As part of our Haunted October features this month, we've been lucky enough to receive several Haunted books from Thunder Bay Press. After October, we will donate these books to a local high school library, where they will inspire and haunt the next generation of storytellers!

This week's Haunted book is actually part of a larger series, Haunted Indiana, by Mark Marimen. We've got Haunted Indiana 4 (with author readings on an audio cd!) in hand, and I have to say, I am completely spooked by these tales. It is an excellently creepy book, well-researched and written. We were lucky enough to sit down and talk with the author of Haunted Indiana, Mark Marimen. Here's what he had to say...

WE:  Please tell us about your book series, Haunted Indiana...

MM:  Haunted Indiana is a series of 4 books that are collections of ghost
stories, old and new, from across Indiana. I have been collecting and retelling these stories for about 10 years as what I call a "Hobby run amok."

WE:  How did you get interested in ghost stories?

MM: I fell in love with ghost stories the way mot people do- sitting around a campfire, listening to someone (my older brother Jacob) tell some "perfectly true" stories from my area. The magic of those stories, the magic of that night, has never quite worn off for me, and in a real sense my books are a campfire for me, around which i can sit and tell stories.

WE:  How do you conduct your research, for your books?

MM: To do this job you have to be one part reporter, one part private investigator, and two parts yellow journalist. I spend a great deal of time in Libraries, newspaper morgues, and historical societies. But, sooner or later, it always ends up sitting down over a table with a voice recorder and, (as they say in the deep south) "talking spook" with someone. That is the fun part for me.

WE:  I imagine that the research for your book and website was quite
extensive - did you find new and surprising things?

MM: I am always surprised and delighted to get a story that I think might bear fruit. It is a challenge and I am drawn to the research as much or more than I am to the writing.

WE:  Are you inundated with speaking requests in the fall?

MM:  This is indeed my busy season. I do a gret dela of speaking at schools, talking to kids about writing using ghost stories as a fun venue. Then there are always the book signings and libraries I always get. The most fun the last couple of years has been two events where I just do a whole evening of just telling ghost stories. It gets back to the origin of what ghost stories are all about and I love the purity of those events.

WE:  What is your favorite ghost story, of all the ones you've researched?

MM:  I always get that question and it is such a hard one! In a strang sense these stories are like my kids, and it is hard to come up with a favorite.  They are all differ but are all magical for me. The classic tale I tell most often is The Vanishing Hitchiker of Reeder Road, because it is so iconic in terms of ghost stories. I love the story Stiffy Green becasue it is a dog story, and in terms of scary stories it has to be When Darkness comes to Central State.

WE:  Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

MM: To me ghost stories are just innocent and fun. They are all about the wonder of life, and as such are magical in a wholesome way. They speak to our greatest fear but in a way that we can handle. Writer Chris Woodyard said "ghost stories speak to the most human part in each of us" and for me that rings true.

WE: Thanks so much, Mark! I appreciate you sharing with us. And I have to say, I can't keep away from your book!

To order the Haunted Indiana Titles, and to see our other books we've reviewed for Haunted October month, please click here:

 Amazon Listmania for Haunted October Books reviewed on Wandering Educators