About the Author
MICHAEL VAIN was born in Baltimore Maryland, and demonstrated an early interest in both reading and drawing, interests that were encouraged by his family during his youth. As a child, Michael desired a career as a comic book artist, being a fervent collector from an early age.
Although his childhood career never materialized, his passion for both art and writing remained, and led to an early career in commercial graphics and design, as well as a continued involvement in developing his own artistic skills, working in a variety of mediums in projects ranging from traditional to functional art projects.
Michael's childhood environment was one which included a strict sense of personal discipline and a strong work ethic. Michael Kradz, the author's grandfather, was former military who went into law enforcement, specializing in criminalistic forensics investigation. He later worked for a counterintelligence company in the field of voice stress analysis, a cutting edge technology at the time in the field of lie detection. He worked on a number of high-profile cases, and used his expertise in forensics as an expert witness throughout his career.
Michael seemed destined to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, but his creative side proved too strong, and he instead pursued a career path more aligned with his other interests, including owning a profitable comics outlet as well as running several departments for Games Workshop U.S..
Pursuit of Discipline
Michael developed an interest in traditional martial arts in his pre-teens, and began practicing weaponry early in high school. This was followed by study in traditional arts from China and Okinawa, where he placed in several tournaments in Maryland and Virginia.
Michael was fortunate to receive training from several experienced teachers, including Kyoshi Arnold Mitchell in Baltimore and Kyoshi F.D.R. Hargrove in Virginia. These instructors not only transformed an interest into what would become a life-long pursuit, and proved fundamental in defining Michael's moral framework, but also instilled a desire to make these arts into a professional career.
He began training extensively with the purpose of opening his own dojo, and formed his own informal martial arts club in which to practice his teaching technique.
Several years later, and after obtaining black belts in his chosen styles, Michael was forced to abandon his teaching plans after a near-fatal automobile accident, in which he suffered a forward ejection through the sunroof of an SUV traveling on the interstate. Michael credits his survival to his many years of training, but the injuries would require years of recovery.
After several years of rehabilitation, Michael was able to resume his training on a limited basis. Unable to physically withstand his former schedule, he nonetheless continued to practice as part of his recovery. Though successful to some degree, the injuries he sustained would return in the wake of a period of narcissistic and domestic abuse. These events have led him to become a men's family court and domestic abuse advocate.
The arts have become a life-long pursuit, and Michael continues to practice whenever possible.
Historical Atmosphere
When Michael was six years old, his family moved from the suburbs of Baltimore, to Elkridge, Maryland. Michael's grandfather had become a lieutenant in the Howard County Police Department, and relocated his family to an 18th century colonial home, located adjacent to Patapsco State Park, on the banks of the Patapasco River.
The house needed extensive repair work, but Michael's grandfather was determined to restore the house to its former condition at the turn of the century, which would present a challenge for Micheal and his family, but one which would ultimately result in success.
It was during the renovation of the house that Michael's family began to research the house's history, and discovered it possessed a lengthy and varied history. Elkridge, originally named Elkridge Landing, was originally settled in 1690 as a deep water port similar to Annapolis, and was the gateway port for shipping agricultural and manufactured goods to and from the fertile Patapsco region. The original main house was constructed beginning in 1723 with construction being completed in 1763.
Built from the brick ballast of slave ships, The house was once part of a plantation, and the Thomas Viaduct, the oldest keystone bridge in the U.S., and the world's largest multiple arched stone railroad bridge
built in an arc, was completed in 1835 immediately adjacent to the house. The original Tom Thumb took a trip across the Thomas Viaduct, and the bridge is still in use today.
The house was witness to many events over the course of the next two centuries, including the Battle of Relay during the Civil War, and its use as a stop in the Underground Railroad through the use of tunnels built under the house foundation.
The sturdy structure continued to make history well into the twentieth century, withstanding two hurricanes and the flood waters they brought. Michael and his family were caught unprepared during Hurricane Agnes, and were trapped in the house well after it began to fill with what would become seventeen feet of water, before being rescued through the second floor window of Michael's bedroom. They would rebuild the house, only to be in the path of Hurricane Eloise six years later, which brought even deeper water.
Strange Events
Within a few months of moving into the house in Elkridge, the family began to experience events they could not explain. At first, these experiences were sporadic and easily dismissed: objects left in an empty room would vanish, only be found in other locations, strange noises, such as closing doors, or very low volume voices were heard, and the family would often experience sudden cold spots, along with the feeling of being watched.
These experiences, while unusual, did not immediately cause concern, as they were thought to be the result of human error, or some other natural cause. However, as the family restored the house, these experiences intensified. Some experienced strange lights, heard footsteps in empty rooms, and even witnessed full apparitions.
Michael and his family believed the house's history had much to do with these experiences, but some of the events defied any means of description, much less conventional explanation. Michael had many of these experiences during his childhood, including the sighting of shadow people before each of the floods, and encounters with other seeming entities, as did other family members.
Many of these encounters were curious, some were unusual, and others were terrifying, but although the family acknowledged the events among themselves, they remained silent in discussing the events, publicly, due to Mchael's grandfather's standing in the law enforcement community.
Growing up in such an environment was certain to have an impact, and it was these experiences that led Michael to develop an interest in classic horror fiction, as well as the unexplained, interests he would carry into his writing, and giving him an unusual qualification in the realm of strange fiction.