Haunted Houses

In the Shifters Unbound series, one of the characters is a haunted house outside of New Orleans. I introduce this house in Wild Things, and use it extensively in Red Wolf, The Last Warrior, and especially in A Shifter Christmas Carol. It’s not really “haunted” in the conventional sense, but is sentient, with its own personality.

My inspiration for that house came from the one I’m living in now. When I moved in the year I wrote Wild Things, I wondered if the house would like me. It’s an older home (mid-20th century and older than me), and I hoped I’d connect with it.

Good news is, I did. The moment I walked into it on a rainy November day when there was an open house–we were the only ones who came to see it–I immediately knew this was the place for me. The house has a simple design inside, long and narrow like a railroad car. Sounds a little weird, but it works for me. A plus, was there were plenty of nooks in which to put my miniatures (always important).

We bought it and then spent a month fixing it up, because it needed new bathroom fixtures and painting plus it had layers of old vinyl floors and very strange curtains that dragged across the worn-out carpet in the living room. I think the only flooring we kept intact was the ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathrooms.

I’m very sensitive atmosphere in buildings, and I felt welcome here from day one. I wasn’t afraid or creeped out to stay alone, and it seemed the house appreciated the TLC. Through the years, the bond has deepened.

UNTIL …

A few years ago, we decided to spend our very hot summers in a cooler area of the state. My husband has MS and extreme heat can flare up the symptoms (I believe extreme cold can too.)

Therefore, we spend a few months each year away from our main house.

And it gets mad at us.

This past October we returned to find water trickling from the roof in front of the house, nonstop. Turns out our solar water heater had sprung a leak on the roof. We had someone fix the pipe. Next day, the water was gushing from the roof instead of trickling.

Everyone we spoke to said, sorry can’t fix it. You’ll have to replace the whole system.

I bypassed the solar heating part of the cycle, and the water ceased flowing. We’ll have to deal with the solar later, but for now, everything is dry.

At least in the front of the house. Water was still dribbling off the back. We have a pool, which also has a solar heater. Well, one of the panels decided to give up the ghost and as soon as the water hit it–spew. And I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to bypass that loop.

Again, we consulted several repair companies to come and take a look, none of which could fix it, but who still charged us the call out fee. It took nearly $1K to find a company who could actually repair it. They did, bless their hearts (and I have them bookmarked).

We also have ominous cracks in the ceiling of the garage, possibly water damage related, but I have no idea, because again, no one wants to investigate or fix it.

The faucet in the kitchen sink would not cease dripping, so we had to replace that too. There have been a few more minor mishaps and repairs that we’ve had to make as well, such as the latch to the screen door breaking off and falling inside the door frame. Irretrievable unless we take apart the entire door and frame. Though the screen door is relatively new, the company who custom made it is out of business, so I can’t call them to repair it. (We’re having it replaced.)

Now, the logical conclusion is that this is an old house and the plumbing is old, and the solar panels, exposed to blasting hot sun (110s F in the summer, which is why we seek cooler air) are wearing out and breaking. Other things age and break.

BUT. Nothing ever happens while we are here. Since October, we’ve been repairing all the things that broke in our absence, but otherwise, the house has been quiet and cozy, a happy place.

The minute we leave it for any length of time … It gets mad.

Hence, the growing personality of the haunted house in the Shifters books, with its many quirks and temper tantrums.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen when we depart again for the summer … (Shh. Don’t tell it.)