FAQ

I’ve been online since August of 1997. I travel and post on more than 100 differant forums and message boards, most of them ProBoards sites. In that time I have been asked a lot of questions, many of those questions get repeated to me time and time again, and over the years I have created a list of those questions and written answers that I could just copy and paste as soon as the question appeared again. I’ve got them all stored away on my hard drive, and over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting them on this page.

Who Is EelKat?

Those who know me, know that I also go by the name of EelKat. Thus, I am often asked why. Why is a simple yet complex answer.

The more appropriate question should be who. Who is EelKat? EelKat is a character from an epic book that I started writing in 1980 when I was 5 years old. Miss Kitten the EelKat, as she was originally called in 1978, is a black bobcat~like creature based on the tailless cat beast from mythology, known as Tailypoe. The name EelKat, came from my love of eels and the fact that she was a bobcat.

As the EelKat story expanded she went on to become the co-owner of The Twighlight Manor an ancient stone 500+ room haunted mansion situated deep in the heart of The Twighlight Forest, owned by Sir Roderic Lincandoia Swanzen. EelKat is also part owner of White Rock former haunted mansion turned asylum for the criminally insane.

The Twighlight Manor characters were created based on UFO sightings that took place in the forest behind my house in 1978 and 1982. I was one of the witnesses to these sighting.

The combination of events that summer, resulted in the creation of a black bobcat come to earth from another galaxy, took up residence in a haunted mansion, and raised eels for pets. She was named EelKat, and she was in essence the alter ego of myself, as I wanted to be at that time in my life and I set out writing a book chronicling the history of the haunted house, which itself as it turns out was built buy aliens as a secret earth base-camp, and is not actually haunted, rather what humans calls ghosts are really aliens. In the past 27 years what started as a simple story, has since become a saga spanning over a dozen volumes following the Swanzen family from the building of the Manor in the late 1300’s up to the current time.

Written Friday, November 4, 2005

What Is The Twighlighlight Manor? Where is The Twighlight Manor? Can I visit The Twighlight Manor?

The Twighlight Manor is a house that I designed but never built, so no you can’t visit it. The Manor is a stone castle-like fortress, 4 stories tall, with a triple level basement, and dungeon below them. The dungeon itself, is built into a series of catacombs and caves, which exit in the side of Crystal Gorge.However, since it is in a series of books, therefor it must be somewhere, so, where is it? According to the story, it was built in the late 1300’s in a dense forest off the coast of North America. One of the characters after not seeing the Manor in nearly 200 years, set out to find it in the 20th century, armed only with the knowlege that it was hidden in a forest along the coast. Finding the Manor proved less than easy, as in the 200 years that had past, cities had built up and the forest was no more.

So where had the forest in the book, once been? Once upon a time there was a vast forest, thousands of acres of ancient White Pine trees in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, USA. In the late 1800’s it was named The Ross Forest, after the man who set out a petition to make this unique wonder a national park. What was so unique about The Ross Forest? No where else in the world was there a forest of ancient pine trees growing along a pristine white sands beach. As a small child in the 1970’s I grew up exploring the last 500 or so acres of the Ross Forest. Today in 2005, I drive down the miles of houses, golf courses, and conduminiums that line the Ross Rd and cry, because The Ross Forest is no more. My children will never know the joys of living in the forest on the beach, and in tribute to that trajid lose of a natural wonder, I re-created The Ross Forest I remember from my childhood, in my books, renaming it the Twighlight Forest, and The Twighlight Manor is set in the middle of it.

What is The Twighlight Manor Library?

The Twighlight Manor is a vast mansion, in it’s glory it had over 500 rooms, all funished with artifacts from Sir Roderic’s travels around the world. Al~Keem later added his own extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts. Etiole and finally EelKat would continue to add to the Manor. The Library, sits at the heart of the Manor on the second floor, and is a vast round room 3 stories tall, lined with twisting stairwys and thousands upon thousands of books. The original collection belonged to Roderic’s first wife Melneeva. Al~Keem’s collection of anceint scrolls, papyre, and old documents, was later added, along with Dr. Vangonees’ large collection. As large as The Manor’s collection had become, it was to nearly double in size when Micha moved into the house. Micha was the youngest son of the planet’s current Emporor Swanzen, and an avid book collector. The Manor’s collection was passed on to him. Micha now resides in the room along side the Library, and continues to add to the collection.

You have said that The Twighlight Manor Library is real. If The Twighlight Manor is a fictional place, how than can The Twighlight Manor Library exist?

