Matilda Thistlewick had survived one hundred and forty-three years without causing a major magical catastrophe, which was impressive considering she had once accidentally turned her landlord into a decorative garden fountain. In her defence, he had been standing rather close to the begonias. She had also transformed an entire wedding cake into a flock of... Continue Reading →
The Woman Who Remembered the Other World
The first thing Melinda noticed was the blue door. It shouldn't have been blue. She had lived across from Mrs. Bell's house for eleven years, and the front door had always been red. Not burgundy. Not faded crimson. Red. Mrs. Bell had once joked that she kept it that colour so she could find her... Continue Reading →
The Queen Beneath the Hawthorn
Everyone in the village knew not to follow music into the hills. Children were taught it before they were old enough to understand why. Never step inside a ring of mushrooms after sunset. Never eat food offered beneath a hawthorn tree. Never answer when someone calls your name from an empty field. And above all,... Continue Reading →
Before We Had Names: A Love That Remembers
The first time Mara saw him, she remembered watching him die. It lasted less than a second. She was standing in a crowded little bookstore on a rainy Saturday afternoon, reaching for a battered collection of poetry on the highest shelf, when another hand closed around the same book. "Sorry," the man said. Mara looked... Continue Reading →
The Castle His Dead Daughter Helped Build: The Ghost of Iulia Hașdeu
In the Romanian town of Câmpina stands a strange little castle built from grief. It has towers, hidden symbolism, rooms designed for séances and spaces that seem intended to blur the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds. But perhaps the strangest thing about Iulia Hașdeu Castle is the reason it exists at all. Its... Continue Reading →
The Creature on Mica Mountain: William Roe’s Sasquatch Encounter
In October 1955, William Roe set out alone into the mountains of British Columbia. He had no idea that before the afternoon was over, he would find himself sitting only feet away from a creature he could neither comfortably call human nor animal and that the experience would remain with him strongly enough that he... Continue Reading →
The Drumming After Dark: The Haunting of Tedworth
In the spring of 1662, in the quiet Wiltshire countryside of England, John Mompesson could hardly have imagined that confiscating a wandering man's drum would lead to one of the most famous haunting stories of the seventeenth century. Mompesson was a landowner, magistrate and local official living with his family at Zouch Manor in Tedworth,... Continue Reading →
The Scream Beyond the Tree Line: The Mystery of the Wampus Cat
The Wampus Cat is one of those Appalachian creatures whose story seems to change depending on which mountain, hollow, or small town you happen to be standing in. Sometimes it is described as an enormous black panther with glowing yellow or green eyes. Other accounts give it an almost human posture, capable of rising onto... Continue Reading →
Borley Rectory: The House They Called the Most Haunted in England
Borley Rectory stood in the quiet village of Borley in Essex, England, an imposing Victorian home that would eventually earn a chilling nickname: “the most haunted house in England.” Long before paranormal investigators arrived with notebooks and cameras, however, the people who lived within its walls were already telling strange stories. The rectory was built... Continue Reading →
The Baldoon Mystery: Something Terrorized a Family in Upper Canada
In the early years of the 19th century, along the waterways near what is now Wallaceburg, Ontario, stood the farm of John T. McDonald and his family. It was an isolated place surrounded by woods, marshes and farmland, the sort of landscape where darkness could feel especially deep once the sun disappeared. Toward the end... Continue Reading →