(Previously titled “Ghost Beyond Earth”)

Find it on Amazon here, When The Ghosts Return

Finally, it’s back! The first of my traditional published novels is re-released under my own steam with a new cover, a new title, and a small amount of editing. You can buy it direct from Amazon in ebook or paperback, or through Kindle Unlimited.

The Story…

A chilling mix of classic ghost story, present-day science fiction, witchcraft and the undead, When The Ghosts Return will keep you enthralled until the last page.
In the middle of outback Australia, on an isolated cattle property, the ghost of a couple’s dead child begins to appear in the house. Young Ellen was an angel when she was alive. As a spirit returning from the Dead she is much, much worse. Ellen is terrifying.
NASA has Space Station Freedom orbiting above the Earth. One of the modules is the Cryogenic Module, a secret project. It’s where the bodies of wealthy and famous people lie deeply frozen, preserved until the medical science of the future can revive and heal them. The Cryogenics Module has been a successful, covert source of extra funding for NASA. In space and shadowed from the sun the extremely cold temperatures make low Earth orbit the perfect place to keep corpses in hibernation. Now it’s time to try and revive the first patient. It will be a man who, unknown to the space station crew, had already attempted to cheat death with black magic and evil rituals. It brings dire consequences as the crew attempt to bring him back to life.
The strands of demonic possession are weaving together. Can Matthew Kindling save the dead girl’s soul, and the crew of Freedom too? Most of all, can he save himself? Evil has returned, bringing ghosts of the past with it.

Author’s Introduction:

All my horror stories are based on a single, inspired idea and I start writing from there – writing the book is as much a journey into the unknown for me as it is for the reader. Ghost Beyond Earth (When The Ghosts Return now) was my first published horror novel by a major print publisher and the concept was born from thinking; what would happen if the Space Shuttle was haunted? Ah… you’re saying, “Sorry, if what?” Okay, the thing is I’m always trying to create a situation where my main characters can’t easily escape the dilemma they’re in. I used to get annoyed at ghost stories where people could simply leave the haunted house – the blood pouring from the wall-the cursed room… whatever- if they wanted, yet didn’t (obviously, for the sake of the story). One day I saw footage of the space shuttle in orbit and figured it was a great place to be haunted. You couldn’t get away, right? But the shuttles aren’t much bigger than a Volkswagen with a jet engine bolted on the back, so after some research I came across Space Station Freedom, the forerunner to today’s International Space Station (SSF was never built).

Similarly, the other half of the novel based on an outback cattle property also provides for a sense of dangerous isolation from where the characters can’t easily escape.

For readers who may be put off by the space station stuff- don’t be. When The Ghosts Return isn’t science fiction. The astronauts are in present-day conditions of weightlessness and eating out of tubes. Very similar to the movie Gravity. When The Ghosts Return is a ghost story with a dash of witchcraft- and certainly a horror story.

Why Change TheTitle After So Long?

It was a big decision, and of course there was an enormous sentimental attachment to that original title, but the novel was originally released in bricks-and-mortar book stores, had great reviews in newspapers and magazines, and the focus was firmly on a paperback read. Now, it’s all about SEO, keywords, social media, digital products and advertising that needs to have an impact in the first … well, about two seconds. For that, it needed a title that was clearer, unambiguous and left little doubt about the genre and content. So yeah, it’s all about marketing and promotions in the 21st century. Sorry, it’s just a fact of modern self-publishing.