So we have finally slipped through the chilly fingers of our second round and emerged in the dark, moonlight woods of Round Three. By overwhelmingly popular demand our monster is werewolves, and we've already got a toothsome beginning selection of poetry and art ready to satisfy your slavering maws. We've also got a spine-chilling surprise lined up as well...

To help us change our skins, what's your favorite werewolf story, movie, comic or song? Do you adore the classic wolfman, the old traditional shape-changer, or the angsty accursed heart throb?

I admit it's cheesy, but whenever I write werewolf fiction, I always end up with "Of Wolf and Man" by Metallica stuck in my head. I can't help it! A friend of mine also sent me this amazing werewolf song in German--but then I lost my copy when my MP3 player died. Maybe someday I'll remember the title and find it again.

Bright is the moon high in starlight
Chill in the air cold as steel tonight
We shift
Call of the wild
Fear in your eyes
It's later than you realized

(shape shift) Nose to the wind
(shape shift) Feeling I've been
(move swift) All senses clean
(earth's gift) Back to the meaning, Back to the meaning of...Life
(guitar solo)
I feel a change
Back to a better day
(shape shift)
Hair stands on the back of my neck
(shape shift)
In wildness is the preservation of the world

So seek the wolf in thyself
-Of Wolf and Man, Metallica

Well, the ghosts have almost had their hour. We had so many fantastic contributions for 'Ghosts' that we extended the time a little for that theme. Now, to wrap up, The Mad Doctors are proud to announce the winner of our Fantastic Phantom Photo Contest.

We actually couldn't choose between the awesome entries we got, so we rolled a dice to let the fates decide! And the winner is...



The mystery face at the window of the New Orleans Absinthe House, by mandybling. Thank you to the people who entered and congratulations to our winner!

Please accept your prize, a short story by Die Booth inspired by your winning photograph.

Coffee Break

A story by Die Booth
( Coffee Break )

The next ReVamp! theme that will be prowling onto your screens very soon is Werewolves... don't have nightmares, now!

A bit of an unexpected post here, but something I think that is quite relevant to ReVamp!

I am lucky enough to live in the city of Chester, UK, a city brimming with history dating back to Roman times and before. Refusing to surrender in the Civil War, suffering through the plague and managing to survive the two World Wars unscathed, Chester has more than its fair share of ghost stories and is reputed to be (along with Derby) the most haunted city in England.

One of the most popular Chester ghost stories that is recounted with enthusiasm by every tour guide is the story attached to a little white building that now houses Thornton's Chocolate Shop. The story goes that, somewhere back in the mists of time, a girl called Sarah lived in the house. Very much in love with her sweetheart, she awaited her wedding day with anticipation, only to be left abandoned at the altar. She was so distraught that she returned home and hung herself in the top room of the house.
Ever since that day, poltergeist activities have been reported in the building. Some more notorious happenings include a disbelieving American tourist being pushed down the stairs by an unseen hand, and displays of Valentines chocolates being thrown around and broken in a locked store room whilst everything around them remained undisturbed.
Tour guides on the ghost walks I've frequently been on in Chester always recount these stories, with a varying degree of gravitas. The guide of the last tour I went on assured us that Sarah often put on shows for tours, swinging hanging display signs and knocking over parts of window displays, but whilst I always believed in Sarah's presence I never saw anything untoward in the shop, nor did I ever expect to.

Yesterday, a friend of mine visited from London and wanted to go on a ghost hunt. Me and my partner decided to take him on a tour of our own - considering we probably know more Chester ghost stories than most of the tour guides!
It was a fun evening. We took in all the usual 'haunts', taking it in turns to recount their associated tales. When we got to Thornton's, I started to tell the traditional story of Sarah and her activities, when my partner started peering quite intently into the shop window. Then he said,

"Am I seeing this?"

And the three of us stood and watched something melt a hole in a chocolate Easter egg in the middle of the window display.

It was one of the oddest experiences of my life. There was absolutely no 'maybe' about what we were witnessing; it was happening quite clearly in front of us all. We weren't scared or hysterical or imagining it. We were quite confused. The chocolate was melting quickly but without drips in a very focused way that looked like someone was holding a lighter to it: a small hole appearing and then spreading outwards like melting celluloid film. There was nobody behind us who could have been pointing a laser pointer or similar; our bodies were blocking the window. There were no lights on in the shop, we were viewing it by street lights. The window in front was cold. It was about 10.30pm at night, very cold and dark apart from the city centre street lighting. None of the other chocolates in the display were affected. None of us could explain how or why the egg was melting in this fashion.

Today myself and my partner went back to Thornton's. The egg was still in the window, the front half completely melted away, the edges re-solidified despite the fact that now sunshine was shining through the window. The egg above it in the display also had a precise hole melted into it but again, the rest around them were completely unaffected.

We went into the shop and told the assistants. They said that sometimes the sun through the window melted the chocolates. They said that sometimes the sun bounced off the windows on the opposite side of the street and could melt quite small focused patches in the display. We told them that this had happened late on a very cold night when there was no sunlight or direct light at all and that we'd watched it happen over the course of about ten minutes. They couldn't offer us any explanation but removed the eggs quickly from the display.

Any explanations as to what happened last night will be gratefully accepted!

Entries have begun manifesting on our Phantom Photo Contest! Thanks to all that have entered so far! If you're still thinking of entering, don't forget that the deadline is Wednesday, February 16th!

Remember, they can be actual creepy/ghost photos, or they can be forgeries you craft--and you don't have to confess if you commit phantomly fraud.

Rules and entries so far!

Announcing our first Re-Vamp reader challenge! We Mad Doctors are huge fans of ghostly photography--real or, ah, shall we say, embellished! So for our first reader challenge, we're asking you to submit your best ghost photography--or phantomly photoshop jobs! Whether you take the horrifying high road or the creepily comedic one, we're eager to see your haunted images!
( onward, for prizes, dates, and rules! )

Fiction
+The Unseen - by LC Hu
+Retrospectre - by Die Booth
+Coffee Break - by Die Booth

Guest Fiction
+Ghostwalk - by JT Wilson
+Ghost of a Smile - by Tammy Lee
+End of the Line - by Tessa J. Brown
+Fragments from the Ghost Apocrypha #1 - by Adrian Benson
+The Twelve O'Clock Man - by David Hill

Artwork
+Ghost - by Angel Ceballos
+Ghost photograph - York - by Die Booth
+Ghost photograph - Chester - by Die Booth

Links & Discussion
+Tell us your favourite ghost story, or any ghostly happenings you have experienced.
+A true ghost story.

Competitions
+The Fantastic Phantom Photo Contest.
+The Fantastic Phantom Photo Contest WINNER