Stone Chambers, Shadow Child and Supernatural Vermont: An Interview with Author Joseph Citro
Vermont’s Bard of the Bizarre on His Reissued & Expanded Novel and Other Assorted Arcana…
Vermont’s Bard of the Bizarre on His Reissued & Expanded Novel and Other Assorted Arcana…
Earlier this summer, I met up with author Joe Citro on the steps of the library on the green in Woodstock, Vermont.
“Did you know there’s a vampire’s heart buried under the Woodstock Green?” he asked.
Of course there is. And — of course — Joe Citro knows the story.
Suspense and horror author and folklorist, Citro — whether he knows, or would admit it — is a Vermont treasure. His shared encyclopedic knowledge of ghosts, haunts, unexplained events, mysterious locations and just plain weird Vermont has now filled several volumes, such as Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls & Unsolved Mysteries, Vermont’s Haunts: Tall Tales & True from the Green Mountains, Joe Citro’s Vermont Odditorium and more. His commentaries entertained Vermont Public Radio audiences for years.
When my own itch to explore Vermont’s mysterious Stone Chambers set in, I’d turned to Joe in hopes he could show me to one, and he’d graciously agreed. As he led us to the site of the fabled Calendar Two chamber in South Woodstock this summer, we spoke of possible origins for the chamber, of how it’s oriented towards the Winter Solstice, and of other chambers in the area.
Archaeologists currently attribute the chambers’ construction to colonial settlers, as root cellars, chimney foundations, ice houses, or other storage spaces. Others speculate the chambers and other stone workings were built by pre-Columbian explorers from Europe or the Middle East, or by Native Americans. And some consider them possible portals to other planes of existence.
Judging by his newly re-released debut novel Shadow Child, Citro may lean towards the latter. Crossroad and Bat Books have just released the expanded anniversary edition of Citro’s Shadow Child, and there, on the cover, is a Vermont Stone Chamber! In this email interview after our trip to the stone chamber, I asked Joe a few questions about the book, himself, the chambers — and that vampire’s heart in Woodstock…
MIKE: Congratulations on the new edition of Shadow Child! Your first published novel has had a few lives. Now, this new “expanded” edition — what sort of bonus stuff is included?
JOE: Thank you, sir!
Since the book first came out in 1987 people have been asking me a lot of questions about it. The “Expanded” edition is an attempt to answer some of those questions and to anticipate others.
The Extras include an Introduction by one of the editors, Phil Pocoda, who acquired the novel for UPNE’s prestigious Hardscrabble line.
There is a long Q & A with comics legend Steve Bissette in which he asks me about the book’s background, development, and “behind the scenes” stuff.
There’s a photo gallery showing many of the real-world spots that inspired the narrative.
And of course there are the wonderful, creepy illustrations by artist Corey Furman (who draws the Tarzan of the Apes comic strip).
We wanted to give new readers and fans a lot of additional insight, kind of like the “extras” on a DVD.
MIKE: You’ve been called the “Bard of the Bizarre” and the “Ghostmaster General” of Vermont. Which is pretty cool! Did you come up with those “titles”? Who did?
JOE: And I’ve been called a lot worse! It was the Boston Globe that awarded me the “Bard of the Bizarre” sobriquet. I’m not sure where Ghostmaster General came from. Another mystery…
MIKE: You’re now well-known for your folklore and supernatural chronicles and guidebooks. Which came first — fiction writer or folklorist?
JOE: Fiction. Fiction first. I always loved stories. Even as a child I wanted to create them. But I suppose I could make the case for folklorist, too. See, the first stories I heard, the ones that whet my appetite, were the Vermont folktales my father told me before I was old enough to read or write.
MIKE: What’s the first local ghost story or tale of the supernatural that you can remember hearing? How old were you?
JOE: That is a really good question, because, you know, I have been hearing them all my life. Of course my father was the first and main source of spooky tales. He liked them and passed that appreciation along to me.
I THINK the first one I remember was the time he told me how, when he was a boy, he had been in the woods on South Hill in Ludlow [VT] where he witnessed an enigmatic wispy shape — a ghost, perhaps? — floating soundlessly downhill, gliding just above the ground, and — and here’s the detail that really imprinted — the trees had parted to let it pass…
I can vividly remember the sense of unease and wonder that accompanied his description. Could it be true? Could something like that white soaring specter really be out there?
I really can’t remember how old I was, but that one goes way back.
MIKE: Can you tell me a little more about the Bennington Triangle… There really is a Bennington Triangle?
JOE: Well, sure there is! I know because I named it that back in 1992 during a commentary on public radio. It was just shorthand to designate a mysterious area.
I could have called it “The Glastonbury Triangle”, but that lacked the essential alliteration (Bermuda Triangle, Bridgewater Triangle). In this case “Triangle” merely means a mysterious area of land around Bennington where a lot of weird stuff seems to have happened: Monsters appear. People vanish. Lots of UFO disturbances. All concentrated in a limited area…
MIKE: When we met up in Woodstock, near the green, you mentioned there was — I think — the heart of a vampire buried under it? Is that right?
JOE: That’s the story.
We have long associated vampirism with Woodstock. During the late 19th century a couple of cases were reported there. I have discussed them in my books.
History and legend seem to have blended so thoroughly they will never be properly parsed, but the story goes that the townspeople burned the vampire’s heart and buried it in a kettle under the green. An additional story says some locals went there and tried to dig it up. It didn’t end well…
MIKE: Thank you again for showing me up to that stone chamber. I notice there’s one on the cover of Shadow Child which looks… very familiar! Was that chamber in South Woodstock an inspiration for the story?
JOE: The stone site that inspired the story is no longer in good shape. It is now a ruin in my hometown, Chester, Vermont. The one in Woodstock is nearly identical and is much more elegant and photogenic. But more than the stone sites themselves, it was the mystery of the stone sites that influenced the story. Who built them? When? And why?
MIKE: There are a few theories on the chambers — Mainstream archaeology says Colonial, so-called Diffusionists say pre-Columbian Euro-tourists, some say Native American, others suggest they may be portals to other realms — what are your thoughts on the chambers’ origins?
JOE: My thoughts are not scientific. I am just glad the sites are there because they provoke wonder and ignite peoples’ imaginations. They seem to be one of those mysteries that cannot be solved. To me such puzzles are valuable. A careful reading of my book will show you that I do not provide an explanation!
MIKE: You mentioned to me the book has been optioned for a movie — anything you can say about that? Who would you like to see play Eric? Ever cast the book in your mind over the years?
JOE: To tell you the truth, the movie rights have been optioned a number of times since 1987. I have seen several screenplay adaptations. Nobody, so far, has done it right. They overlook one essential character: Vermont itself.
On the plus side, I am very optimistic this time out. It is being adapted by Henry Chaisson who wrote the Guillermo del Toro produced film Antlers, so he has a good understanding of folk horror and he is a fellow New Englander, so I think he’ll “get” Vermont!
As for playing Eric, I’d like to see a Vermonter play the part. We have a lot of wonderful actors right here.
MIKE: A whole new wave of readers is discovering Shadow Child — what do you think it is that has made it a kind of timeless tale?
JOE: Another good question. If it proves to be timeless — and I hope it will — I suspect it’ll be because Shadow Child has something of the fairy tale about it.
When I first tried marketing it to literary agents back in the mid-1980s, I described it as “a fairy tale for adults”. And fairy tales tend to be timeless. We shall see…
The new Expanded Edition of Joe Citro’s Shadow Child is out now from Crossroad and Bat Books, wherever fine horror books are sold.