OBSIDEO: The Story Behind WILL HAUNT YOU

This is a story I’ve never shared before, but feel compelled to do so now. My upcoming novel Will Haunt You was inspired by a couple from my neighborhood who disappeared after discovering a strange book in their home. My neighbor’s name is Nancy Carter, and she chronicled her ordeal on a crime watch page within the community website Nextdoor(dot)com. I managed to capture screen grabs of the ordeal as it unfolded.

To say that I was mesmerized by this story is an understatement. I was obsessed with it. Following along every post, and trying my best to figure out who was behind it. The first entry is posted below. It grabbed my attention immediately. There was something familiar about that book, although I had never seen it before.

Post #2

As much as that initial entry intrigued me, I didn’t hear anything else for a couple of weeks, so I forgot about it. Then came the second entry, and I was hooked from here on.

Post #3

This next post really caught my attention. Not only due to the circumstances described, but because I recognized the Little Library in the photos. It’s literally right up the street from me. I went to inspect it after seeing this post, and found it exactly as pictured, minus the book she had placed inside of it.

Post #4

By now a few neighbors and I had begun talking about these posts. No one that I knew had ever met the prior owners, nor had any of us met the new couple who had moved in. We reached out to Nancy through Nextdoor to see if there was anything we could do to help. Based on the next post, we figured she had it under control. Or that maybe she was the one pranking the neighborhood.

Post #5

This next post dispelled any thoughts we had that we were being pranked. My neighbor across the street tracked down some people who lived near the Carter’s, and they verified what was going on. It was definitely not a hoax, and the cops had been called and a claim had been filed. It’s on record.

Post #6

This next post took the ordeal to an entirely new level, putting everyone in the neighborhood on high alert. People volunteered to conduct a patrol, and calls were made to the local police station, asking them to increase their presence in the area until the man was found. As far as I know, no one was ever charged.

Post #7 – 8

It was about this time that I began having dreams about the couple in this book, but it wasn’t Nancy and her husband Dave. It was a different couple. A guy named Jesse Wheeler and his wife Cassie. Jesse had read a book like this and was underdoing a similar experience. The story was so clear and complete it felt like it was being downloaded directly into my brain. And that’s when I knew I needed to write about it. That I wouldn’t be able to get it out of my head unless I got it down on paper. The next post was eerily similar to something I’d imagined for the story I was dreaming up.

I couldn’t sleep after watching that video. I wanted to keep listening to the recording, as though it contained some indecipherable clue. More, though, I wanted to know the source behind that sound. Because the protagonist in the new book I was writing had heard it, too.

Post #9

I never met Dave, but I personally know people who did. He’s still missing.

Post #10

Of all the posts, this is still the most unsettling to me. Because, as far as I can tell, I don’t see what other people see. It’s like that dress some people swear is blue, and other people swear is gold. Everyone I’ve talked to says they see a set of eyes on the pages in the pictures that appear to be looking back at you, but I don’t see that. I see regular writing, like you’d see inside any book. And every time I look, the writing changes. This was the last time anyone heard from Nancy herself. Though, sadly, we saw her again.

Final Posts

These are the last known images of my neighbor Nancy. But I don’t believe her story has ended. In fact, something tells me it’s just begun. The book I wrote, I now know why it came to me so clearly. I wish I could take it all back.