“To the rest of the country, Maine is the way life should be. Vacationland. Life is lobsters, and blueberries, and beautiful fall foliage.
For those who live there, Maine has many dark secrets.
Abby Cooper didn’t know the history of the only remaining building on the Sherwood property – an old barn with half a wall missing – nor did she ever wish to find out. Unfortunately, when Sam Harper organizes an overnight investigation – how could she possibly say no?
The investigation was planned perfectly. They’d go to the barn, take a few pictures, film some strange noises, tell a ghost story or two, and be gone by daylight. But when a group of not-so-paranormal visitors arrive, the investigation turns out to be something more than they expected – and more than some of them can handle.
Without warning, Abby finds herself thrown into a game of cat-and-mouse, as their investigation takes them across town. One by one her friends begin to disappear. Have they really begun to crack under the pressure of what they’ve discovered, or is there a traitor among them?”
Excerpt:
“We’re going to have to document everything,” he said. “Right down to every last emotion. If you feel something, or if you get nervous, tell it to the camera. It’ll help build the suspense when people watch it. Even if nothing scary happens, we can make it look scary…”
Sam was like a kid at Christmas – except it was Halloween, and instead of stockings filled with candy and toys, they had a barn filled with haunts and dead things. And Sam had the video camera.
“We don’t need to make anything look scary, Sam,” Missy said, her eyes wandering up to the lofts above them. “It’s already doing a fantastic job of that on it’s own.”
Sam turned the camera up to the lofts, moving it slowly along the rafters until he froze. For a second, his arms shook as if a chill passed through them, then he lowered the camera, his eyes still focused on an object hanging high above them – hidden by the high ceiling and dark shadows.
“Sam?” Missy asked, noticing Sam’s strange behavior. “What are you looking at?”
Sam’s look of slight fright changed to the hint of a grin. Instead of turning the camera off, he set it up on a nearby barrel so that each of them could be seen on the screen. He then settled himself back down and faced them, placing the lantern Russ had brought in the very center of their little circle.
“Anyone ready for a ghost story?”
- Chapter 4, Derailed
