Residual Haunting may be my first quasi-ghost story/science fiction attempt but it’s not the first time I’ve ever used a ghost. In fact, my first published novel, Sedition, featured a ghost that popped up every now and then. And Witch-Born had that boy, Baldemor Delgora, who haunted the shores of Witch-Eater Lake.
So I think it’s safe to say that I like using the paranormal in my work. Residual Haunting just happens to be the first book that centers on such things.
I’m not sure why I have this attraction to these spooky, unsettling, and often tragic themes, but I do. In my defense, William Shakespeare loved using them too. Macbeth and Hamlet are just two that I can name without having to do any research.
Granted, his culture and time period was very superstitious so it’s really no surprise that ghosts were used to help facilitate a story line.
Still, it’s a grand tradition. Writing creepy things, telling ghost stories or anything that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end, is rooted into our culture. I mean, Stephen King is like the poster boy for all things that go bump in the night.
We all know him regardless of whether or not we’ve read him before. In fact, some people avoid reading any Stephen King precisely because they don’t want to be scared out of their wits.
I know I did for a while. (Oh, come on. If the clown from It didn’t scare you, you’ve lost your mind.)
In any case, I believe I am in good company writing spooky stuff. Even if I don’t intend to enter the horror genre itself, there’s still plenty of room for the supernatural to find its way into my work.