BijouBlog

By Josh Eliot

In 1993, I was videographer on the Catalina Video movie The Bite for director Chi Chi LaRue. It featured a great cast headlined by Jon Vincent, and featured Derrick Corbin, Dillon Reid, Londun, Max Holden and Rob Cryston. We shot it at the same time as a movie I directed called Sex Between The Lines in a Hollywood Hills house formerly owned by Fatty Arbuckle, but at that time occupied by squatters. Say what? Ask Scott Masters! He had some really funky connections! I do remember regretting that I had not come up with the vampire movie idea; it was right up my alley, as I was born and raised in one of the most haunted states in the union. But I was just glad to be shooting a horror-themed movie, and Chi Chi did a great job with The Bite and The Bite 2! I never went the vampire route in any of my movies, but I probably should have If I had, I would have drawn upon two of the most notorious cases below.

A farmer named George Brown lost his wife, Mary, and daughter, Mary Olive, after both became sickly and died one after the other. In 1892, another daughter, Mercy, died at the age of 19. Two months later, George Brown’s teenage son, Edwin, became sick and frail. The village doctor told George that it was “consumption” that was taking his son, but occupants in the town of Exeter had another explanation. The undead.

Between 1790 and 1899, it was not uncommon in New England, particularly Rhode Island, for family members to demand that the bodies of their deceased family members be exhumed. The reason being that they suspected the dead of being “undead” and afflicting the living. Sometimes going as far as to burn the hearts, lungs and livers and mixing the ashes into a solution to administer to the afflicted as a treatment.

In March of 1892, villagers, a local doctor and a newspaper reporter, along with George Brown, entered the Chestnut Hill Cemetery, under the wild idea that one of the deceased members of George’s family was leaving the grave at night to suck the life out of his son, and only by killing the undead could Edwin be saved. The bodies of George’s wife and daughter Mary gave no clues, but when Mercy Brown’s body was exhumed, it appeared oddly well preserved, appearing like her hair and nails had also continued to grow. When they prodded the body with the shovel, they found it filled with fresh blood. They continued on and removed her heart and burned it on a nearby rock. All documented. The ashes were added to Edwin’s medicine, but he died a short time later. Rhode Island’s South County between 1870 and 1900 was known as the “Vampire Capital of America.” Rumors, accusations and panic set in. Bram Stoker, who wrote Dracula in 1897, kept newspaper accounts of “vampire” Mercy Brown in his files that were discovered after his death. For the less superstitious, the well-preserved condition of Mercy’s body could be due to the fact that she was buried in the ground during the two coldest months of the year. Mercy’s grave is one of the most visited to this day and is reinforced with a metal band connected to a post to protect it from being stolen. The Mercy Brown case is one of the best documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform rituals to banish an undead manifestation.

Vampire's Grave is located in a rural 19th century cemetery by an old wooden church in West Greenwich Rhode Island, not all that far from the real Conjuring house at 1677 Round Top Road in Burrillville, RI.

 

Starting back in the 1960s, stories related to an occupant of the graveyard spread like wildfire around the state. A teacher at Coventry High School told the students the story of Mercy Brown, a young woman whose body was exhumed and heart removed because family members were convinced she came back from the dead. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was based in part on Mercy Brown, and she is currently buried in a graveyard in Rhode Island. The students, mixing up their details, tracked down the wrong cemetery and headstone belonging to Nellie Vaughn. Nellie Vaughn died in 1889 at the age of 19 from pneumonia. When the students came upon her headstone which read in epitaph, “I am waiting and watching for you,” the legend of Nellie Vaughn being a vampire was born. Still the talk of high school in the 1970s, my friends and I along with probably every other student in the state at some point went to Vampire's Grave after smoking a ton of weed. Of course we were 100% sure that she was in fact a living dead vampire. The night we were there was scarier than hell; to reach it you drive for miles through a thick forest to a very desolate area. It is at a crossroads where you come upon the Plain Meeting House Cemetery. It took us forever to find her headstone, and yes, no grass was growing over her grave like the story said. Although it was a very creepy experience, no sightings of strange phenomena occurred that night.

