We Are A Haunting

"An absolute triumph." —Michael Schaub, NPR "Astonishing." —Kiese Laymon, MacArthur Fellow and author of Long Division "What a beautiful, haunting and hued narrative of American living. I’m in love with this story." —Jacqueline Woodson, MacArthur Fellow and author of Another Brooklyn A poignant debut for readers of Jesmyn Ward and Jamel Brinkley, We Are a Haunting follows three generations of a working class family and their inherited ghosts: a story of hope and transformation. In 1980’s Brooklyn, Key is enchanted with her world, glowing with her dreams. A charming and tender doula serving the Black women of her East New York neighborhood, she lives, like her mother, among the departed and learns to speak to and for them. Her untimely death leaves behind her mother Audrey, who is on the verge of losing the public housing apartment they once shared. Colly, Key’s grieving son, soon learns that he too has inherited this sacred gift and begins to slip into the liminal space between the living and the dead on his journey to self-realization. In the present, an expulsion from school forces Colly across town where, feeling increasingly detached and disenchanted with the condition of his community, he begins to realize that he must, ultimately, be accountable to the place he is from. After college, having forged an understanding of friendship, kinship, community, and how to foster love in places where it seems impossible, Colly returns to East New York to work toward addressing structural neglect and the crumbling blocks of New York City public housing he was born to; discovering a collective path forward from the wreckages of the past. A supernatural family saga, a searing social critique, and a lyrical and potent account of displaced lives, We Are a Haunting unravels the threads connecting the past, present, and future, and depicts the palpable, breathing essence of the neglected corridors of a pulsing city with pathos and poise.

From the author of Contagion: A Novel of The Living Dead comes a new novel of dark horror. Fleeing a troubled past, Sarah Faust has found the perfect place to start a new life. Neglected but with potential, the three-hundred year old townhouse in the port city of Charleston offers a refuge and a place to start over. But all is not as it seems at 5 Rue Lane and she soon finds that her new house harbors something that has been there for a very long time. Something that refuses to stay buried.Readers are saying: "Don't read this alone because it is a great demon story and you might need backup. The Exorcist scared me so bad when I was a teenager I couldn't sleep alone for years. This story brought all that fear back." "The twists and turns in this book are great. It's creepy and spine tingling! I love the ending and recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good suspense novel!" "Loved the book. The story line was A++. Hope there is more to come from this book. It needs a sequel."

WINNER, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Longlist A Best Book of 2023 - NPR, Electric Literature, Largehearted Boy, Black Girl Nerds, Le Noir Auteur "An absolute triumph." —Michael Schaub, NPR "Astonishing." —Kiese Laymon, MacArthur Fellow and author of Long Division "What a beautiful, haunting and hued narrative of American living. I’m in love with this story." —Jacqueline Woodson, MacArthur Fellow and author of Another Brooklyn A poignant debut for readers of Jesmyn Ward and Jamel Brinkley, We Are a Haunting follows three generations of a working class family and their inherited ghosts: a story of hope and transformation. In 1980’s Brooklyn, Key is enchanted with her world, glowing with her dreams. A charming and tender doula serving the Black women of her East New York neighborhood, she lives, like her mother, among the departed and learns to speak to and for them. Her untimely death leaves behind her mother Audrey, who is on the verge of losing the public housing apartment they once shared. Colly, Key’s grieving son, soon learns that he too has inherited this sacred gift and begins to slip into the liminal space between the living and the dead on his journey to self-realization. In the present, an expulsion from school forces Colly across town where, feeling increasingly detached and disenchanted with the condition of his community, he begins to realize that he must, ultimately, be accountable to the place he is from. After college, having forged an understanding of friendship, kinship, community, and how to foster love in places where it seems impossible, Colly returns to East New York to work toward addressing structural neglect and the crumbling blocks of New York City public housing he was born to; discovering a collective path forward from the wreckages of the past. A supernatural family saga, a searing social critique, and a lyrical and potent account of displaced lives, We Are a Haunting unravels the threads connecting the past, present, and future, and depicts the palpable, breathing essence of the neglected corridors of a pulsing city with pathos and poise.

