My first outing at Spooky Empire is in the books! In addition to meeting many talented and well-spoken writers throughout the weekend, I got to participate in five panels, a trivia contest, and a seance to contact Harry Houdini. Panel: "60 Years of Dark Shadows" with Elaine Pascale and Stephanie E. Jensen (not pictured: Tom Lucas and Douglas Ford) Panel: "Found Footage and Creepy Accounts" with Matt Masucci and Robbie Dorman (not pictured: Joshua Ginsberg and Christopher Balz

I'm thrilled to have my short story "The King of the Forest" included in Filidh Publishing's upcoming collection of cryptid tales. Monstrously Misguided: Heart of the Beast, Volume 1 in a series, will be released in Fall 2026. Currently, pre-orders qualify for a sale price if purchased from the company's website: Monstrously Misguided: Heart of the Beast – Filidh Publishing Check out the full list of contributing authors!

I had the honor of again being invited to join Katherine Gonzales on her podcast Back Room at the Blue Whale. This time, we discussed my new novel Innocent, The Turn of the Screw, ghosts on “Dark Shadows,” real life ghost encounters, and some of my favorite classic ghost stories. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BbHLM8vyOSk&pp=ygUbYmFjayByb29tIGF0IHRoZSBibHVlIHdoYWxl&ra=m

BookDNA has uploaded my newest list of my three favorite books I’ve read since October 2025. Check it out here: https://bookdna.com/bboy/2026/f/amanda-desiree?referrer_id=cee485

The schedule for the Spooky Empire convention in Orlando, FL is now online! Some activities are still being updated, but the full list of creators' track events can be viewed here: https://spookyempire2026.sched.com This year, Spooky Empire will take place from October 30th-November 1st at the Hyatt Regency located at 9801 International Dr., Orlando, FL 32819. Tickets can be purchased at the door or purchased in advance via the convention website: https://secure.interactiveti

To celebrate the release of my novel Innocent, BookDNA has created a page for my list of top five Fascinating Horror Prequels, Sequels, and Re-Imaginings: https://bookdna.com/best-books/fascinating-horror-prequels-sequels-and-re-imagine BookDNA is a service that connects readers of similar interests and also connects readers with what their favorite authors are reading and recommending. At this site, readers can find and create lists of their top 3 annual reads and of favorit

I'm thrilled to be one of the horror authors invited to speak at Spooky Empire in Orlando, FL this Halloween weekend! The full schedule for the creators' track will be posted on the official convention website soon. For now, here are the events in which I'll be participating: Friday, October 30th: 5:00 PM - 60 Years of Dark Shadows This year marks the 60th anniversary of the gothic soap opera. Our experts talk about the show’s legacy, its ongoing influence, and where its newe

This dread-filled drama is conceived as a prequel to The Turn of the Screw. Many changes have been made to the source material. Among other things, Flora looks to be the same age as Miles, or older (maybe 12; certainly not 7 or 8). Without revealing too many plot details, other changes involve the sequence of certain events. In this version, Bly Manor and Peter Quint belong to Miles and Flora's absentee parents, who have been killed in a car accident while traveling in India

My newest novel Innocent is now available! Solicitor Gerald Braddon doesn't know what to make of his newest client, the brooding, bitter, contentious heiress, Flora Benson. Doubtless, her strangeness stems from her troubled past. Shortly after Flora and her older brother were orphaned, Miles died under mysterious circumstances while in their governess's care at their uncle's country estate. Meanwhile, young Flora was whisked away to recuperate from an illness, never to know h

Following the phenomenal success of The Haunting of Hill House, Netflix and Mike Flanagan teamed up for what, despite its title, was not a Turn of the Screw mini-series but a broader adaptation of the works of Henry James. Returning cast-members from Hill House and other Flanagan projects--including Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, and Carla Gugino--play prominent roles, but newcomers like T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli, Tahira Sharif, Amelia Eve

