Skip to product information
1 of 1

Robeth Publishing, LLC

The Ghost and the Halloween Haunt (eBook)

The Ghost and the Halloween Haunt (eBook)

Regular price $5.99 USD
Regular price Sale price $5.99 USD
Sale Sold out

Book 22 in the Haunting Danielle Series

A Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series

Turning the one-time seaside B & B into a Halloween haunted house for a local fundraiser seems like a good idea. After all, Eva and Marie’s ghosts are willing to help.

However, the two spirit friends of Marlow House are not the only ghosts to stop by. Danielle and her friends are about to learn there might be something to that old legend that says on Halloween night the barrier between the living and dead becomes blurred, and the spirits of the dead visit earth. Maybe not all of earth—but at least Marlow House.

FAQS: HOW WILL I GET MY EBOOK?

Ebooks are delivered instantly by link in your confirmation email (and as a backup, also by email from our delivery partner, Bookfunnel).

FAQS: HOW DO I READ MY EBOOK?

You can read the ebooks on any ereader (Amazon, Kobo, Nook), your tablet, phone, computer, and/or in the free Bookfunnel app.

Read a Sample

The Ghost and the Halloween Haunt

Chapter 1

Perched high in the Douglas fir, their bare feet dangling from a branch, the two ghosts looked down at the mourners. Although, technically speaking, those gathered for the funeral could hardly be called mourners. Annabelle and Kat doubted any of the people below had ever met the deceased, considering they had passed decades earlier. Both were murdered for the sake of greed and jealousy, and only recently had their remains been discovered and finally put to rest.

Annabelle and Kat looked as if they could be granddaughter and grandmother—although Annabelle, who appeared to be in her early twenties, had died before her elderly looking companion had even been born.

“Mama would’ve boxed my ears had I showed up at a funeral wearing slacks,” Annabelle declared, taking note of all the women below wearing pants instead of dresses.

“It’s more casual now than it was in your day,” Kat reminded her. It was not the first time they’d had this conversation. After spending countless hours confined to a cemetery, there were rarely new topics to discuss.

“That’s obvious. I don’t know when the last time was that I saw any woman or girl wearing—or carrying—a respectable pair of wrist gloves. Of course, I suppose white gloves would look silly with slacks.”

“Even in my time we wore white gloves. I had the loveliest pair with a little row of pearls along their pinky seams.” Kat smiled at the memory. “I imagine the mothers of many of the younger women here today would tell you they also wore white gloves at one time.” With a sigh she added, “Styles change.”

“I don’t like it,” Annabelle grumbled. “And hats. I rarely see pretty hats these days. Just straw hats to keep the sun out of their eyes. Nothing fashionable.”

Kat peeked up at the straw hat perched on her own head and gave a chuckle yet reserved comment.

“Did I tell you I met Maisy Faye Morton right before she moved on?” Annabelle asked. The funeral they were attending was for Maisy Faye Morton and her fiancé, Kenneth Bakken.

“Yes, dear. You have mentioned that—numerous times.”

“I’m just glad they finally found her body.” Annabelle studied the crowd below.

“Dreadful affair,” Kat said, adding several tsk, tsk, tsks to her comment.

Poorly concealed in the evergreen branches of the tree, the ghosts might be noticed by an attending medium had one bothered to look up. Which none had done thus far.

“Have you seen Virginia?” Annabelle asked, looking around. “She usually likes watching these.”

Before Kat could respond, Annabelle squealed, “Oh, it’s a baby!” She pointed down to a stroller being pushed by a redheaded woman. “I do adore babies. Abe and I were going to have four. Two boys and two girls. I’m tempted to pop down and say hello. At least with a baby I’ll get a response.”

“I imagine if you pop down now, more than the little one will notice.” Kat then pointed to the three women now standing under a nearby shade tree with the baby. One was the redheaded woman who had been pushing the stroller moments earlier. “The brunette in the middle, that is Danielle Boatman.”

Annabelle squinted her eyes and leaned forward, staring intently at the woman. “You mean Danielle Marlow now.” Annabelle shook her head in disbelief. She still could not get used to the idea Walt Marlow had not just managed to leap back into the living world, but he was married again. And then, as if a thought suddenly occurred to her, she turned to Kat and said, “That must mean Walt Marlow is here somewhere!”

Kat shrugged. “I suppose he is.”

Annabelle quickly scanned the crowd. With a gasp she pointed to a man below. “It’s him!” She then shook her head and said, “I should have known it might be him. Look, he’s the only man down there wearing a proper hat. Not a silly baseball cap that seems to be all the rage.”


Kat stared down at the tall man wearing the fedora hat. It sat cockily on his dark head, a perfect companion to his tailored three-piece suit. He was undoubtably the most formally dressed man in the crowd. He turned in her direction, yet did not look up. She caught a glimpse of his handsome profile.
With curious eyes, Annabelle studied Walt from afar. “You suppose it’s true what they say? He can see ghosts?”