Ever since I first designed the Manor it has been my dream to see it built. A project of such magnitude would cost billions. As such, until I’m a rich as Scrooge McDuck, the Manor remains plans on paper. However, my favorit room in the Manor, is of course it’s giant library. When I was ten years old, I decided, that if I can’t build the entire Manor, I’ll build it’s library instead. It is my goal to recreate in it’s entierty, The Twighlight Manor Library. While the giant round room, full of mind boggleing spiraling stairs, is itself a dream that may never become reality, the collection does exist. I set out to collect a copy of every antique book I could find, as a teenager I became known as the best customer at every booksale at every library in Southern Maine…today those library’s look for me to be the first at every sale, every year, they even provide boxes, knowing that I won’t be leaveing their sale with until there is absolutly no space left in our car…trunk, seats and floor, packed full, with hundreds of books. I can be found at yard sales and picking garbage during clean-up weeks, no book in the trash goes unrescued.

One problem, was posed by trying to recreat Dr. Vangoneese’s part of the collection—medical books. That problem was quickly solved by visiting local hospitals, doctors offices, and the medical college…the old books and texts are useless once the new editions come out, and so are discarded. And thus the medical section of the Library grew.

I don’t know how many books exist in my collection, last time I’d counted I’d given up after 5,000, that was a few years ago. I’m guessing it’s closer to 7,000 today. I’m now in the process of cataloging the collection. A daunting task, requireing me to learn the Dewy Decimal System.

Why can’t I visit The Manor’s Library?

The Twighlight Manor Library collection, is a private collection. The books are not loaned out to the public. I am very protective of my books, no one handles them without the strictest of permission. The misshandleing, damage, and defacment of books is looked on as a grave sin. In my experiance with the many public libraries in this area, the average person is not capable of taken care of a book, that is not their own. Library books are routinly returned written on, soiled, pages torn, pages missing, pictures cut out, covere removed, and otherwise baddly damaged. In view of the fact that most book in public circulation must be replaced or discarded after a few short years, I have chosen not to allow this collection to have public access. It is possible that in the future I may change this, but for now it remains a private library with no public access.

No book ever leaves to collection, once it is here, it is here for life, we never sell, discard, or give away any of the books in our collection.  So if you ever run across a book marked as part of The Twighlight Manor Library collection, that book is either lost or stolen, and greatly missed. Many of the books are stamped Twighlight Manor Library, and ALL of them are hand signed by me with both my name and the Twighlight Manor Library “signature”. Any books found marked as such should be returned as soon as posible.

What is Space Dock 13?:

Other than my web site you mean?

The name Space Dock 13, like everything else, comes from the Twighlight Manor stories. As I said before, the Twighlight Manor is some what of a base camp for the aliens who live there. The #13 figures in strongly with the Manor’s history. Constuction for the Manor began in 1313, after a space craft was sent off course and crashed on Earth. During it’s construction 13 workers were killed when one of the walls crumbled. The Manor was abandoned and went unfinished. Years later, construction resumed, and it was the first Emporor Swanzen, who officaly made the Manor the space dock of planet Earth. His son Vielder added to the Manor, what would become one of the key elements behind the Manor’s curse…a giant floor clock. The clock sits in the front parlor, and at eight feet tall, it towers forbodingly over all who enter the front doors. The clock was said to fore tell doom, predicting the deaths of those who had at some point set foot in the Manor.

Vielder, was a merciless tyrant, his reign was one of terror. Vielder’s most famous additions to the Manor were two grizly rooms now boarded up…the first was known as “The Head Room”, and as it’s name implies was the room which stored his human head collection. Vielder saw the planet earth as a primative planet, and humans were nothing more to him, than alien animals waiting to be slaughtered and added to his ever growing trophy collection.

A second room added by Vielder, remained undiscovered for nearly 400 years. Upon aquiring the Manor in the late 1800’s, EelKat had every room, every item, every book, and every artifact cataloged. During that time, was discovered a room that EelKat cataloged as “The Wax Museum”. It was quite simply a room filled with what on first sight appeared to very life like waxworks. They were, in actuallity, taxidermed creatures from around the galaxy, many humans and earth animals make up part of the collection as well. Oddly though, while the room and the older figures were put there by Vielder in the 1400’s, EelKat’s scientists claimed that most of the human figures had been added in only the last 100 years, during the 1700-1800’s. And in the 150 years since the room’s discovery, it’s collection has nearly doubled in size. “The Wax Museum” remains one of the Manor’s darkest mysteries…who are the bodies? how do they get there? and who is continueing to expand Vielder’s horrid collection 400 years after his death? Since I’m writing the story, I know the answer to that….shockingly, the story’s darkest villain, is also one of it’s best loved heroes.

