Panel of Fear will spook you before Halloween

There is no rest for the wicked.

The special episode, Panel of Fear with horror authors Andrew Smith, Matthew Hellman, Craig Brockman, Bob Williams, and ghost author Stacey Rourke will air this week on For the Love of Books Podcast just in time to get spooked before Halloween.

Asylums, roller coasters, haunted houses, psychics, Zombie walks through the night forests, a man hangs himself during a Halloween scare in the closeby woods, nature at its worst, we drive out to the piers….why do we seek out fear? Or does fear seek us out? Is it natural or supernatural? Normal or paranormal? Do ghosts exist? Is the Tower Farm haunted?

“It definitely is,” said its former resident Addie Abel.

We sneak into attics and basements to find what? When was the last time you were scared? And why? What profound experience has influenced your actions?

We all have a dark side, and not all of us manage it well, according to Dr. Kathryn Den Houter, author of the psychological thriller ‘Prison Shadows.’

This year, Halloween expenditures are projected to reach a record high of $11 billion, according to Statista.

Author Kathryn Den Houter on fear

Dr. Kathryn Den Houter, author and retired psychologist.

“The reason why people seek out fear is that humans feel the most alive when we are in the state of mixed emotions: When we have fear yet are on the alert for excitement we are titillated. Our brain and emotions are working at full capacity. We yearn for the peak experiences that let us know we are “truly alive,” said Dr. Kathryn Den Houter.

Den Houter is a retired psychologist, the author of five books, and a fan of Alfred Hitchcock.

So let’s take a look at our panelists:

Author Craig Brockman

Author Craig Brockman currently lives with his wife Sally in Tecumseh, Michigan. In 2020 he published the ghost novel “Dead of November: A Novel of Lake Superior”, in 2007 the middle grade “Marty and the Far Woodchuck”, and in 2022 “Curve of the Earth”, and has been published in anthologies

Dead of November

Ghosts of those drowned and never recovered are swarming from Lake Superior. But they are not there to haunt the living. They are fleeing something far more sinister.

Author Matthew Hellman

Author Matthew Hellman earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University calls Michigan’s U.P. home. He has been writing since 2013. His published works include the novel “Solomon’s Seal”, the novel “The Biting Cold”, the novella “The Hawthorne Blow”, and a short story in “Six Guns Straight from Hell”. “The Biting Cold” and “The Hawthorne Blow” both take place in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

The Biting Cold

The residents of a small Michigan town fight to survive in a brutal winter storm. But their fight isn’t against the storm, it’s against what the storm has awakened.

Author Stacey Rourke, Corpse Queen

Author Andrew Allen Smith

Smith is a prolific author of Masterson Files, poetry, and most recently two short story anthologies ‘Slice of Fear’ and ‘Another Slice of Fear.”

Another Slice of Fear

Are you ready to see how deep the rabbit hole can go? Another Slice of Fear contains 16 original short stories from the mind of Andrew Allen Smith that may help you get there.