Horror Aficionados discussion
This topic is about
Slattery Falls
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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August 2021 Group Read with Guest Author, Brennan LaFaro
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Hey all, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here, and I'll be happy to answer any questions about the book, writing, or just talk horror.
I love ghost hunting stories! I'm in!
Ahh it doesn't look like my library carries this one. I'll put in a recommendation for them to buy it.
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Sounds great! I have my copy! Welcome!
It sounds spooky! I can’t wait! 👻💀👹🧟♀️
Hey Brennan, it's good to see you here!
Montzalee wrote: "I love ghost hunting stories! I'm in!"Hope you enjoy!
L. wrote: "Ahh it doesn't look like my library carries this one. I'll put in a recommendation for them to buy it."Hey thanks, I appreciate that.
Shaina wrote: "Sounds great! I have my copy! Welcome!
It sounds spooky! I can’t wait! 👻💀👹🧟♀️"
I hope you dig it!
Char wrote: "Hey Brennan, it's good to see you here!"It's pretty awesome to be here, Char. Thanks for having me.
If Brennan writes it, I reads it ;-)
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This sounds great hope I find the time to join
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First of all, are you a ghost hunter?
Latasha wrote: "Well… I wasn’t gonna say this yet but I just finished it. I started reading 3 hours ago and couldn’t stop. I would’ve been done sooner but I took breaks. What a great story and characters! Well don..."Hey Latasha, thanks so much. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I had so much fun writing the three main characters.
No, I am not a ghost hunter. I used to watch the TAPS show because they're based out of Warwick, RI right near me, but that's the extent. Most of the idea for the story started with the Weeks house (no spoilers for people who haven't ventured there yet). Ghost hunting seemed the most logical way to get my characters into that house.
As a rule, I'm not always a fan of ghost hunting as a subgenre, I think it's too easy to get bogged down in equipment that might not interest the reader, so I made sure to steer clear of that, and I felt like it fit Josh's character.
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Latasha wrote: "I love watching paranormal stuff but I don’t ghost hunt either. I’m too big of a chicken. I don’t want to see anything."I can absolutely get on board with that line of thinking. First time something in that house creaks, I'm out the door.
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Same haha, I'm scared I'd actually find something!
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Started last night. I'm not very far in yet, but already like it. Nice detail on having them pick a safeword.My questions so far would be:
Are the places like Hale House real?
Do you have a favorite haunted place or ghost story?
Trustno1 wrote: "Started last night. I'm not very far in yet, but already like it. Nice detail on having them pick a safeword.My questions so far would be:
Are the places like Hale House real?
Do you have a fav..."
Hey, thanks for reading!
The Hale House is real and pretty much all the details Josh and Travis discuss leading up to their visit are accurate and based on real accounts.
The Weeks and Benson Houses are fictional, but near the end of Part 1, the group lists off some places they visited without going into detail. Those are all real places with purported activity.
As far as a favorite haunted place or ghost story, there's an abandoned asylum in Taunton, MA that has a lot of interesting lore surrounding it, everything from the ghosts of former patients to accusations of satanic practices among the staff. The Taunton State Hospital even housed Lizzie Borden briefly while she awaited trial, and serial killer nurse, Jane Toppan. I wrote a story called "Year of the Black Rainbow" that takes place there and is currently out on submission looking for a home.
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Kenneth wrote: "Brennan, what do you think it is about a ghost story that makes them so timeless? It seems like other sub genres can come and go (zombies and vampires), but the popularity of a ghost story never se..."To me, it's twofold. First, ghost stories seek to answer the question of what happens when you die. Granted zombies and vampires do the same to a degree, but with zombies, it's more what happens to your body and vampires is a bit more like what if you could live forever, but at a cost. Ghost stories deal with what happens to your soul, your essence, your sense of self when your body quits. It's a question that's been around since the dawn of time, and yet, we're objectively no closer to a definitive answer than a caveman.
