HOLLYWOOD FOREVER
By: Melinda Metz and Laura Burns
Several years ago, we decided to spend a Thursday evening with some friends attending a reading of the screenplay The Maltese Falcon. Pretty tame and boring, right? (Well, not the screenplay. The Maltese Falcon is a classic, filled with murder and betrayal.) But a reading? Tame. Or so we thought.
It turned out that the reading was going to be held at Hollywood Forever. That might sound like an exciting place, filled with movie star glamour. But here's what it really is: a graveyard. Literally.
The
Hollywood
Forever
Cemetery is located in the middle of the city, directly behind the
Paramount lot (where we worked when we were on the writing staff of the TV show
Roswell). A mile or two away, the famous hills rise up above
Los Angeles, and the
Hollywood sign looms. From the grounds of the graveyard, you can see the sign glowing above. Lots of old-time movie stars are buried there, along with well-known Tinseltown writers and directors-- Rudolph Valentino, Janet Gaynor, Victor Fleming, Peter Lorre (one of the stars of The Maltese Falcon), Tyrone Power, Cecil B. de Mille, and John Huston (director of the movie). So even though it's a cemetery, it is actually pretty glamorous.
It was a chilly autumn night, and we entered the cemetery just after dark. The fronds of the towering palm trees click-clacked overhead. Tiki torches led the way through the graveyard to a large rectangular reflecting pool filled with water lilies. This is part of Douglas Fairbanks's memorial. His marble tomb stands at one end of the pool.
We sat down on the lawn to one side of the still water, sharing the space with a few ducks and a crowd of fellow movie-lovers. We'd brought sandwiches for dinner, and lots of other people had wine and cheese. As we waited for the reading to start, we talked about how weird and even creepy it felt to be picnicking in a cemetery. Yet, we decided, somehow it also felt very right that the reading would take place there. We imagined the old
Hollywood stars buried all around us would take it as a tribute.
At least we hoped so. A few of those famous actors and directors had had notoriously bad tempers. If they were angry at us for snacking on top of their final resting places, we could be in serious trouble.
But everything seemed peaceful. The actors—Felicity Huffman and Evan Handler among them-- took their places on the stone patio on the opposite end of the pool from the tomb. The only electric lights that were on shone down on them.
The reading was going great. The actors were bringing the dialogue of the old film to life with their fast delivery and wit. (A taste. Joel Cairo : You always have a very smooth explanation…
Sam Spade: What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?) The tension was mounting as the mystery became more and more twisted.
And then it happened. Just when Sam Spade was about to find out who had killed his partner. The power went out, plunging the actors into darkness. Their microphones went silent.
In the dark, suddenly it didn't seem so pleasant to be lounging around on top of a bunch of dead people. From far above, the
Hollywood sign glowed, pale white and eerie, throwing a dim, strange pallor over the graveyard. The mood changed. We heard nervous whispering from the others in the crowd. We'd been thinking that movie stars would like the attention, even though they weren't living. But maybe they'd had enough attention during their lives. Maybe they wanted to be left in peace. Maybe we were surrounded by a bunch of beautiful, glamorous, seriously pissed-off ghosts.
It was only a few minutes until the lights came back on, but those minutes felt loooong.
When the power finally sputtered back to life, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Some people just got up and left without even waiting for the reading to be over. Everyone was on edge. On our way home later, we wondered if we'd angered the spirits of
Hollywood. No more picnics in the cemetery for us!
But like so many
Hollywood tales, it turned out that this ghost story had a happy ending. The very next day, it was all over the news that John Ritter had died. He'd passed away the night before… at exactly the time that the lights had gone out in
Hollywood
Forever
Cemetery.
It's spooky, sure. And it probably means that there were a lot of glamorous ghosts all around us in the graveyard. But at least we know that those
Hollywood stars who had gone before him had woken up just in time to give John Ritter their welcome.
Crave by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (September 21st, 2010)
Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 256 pages Shay has had a rare blood disorder since she was born. In fact, her mother married one of Shay’s doctors, Martin, who left his world-renowned leukem. Shay has had a rare blood disorder since she was born. In fact, her mother married one of Shay’s doctors, Martin, who left his world-renowned leukemia research to try and figure out exactly what the disorder is and how to cure it. When she turns seventeen, Martin begins to give her new blood transfusions that make her feel the strongest she has ever felt. But she also has odd visions where she sees through the eyes of a vampire. At first, she thinks she must be imagining the visions, but when she begins to see Martin’s office in them, she knows she has to check it out. That’s when she finds Gabriel, a sexy, teenaged vampire, imprisoned in Martin’s office. The connection she has built with Gabriel compels her to set him free. But when he kidnaps her in an attempt at revenge on Martin, their lives become deeply intertwined. She doesn’t know the half of it.
Prize:
- 2 winners will receive a copy of Crave.
Rules:
- You must be at least 13 to enter.
- Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
- Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
- Contest is US ONLY and ends October 30th.
- Once contacted the winner will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address.
- The form must be filled out to enter.
- Thanks Melinda and Laura for the amazing story and book donation!
Find Melinda Metz Melinda Metz / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter
Find Laura J. Burns Laura J. Burns / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter
Purchase Crave Amazon / The Book Depository / Barnes & Noble
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