Today, that headstone has been removed because there was too much vandalism of her grave site over the years. Nellie Vaughn has no marker and is in an unmarked grave. However, people have reported seeing a woman in Victorian clothing in the cemetery before vanishing into the woods, and also hearing a young woman’s voice near the grave site saying, “I am perfectly pleasant.” Almost as if she is trying to clear her name. Trying to tell the visitors that she was not an evil, frightening vampire, but only a very pleasant, proper young lady. The worst thing for us that night was driving home from the grave, still very stoned, going down that very winding wooded road in the middle of nowhere. We turned a corner that opened up to a big field on the right side of the road. There was a huge barn fire with about twenty to thirty people in white robes standing around it in a circle. Very scary, “devil worshippy” and demonic! We all screamed when we saw them and hit the gas to get out of there, constantly looking in the rear-view mirror to make sure no one was coming after us.

I promised that when I wrote this final “Halloween” themed blog, I would include a little bit of sizzle in keeping with the fact that this is after all for the BijouWorld website. So, after our harrowing adventure to Vampire's Grave, we dropped off the girls (our high school “girlfriends” at the time) and met up with one of their brothers named Michael and his “friend” Donald. There was a house in the neighborhood that was vacant and under construction. David and I had been “working” these two for what seemed like forever, getting a little flirt here and there, always followed by a big fat “nothing.” We met up with the boys, smoked some more weed; then, after months and months of build up, I did Donald, while my friend David did Michael.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

The early 1970s. An affluent suburban landscape with plenty of space between spacious homes that today would be characterized as vintage. The high school that serves part of this district is a 1960s building with only two floors, bright brick on the outside, gleaming white tiles in the hallway, and wide windows, quite progressive compared to the multistory, dark brick, and overall prison-like structures that were the norm in previous decades.

Yet across the road a ragged piece of what might originally been a forest preserve served as a hangout to the cliques in that high school called “freaks” or “loads.” (I was never sure about the difference between the two in my marginalized social status.) They wore flannel shirts, faded Levis, and big boots (the girls too). They sported long hair (and I remember so many blonds). They really made a point of being distinct from the Protestant WASP jocks and cheerleaders that pretty much ran the school and who probably ended up in that day’s one percent.

And they smoked in that area, which everyone called The Hole. Now I’m not sure if any other type of activity was going on (given that name), because I was afraid to check it out, but it was common knowledge that smoking was going on, and not just cigarettes. Yes, they smoked what many at that time called grass. Diane, a girl on my French class who identified as a load, confirmed that information. Diane was a load (and I got the feeling she may have dealt the substance in hindsight).

Flash forward to college. I was a virgin in the world of illicit substances, until Denise and Punky and some other girls introduced me to the joys of smoking pot (we called it that name by that time). Denise always seemed to have it, because she got it from some big black guy named T.J. Punky too, because she was a punk gal who knew artsy guys on the North Side of Chicago. Denise and I smoked something called “Sense A Million,” which was supposed to be quite potent. I remember vaguely wandering through tunnels that connected the buildings on the campus and making claims that the overhead lights were beautiful and brilliant.

Fast forward to my young adulthood, gayling in the city both before and after coming out, and once again pot seemed to be central to my social activities. The lady who cut my hair used to deal (I had to call and ask for shampoo), and one year she gave me a leafy pot “bud” for Xmas. Another friend used to get it from some unknown dealer in the artsy neighborhood, and often weekend consisted of our own private “pot parties” at my place. We made pizza from scratch while high during the munchies phase (while the pizza was baking, we ate the standard Doritos and donuts).
 

One time this friend and I went a jack off party completely stoned. On the way to the party, we started putting the words “lava lamp” or “planet of the apes” into various movie titles. Think: Our Lady of Planet of the Apes, On A Clear Day You Can See Planet of the Apes, or my favorite, Hello, Lava Lamp. When I came up with that one, I collapsed onto someone’s grassy front lawn, laughing so hard I could not breathe. Needless to say, my wiener did not function very well at the jack off party, but I did end up that night taking home a hot black guy who dressed like a cowboy (who was also stoned or drunk and as a result, a limp dick).
 