So what does any of ths have to do with Space Dock 13? Vielder’s reign of terror was the bloodiest ever seen, though not nearly as horrific as the murder’s comited by the book’s as of yet unidentified vilain…known only as The Lansquin’s most devoted follower: The Red Dragon The people began to call the Twighlight Manor, Space Dock 13, after the death of King Vielder. Vielder’s death marked the end of his reign of terror, and the beginning of a series of murders, marked by their horrific, yet artist, public display, and a madman’s riddles written with the blood of his victims. While Vielder’s murder was not the first, it was the first to include the now trademarked blood riddles. This first riddle told of a lost key, a cursed rhyme, and a 3’O clock chime of death. The words had no known meaning, until the next death that soon followed. 

After the mysterious murder of King Vielder, the giant floor clock stopped working properly. Many clockmakers have since been brought in, the clock taken apart, even it’s gears removed in order to stop it from running at all, but nothing has ever stopped it from it’s new funtion. Upon Vielder’s death the clock began running backwards, keeping time as usual, just now in reverse. It no longer chimed on the hour, it makes no sound at all. No one ever winds the clock, and after having it’s gears removed, no one knows how it contiunes to run. Posessed is how it’s explained. Exorcists were brought in, and the clock still kept on running, keeping perfect time, going steadly on, ever backwards.

Than one day, it stopped. A small clattering sound was heard, and the inhabitants in the parlor at the time, figured the gears had finally run down…but it had not, the hands of the clock began to move ahead rapidly until reaching 3 O’clock and for the first time since Vielder’s death, it chimed, 3 simple chimes, than began to run just as normal as any other clock. Normal that is until, when twelve hours later it reached 3’O clock again and chimed thirteen times instead, than went back to running in reverse once again.

The curse of the clock, was thus seen for the first time…for death had stuck yet again, now in time with the thirteenth chime. Since that day, every person who sets foot in the Manor, even for a second, the clock knows the time of their death, and tells all who are in the parlor to hear. If ever you hear the parlor clock chimeing 3″O clock, than keeping time in perfect order, you know that some one somewhere will die twelve hours later when the clock chimes thirteen. And because of the clock’s thirteen chime, came the name Space Dock 13.

About Me or Who is EelKat REALLY?:

Captain John Smith, sent 2 of his ship mates, Rogers and Goggins, ashore to the newly discovered Mainland. This land was given to them in 1657, by the King of England, at that time it was at total of  about 3,000 acres of rose bushes, dense pine forest, wilf grapes, and wild apple orchards. As the years went by the Rogers and Googins families divided the land among their children, who in turn divided it among their children, and so on and so on, for the next 200 years. In the late 1800’s the original 3,000 acres had been divided among descendants of the Rogers and Googins families so many times, that this tiny spot of land was now populated enough to become a township. In 1898 a mile long Pier was built out from the land across the ocean, and the land was named The Town of the Old Orchard.

In the years since, raging hurricanes ripped off the end of the Pier, leaving behind, only the small section of it which still stands today. And 2 massive fires wiped out nearly all of the very old buildings, including the original Palace Playland, a one time Victorian Amusment Park, that today is only a few rides off the side of the Town Square. As time passed the town grew ever larger as non-family members moved into the new town, including the Rickers of Poland Spring, and the Allens of Portland. As more out-siders moved in, the farmers of the Rogers and Googins families, grew more and more frustrated with the city folks and tourists that they felt were ruining the name of Old Orchard, and the farmers packed their things and left. Today, only one plot of land still remains in the original Rogers family, the descendants of the very first white man to live in Old Orchard…Thomas Rogers, the sailor from Capt. John Smith’s ship…and that family is my family. Three of the giant ancient pines that stood here in the 1600’s are still standing in our yard today, and along side one of those pines, grows a very ancient 13′ tall white rose bush, that once belonged to my great-grandmother and is known to be at least 100 years old, possibly several hundred years old.

My name is Wendy Christine Allen, I was born in Biddeford, Maine on August 13, 1975. I was raised on a poultry farm in Old Orchard right along side it’s famous Old Orchard Beach. Today the family farm is run as a sanctuary for chickens, sort of a safe house~retirement home for old hens and roosters, that would otherwise have been slaughtered. Everything from cats and dogs, to fish and eels, to cowatii and woodpeckers, to horses and turtles have found refuge here. I am known by many as the local protector of animals.