Captured Spirits

Welcome to Horseshoe Hollow…

Don’t walk the Lucky Iron Bridge after midnight.
Don’t photograph what you can’t explain.
And never, ever look too long into the eyes of the dead.

When the first spirit appears in one of my photographs, I know the veil is thinning early. As a sixth-generation Beirgin witch, it is my duty to renew the iron protections that keep our little town safe during Samhain. Easy enough, except this year my grandmother is gone, the spellbook refuses to open for me, and a skeptic with too many questions just walked through my door.

Grayson Hunt does not believe in ghosts, witches, or family curses. He is here to expose me as a fraud. Unfortunately, the spirit haunting him, his sister, has other plans. She is desperate to save him, and her warnings all lead back to the same truth: Grayson’s bloodline is tied to Horseshoe Hollow’s failing protections.

As the veil tears and the dead spill into the living world, Grayson and I are forced to confront what is buried in both our families’ pasts. Every photograph I take draws his sister closer. Every touch between us makes the air hum with dangerous magic. And every night the creek runs darker.

If I cannot convince him to join me in the renewal ritual before Samhain, the protections will collapse, and Horseshoe Hollow will fall with them.

Perfect if you love:

• Small-town gothic coziness
• Grumpy skeptic × weary witch
• Slow-burn paranormal romance
• Found family and ancestral secrets
• Haunted cameras and protective magic
• “I don’t believe in ghosts” (while clearly haunted)