Success comes in many forms, and with Barry Brickey, the adage holds true.
Brickey, a 2001 graduate of MCCC, has released a self-published horror novel, The Silence.
The story involves a family that moves into a farmhouse, on Denton Road, and unexpectedly find themselves involved in a century old curse. All of the families who have lived in the farmhouse have lost their sons to “a demonic entity,” and the Adkins’ (fictional family) are no different.
“It’s based on paranormal incidents that occurred in a farmhouse located in Monroe area,” Brickey said. “The story and characters are fictional, though.”
While visiting a friend’s house, Brickey encountered his first experience with the paranormal. He was dropped off at the home and while waiting for his friend to come home, he heard someone walking upstairs.
“After I walked inside (the door was always unlocked), I quickly noticed that it was freezing cold inside,” Brickey said. “I stood in their living room, alone. At that point, I started hearing the sounds of someone walking back and forth upstairs in my friend’s room.”
He went up the stairs calling out to his friend, but no one was home.
“I went back downstairs to use their telephone and call a neighbor, but I raced out of the house after hearing the footsteps walking down the flight of stairs and approaching me,” Brickey said. “I would later witness many ghostly encounters in that old farmhouse, including doors opening and closing, lights turning on and off, objects moving, and more.”
“The events were so vivid and frightening that I wrote my novel based upon the paranormal incidents there.”
The book can be found via Brickey’s website, www.barrybrickey.com, for $19.99 or in local bookstores. When buying The Silence from his website, Brickey includes a CD, Beatlebarry (an acoustic tribute to The Beatles), along with an autograph and a bookmark.
Autographed copies will be sold online at a 25 percent discount during the months of Nov. and Dec.
Among reading and writing poetry and nonfiction, Brickey is a musician who works full-time as a Career Development Facilitator at Wayne Michigan Works! Service center.
“I released a CD of original music, called Vibe, which features a mixture of rock, pop and acoustic instrumentals,” Brickey said. “I composed, performed and recorded all of the music and lyrics.”
Brickey also performs in a band, Armed-N-Dangerous, which has been going since 1990; look for them at the Gravel Pit in Monroe. The bands website can be found at myspace.com/armedndangerousrock.
Brickey, a Carleton native, will be busy with book signings in and around the Monroe County Area.
“I’ll continue to promote The Silence, but I’d like to start another book early next year, possibly a children’s book,” Brickey said via email. “I’d love to record a second solo CD, too.”
