The lamp on the verandah
A lamp that lights itself every monsoon night, and the family who learned not to look.
Coastal ghost stories
A ghost story every Friday: written for a lamp, a rainy night and a quiet house.
8 min read
The train that stops at no station
A blue train by the sea, a passenger who is never counted and a ticket that does not match.
5 min read
Recording a story on a rainy night
Why I wait for rain, close the windows and turn off the fan before I read aloud.
6 min read
The fishermen who are never counted
Every dawn the same figures in the surf, and the old man who knows how many there should be.
7 min read
The shrine under the banyan tree
Lit lamps, a mossy stone and the rule you must follow if you pass after dark.
5 min read
Walking the ramparts at dusk
The old fort walls, the umbrella I always take and the sound I stopped trying to explain.
4 min read
Reading a ghost story on a phone in the dark
What changes when the page is a small light, and how I write for it.
6 min read
The scariest thing is what is not said
How a pause, a half sentence and a door left open do more than any monster.
6 min read
How to end a ghost story without a bang
Three quiet endings I have used and one I regret.
5 min read
The first ghost story I wrote down
Eight handwritten pages, a bad ending and a grandmother who told me what it should have been.
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Coastal Ghost Stories
One ghost story every Friday, written for a lamp and a quiet house, and sometimes read aloud.
4,800 readers
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