Spooky Stories with Liz Schulte

Today we are very lucky to have Liz Schulte with us in wonderful embrace of her book Dark Corners. Here's a small summary of the book provided by Amazon to get us started.

"Ella Reynolds knew from the first moment she walked into the old house someone or something was watching her. Waiting. Her husband's violent murder sent her spiraling into a world of grief and isolation, but Ella isn't alone. Who or what is responsible for her husband's death is still with her. Darkness has engulfed the past year of Ella's life. Everyday reality slips a little more between her fingers as she struggles to break free from her memories. She must look deeper into her past as well as the present to discover truth of her husband's homicide. A string of uncanny events takes place and practical explanations run thin as Ella follows the terrifying road to closure. As the past and present come to a head, Ella must decipher who or what the murderer is before it takes her as well."

Throughout the beginning of the book we question if Ella is being haunted by a ghost or if someone is messing with her head. So today we ask Liz if she had any ghost stories of her own to tell.

Liz: 

I want to start with thanking you for having me on your blog and reading my book. I was asked to share a ghostly experience of mine with you guys today. Let me first start off with saying I, unlike my character, am an open-minded skeptic. I do not have a lot of ghostly experiences, but I have one that is up in the air. I, honestly, don’t know what happened. Maybe it was a ghost (that’s the more comforting thought) or maybe it wasn’t. Some who have already read the books may recognize this experience, but here I go!

Was home from college doing what college students do best, napping, and all of my family was out of the house. Our family’s one dog was sleeping next to me. The dog and I heard the kitchen door open, and the dog hopped up and ran out barking. I heard someone greet the dog and our dog stopped barking. A few seconds later I heard footsteps coming down the hallway towards the room I was in. I assumed it was my dad or one of my brothers, but I didn’t open my eyes because I didn’t want to get caught in conversation and ruin a perfectly good nap. The footsteps went past the room and to our library. I heard something like a paper bag crumpling, but I didn’t really think anything of it.

About an hour later my mom came home and woke me up. She told me to get ready because we were going to meet the rest of the family for dinner. I told her dad was already home. She argued with me then I searched the house and couldn’t find anyone. I told her what happened and she told me I hadn’t locked the front door. So here is my dilemma, either someone randomly came into my parent’s house to throw away a paper stack in the library or it wasn’t a person at all. I have no idea, but I was thoroughly creeped out for a few days after that, and I never again forgot to lock the front door. There were always other things that happened around our house normal bumps and noises that could be excused as settling, but never anything quite that blatant. 

That is pretty spooky.. Thanks Liz for joining us here at The Ink Puddle! You can click here to see our review on Dark Corners.
So do you guys have any ghost stories to share? Any creepy occurrences or haunted houses we should know of?

Review: Dark Corners by Liz Schulte

"Ella Reynolds knew from the first moment she walked into the old house someone or something was watching her. Waiting. Her husband's violent murder sent her spiraling into a world of grief and isolation, but Ella isn't alone. Who or what is responsible for her husband's death is still with her. Darkness has engulfed the past year of Ella's life. Everyday reality slips a little more between her fingers as she struggles to break free from her memories. She must look deeper into her past as well as the present to discover truth of her husband's homicide. A string of uncanny events takes place and practical explanations run thin as Ella follows the terrifying road to closure. As the past and present come to a head, Ella must decipher who or what the murderer is before it takes her as well"

When we meet Ella, she's a mess. Drinking and throwing her life away to anger and self pity, we find ourselves feeling sad and sorry for her as she reveals to us her story through flashbacks and dreams. Ella is convinced her house is haunted by a ghost, but being an author of horror books, the small town goes from considering her a local celebrity to simply a crazy nut job. But there's one person who keeps coming around despite Ella's rude, broken nature, and that person is Detective Troy. But is he friend or foe?

Though this book is slightly different from the paranormal/ supernatural feel we usually review here at The Ink Puddle, I was not disappointed. Liz takes us through character by character and keeps us questioning who has the best intentions for Ella. You will cheer, cry and scream as you fight for her to move through her pain and find some normalcy to life again. The book takes a very legit, real life approach and is a storyline that could unfortunately, happen to anyone (there are some crazies out there...). Needless to say, there isn't a dull moment in Dark Corners, you won't want to put the book down. And if you're like me, you'll have to leave the lights on for this one.

My rating for this book:

About the Author:

Many authors claim to have known their calling from a young age. Liz Schulte, however, didn't always want to be an author. In fact, she had no clue. Liz wanted to be a veterinarian, then she wanted to be a lawyer, then she wanted to be a criminal profiler. In a valiant effort to keep from becoming Walter Mitty, Liz put pen to paper and began writing her first novel. It was at that moment she realized this is what she was meant to do. As a scribe she could be all of those things and so much more. When Liz isn’t writing or on social networks she is inflicting movie quotes and trivia on people, reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. Liz is a Midwest girl through and through, though she would be perfectly happy never having to shovel her driveway again. She has a love for all things spooky, supernatural, and snarky. Her favorite authors range from Edgar Allen Poe to Joseph Heller to Jane Austen to Jim Butcher and everything in between.
You can follow Liz's blog here.

Also! Be sure to check out our small interview with Liz where she sits down to tell us about a ghost story of her own.

A copy of the book, Dark Corners was provided to The Ink Puddle by Liz Schulte.