Second, ghosts are a closer to home horror. Vampires live in Europe, and even the stories where they come to you, they might live next door, but they're not in your house. The possibility that I could look up from my screen and there's the ghost of someone who owned my house before me and died twenty feet from where I'm sitting, that's real. Plus, the bulk of people have had some kind of experience, ranging from an uneasy feeling in a certain location to having actually seen something they can't explain.
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I'm hoping to squeeze this in, wish me luck!
That said, I picked it up at lunch just to look it over, and now I'm 25% in!Elsie has just joined them, and I like her already.
Well done, Brennan! I'm usually pretty darn good at setting something down again, (mostly because my reading schedule is always so packed), but not this time. You hooked me!
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I read the first few pages and it looks great!
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Char wrote: "That said, I picked it up at lunch just to look it over, and now I'm 25% in!Elsie has just joined them, and I like her already.
Well done, Brennan! I'm usually pretty darn good at setting somet..."
I loved writing Elsie. Thanks for joining, Char.
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@Brennan
So, the quote at the beginning that's repeated later on: A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains.
I've never heard that before. Did you come up with that, or is it an old piece of wisdom you learned before and adopted it here?
Alan wrote: "I'm 46 pages in. So far, so good. The scene in the Hale house was tense. I kept waiting for something catastrophic to happen.@Brennan
So, the quote at the beginning that's repeated later on: A G..."
Glad to hear you're enjoying it so far.
It's entirely possible 'A glass can only spill what it contains' is an old saying, but the first place I heard it was in a song of the same name by the band Mewithoutyou. They're one of my favorites, although a lot of people don't like the spoken word vocals.
In the song it refers to a verse from the book of Mark where Jesus says there's nothing outside that goes into a man which can defile him, but only what's inside and comes out. It got me thinking that if that thought can be used to denote negative things, it would work for positive things, or in this case, innate curiosity and longing.
I'm 65% in. I'm enjoying this book so far.
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Brennan wrote: "Trustno1 wrote: "Started last night. I'm not very far in yet, but already like it. Nice detail on having them pick a safeword.My questions so far would be:
Are the places like Hale House real?
..."
Thanks for the answer. Taunton state hospital really sounds creepy. Hope we´ll get to read that story soon! :)
Also I really enjoyed Slattery Falls so much! Nothing better than a good haunted house story. Great atmosphere, too.
(view spoiler)
Alan wrote: "Finished. What an enjoyable little romp that was. A nice twist on ghost hunters. My favorite part? You used the word "rapscallions"."I think I broke out one or two phrases I might not otherwise have done at that part. Rube, for example.
Trustno1 wrote: "Brennan wrote: "Trustno1 wrote: "Started last night. I'm not very far in yet, but already like it. Nice detail on having them pick a safeword.My questions so far would be:
Are the places like Ha..."
Thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear the book worked for you.
I just finished reading this book last night. I love ghost stories and I really enjoyed this book. I found myself sitting up late reading because I couldn't put it down!
An aspect of this tale that I am enjoying is the settings. I was born in Springfield, MA and my husband still works there. I am familiar with most of the towns mentioned. I always get a kick out of that. :)I am hoping to finish today.
I’m on chapter eight and I just got it. Fantastic! Where did you get the idea to use CT as a setting?
Sonya wrote: "I’m on chapter eight and I just got it. Fantastic! Where did you get the idea to use CT as a setting?"I knew I wanted to use New England as a setting, but not necessarily just Massachusetts, where I'm from. I needed a college to put Josh and Travis at, and UConn jumped out because my parents went there. They also both grew up in Waterbury, but the Benson House is fictional.
I very much enjoyed this! The short chapters made for compelling reading and the whole thing just flew by.
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Just finished and loved it. Excellent pacing, Brennan. It just flew by. You have such a knack for writing character relationships and conveying that ease and trust that only comes with knowing someone for a long time. When the trio got into trouble, that closeness made it even more poignant. What was your favourite scene to write, if you can convey it without spoiling it? And why?
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Lesser Dead (other topics)Slattery Falls (other topics)
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