Welcome to Gulinger Private Academy

 

Gulinger Private Academy, A.K.A. Gulinger High, is a special private school founded by Howard Richard Deacon I and a priest named Richard Gulinger. It was originally set up to protect children who, for whatever reason, needed a safe place to grow up. It mostly housed children who were cursed or born with supernatural abilities/parents. You could say this is my "Camp Half-blood" only these kids are just going to school--no monster training involved. But over the years Gulinger has accepted kids who are under witness protection. Since the majority of those children are hiding from organized crime, they have been nicknames Mafis. Those children who have been affected by ghoulish/supernatural problems have been since nicknames Ghoulies by their classmates, as Mafis soon became the majority of the school population. If a brochure were made for the school it would say:



Welcome to Gulinger Private Academy, where the haunted and unwanted go.

Where is Gulinger High?
It is headquartered in New York City with several locations. That is to say, Gulinger High is an easily mobile organization rather than a place. The school is set up to evacuate if ever there were a need. And unfortunately, dealing with witches, monster hunters, and the occasional Mafia discovery, they have to relocate frequently.

Gulinger High, near the end of the tales, ends up with a daughter-school called West End Prep, which ends up housing chosen students to train them for government service.

The Tales from Gulinger High follow the journey of Howard Richard Deacon III, grandson of the founder and son to the major shareholder of the school, as he too becomes a student at Gulinger out of necessity. "Rick" Deacon is one of the characters that connects all the Hallowedspell series together. He is also a werewolf.

The Students of Gulinger High
It is impossible to list all the students that travel in and out of Gulinger, but there are a few major characters worth mentioning.

 Matthew Calamori - Italian American. New Yorker. Ghoulie.
Matthew is at Gulinger High hiding from the Mafia, as he had testified against them in the murder of his father and another man. Mr. Deacon had Matthew brought to Gulinger, as he had once been friends with Matthew's father. Matthew is gifted with the ability to hear people's true thoughts then they speak. Which means, he knows what you are really thinking. But he cannot actually read minds. He can only tell the difference between spoken truth and the words you actually say.

Tom Brown -New Yorker. Ghoulie.
Tom is half-imp, half human. Tom is at Gulinger High to keep him off the streets and out of trouble. His mother was arrested for armed robbery when he was ten years old. But as he is half imp--having wings, orange eyes, and the ability to see and communicate with all the invisible imps around him--social services decided it was best to keep him out of the system. He's Matthew's best friend. As a half-imp, Tom hears all the naughty things people are tempted to do. He can also tell imps what to do, which means he is constantly in trouble. In fact, his nickname is Trouble.

Troy Meecham - New Yorker. Ghoulie.
Troy's parents became vampires when he was twelve--as vampirism is a life-choice in the Hallowedspell books, and not something you get by being bitten. And his parents wanted to make him into a vampire also, which is done by drinking vampire blood. Unfortunately, to persuade him, to convince him of the urgency to drink their blood, they bit him. A vampire bite creates an 'eternal bleed'--which is a bite that never heals completely. Troy had barely escaped with his life, and was found by Officer Johnson who took him to Gulinger.



Randon Spade - From New England. Ghoulie
Randon's mother and sister are both witches. They experimented on Randon with spells and eventually turned him into a witch's familiar--a black cat--which he can transform into and out of at will. Randon's father took him and ran. Eventually Randon was secured into Gulinger while his father remains on the run. Randon is one of those faces on a milk carton.






Selena Davenport - New York Heiress. Ghoulie. 
Half-sea nymph, half human, her mother was seduced while on vacation in the Mediterranean. Adopted by her grandparents, Selena is being groomed to be a New York debutante, like her mother. But Selena's connection to the ocean makes her able to breathe under water, manipulate water, and be able to manipulate men simply by talking. And though she cannot carry a tune, Selena can sing people into doing anything she wants. Though she often participates in Society events, she is at Gulinger to teach her how to control her supernatural nature. 




Howard Richard Deacon III - From Middleton Village Massachusetts. Ghoulie.
Rick is a werewolf, like his father before him, and his grandfather who had in fact been born a wolf. But Rick did not know this until he was 13 when he had his first change on the full moon. Because his change had terrified his mother (who also had not known his father was a werewolf) and his parents had subsequently divorced, Rick has gone to Gulinger for his protection. His father thought it best he learn how to handle the condition while among others like him rather than in a witch town.



Joshua Johnson - New Yorker. Ghoulie.
Known as JJ, he has been able to see ghosts since the death of his mother. His father is a homicide cop, and he often aids his father in solving crimes by speaking to the victims' ghosts. He goes to Gulinger to be among those who understand his condition. But also, for his father to keep watch on the dangerous ghoulies, just in case.






Lee - Mafi. Home town, unknown.
One of the many boys going to Gulinger just to survive. Lee is a minor character, yet I feel he is a necessary one. He is one of the few Mafis unafraid to consort with ghoulies. He also is in Rick Deacon's grade, and often bickers with him, despite Rick being a werewolf.






 Robert - New Orleans. Ghoulie. A minor character in Rick's grade. Tall, awkward kid. Bad at basketball. Goes by Bobo. His entire family is dead. Bobo was voodoo cursed by an 'uncle' who made it so Bobo could not be killed. The kids call it the rubber-and-glue curse. If any physical harm is inflicted on Bobo, whoever inflicted it receives the damage instead. So, if you slap him, you feel the hit.

Bai Nian Chen - China Town, New York. Ghoulie.
Chen's family is 'cursed' with the what is called the 'Hundred Year Curse', but his friends call it the Zodiac Curse. If Chen bumps into somebody, he turns into their animal of the Chinese zodiac. Chen can also read pasts with a touch. A witch had once used him to gather information for her fortune telling business, and for blackmail. Chen later learns it is not a curse, but a gift he learns to control. He is a 'spirit warrior' that can shape shift into any form of the zodiac animals to combat demons.



Keenan Goodrich - New Yorker. Mafi.
He was put into witness protection after testifying against a crime he saw. In Rick's grade. He ends up joining West End Prep.








Carlos Mendez - New Yorker. Mafi
Nicknamed Muerte, Carlos sees the deaths of everyone he makes eye contact with. He also has the uncontrollable urge to shout it out.
Carlos is at Gulinger to have a normal life, as most people he had known have either died, or are terrified of him.






The Tales from Gulinger High are available at lulu.com or Amazon.com.