Kampung Kreepy

I’m pleased to announce that Joss Paper , my collection of horror short stories, will be available for FREE on Halloween as part of Terrify Your Tablet 2023 . This looks like an awesome event for horror story lovers, so do drop in on Oct. 31! Let me tell you a little bit about  Joss Paper. The stories   are set in the U.S. and Southeast Asia because I wanted to both celebrate my roots and my life in the U.S. They're creepy and unsettling, not full-gore or slasher stuff. The tales feature creatures from Asian folklore like the toyol, the zombie baby of Southeast Asian myth. One story revolves around the Asian tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, which was a devastating and horrific disaster that killed almost 228,000 people in 14 countries. Joss Paper is available as an ebook on Amazon and Amazon Kindle Unlimited. You can check it out before Terrify Your Tablet by visiting my author website or by clicking here . If you’re not from the U.S., click here . It’s a universal link for your conveni

I’m pleased to announce that I’m participating in Urban Fantasy Around the World 2023 . As part of the event, the ebook version of The Geomancer’s Apprentice will be FREE from Oct. 26 to Oct. 30. This is your opportunity to get free or discounted books from 15 urban fantasy authors from different parts of the globe. Who knows? One may become your next favorite author. The event is from Oct. 27 to Oct. 31. Don’t wait until the last minute. Some of these discounts or free books won’t be available for the whole period. You can also enter your name in the giveaway to win books and other merchandise from these amazing authors. If you do get The Geomancer’s Apprentice , I would appreciate it if you could give the book a review or a rating after reading. Every review and rating helps to give the book more visibility. Thank you for your support!  Click here for details on Urban Fantasy Around the World 2023.

The Geomancer’s Apprentice , the first book in my urban fantasy adventure series, got a nice review and write-up in The Redhead Notes blog and website. An excerpt: “While I enjoy fantasy with metaphysical and paranormal aspects, I was worried that the book might fall more into the horror category due to the inclusion of spirits, monsters, and supernatural violence. I almost set the book aside at the first mention of a Chupacabra. What can I say? I’m easily scared! I was pleasantly surprised to find that Leong is skilled at breaking up the scary bits to make them more manageable for people like me. By interspersing the lighter parts of the story, such as a blossoming romance for Junie, it offers respite from the darker side.” My thanks to the blog, as well as to readers and reviewers everywhere. I truly appreciate your support. And you heard it here, folks. My series is perfect for your Halloween read! Check out the full review and blog piece: https://theredheadnotes.com/review/the

Today, Oct. 19, is the 159 th anniversary of the Battle of Cedar Creek, which took place about 20 miles from my home. The battle was decisive in routing the Confederates and preventing them from traveling through the Shenandoah Valley to threaten the Union capital of Washington, D.C. There was a high toll for that victory. Hundreds of Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, and thousands more wounded. I’ve walked the site of the battle, which is now a peaceful field with a view of busy I-81. According to local lore, however, the dead were still fighting after the war was over (see, for example, The Ghosts of Virginia by L.B. Taylor Jr.) There were sightings of ghostly squads. People living in the area heard gunfire on the battlefield and the thunder of hooves even though there was no man or horse in sight. A nearby Episcopal church that was turned into a hospital during the battle also was reputedly haunted. Long after the dead were buried or taken away, locals continued to h

New Englanders were famous for their witch trials, but did you know they also hunted down vampires? In fact, Rhode Island was known as the vampire capital of America. This was during the 1700s to 1800s, shortly after the Salem witch trials. At the time, consumption—known today as tuberculosis—was spreading throughout the nation. Entire families came down with, and perished from, the disease. Because consumption was so poorly understood, people from the region’s more remote farming communities believed those felled by the disease were rising from their graves to prey on family members. In an effort to stop the undead, the townsfolk exhumed and desecrated the bodies of suspected vampires. One common ritual in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont was to dig up the corpse, remove its heart and burn the organ. The ashes were mixed with water and fed to the deceased’s sick relatives in the belief it would cure them of the disease. In Maine and Plymouth, Mass., corpses were exhumed and fl