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

She went upstairs, wondering why she hadn’t come up here before. At the top of the staircase was a small corridor lined with neat white doors. They looked identical, but the menace that seeped from each was unique unto itself. Each of these white portals, she thought, must possess its own separate malice.


Keira stood and listened to see what she could hear. It seemed there were terrible things happening behind the doors. She heard the shuffle of heavy footsteps, a crash, a woman’s voice pleading in words she couldn’t make out. She heard breathing, wet and rough. She heard a sound like traffic. She heard silence.


She picked the quietest door, just before the end of the hallway, and knocked softly.


Chapter 12