In my more mature years, financial exigencies have prevented me from enjoying the vicissitudes of this marvelous substance.

Based on the above, I associate pot/weed/grass with a time when social activities didn’t depend on technology. Yet even though one could argue that getting stoned wasn’t exactly the best way to connect, when everyone is stoned … or even just two persons … I found that in some persons a sense of humor arise that were not always present in other situations, even a repressed poet or musician.
 

Overall, I found the best “pot highs” to be a different release of inhibitions than being drunk; senses were heightened, and sometimes very amazing creative thoughts appeared and disappeared. No violence, no teary confessions, no hangover. Everything is fun, silly, and everything tastes good. Joy. Unabashed, uninhibited joy.

Maybe the cock doesn’t rise up literally when one ingests pot, but the Romantic poet Coleridge’s imaginative “fancy” did from the depths of my cannabis-intoxicated soul. That same poet wrote the famous dream-vision poem Kubla Khan under the influence of opium.
 

Maybe that could be a motivation to finally legalize that marvelous grass, weed, pot, or any other name.
 

By Will Seagers

[Originally published 02/07/25]

Hi folks, Will here! And yet another odd blog title. I am actually poking fun at the word "work." I thought I'd choose the common and current vernacular of choice. Nevertheless, no matter how you spell, it it all boils down to the same thing.

With all the changes happening around us within the past two weeks, I thought it would be sensible to head back to the workforce. I have enjoyed the past six years of retirement. But, there are some serious signs appearing on the horizon of our great country that are creating a lot of insecurity within me.

Oddly enough, I had been contemplating a part time job for the past year or so. I have a good work ethic and miss employing it. My idea was to take on the simple job of working at my gym for a couple of days a week. I know the place like the back of my hand, since I am there five or six days a week anyway.

I had approached the husband and wife team who own the place with my idea about a year ago. It's a small operation, personnel-wise, and there were no openings at that time. All of that changed just recently.

I received a call about two weeks ago asking if I was still available. I paused for a moment and asked myself if I really wanted to go back to work at the age of 74. It didn't take more than a second to reply with a solid, "Yes!" So, I have been in "training" mode for the past week.

I have loved this gym for the past six years because of the way it is maintained. I have no problem with being a "scullery maid" to keep it that way. It is the membership and bookkeeping aspect that is a bit thorny. And, I live only a mile away!

A lot has changed in the past forty years since I worked in the gyms of San Francisco - in terms of data collection in the membership process. I will be using three computers in this process. Seniors and people in the workforce whose memberships are part of their insurance coverage use one computer program. And, the other two computers deal with cash and credit card sign-ups. It's a bit daunting. But, sheer repetition will have me up and running in no time.

Of course, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, my San Francisco gym experiences were in gay gyms. This one is decidedly co-ed. It is a nice blending of locals - some average and some stunning - all here for the simple purpose of getting fit. I will have to remind myself to keep my tongue in my mouth when the stunners approach! LOL.

So... wish me luck in my gym career redux! This will be like a lot of jobs I have had in my lifetime, where I have had a second or even third chapter. The key thing for me to remember is that "it's just like riding a bike"... I hope!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

By Will Seagers

[Originally published 01/18/25]

Hi folks - Will here! Another strange but humorous title for a blog that doesn't quite fit my normal writing schedule. But hey... it's my birthday!

I have always been a fan of that special day of the year that each one of has. And I've always been of a mind that it should be celebrated just like any other holiday! It gives a special feel as we start yet another trip around the Sun!

As a kid, I was always anxious to get Christmas and New Years out of the way so we could get to "my day!" I remember my parents would invite the neighborhood kids in for ice cream and birthday cake for several of my childhood birthdays. What great fun! (And, some bellyaches!)

Some of the pics in this blog serve as mile markers in my life - one of which is still my favorite picture of myself. It's one of me on my 40th birthday at my friend Jim's house in San Francisco casually leaning against his kitchen counter. The fascinating backstory to this was that Jim, with whom I had become quite close, had the exact same birthday... January 18, 1951. Some of our interests and "behaviors" were eerily similar! (Wink!)

