Haunted, Tamara Thorne, 1995
My favorite quote: “He’d always thought of supernatural horror as something that arose in daydreams and nightmares, fantastic thoughts born of facts and twisted to the imagination’s wishes. It seemed to be the other way around now.”
Notable characters: David Masters, author an new owner of Baudey House; Amber, his daughter; Minnie Willard, my favorite housekeeper; Theo Pelinore, the sexy realtor
Most memorable scene: I seem to remember ghosts rutting on a dining room table …
Greatest strengths: The way Haunted weaves the past and present together is so seamless that it should teach classes where other books can come and learn how it’s done
Standout achievements: The blend of horror, humor, and sexiness here is rivaled by none. For real
Fun Facts: The character of Bea Broadside was based on one of Thorne’s neighbors who planned to euthanize her cat so she could go on vacation. Thorne took the cat, saving its life, and brought Ms. Broadside to justice in Haunted
Other media: N/A
What it taught me: The power of blending the spooky and sexy together at just the right times
How it inspired me: A lot of times I kind of groan when the main character of a book is a writer. In the wrong hands, a writer writing about a writer has a way of feeling a little … masturbatory. This isn’t one of those times, though. Rather than waxing eloquently about the life of writers, Thorne — like King — finds ways of putting her fictional authors to good use, exploiting their professions to further the plot. I was so impressed by this that I wanted to do the same thing. So I did. David Masters, Thorne’s hero in Haunted, is the reason I made Cade Colter, my protagonist in the Crimson Cove series, a writer
Additional thoughts: I love that David Masters is setting out to disprove ghosts when he buys this house. Heh. Silly, silly skeptic …
Haunt me: alistaircross.com
Alistair Cross 