Archaeologists explore city destroyed by 'gods'

The BBC has the details:

Indian divers have found more evidence of an ancient port city, apparently revealed by December's tsunami.

Stone structures that are "clearly man-made" were seen on the seabed off the south coast, archaeologists say.

They could be part of the mythical city of Mahabalipuram, which legend says was so beautiful that the gods sent a flood that engulfed six of its seven temples. Other relics were revealed when the powerful waves washed away sand as they smashed into the Tamil Nadu coast.

'Clear pattern' The Archaeological Survey of India launched the diving expedition after residents reported seeing a temple and other structures as the sea pulled back just before the tsunami hit.

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Indians hold a ghost fair

The BBC reports on a ghost fair in an Indian village drawing thousands of people haunted by ghosts to meet with witch doctors and other practioners intent on driving away the evil spirits.

Rukmani, 21, is a coy and demure Indian village girl, but her parents are convinced that she is haunted by ghosts.

"She speaks in a strange language. She speaks of people we don't know. She screams and faints," says her farm worker father.

So they have made a journey from their village in western Maharashtra state to an ancient fair of ghost busters in Malajpur in central Madhya Pradesh to rid their daughter of the ghost.

Rukmani and her parents have joined thousands of "haunted" people from all over India at this month-long ghost busters fair where witchdoctors congregate and exorcise spirits.

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The President's vampire

Fortean Times carries a fascinating story on President Andrew Johnson commuting the hanging sentence of a Portugese sailor accused of drinking the blood of his murder victims.

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FCC approves vampire sex

The Federal Communications Commission has approved vampire sex scenes:

The Federal Communications Commission has denied a Parents Television Council indecency complaint against a sex scene in an episode of The WB Television Network's drama, Angel, that aired on WBDC(TV) Washington, D.C., and other affiliates of the netlet. The WB no longer airs the show. The complaint involved a scene in the Nov. 19, 2003, broadcast in which a couple are apparently having sex. PTC described it this way: "Spike is on top of Harmony, their clothes are on, but his body rocks back and forth and their breathing is heavy. She tries to speak, but he tells her not to spoil the moment. Her eyes start to bleed, and suddenly she turns into her vampire self and bites his neck." The FCC concluded that the sex scene was not patently offensive because it was brief, contained no nudity, and was not sufficiently graphic or explicit.

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Hammer rising from the dead

Horror.com has exciting news for horror fans. Hammer Studios, maker of low-budget horror classics in the 1950s-early 1970s, is rising from the dead.

The lucrative resurgence of the horror genre in recent months has inspired a group of investors to back the first productions from the legendary Hammer Films studio in nearly 30 years. The studio behind such classics as Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Devil Rides Out is joining forces with Random Harvest, a British production and funding company, and Stan Winston Productions, a Hollywood-based effects house, to set up Harvest Pictures III to back new productions. According to Screendaily Harvest Pictures III will support quality, low-budget horror projects from all three partners, capitalising on the low-cost, high-reward model that has generated tidy profits on the likes of 28 Days Later, Shaun Of The Dead, Cabin Fever and Saw. Hammer projects in the pipeline already include Perfect Sight and The Beetle. Filming is expected to begin in the early summer, close to three decades after Hammer produced its final title, The Lady Vanishes, in 1978.

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Readers

Readers: I want to hear from you. I plan to ship out a manuscript to a publisher hopefully by this weekend. I'd like your thoughts on The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire. Please leave a comment or email me. Thank you and I hope you have enjoyed my story. On another issue, I'm also thinking of beginning a blog for horror and supernatural thriller news and movie and book reviews as well as occasional short stories of my own. What do you think? Interested?

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