I'm endlessly fascinated by how many different settings are chosen for adaptations of Turn of the Screw. The time frame of the original story is vague but generally viewed as the mid-1800s, though adaptations may occur at the turn of the century, in the 1920s, in the 1960s, or in this case, in the 1990s. Usually, I search for significance in the chosen time period and consider how the timing affects the story and my perception of the characters. In this case, it appears the f

The BBC put a creative spin on James's psychological ghost story with its second TV adaptation, also known as Ghost Story. First of all, the movie utilizes a framing device that follows the controversial ending to its logical conclusion. The governess, here called Ann (Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey), has been institutionalized following the death of one of her charges under suspicious circumstances. Sympathetic young Dr. Fischer (Dan Stevens, also of Downton Abbey) is the

To date, this is the only film I've seen that sets its events in the present day. Even other films that shift the action to the 20th century tend to set it 20-30 years earlier. Anna (Leelee Sobieski) is a troubled young woman with a poor track record of employment. She's perpetually haunted by an incident of sexual abuse from her childhood and tries to work out her trauma through "art therapy." She also tries to push art therapy onto the students of the school where she curre

Recently, I had the opportunity to again be a guest on Katherine Gonzales's Dark Shadows podcast Back Room at the Blue Whale to discuss the recent Festival (and past Festivals) with fellow attendees Jonathan Harrison, Samantha Lomuscio O'Neal, Bobby Lugosi, and Matt Stedman Videos of individual panels from the Dark Shadows 60th Anniversary Festival have been posted to FaceBook and YouTube, courtesy of videographer Guy Haines. These videos can be found by searching for the key

Also known as El Celo (translated from Spanish as "The Zealot"), this adaptation of Turn of the Screw (or rather The Innocents, since it samples some of the exact dialogue from that movie) was filmed in Spain, albeit in English. Sadie Frost plays an unnamed, immature governess whose pastor father has just died after a lingering illness. Now on her own, she seeks a position as governess to two orphans who live on their uncle's remote estate. I mean really remote. This time, th

In 1999, we saw both a cinematic and a televised adaptation of James's work. I'll begin with the BBC's entry. Though this isn't my favorite adaptation (The Innocents has that honor), it's certainly the most faithful! Jodhi May turns in a striking performance as the nameless governess (called "Miss," like Amy Irving's character), a devout vicar's daughter who consents to look after the orphaned niece and nephew of a dashing wealthy man (Colin Firth) at his remote country estat

Despite the original title, this is yet another Turn of the Screw. Valerie Bertinelli plays the titular character, an American widow in London, on her own for the first time, who manages to convince the rich uncle of two orphaned children that her unfulfilled desire for a family makes her an ideal governess. You know the rest. Unlike in other versions, Bertinelli remains consistently caring even when she suspects the children are possessed and plotting against her. Diana Rigg

I've learned that the previously announced panel featuring artist Aleah Shockley (illustrator of the forthcoming book Dark Shadows: The Collins Family Album), historian Madelyn Marks (administrator of the Dark Shadows Discord group), and myself in a discussion of the experiences of later generations of fans who have discovered "Dark Shadows" has been moved to the second day of the 60th Anniversary Celebration. The panel is now scheduled for Saturday, August 1 at 5:30 pm in th

Rusty Lemorande's film, starring Patsy Kensit as the governess, Miss Jenny, boasts a few significant innovations. For one thing, this is one of the only adaptations of the story to contain a storytelling frame like the novel itself. In this case, the storyteller is a woman (Marianne Faithful) rather than the man called Douglas. Otherwise, the introduction to the events is the same. This adaptation was also the first to shift the setting to the 20th century, specifically, the

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the supernatural soap opera "Dark Shadows,” the Dark Shadows Festival is hosting a two-day event in Southern California. Fans and actors from previous iterations of the show will gather at the Westin Los Angeles Airport hotel on July 31st - August 1. On Friday, July 31st (tentatively scheduled for 9:45 pm), I will be participating on the "Dark Shadows: The Next Generation" panel alongside artist Aleah Shockley (illustrator of the fort