“According to Eva he can,” Kat reminded her.

“Oh, Eva…” Annabelle rolled her eyes and groaned.

“I don’t understand why you have such a problem with Eva,” Kat said. “It’s hardly her fault.”

“It just doesn’t seem fair. You and I are stuck here in this cemetery while Eva is free to gallivant all over the countryside!”

“Death, as life, is not always fair,” Kat reminded her.

“Oh hooey,” Annabelle scoffed.

“And no one is making you stay here. You are free to move on.”

“You know why I can’t. Eva is free to move on too—and free to traipse all around town. Heavens, she’s even free to leave town!” Annabelle grumbled.

“We each have our own path. I suppose whatever Eva is meant to do on this plane goes beyond the confines of this cemetery.”

“And ours doesn’t?” Annabelle asked.

“Apparently not. And I do appreciate how Eva comes around regularly now that Angela has moved on. It’s nice to have someone reliable keeping us informed. Hard to depend on those souls passing through to give us updates on the living. Always in a rush.”

“I suppose.” Annabelle shrugged and looked back down at Walt. “It is so strange to think he is actually alive now. All those years—decades—I waited for his spirit to come. I wanted to make him tell me. I can’t move on until I know.”

“You knew he was confined to Marlow House. It’s not like he could drop by the cemetery for a chat.”

“I assumed he would eventually decide to move on. And as we both know, spirits more often than not visit their grave before doing so,” Annabelle explained.

“He did come to talk to Angela before she moved on,” Kat reminded her.

“Yes, I know. By then he was already alive. And I didn’t even realize he was at the cemetery until he was ready to leave. Not to mention Angela was here at the time. I didn’t want to talk to him in front of her. He left before I had a chance to approach him alone.”

“Well, he’s here now.” Kat nodded toward the subject of their conversation.

“Oh yes, I can just imagine how that conversation would turn out,” Annabelle scoffed. “Especially if it’s true what they say—Marlow is surrounded by a number of mediums. I seriously doubt he would actually tell me the truth if I ask him in front of an audience—in front of his wife. Of course he would lie. Does he really want the friends he has made in his new life to know what he is capable of?”

“Annabelle,” Kat said gently, “if you are so certain, then I really don’t understand why you don’t just move on. What are you waiting for? It is time.”

“Because I can’t,” Annabelle said softly. “Something is keeping me here. I just know it’s tied to Walt Marlow and what I must ask him. I need to do it for Abe.”

“If you don’t want to ask him here, there is another option,” Kat said.

Annabelle frowned questioningly.

“What’s just a week away?” Kat asked.

Annabelle groaned and rolled her eyes. “Halloween.”

Kat laughed. “Every year I’ve suggested Halloween. And every year I get the same response. You’ve been hanging around here for almost a hundred years waiting for Walt’s spirit to show up. What are you going to do, wait another hundred years for his live self to show up alone?”

“I don’t suspect Walt Marlow will actually live for a hundred years. Of course, who knows. Maybe he isn’t just a medium now, maybe he’s immortal,” Annabelle suggested.

“I seriously doubt that. But I am beginning to think you don’t actually want to talk to him.”

“It’s just that—well, it seemed so forward, me popping into Marlow House uninvited on Halloween. My mother always told me a proper young woman does not just show up at a man’s doorstep.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, you are no longer a proper young woman. You are a ghost,” Kat reminded her.

Annabelle shrugged.

“What are you talking about?” Virginia asked when she suddenly appeared, sitting next to Kat on the end of the branch.

“Halloween,” Annabelle told her.

“Are you going somewhere this year?” Virginia asked.

“I just reminded Annabelle it was her chance to see Walt Marlow. Talk to him,” Kat explained.

“He’s here now,” Virginia said in a quiet voice. “I saw him. And he saw me.”

“Did he recognize you?” Annabelle asked.

“He smiled at me when he walked by. But I don’t believe he recognized me. Not sure why he would. That was an awful long time ago. And I don’t believe for a moment he thought I was a ghost.”

The three sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the crowd below as it began to disperse. Many of the mourners headed to the parking lot. Finally, Virginia broke the silence.

“Halloween…I forgot it was almost here. It comes and goes before I have time to think about it. I told myself last year to watch for the changes in the trees. They would tell me when it was almost here again,” Virginia whispered. The two other spirits turned to her and stared.

“What are you saying?” Annabelle asked.

“Perhaps I should look at it again. I wonder sometimes if there is something I have forgotten. It has been so long.” Virginia turned to Annabelle and added, “Unlike you, when I venture out, I have no one to look for but myself. I think you should go to Marlow House this Halloween. Find Abe.”

View full details