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Ambrose Ibsen

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://ambroseibsen.com/

Genre

Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Member Since

April 2016

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Once upon a time, a young Ambrose Ibsen discovered a collection of ghost stories on his father's bookshelf. He was never the same again.

Apart from horror fiction, he enjoys good coffee, brewed strong. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

-- I just checked Amazon for your work, everything that they list is an e-read, for those of us not desiring to use this format and prefer the old-fashioned paper book method, either hard or soft, will your work ever become available in that format ? --

Ambrose Ibsen Karl--

Right now my books are only available as ebooks, however I hope to start rolling out paperback versions in the next few months. I'm also looking…moreKarl--

Right now my books are only available as ebooks, however I hope to start rolling out paperback versions in the next few months. I'm also looking into the possibility of hardcover books as well. Stay tuned!(less)

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I am a huge fan of the horror genre, and an aspiring author who would one day like to write a horror novel. I love your settings. Do you have any advice for creating awesome, creepy settings?

Ambrose Ibsen Thank you for your question, Rebecka!

When creating a setting, I always try and reach for the familiar. Thankfully, I've never been in any of the haunt…moreThank you for your question, Rebecka!

When creating a setting, I always try and reach for the familiar. Thankfully, I've never been in any of the haunted places I've written about, but in crafting them I've sought to include details that jibe with places I've actually visited. This, I think, tends to infuse some much-needed realism. Think of the view outside your own bedroom window, or the way the shadows seem to gather in your own living room. If you can apply details like those to your story, you'll write from a more authentic place.

When building a setting, I like to aim for a Goldilocks level of detail; not too much and not too little. Going overboard on the detail will overwhelm the narrative and being too sparse won't give the reader enough to work with. I like to highlight the most important fixtures in a given setting as richly as possible, and then to point out an aberrant detail or two that'll prop up whatever atmosphere I'm aiming to create.

Example: A character finds himself alone in a small house. It's a generic little thing, with a cramped kitchen and only one, maybe two, bedrooms. The windows have been shut up for too long and the air is sour. The carpet is horribly dusty. And... is that a water-stain on the ceiling? Why, maybe it's just the low lighting, but the shape seems all wrong--it almost looks like a grinning face...

That's a ham-fisted effort on my part, but the point is to transition as seamlessly as possible from scenery that will be familiar and comfortable to the reader, to scenery that is less-so. This allows a writer to gradually transport a reader from a merely realistic setting into a realistic AND creepy one. Scaring someone in print is very hard to do; the writer of horror tales succeeds at this by slowly transforming a "normal" setting, and, by extension, ratcheting up an atmosphere of impending dread.

Lastly, when I have the broad strokes of a place down, I like to imagine myself there. What is the light like in this space? And the shadow? What's the air like here, and what noises might I normally hear in said place? Peppering a scene with a few minor setting details can really make it pop and bring it to life.

I hope that's helpful!(less)

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Ambrose Ibsen’s books

Average rating: 3.86 · 20,784 ratings · 2,601 reviews · 58 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Haunting of Beacon Hill (The Beckoning Dead #1) 3.77 avg rating — 1,762 ratings — published 2019 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The House of Long Shadows (House of Souls, #1) 3.99 avg rating — 1,594 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Asylum (Afterlife Investigations, #1) 3.90 avg rating — 1,408 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Occupant (Afterlife Investigations, #3) 4.21 avg rating — 843 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Forest (Afterlife Investigations, #2) 4.16 avg rating — 852 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Malefic (House of Souls #2) 4.18 avg rating — 833 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Haunting of Rainier Asylum (The Beckoning Dead #2) 3.87 avg rating — 871 ratings — published 2019 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Seance in Apartment 10 3.65 avg rating — 870 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Black Acres: The Complete Collection 3.73 avg rating — 806 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sick House (The Ulrich Files #1) 3.64 avg rating — 817 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Ambrose Ibsen's Blog

NEW: Dreams in Black Static

NEW from Velox Books. Available in ebook, paperback and hardcover editions. Audiobook edition produced by Tantor Audio.

8 TALES OF TERROR!

The static hisses. The darkness deepens. Bestseller Ambrose Ibsen invites you to stare into the shadows, though you may not like what you see…

Roommates obsessed with VHS tapes and nostalgia discover a mysterious unmarked tape containing disturbing

Series by Ambrose Ibsen

The Beckoning Dead (4 books)
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Ambrose Ibsen (Goodreads Author)

3.87 avg rating — 3,515 ratings

Afterlife Investigations (3 books)
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Ambrose Ibsen (Goodreads Author)

4.05 avg rating — 3,103 ratings

House of Souls (3 books)
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Ambrose Ibsen (Goodreads Author)

4.04 avg rating — 2,757 ratings

Black Acres (4 books)
by

Ambrose Ibsen (Goodreads Author)

3.85 avg rating — 1,890 ratings

The Ulrich Files (3 books)
by

Ambrose Ibsen (Goodreads Author)

3.81 avg rating — 1,206 ratings

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Ambrose’s Recent Updates

Ambrose Ibsen answered Queen Crafter's question: I haven't read all of your books yet, but I've really enjoyed the ones I have read. Which of your books was your favorite to write, and which one gave you the most trouble? Thank you for your question! It would be hard to pin down which was my favorite to write. Deep Night, Dreams in Black Static and The Other Woman are three that come to mind when I think about my "favorite" writing experiences. I associate those three See Full Answer
Apr 28, 2025 08:08PM · 1 like · like

Ambrose Ibsen answered Queen Crafter's question:

I haven't read all of your books yet, but I've really enjoyed the ones I have read. Which of your books was your favorite to write, and which one gave you the most trouble?

Thank you for your question!

It would be hard to pin down which was my favorite to write. Deep Night, Dreams in Black Static and The Other Woman are three that come to mind when I think about my "favorite" writing experiences. I associate those three See Full Answer

Apr 28, 2025 08:08PM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by Ambrose Ibsen (?)

“Breathing through his mouth, he found he could taste the air. It was the taste of an old, abandoned book; of a damp cemetery in autumn.”
― Ambrose Ibsen, The Sick House

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“I brought a hand to my tightening chest and kneaded at my heart like a lump of brioche dough.”
― Ambrose Ibsen, The House of Long Shadows

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“Inanimate things like buildings, possessing no moral faculty, are always innocent parties; and yet, how often they are discolored and lent something of the odious by the misdeeds of their occupants.”
― Ambrose Ibsen, The Haunting of Rainier Asylum

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