There’s something special about reading a ghost story when the house is quiet.
The television is off. Everyone else has gone to bed. Maybe there’s a little rain against the window.
Then you read a sentence that makes you stop.
Was that a noise in the hallway?
Probably nothing.
You keep reading.
That is exactly the feeling I wanted to create with my new collection, DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS — Volume 1: Ghost Stories for Halloween and Other Dark Nights.
Six Stories. Six Impossible Encounters.
Volume 1 contains six original ghost stories.
The Woman in the Upstairs Window — Everyone knows the abandoned house is empty. Then a woman appears in the upstairs window.
Room Thirteen — A stranded traveler receives the key to Room 13 at a motel that has only twelve rooms.
The Last Trick-or-Treater — At 11:47 on Halloween night, a widower hears one final knock at his door.
Someone Is Sitting in the Back Seat — A woman driving home keeps seeing a passenger in her rearview mirror.
The House That Calls Your Name — Neighborhood children have one rule about the abandoned house: if it whispers your name, don't answer.
The Photograph — A family buys an antique Halloween photograph from 1936. The next morning, someone who wasn't in the photograph before has appeared in it.
Horror Doesn't Have to Mean Gore
These stories aren't built around blood and gore.
They're built around anticipation.
Sometimes the most frightening thing isn't seeing a monster.
It's noticing something that shouldn't be there.
A handprint on the inside of a window.
A voice that sounds exactly like someone you love.
A motel room that shouldn't exist.
A person appearing in an old photograph.
Or the realization that the strange noise you've been hearing isn't coming from outside the house.
Grok Reviewed the Collection
Grok recently took a look at DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS and summed up the collection with a line I particularly liked:
“Solid seasonal horror for people who want to be unsettled rather than shocked.”
That's exactly the territory I wanted these stories to occupy.
Grok particularly highlighted The Woman in the Upstairs Window, where a traditional haunted-house mystery gradually becomes a story about family secrets, erased photographs, a missing sister, guilt, and something inside the house that can imitate familiar voices.
That leads to one of my favorite ideas in the entire collection:
What if the haunted house doesn't just know your name?
What if it knows what you already blame yourself for?
Now the ghost doesn't simply have to frighten you.
It knows exactly which voice to use.
The Ghost Story Your Imagination Finishes
I've always thought imagination can be far more effective than showing everything.
Consider this:
You're home alone.
Someone you love calls your name from the other end of the hallway.
For just a second, you start walking toward the voice.
Then you remember...
that person isn't home.
What do you do?
That moment—the instant when something ordinary becomes impossible—is where many of these stories begin.
A Halloween Reading Challenge
Here's a challenge for anyone who picks up the book this Halloween season.
Start reading after 11 PM.
Read one story alone.
When you're finished, put the book down.
Then walk through your dark hallway without turning on the light.
Easy, right?
We'll see. 👻
Watch the Book Trailer
I've created a trailer that gives you a glimpse into the six stories.
Watch DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS — Volume 1 on YouTube
Get Your Copy Before Halloween
October is approaching, which means this is the perfect time to start building that Halloween reading list.
If you enjoy classic ghost stories, haunted houses, supernatural mysteries, strange voices, changing photographs and things that go bump in the night, this collection is waiting for you.
DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS — Volume 1
Ghost Stories for Halloween and Other Dark Nights
By Bruce Goldwell
Get the Kindle edition on Amazon
Six ghost stories.
Six impossible encounters.
One warning.
Read it tonight... but leave one light on.
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Ghost Stories, Halloween, Halloween Books, Horror Books, Scary Stories, Haunted Houses, Paranormal, Supernatural Fiction, Bruce Goldwell, Don’t Turn Out the Lights
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