Writing for a YA Audience: Boo! There’s a ghost behind you.

Ghost stories have always fascinated me.  I’m obsessed with history, so I see ghosts as a link to the past.  They’re our chance to communicate with those who came before.  Plus, the mystery surrounding ghosts is fascinating.

Ghost stories are prevalent in young adult fiction, as well as non-fiction.  Whenever I visit a new locale, I always check out books on local ghosts.  You can see I love ghosts, right?  They tend to drift into my writing more often than not.  My young adult novel, VICTORIAN, centers around ghosts in an abandoned village where visitors come to relive the past.  ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW features a ghost child trapped by a witch’s curse.  TREASURE DARKLY tells the story of Clark Treasure, a young man who receives the gift of communicating – and raising – the dead.

Oftentimes, I’m asked if I believe in ghosts.  That’s a big yes.  I’ve even experienced a few ghostly happenings.

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Ever since I was a small child, I’ve had people say my name, voices no one else hears.  It doesn’t happen all the time and the voices never answer if I reply.  I always turn to find no one behind me.  The earliest time I can remember was when I was driving by Lake Delta.  A voice came from beside me on the back seat.  “Jordan!”  No one was there and my parents hadn’t heard it.  More recently (a few years ago), I was working in a renovated woolen mill.  This building of weathered brick was infamous in the neighborhood for its hauntings.  I never saw or felt a presence, but twice a female called my name from directly behind me when I was alone in an office with a closed door – and the only other person in the building was a male custodian.

I was a recent high school graduate when one of my grandmother’s close friends passed away.  She and I were in her bedroom when the phone rang,  My dog – the only one else in the house – was also in the bedroom.  While my grandmother was learning about the passing from her friend’s daughter, a box of candy flew off the kitchen table and slid across the floor.  It had been on the center of the table and we hadn’t experienced an earthquake.  Nothing else in the house moved.  I like to think it was the friend’s way of saying goodbye.

The other ghostly goodbye came while I was at my then-boyfriend’s house.  I suddenly had an eerie feeling.  The world wasn’t quite right.  After a few minutes, I went to get a drink.  As soon as I walked into the other room, a female voice said my name directly behind me.  Almost instantly, the eerie feeling passed.  I learned the next day that my father’s aunt had died.  I’d only met her a few times, but perhaps she had done her rounds through the family to say farewell.

I’ve been on plenty of ghost tours, but only once did I catch an orb on film.  A local church is connected to a mansion with giant pillars, beautiful windows, and embellished rooms.  The mansion is breathtaking.  A friend hooked my parents and I up with an exclusive tour.  Many people have claimed to have experienced ghostly happenings, but we didn’t see or feel anything.  I did, however, catch a clear orb in a picture of the upstairs sitting room.  Ghost or dust?  I like to think it’s a ghost saying hello.

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Have you had any ghostly experiences?  If you have, share them with us below!

Jordan Elizabeth is a young adult fantasy author.  She may or may not be staring at a supposedly haunted house trying to see faces in the windows. You can connect with Jordan – and point her in the direction of some paranormal activity – via her website, JordanElizabethBooks.com.