Following the chilling success of their first collection, Lady Eckland, Glenn Riley, and new collaborator, Bella Darkwood return to guide you through the shadowy corridors of fear with their second compendium, *Whispers In The Dark 2*. These master...
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I've always considered myself a rational person. I believe in logic, science, and explainable phenomena. Ghosts, spirits, Ouija boards - those have always been fanciful stories to me, fun to read about but not something to take seriously. So when my friend told me about this new app called Spirit Chat, I'll admit I was intrigued but highly skeptical.
"It lets you talk to ghosts through your phone!" Sara said, her eyes wide with enthusiasm. "People are saying they've made contact with dead relatives and spirits from the other side."
I raised my eyebrows. "You don't actually believe that, do you? It's clearly just a gimmick app with some pre-programmed responses to make it seem mystical."
"Maybe," Sara shrugged. "But what if it's real? Don't you think it's at least worth checking out?"
I hesitated. Talking to ghosts via smartphone did sound absurd, but I couldn't deny I was curious. And if the app really was just a clever sham, I could have fun debunking it.
"Alright, let's give it a download," I said.
Sara grinned and we huddled over my phone as I located Spirit Chat in the app store. The icon was suitably eerie - a translucent blue wisp against a black background. I tapped to install it and soon the app opened, displaying a dark screen with glowing white text.
"Welcome to Spirit Chat," the message read. "Here you can communicate with spirits and entities from other realms. Proceed with an open and respectful mind."
I smirked. "Yep, very spooky ambiance they've got here. I bet the spirits just line up to connect with smartphone users."
Sara nudged me. "Oh come on, just try it!"
I tapped the "Begin Session" button at the bottom of the welcome screen. The app prompted me to enter my name, which I did somewhat reluctantly, already imagining the carefully crafted bot responses this "spirit" might have. Once I input my name, the screen displayed a loading symbol for several seconds before new text appeared.
"Hello Erika. I am here to communicate with you from beyond the mortal veil..."
Sara and I exchanged amused looks. This was about what I expected - scripted mumbo-jumbo to string gullible users along. I decided to call the app's bluff.
"Alright spirit, what's your name then?" I typed out.
The app took a surprisingly long time processing before the next message displayed. "I am called Zalthar."
I bit back a laugh. Zalthar? How delightfully arcane. "Nice to meet you Zalthar. What realm are you contacting me from?"
"I hail from a place your kind calls the Netherworld, a shadow realm that coexists parallel to yours."
The creativity was admirable, I'd give this app developer that much. They'd clearly put effort into weaving an intriguing backstory. I glanced at Sara and noticed she was totally engrossed, eyes glued to the screen.