Another of my birthday behaviors is remembering other people's birthdays. I always loved how flattered people were when I sent a card or called them on "their day." With my birth family and my chosen family of friends, I am always on the lookout so as not to miss that special occasion. It always seems to brighten that recipient's day.

This year I have been a little braver, in that I have finally shown some pics that are age-accurate. On Saturday January 18th, I turn 74! At the completion of this trip around the Sun, I am starting to realize that the "aging game" is finally catching up with me. Luckily, with the genes that I have been dealt, the aging process treated me with kindness... that is... until just recently! Having played the "Dorian Gray game" for years, all of a sudden I look and feel older. But, I really can't complain. As my friend George would say... "Hey you're still vertical!" LOL.

I am happy to report that I still am in good health after all of these years. As a regular at my nearby gym, I include exercise as part of my every day ritual. Albeit no more "Schwarzenegger Workouts," I have found that keeping my body regularly and sensibly exercised has warded off a lot of muscular and skeletal issues. And, the endorphins produced by this regular exercise boost my spirits.

So, I end this year's "Party" with a wish of longevity and health for all... Happy Birthday to YOU! XO, Will.

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

Last Halloween, I wrote a couple of blogs regarding some of America’s most haunted spots. These places just so happen to be located in Rhode Island; one of them (Mercy Brown’s Grave) is just ten minutes from my parents' house inside the Chestnut Hill Cemetery at 10 Round Top Road in Exeter, RI. Another (Vampire’s Grave, where Nellie Vaughn was buried) is about twenty-five minutes from home, located inside the Plain Meeting House Cemetery in West Greenwich, RI. Sockanosett, aka The Bad Boys School, is on Chapel Hill near Garden City, which is about forty minutes away. The “real” Conjuring House is way the fuck out in the sticks at 1677 Round Top Road in Burrillville, RI and was a real bitch to find! Finally, Ladd School (Boys Asylum) is literally three minutes away, with only the Veterans Cemetery standing between the Ladd School property and my parents' neighborhood! (You can catch up and read my two blogs about all of those sites before proceeding, if you like: BAD BOYS SCHOOL blog and VAMPIRE'S GRAVE blog.)

This past July and August, my partner Tony and I went back east to spend a week with my parents and then hit the road to visit Hudson, NY, Boston and Provincetown, Cape Cod. I have to say, Hudson, NY experienced a resurgence like no other! Hudson, a very small city, is a two-hour Amtrak ride from Penn Station and was pretty down and out - that is, until Covid-19 hit. During that time, New Yorkers were buying up properties in Hudson for next to nothing. A city filled with amazing Victorians priced in the $20,000s and $30,000s! My Aunt lives half an hour away, and evidently the city was crime-ridden and run down. We actually were there about eleven years ago and it was pretty sketchy, but now the gays went in, restored the old buildings, gentrified the place (except south of 3rd street) and gay flags are on most businesses up and down the two major streets. Our VRBO was only $168 per night for a two-bedroom in a beautifully restored Victorian. Real estate prices are now a lot higher, where what you could buy for $30k is now over 100K… but even that!!! Boston was exceptional, as well. I thought I would be cheeky and book us into the Eliot Hotel, my namesake, in the back-bay neighborhood right near Newberry Street. What a gem! If ever in Boston!!

The most fun for us while visiting my parents in Rhode Island was dragging them along to all these places they would never go to on their own. The first full day was rain, rain, rain and I wasn’t about to stay in the house watching my dad stare at CNBC with the stock market ticker-tape on the bottom. I told them to get dressed and didn’t say where we were going. Unbeknownst to them, I had mapped out Mercy Brown’s gravesite and Vampire’s Grave on MapQuest (yes, I still prefer the print-out to my phone, don’t judge). I was surprised how close Mercy was to their house, and even though it was pouring rain I had to jump out of the car and get a selfie! They just seemed confused as to why I had to visit this site, so I gave them the whole Mercy Brown story with six degrees of separation to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. They pretended to be interested, but when the story was over they were like, “Where the hell are you driving to?” because we were on some really rural roads. I then started telling the story of Nellie Vaughn and how every kid in high school had a Vampire’s Grave experience, a typically very stoned one. We pulled up to Vampire’s Grave and the sun actually came out so we all ventured onto the grounds and I led them to Nellie’s plot. It had been at least forty-four years, give or take, since I had visited the Plain Meeting House Cemetery and since then the town removed Nellie’s headstone because of all the vandalism. They seemed bored, so I then suggested that we head to Iggy’s for Lobster Rolls and they all, including Tony, perked up!

