Dedication

It’s widely believed that people have an innate desire to be frightened. Some say it lies with the need to conquer their fears that drive them to be frightened in the first place. Since fear comes in many forms (too numerous to list) I decided to concentrate on the desire to be frightened by a good old fashion horror story.

To my daughters, Susanne and Lauren who love to be frightened by horror stories, and to all the lovers of horror stories who understand the desire to be frightened is a necessary and valid one, I dedicate this book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to acknowledge two individuals who inspired me to write my second book, “Petrified.”

The first is, Jay Storey, an actor who participated in James Cawley’s Internet series, “Star Trek New Voyages.” While visiting the sets in upstate New York, I told Jay that the surrounding area seemed like a good place to film a horror movie. He asked me if I had heard about an 8ft tall, petrified man, known as the Cardiff Giant. I told him I could only recall the name. He chuckled and said the whole thing was a hoax. Then, I asked him, “Ah, but what if the hoax was based on an actual petrified man? Now, that would be something scary - A monster made of living rock/stone.”

After our conversation, I recalled an individual who had lobbied to use rock men in his movie. Who is this individual? You might have heard of him. It’s none other than William Shatner of Star Trek fame. Mr. Shatner wanted to include rock creatures in his film, “Star Trek V The Final Frontier.” I always felt that concept was a cool one. A few years later, I discovered test footage of the rock men Shatner would have incorporated into his film. As I watched the footage, I found it played out as eerie and frightening. To me, the idea of a rock-like creature pursuing someone is quite scary....especially if it happened in the woods...at night.

Those two things sparked an idea that would eventually become the basis of my book. 

So, thank you, Jay and Bill, for serving as my inspiration. I hope the readers will enjoy the story, the product of merging those two ideas. 

By the way, Gentlemen, should you run across any other fascinating subject materials, please feel free to pass them along. I’d be most happy to hear about them. LOL