Haunted Venice – the setting for Shani Struthers’ spine-chilling tale
Venice is often described as the most romantic city on Earth – but did you know it was all the most haunted one? Shani Struthers is here to tell us what drew her to the island of Poveglia.
And there’s a chance to win a signed paperback!
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The Venetian is set between Venice, ‘the world’s most haunted city’ and Poveglia, an island in the Venetian Lagoon, widely regarded as ‘the world’s most haunted island.’ I love Italy and have visited the country many times, however, Venice only recently – in 2016, in fact. I landed on a cold, rainy November afternoon, hired a private taxi and was swiftly transported across the Lagoon into a world that blew me away!
Venice was everything I hoped it would be – moody and romantic, surreal even with canals instead of roadways and tiny alleys stuffed with grand but crumbling architecture. I knew at once it was the ideal setting for a ghost story, set not only in the city itself but on an island I’d been reading about before going, a prohibited island, Poveglia. As with Venice, here the history is dark and many-layered, home once to a sanatorium, the ruins of which remain, it was also a quarantine centre.
When plague consumed the city, those that were infected were banished to the island, never to return. Instead, the bones of so many – thousands upon thousands – lie buried in the soil beneath your feet. Set between two time zones – 2016 and 1938 – The Venetian seeks to explore this history, bringing you a ghost story of the most unsettling kind, one that has its roots in truth.
Travel Tip
I recommend visiting Venice in November, the city suits this dark, wintry month, and there’s far less tourists. Divided into six different sestieri, or districts, San Polo is my favourite, which is very atmospheric after dark as is Cannaregio (the Jewish Ghetto), which is home to some great restaurants, cafes and bars. As I mentioned above, Poveglia is prohibited, although there’s a saying: if you pay the boat man enough… However, there are other islands to visit in the Lagoon, including Isola di San Michele, the cemetery island, which provides a wonderful dose of serenity and Guidecca, but look out for the mists! We almost got stranded on Guidecca as the mists closed in and they stopped running the boats back to the mainland. Mind you, another ghost story might have taken seed, one in which I could have starred in!
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The story:
2015
Their troubled past behind them, married couple, Rob and Louise, visit Venice for the first time together, looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Not just a romantic destination, it’s also the ‘most haunted city in the world’ and soon, Louise finds herself the focus of an entity she can’t quite get to grips with – a ‘veiled lady’ who stalks her.
1938
After marrying young Venetian doctor, Enrico Sanuto, Charlotte moves from England to Venice, full of hope for the future. Home though is not in the city; it’s on Poveglia, in the Venetian lagoon, where she is set to work in an asylum, tending to those that society shuns. As the true horror of her surroundings reveals itself, hope turns to dust.
From the labyrinthine alleys of Venice to the twisting, turning corridors of Poveglia, their fates intertwine. Vengeance only waits for so long…
You can buy it here: here
GIVEAWAY
For a chance to win a signed paperback (available anywhere) just leave an answer below to the Prize Question:
Where’s the most ‘haunting’ place you’ve ever been?
Good luck!
[image error]Born and bred in Brighton, Shani Struthers is the author of ten supernatural thrillers (so far), some set in various locations in England, others in more far-flung destinations such as Venice and America. Having been brought up with an understanding of the occult and alternative views on religion, she threads this knowledge throughout her books, often drawing on real-life experiences of her own, from those she has known and well-known occult figures such as Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune. Her Psychic Surveys series, written from the viewpoint of a group of psychics who specialise in domestic spiritual clearance, has proved very popular indeed, becoming global Amazon genre bestsellers. Her new series – This Haunted World – is a set of standalone books set in and around the world’s most haunted places and again, weave fact with fiction. When she’s not writing or researching, she can be found slumped in front to the TV or on a country walk with family and friends.