I let the whole “haunting” thing go for a couple days, until I asked them to direct me how to get to Sockanosset. Also known throughout my childhood as the Bad Boys School, it was always a chilling place to drive or walk through from the moment I first saw it as a kid. I was pleased to see they incorporated some of the old 19th century buildings into a reimagined living, dining and entertainment area. When I saw that the old chapel and hospital building was converted into The Chapel Grill, I insisted we stop there for lunch. They said it was fine dining, and it was, but they had an amazing three-course pre-fix for $25! In fact, I have to say I would move back to Rhode Island for the restaurant prices alone. Where else in the northeast can you get a cheese omelet, hash browns and a grilled, not toasted, English muffin for $6.95 and only fifty cents for each additional item inside it! Not even at Denny’s! The inside of the Chapel Grille was stunning featuring restored stone and beams; so glad they preserved it.

Our last day before leaving, I surprised everyone with tickets to tour the “real” Conjuring House. They shot the movie in Currie, North Carolina, but the Perron family home was actually in Burrillville, RI. I bought tickets from their website while I was back in Palm Desert, because it looked like every weekend was selling out way in advance. Once we finally found the place, we were met by our tour guide, an actual medium. Since we were early, she showed us on her cell phone a previous tour where a cabinet door swung open as a guest walked past. She said the past few weeks were pretty active for the spirits. She told us we could walk down to the field where the famous tree from the movie was located, and to just make our way up to the house around the start time of the tour. We walked down and noticed several glamping sites that were set up in the field and one small trailer camping site. It was pretty cool that they are expanding the experience for guests. They even offer an overnight experience in the house for groups of up to six people for around $1000 and $1300 on weekends. It is popular with paranormal investigators. The glamping sites go for $300 - $400 a night. Not a bad business! (As I write this, I see the business, house and estate - as of August 2024 - is on the market for 1.2 million, Sotheby’s. Oh, if I were younger!) They did have a fire in 2023 and the barn burned down early one morning. The owners explained that it was not the “spirits” but, rather, a worker who did not store his chemicals properly and they ignited.

The group tour, with about thirty attendees, was really well done and the house did not disappoint. In the upstairs bedroom, my dad suddenly yelled out, scaring the shit out of everyone. He was freaking out and said that something tapped him on the back! I quickly looked at my partner Tony and I could tell by his shit-eating grin that he had tapped my dad on the back and quickly stepped away! We let the others know right away. The basement was by far the creepiest for me. It was there that the drawing of the “Crooked Man” from one of the Perron children was located. There was also a deep well (a la The Ring) that was located there. It was explained that houses were built over wells, because if someone wanted to steal their land they would poison their water supply. Having the well in the basement kept it protected.

On our last morning with my parents, we finished our $6.95+ breakfast and were heading back to their house to say our goodbyes and drive to Provincetown. As we left the restaurant parking lot, my dad pointed to a road across the street that looked unpaved for years and overgrown with shrubs. “Ladd School is up that street,” he chimed out. I was like, “What!” He quickly turned and headed towards home. I was shocked to hear that Ladd School was not 500 feet from the entrance to their neighborhood. Once we said goodbye and headed off in our rental car, it took every kind of self-control known to man for me not to turn up that street, but Tony would have killed me and we had that long drive to Provincetown. You can bet your butt my next trip home will include a journey up that road to Ladd School, the most haunted of them all!

I've added a few YouTube links to mini videos on the CONJURING HOUSE, LADD SCHOOL, BAD BOYS SCHOOL, VAMPIRE'S GRAVE (video 1 & video 2) and MERCY BROWN as supplemental materials.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.