In the fall of 2012, seventeen horror writers and artists met in Northern California to spend four days together in a haunted mansion. Ten of them were survivors of the original Haunted Mansion Writers Retreat; the rest encountered the house and its ghostly denizens for the first time. Joining them were the GhostGirls, the paranormal investigators who had recorded a plethora of EVPs as well as anomalous lights and ominous shadows in the mansion in 2010. This anthology collects short stories and poetry — as well as real impressions and investigative conclusions — inspired by that long weekend.
I was asked by Rain Graves, the hostess of the Haunted Mansion Retreats, if I would edit the second anthology recording our stay in the house. It was a straight-up joy to work with some of the best authors in horror.
Contributors include Nichole Boscia, S.G. Browne, Christian Colvin, Fran Friel, Kristin Galvin, William Gilchrist, Sèphera Girón, Stacey Graham, Rain Graves, E.S. Magill, Chris Marrs, Rena Mason, Angel Leigh McCoy, Lisa Morton, Yvonne Navarro, Weston Ochse, Kim Richards, Kay Sundstrom, Dan Weidman, and Steve Weidman.
Review:
“The autumn 2012 excursion gathered 17 horror writers and artists in the manse over four days. Each one documented — via short stories, vignettes, poems, and straight journalistic-type writing — their impressions, creating what (at least in my mind) amounts to individual psychological profiles reflected from the mansion’s (and surrounding landscape’s) Rorschachian presence. I’d be lying if I claimed to not be envious of this cross-section of people: some known to me, some not. Subtitled Stories, Essays, and Poetry by Authors Who Spent Four Days Together in a Haunted House, Year Two is just that. And more. Notable, affecting work comes from Kay Sundstrom, Rena Mason, Kim Richards, Sephera Giron, Rain Graves, Angel Leigh McCoy, and Stacey Graham. I’m guessing they had a ball writing these pieces while under the mansion’s brooding influence and the gravity of its history.” — William J. Grabowski, Hellnotes
To order a copy:
The book is officially out of print, but I still have a handful of copies available. Contact me if you’d like a copy.
