Trista has always loved abandoned houses and the paranormal. Now that she’s at college only fifteen minutes from the notoriously haunted Hollow Street house, she knows exactly where she’s spending Halloween. She packs a bag, puts on her favorite vintage dress, and sets off, hoping to spot the ghost of the young, dark-haired woman who’s said to haunt the house’s living room.<br><br>Fellow student Keira does not like abandoned houses, and she isn’t particularly interested in ghosts. Visiting the Hollow Street house was not how she’d planned to spend Halloween. But her little sister, who loves all things spooky, has begged Keira to check out the haunted house next to her university, and Keira has trouble saying no. She doesn’t expect to see anything supernatural, so it’s quite a shock to find herself face-to-face with a mysterious young woman in old-fashioned clothing who seems to have appeared from nowhere.<br><br>When the two ghost-hunters come face to face, each mistakes the other for the ghost she’s looking for. How tragic, they both think, that such a beautiful person should have died so young. Of course, things aren’t as bleak as they seem, and the two women might find themselves pleasantly surprised ... if they can make it to the morning. Because real entities haunt the Hollow Street house, and they’re anything but friendly.

Spirits in the Dark

Shaking off these grim ideas, Keira thought again of Macie, smiling as she remembered the intensity in her sister’s voice when she’d begged Keira to visit this place. Macie was certainly full of dreams. Though Keira wasn’t sure how far her sister was likely to get as a paranormal investigator, the least she could do was play along and help Macie out. There wasn’t much she wouldn’t do for her younger siblings, and a few minutes in a haunted house wasn’t really that much to ask.


Her train of thought stopped as she came in sight of the house. She’d approached it from the back, feeling weirdly nervous about coming at it straight-on. The overgrown backyard, scattered with rusted car parts and fast-food garbage, looked like a barrier the house had thrown out to keep away potential intruders. It didn’t want her here, Keira thought, suddenly and illogically…


Chapter 5