AtoZChallenge 2015: G is for Ghost

And so, on to G for our theme, ‘why’, specifically, why have we, as authors, written the titles we have. And, each day, the book we’re talking about will be FREE.

G is for Ghost, because I’m a horror fan, and especially ghost stories. For those who popped by my personal blog last year for the A to Z, you may remember by entire theme for Ghost Stories, that’s how much I love them. And, The Burning Web, the book that is FREE today,  is the story that I posted day by day (with a good few edits and restructured a little into novel format).

I’ve been reading ghost stories since I was a teenager, both fictional ones and non-fiction ones. The haunted house drama is one of my personal favourites, because it contains everything that makes my spine tingle: a mysterious, shadowy location; the opportunity for solitary searching; dark corners; strange drafts; flickering lights. You see, I can go on and on!

Still, when I developed The Burning Web, I wanted to combine that subgenre of ghost story with some modern considerations. What can drive a contemporary person, where rationality is the order of the day, to doubt their own senses? And I began to think about what conditions might make someone unsure of themselves, but also might really open their minds to the supernatural. When I settled on a stroke, something that can damage the brain and force it to rewire itself, I had the pivot on which my plot could rotate.

Tristan, my protagonist, is also carrying guilt over the deadly mistake he made as a police officer, shooting a boy armed only with a fake weapon. He is haunted by that as much as he is the new ghost he encounters in Berwick House, an old, English country house mostly in ruins.

Thus, with modern and traditional elements, I sunk myself into this story, relishing the moments I actually scared myself (yeah, I am a wimp, but when I wrote some of the ghostly encounters, I was alone in the house, and halfway through I had to go and turn on all the lights downstairs to make sure I could see into all the corners).

So, do you have a favourite horror subgenre?

FREE Book Offer 

The Burning Web by Sophie Duncan

Code for FREE download at Smashwords*:  PX78U

Is it symptoms left from his brain haemorrhage, or a guilty conscience that is making Tristan McCall see things no-one else can?

Forced out of the police by scandal and illness, Tris is trying to rebuild his life through the renovation of the home he hopes to share with Xander, his husband. A sprawling Gothic pile, Berwick House is in need of attention, but Tris soon realises the attention is not all one way. Faced with a presence in the house only he can sense, Tris must decide if his damaged brain is playing tricks on him, or if Berwick House really holds a dark and dangerous message from beyond the grave.

*Click Smashwords to go to the book on their site. Click the buy option. Put the code in the Coupon Code box, click ‘apply coupon’ and the book will be free. Coupon is only guaranteed to be valid for 8th April so please use immediately.

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 Our other AtoZ blogs: Tasha’s Thinkings | Sophie’s Thoughts and Fumbles| FB3X (AC)

AtoZChallenge List 2015 click to see other participants.

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