Interviewing After Dark

[spectral_fm]

The adverts were still playing. Beth using the time to out her guest at ease and test sound levels. A microphone was situated in front of their respective seats, but both had to wear a set of headphones - especially if there were callers later.

And as soon as her guest was ready?

"Bump In The Night... With Beth Watkins!"

A music began to fade down with a wolf's howl and the brunette began speaking before silence was properly reached. A gradual style of segue always sounded better.

"Tonight, we've got more of a local flavour for the show. She writes a blog, 'Dorchester After Dark' - which we've got linked up on the site, for anyone who's eager to take a bite. But y'know what? We've got Major Jules Bishop, herself, in the studio, sooo... Major? For any listeners out there who aren't familiar, how about you tell us about 'After Dark' and how it all came about?"

Comments

[dress_blues]

"Retired, actually."

And she was going to have to remember to stop using the title, at least if she didn't make it clear that she was no longer on active duty. Her military background was what had gotten her into this new thing, but without the uniform, she felt like one of those old guys in the park who talked about their long-gone glory days as if they'd just happened. Jules sat up straighter in the chair.

"Thanks for inviting me, Beth," she added. "I've listened to your show off and on since I got home, and I'm glad to get the chance to 'meet' your listeners, so to speak." The blonde cleared her throat, shook off the residual nerves she was feeling.

"I mainly started the blog because I believe more people have had encounters with the beyond than you'd think. Not just hauntings, but more subtle activity than that. Sometimes it can be just a flicker of movement out of the corner of your eye. I'm hoping to draw like-minded people into the conversation."

[spectral_fm]

Beth was known for calling a spade a spade. She wasn't afraid to call bullshit on some alleged expose of government secrets of some faked UFO video, but that went the other way, too. Unless there was an obvious flaw in a guest's material, she let them mostly tell their story and let the listeners make up their collective mind.

In this case, someone who was simply investigating their chosen field and seeing where it led.

"OK, well let me ask you this... Any 'Shadow People' encounters?.'Black-Eyed Kids' phenomena? Because, from what I've read, when you start poking around in that side of things, you've got to start being extra careful, just as a matter of course."

[dress_blues]

"No shadow people yet," Jules said with a shake of her head. "I do know you have to be careful, that if you pull back too many layers at once, you might see something you're not prepared for."

She sat forward in the chair, her forearms coming to rest on her knees. "I'm not sure there are protections that can be used, as it were," she added. "Paranormal energies are unpredictable at best, it isn't as if you can carry a rabbit's foot around and have that ward off evil. It's why the use of Ouija boards and the like is discouraged. If you try to communicate with the other side, you might be extending an invitation without even knowing it"

[spectral_fm]

"Yeeeeeah, I've known some people who had some bad experiences with those. Kinda' weird they sell them to kids. Friend of mine said it's like giving them a loaded gun to play around with. I mean... If someone thinks it's bunk, hey - good for them. But it's like Internet dating... Do you want to run the risk of being one of the horror stories? I know I don't."

A quick glance at the monitor which logged telephone calls. Nothing yet. Too early for that, anyway.

"So, tell us about the ome experience you'd say is... The most memorable, the one which you can't get out of your mind?"