Now expanded: The definitive visual guide to writing science fiction and fantasy—with exercises, diagrams, essays by superstar authors, and more. From the New York Times-bestselling, Nebula Award-winning author, Wonderbook has become the definitive guide to writing science fiction and fantasy by offering an accessible, example-rich approach that emphasizes the importance of playfulness as well as pragmatism. It also embraces the visual nature of genre culture and employs bold, full-color drawings, maps, renderings, and visualizations to stimulate creative thinking. On top of all that, it features sidebars and essays—most original to the book—from some of the biggest names working in the field today, among them George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Charles Yu, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Karen Joy Fowler. For the fifth anniversary of the original publication, Jeff VanderMeer has added fifty more pages of diagrams, illustrations, and writing exercises, creating the ultimate volume of inspiring advice. “One book that every speculative fiction writer should read to learn about proper worldbuilding.” —Bustle “A treat . . . gorgeous to page through.” —Space.com

In the tradition of Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, an American teen recounts the strange events that occur after she moves into a new—and very haunted—home with her family in this chilling diary that features photos and images of what she experienced. Letters, photographs, and a journal…all left behind in the harrowing aftermath. Following her parents’ high-profile divorce, Paige and her brother are forced to move to Idaho with their mother, and Paige doesn’t have very high hopes for her new life. The small town they’ve moved to is nothing compared to the life she left behind in LA. And the situation is made even worse by the drafty old mansion they’ve rented that’s filled with spiders and plenty of other pests that Paige can’t even bear to imagine. Pretty soon, strange things start to happen around the house—one can of ravioli becomes a dozen, unreadable words start appearing on the walls, and Paige’s little brother begins roaming the house late at night. And there’s something not right about the downstairs neighbor who seems to know a lot more than he’s letting on. Things only get creepier when she learns about the cult that conducted experimental rituals in the house almost one hundred years earlier. The more Paige investigates, the clearer it all becomes: there’s something in the house, and whatever it is…and it won’t be backing down without a fight.

In the first place, the house doesnt even look haunted. With these words, a different world opens up to readers as it did some twenty nine years ago for an unsuspecting family from Buffalo, New York. Echoes of a Haunting traces the steps of this normal family whose life turned upside down when they moved to a disturbed or haunted house in Southern New York State in 1970. It is told in diary form in order to bring a semblance of order to the events. At first, the family tended to discount the happenings and come up with some rather creative explanations. Soon, however, the explanations began more and more to assume the form of rationalizations. Before long, they were forced to admit that there was no natural cause for what was occurring daily both in the house and in the surrounding area. Reluctantly, the members of the family began to reach out to others. In some cases, they encountered scorn and even a strange, unwarranted, hostility as though the whole panoply of phenomena were their fault. It was a very bad atmosphere in which to raise a family. Once the story became public, help was offered by psychics and clergy. In some cases this help even brought a temporary relief but the trouble never disappeared for long. Strange accidents, one almost fatal, happened on a regular basis. Figures were seen, both human and otherwise. In one case a house was seen where no house had existed for many, many years. Disturbing personality changes emerged, even resulting in a transformation of eye color from brown to blue. The toll taken on the emotional and physical health of the family soon became too much to endure and they were forced to abandon the house in 1974. Hopefully, this book will cause skeptics to think again to avoid a similar shock to the senses. The family had a rude awakening. Its never easy finding out that you cant always trust your senses, that nothing is really impossible and that there is a breaking point for everyone. Whether the reader is a died-in-the-wool skeptic, a searcher, a believer or somewhere in between, I hope everyone reads these pages with an open mind. It is all true! Echoes of a Haunting has recently been chosen as a textbook for a Masters´ Degree Program in Parapsychology at Texas Christian University. The Professor teaching the course, Dr. Timothy Barth, has stated that it´s the best documented case of a haunting he has ever read. The house is currently being investigated by Paranormal researchers who have taken startling photos of "energy orbs" and strange colored lights in the area. Hopefully, these photos will be available soon on the Author´s website.

Imagine that you’ve inherited a house of spirits. Now imagine that the house wants you dead. For Jon and Carlie Summers, the nightmare begins when they move into an inherited home in rural Iowa. Leaving behind their busy lives in Chicago, Jon and Carlie are dragged into a horrifying spiral of violent dreams, illnesses, and possessions. Uncovering a vast evil hidden for decades in crates of buried journals, Jon and Carlie are forced to relive the sinister history of the house and its legacy of abuse, denial, and obsession. Anatomy of a Haunting is a terrifying true story about one house and its inhabitants who have been pushed to the brink of insanity and death. Through interviews and exhaustive research into the 150-year-old McPherson house, author Lee Strong delves into the history of the haunting and paints a nightmarish picture of one couple’s descent into supernatural madness. Praise: "Light a white candle before reading this book—and after you've finished. Anatomy of a Haunting is truly terrifying." —Annie Wilder, author of House of Spirits and Whispers and Trucker Ghost Stories