**Visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Spooky Legends Guest blog with Sophie Littlefield and a chance to win BANISHED**

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Some books you can tell just by looking at them that they were meant for you. When I saw Elle Jasper’s debut urban fantasy AFTERLIGHT (and her fantastic website) I just knew.  Thanks to our Spooky Legends event, we’re getting a sneak peak into the mind of Riley Poe, the main character in AFTERLIGHT (due out November 2nd) and Elle here to tell us all about Riley’s take on the “Melon Heads” urban legend and giveaway 4 signed copies of AFTERLIGHT. See details below.

Elle Jasper spent her youth buried in the pages of Mary Shelly, Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker, and Stephen King. Growing up on the salt marshes of Savannah, Georgia, she was always fascinated by the city’s ancient cobblestones, eerie church spires and Gothic Revival architect—as well as the dark, not-so-publicized side of Savannah, both steeped in tumultuous history. After an education at Armstrong Atlantic University, she forged her love of Gothic literature with an active imagination to pen her own stories. She is now a full time writer and lives amidst the moss and shadows of Savannah. Visit her on the web and enter her contest: www.ellejasper.com

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Riley Poe on the “Melon Heads of Connecticut”
by
Elle Jasper

So, yeah. The Melon Heads. Pretty freaky stuff. I'd been at an ink convention once in Hartford and heard some guys at the bar talking about the "mutants down Melon Head Road". I'm nosey and not a shy bone in my body, so I asked what they were talking about. This one guy got totally into the telling of it. Swear to God, he believed everything he was saying. His eyes got all round and unblinking, and the more he spoke, a chill crept up my spine. I've watched my share of slasher movies--I love them. But this? Freaked me out. The guy, whose name I found out was Zach, said the Melon Heads were a group of crazed inbreds who lived off of Zion Hill Road in Milford. Supposedly, they originated in Colonial times-outcast for whatever reason from average society and forced to live in the wood, alone. Zach said his grandfather had told him the story while hunting in the area when he was eleven. Scared the sh-- out of him, he said. The woods were deathly quiet, eerie, and Zion Hill Road supposedly led straight up to the Melon Heads homestead. No one, Zach said--NO ONE--ever made it all the way up the road because the pavement stopped and turned into dirt, winding through the trees and underbrush. He'd heard stories growing up of abandoned cars found on the side of Zion, keys left in the ignition, doors unlocked. But no sign of the passengers. "The fu----- Melon Heads," Zach said. "Every once in a while they pull in an outsider to breed with, just because so many of their offspring dies." I listened with complete fascination. Freakish fascination. "So after the baby's born, then what?" I asked. Zack looked at me with, I swear, complete honesty, and said, "They eat 'em." 

I decided to do a little checking-up on Zach's story. It was freaking weird and I, a lover of all things freakish and weird, wanted to know more. I'm drawn to freaky-skeery stuff like a moth to a zap-light. Anyway. The legend of the Melon Heads isn't monotonous to Milford, apparently. The legend has taken root in other parts of the state. Southbury, Monroe, Seymour, Weston, Oxford, Trumbull, and Shelton all have a version of the Melon Heads, and all have their own Melon Head Road. One variation boasts of a group of escaped mental patients who took refuge in the woods, forced to inbreed and it slowly rotted their brains into cannibalistic Melon Heads. Another a lost colony of inbreds, centuries old. All had one common denominator: freakish big-headed inbreds who prey on those who get a little too close to their homestead.

This brings to mind one of my FAVORITE X-Files episodes: The Peacocks. Damn, those were some scary folk. I imagine the Melon Heads to be alot like the Peacocks. 

I also envision the Melon Heads living in a dilapidated old barn.

Another thing comes to mind. The Deliverance. Good ole Georgia! I've only seen re-runs of the movie, but day-amn! That thing is just freaky weird! Just that weird little kid with the shaved head playing the banjo. Shudder.

As a matter of fact, we have a slightly different version here, just west of Savannah, out in the country. I remember being fifteen, hanging with some bad peeps, and we drove out to their place. I've seen them with my own eyes. Very distinctive. Short in stature, shortened limbs. One stood in his garden, shaking his pitch fork at us as we drove by yelling obscenities (I am NOT proud of my actions as a youth). I remember being totally freaked out. As far as I've ever heard, they keep to themselves. No malice there. They just want to be left alone. But they damn sure exist. At least, I guess they still do. I haven't been back since that night.

I will never forget Zach's face as he continued to talk about the Melon Heads. They apparently need way more than a hug. People go missing. An errie feeling weighs the air. Cars are left on the roadside, abandoned. And if you have a brain, so says Zach, you won't go wandering Zion Hill Road in Milford after dark. Or in the light, either. His specific warning, when I showed interest in checking it out myself, was "Stay the fu-- away from that place. It's nothing but pure evil."

I have seen pure evil, up close and personal. I listened to him.

So in my own online investigation, I found a really cool place on line that tells all about the Melon Heads, and other cool and spooky things about Connecticut. Check out this link:  http://www.damnedct.com/the-melon-heads/

Happy All Hallow's Eve, peeps! I double-dog DARE you to take a stroll down Zion Hill Road!!!

Riley Poe

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Thanks Elle.  Come back soon!

Visit Elle Online:
Website|Blog |Twitter |Facebook

Giveaway

Giveaway courtesy of Elle Jasper
4 signed copies of AFTERLIGHT by Elle Jasper

As Savannah's most unconventional tattoo artist, Riley Poe is quite familiar with the local underground scene. She lives and works on the edge of it every day.

Now, she's about to step over the edge.

When her younger brother is taken by a sinister cult led by centuries-old vampires, Riley discovers a world of shadows and blood--and those who exist there.

Her ally is the hot-tempered vampire Eli Dupre, who is attracted both to Riley's beauty as well as her one-of-a-kind blood type. A blood type he is not alone in craving.

To save her brother from certain un-death, Riley will face dangers she's never dreamed of, ruthless bloodthirsty enemies, and an evil of endless hunger that wants to devour all in its vile grasp.

AFTERLIGHT book trailer

Giveaway Guidelines

1. Open Internationally
2. Visit Elle’s website and sign up for her newsletter
3. Fill out the form
4. Enter by November 6th. All Spooky Legend winners will be announced on November 7th

I would greatly appreciate if you shared this giveaway on your blog or favorite social networks.  And please tell Elle what you think about “The Melon Heads” in the comments. Thanks!

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