The Ghost at the Inn

By Stephanie Faris and Chloe Friedlein

When Dad’s podcast crew stops at a haunted inn, Gabby is eager to investigate. People claim to hear voices, and a young ghost supposedly moves toys and plays with guests. Gabby sets out to debunk the haunting. When her observations are ignored, she becomes determined to prove herself. And although science can explain one noise, it doesn't quite explain another . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Aug 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669013235

Stephanie Faris

Stephanie Faris knew she wanted to be an author from a very young age. In fact, her mother often told her to stop reading so much and go outside and play with the other kids. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University, she somehow found herself working in information technology. But she never stopped writing. When she isn’t crafting fiction, Stephanie is indulging her gadget geek side by writing for online technology sites. Her work is regularly featured on the small business blogs for Intuit and Go Payment, and she is a featured columnist for SmallBizTechnology.com. She lives in Nashville with her husband.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The woman in the long black gown was scaring me.

Not because she was telling scary stories. As the manager of Brookhaven Inn, a haunted inn in Massachusetts, Ms. Beasley was supposed to do that. But it seemed like she actually believed them.

"Brookhaven was built by a wealthy shipping tycoon back in 1852, Ms. Beasley was saying. Over the years, owners and visitors have reported strange sounds, especially in the first-floor bathroom. Some people even hear voices. I’ve heard stories about a young girl whispering, ‘Get out!’"

I tried not to roll my eyes. Ghosts weren’t real. I wasn’t sure if anyone had ever told Ms. Beasley that.

I definitely wasn’t allowed to. Not while my dad and his crew were recording their paranormal podcast. As long as they were recording, everyone had to keep quiet.

Ms. Beasley led us into a room with toys scattered across the floor.

This is the toy room, she explained. It belonged to a little girl named Charlotte. Her family was the first to live in the house in the late eighteen hundreds.

Gabby, maybe you can help pick some of these up, Dad said to me as he walked into the room. "These toys could be a tripping hazard for the crew."

Hazard meant something was dangerous. Toys were nothing compared to the hazards Dad usually saw, though. He worked as a paranormal investigator. Some people called it ghost hunting.

Ms. Beasley shook her head. Oh, we can’t move them, she said. This was supposedly Charlotte’s favorite room. We leave the toys on the floor for her. Sometimes she moves them around.

Dad perked up at that. Charlotte moves them? he asked.

Ms. Beasley nodded. Sometimes people hear her laughing too.

I narrowed my eyes. I seriously doubted people heard Charlotte laugh. Maybe they heard something that sounded like laughter. Or maybe people just thought they heard something because Ms. Beasley said it happened.

But Dad was sharing an excited look with his executive producer, Keisha. I didn’t know much about Keisha other than her job, which seemed to involve bossing around everyone on the crew.

At least that’s how I saw things after traveling around the country with Dad while he recorded his podcast. He’d been hosting it for three years now. This summer he was visiting the most haunted places across the United States.

To be totally honest, I didn’t really understand Dad’s job as a paranormal investigator. Mostly because I didn’t believe in ghosts. I loved science, history, facts, and research.

That was partly why I hadn’t been all that excited about traveling with Dad at first. But Mom had insisted it would be healthy for me to spend the summer with him and the crew. It would be a learning experience, she’d said.

Plus, it was a great opportunity to spend time with Dad. I didn’t get to see him that much since he traveled all the time for work.

So, Gabby…