Petra's Ghost

by C.S. O’Cinneide

That night Daniel dreams in the sparse bunk bed of the albergue at Obanos. What he saw then. What he sees now. It all comes together into an impossible tangle in his subconscious. Like the waxy-leafed trees that line the path in his mind, choking out the light as he loses his way on the road to Santiago. In the dream, he has just spread Petra’s ashes, but they blow up against him as he walks, clinging to his hiking pants along with the greasy wet leaves that have fallen on the trail. Petra appears behind him, then on either side. A ghost in triplicate, each version a beast with a different type of claws. One as she was, one as she became, and one as he last saw her, dark with death. The three versions of his wife rise up in front of him like mountains, then become one, blocking his way. He falls to his knees on the sharp gravel of the path and begs for her forgiveness. In answer, she turns to stone. He will never get past her now. The sun sets on the slab of her face, as he sobs into his hands. She knows his story, and she will never let him forget it.

Petra's Ghost has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Horror. Don't forget to vote! I find people either read the creepy parts as madness, and decide it is psychological suspense, or read it as supernatural and decide it's modern day gothic. What do you think? Feel free to share some of your own highlights to back up your claim.

He hadn’t struck Daniel as the philandering type anyway, whatever that type was. Daniel always got the term mixed up with philanthropy, as if benevolence held ties with infidelity, both giving till it hurt.

Are Daniel and I the only ones that get these two mixed up?

“We all are having our ghosts, Daniel,” Rob says, as he stoops to place the stone at the base of the cairn. “The question is not if they exist.” He rises and leans into his walking stick with both hands as he turns to address Daniel. “It is what message do they bring.”

What message do you think is meant for Daniel. Remember to mark for any spoilers!

You never know the weight you’re carrying until it’s taken from you.

Petra's Ghost is nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award for Horror, but so much of the book is about an inner haunting, the weight of guilt and grief. This line resonated with a lot of readers. What lines resonated with you?

“Thank you so much

Many thanks to those who voted Petra's Ghost into the semifinals of the Goodreads Choice Award for Horror. While some debate the genre, I do hope you'll vote before the deadline this Sunday, Nov 17th. Would love to see this Canadian Indie thriller make it to the finals. https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-horror-books-2019

“Not all have a life-changing experience when they finish the Camino,” he says, turning his attention back to Daniel. “Oh, some say they do, but it is like the story of the Emperor and his new clothes. The naked truth is they walked all that way and found nothing at the end of it.”

The Camino de Santiago trail, that Daniel is walking, is a 500 mile spiritual pilgrimage across Northern Spain. If you made such a journey, what do you think you'd find at the end of it?