight Cravings!

By Bonnie Vanak, author of Immortal Wolf (Silhouette Nocturne) and “Broken Souls” in Midnight Cravings (Silhouette Nocturne Bites anthology)

When I was eight, I was terrorized by a killer potato.

I’ve always been a huge fan of things that go bump in the night. The night of the  potato attack my parents and brother were at the grocery store. But I had begged to remain home and watch the Friday night fright show.

Alone in the house, I sat in the big, comfy club chair as my impressionable mind soaked up the spooky tale. We lived in a one-story ranch house in rural New Jersey. Our house had a big, unfinished basement with an old-fashioned furnace. Drew and I were scared of that basement. It was pretty creepy, with lots of dark corners and shadows. You accessed the basement through the kitchen. There was a small hallway and those steep, gray basement steps that led to…

Certain doom. Ooooh.

On the show, there was a woman, alone in the house, who had to go into basement, when you know there was something down there, and it was going to reach out and snatch her, turn her into a ghost…but she HAD to go down the basement. I wanted to yell at our big console television to STOP, lady, don’t you know what’s down there? DO NOT GO INTO THE BASEMENT!!!

And then I heard it on our basement steps.

Thump, thump, thump.

Paralyzed with fright, I could not move. Something was on the basement steps. Forget the stupid woman on the television show. Buh-bye sister, you’re toast, it’s your funeral, I have to deal with my own monster in the basement.

AND IT’S COMING TO GET ME!

It’s coming to get me because I refused to help my parents with the grocery shopping, noooo, I’d rather stay home and watch stupid TV. I began babbling a series of prayers and making promises. “I’ll never rat out my brother again, I’ll never skip Sunday school or make fart noises in class and pretend it was Billy Williams, oh please, I promise I’ll never stuff my green vegetables into old milk cartons to send to the starving children in China because Mom says there are starving children in China who would love to eat my green beans, I’ll do my homework and not say the rabbit ate it, I’ll never sneak into Drew’s room and put crumbs in his bed, never, ever, please JUST DON’T LET THAT MONSTER IN THE BASEMENT GET ME!”

I remained immobilized until my parents came home. As soon as they trudged through the door, I shot of the chair like a torpedo.

“THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE BASEMENT, I HEARD FOOTSTEPS ON THE STAIRS, MOM, IT WAS COMING TO GET ME!”

My pragmatic mother went to the back hallway, while I begged her not to go, fearing she’d turn into the lady from fright night. The monster would get her, didn’t she know that monsters love to nosh on NJ housewives?

“Bonnie, was this what you heard?”

I valiantly mustered courage to peek into the back hallway. There, near the basement steps, was a large cardboard box where Mom kept a sack of potatoes. The sack had tilted… and one potato had tumbled down the steps.

Thump, thump, thump.

My ten-year-old brother nearly busted a rib from laughing. “Bonnie’s scared of a potato, Bonnie’s scared of a potato.”

I hung my head in shame and deep relief, and resolved to stuff more crumbs into Drew’s bed.

But I never did stop watching the Friday night fright night. Instead, I developed even more of a deep, lasting affection for all things paranormal.

I suppose it became a natural transition to writing Nocturnes for Harlequin. I love writing my Draicon werewolves, who possess magick powers and search for the missing half of their magick contained in their destined mates.

Life would be quite interesting if my Draicon werewolves were real.

If Raphael, the hero of Immortal Wolf, were real, he’d race into the back hallway and kill the potato with his own bare hands.  Raphael rides a Harley, wears an earring in his left ear that is a symbol of his immortal power, and is very dangerous. You wouldn’t want to run into him on a dark night if you’re a bad guy… or a killer vegetable.

He can shatter an enormous granite boulder by directing pure energy at it. He can stare into your eyes and determine your future. Raphael is extremely protective of those under his care. He’s determined to find a way to save Emily, the heroine, and prevent the spread of a terrible evil threatening the entire Draicon race. Yet, for all his tremendous responsibility, Raphael wouldn’t hesitate to save a little kid from being scared.

You can read about my basement of my childhood fears in Immortal Wolf. There’s a scene where Raphael is trapped in a basement exactly like the one that terrified me. He’s forced to fight for his very life. Even while doing so, he is ever-protective of Emily. Raphael is willing to give blood and bone to keep her safe.

Werewolves are cool. I wish they were real.

Sure would help having them around on creepy nights when the killer potatoes are on the attack.

Bonnie Vanak

You can read an excerpt of Immortal Wolf on my website, www.bonnievanak.com

To read more about how potatoes can do more than frighten little children, visit this website: http://www.healthypotato.com/

What paranormal creature (or frightening vegetable) terrified you as a child? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Midnight Cravings, which features stories by Michele Hauf, Karen Whiddon, Vivi Anna, Lori Devoti, Anna Leonard and Bonnie Vanak. Bonnie will give away a copy to two lucky commenters.

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