Seance Stories

Alec Monroe has a gift, and Paul Barrington wants to profit by it. Neither understands the true cost of their arrangement. The Great War casts a long shadow in 1926 Philadelphia. Prohibition is in effect, but largely ignored in the city dubbed "wet as the Atlantic." Séances remain popular, despite the efforts of men like Houdini to reveal mediums as frauds. Class, social, and racial boundaries are razor sharp. Against this backdrop, Paul enlists Alec to help him defraud Henri Deschamps, a wealthy scholar of antiquities from France. Little does Paul know that Henri holds more power than money can buy, and Alec is the key to unlocking it. ONC Prompt 72: A real necromancer sits in on a fake séance. [Author's note/trigger warning: This story uses period-appropriate language, including terms related to race and sexuality.]

Celia Jones can talk to the dead, but getting on with them is a different story. She always has at least three spirits following her around, complaining about their relatives, or the inadequacy of their funeral arrangements. The latest is a murdered actress, Maude Domby, but she's less interested in denouncing her killer than in accusing the understudy of stealing her favourite pearls. When the charming but utterly fraudulent medium Stanley Winter holds a séance to contact Maude, Maude insists she and Celia should attend, to see people mourning her 'properly'. But the séance ends up implicating an innocent woman, and now Stanley Winter is banging on Celia's door, begging her to help him find Maude's real killer. Unfortunately, helping Stanley Winter could lead Celia to confront her other power - the one that's both lighter and infinitely darker than talking to the dead. ONC Prompt: 72. A real necromancer sits in on a fake séance.

Dorian Dallowmarsh is a man on the run. The necromancer thought he'd be safe masquerading as a vacationing professor at a seaside resort, but his attempts to lay low at The Beacon have failed spectacularly. Spirits appear with cryptic messages at the worst possible moments, and Bitzy, an exuberant young widow, has taken a shine to him. She even secures him an invite to an exclusive soiree: a séance featuring the famous medium, Madame Draga. Dorian assumes Draga's a fake. Most self-proclaimed mediums are. But when a ghost delivers a disturbing message, he faces a terrible choice: risk exposure by a medium who may be a bounty hunter in disguise or disappoint his new friend. Either way, Dorian's quiet escape plan is about to get very complicated! Prompt 72: A real necromancer sits in on a fake séance.

INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER * EDGAR WINNER OF THE MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD Be careful what you conjure... London, 1852. Genevieve Timmons has made her living posing as a spiritualist to swindle wealthy believers, until one misstep lands her in a jail cell awaiting the noose. Then a stranger, Mr. Lockhart, arrives to make her a peculiar offer. The lord he serves, Mr. Pemberton, has been grieving the mysterious death of his beautiful bride-to-be for six months. Although no foul play was ever uncovered, the young lord is convinced that she was murdered. If Genevieve can hold a séance to persuade him that his betrothed's spirit is at peace, Mr. Lockhart promises to have the charges against her dismissed and reward her with enough money to start a new life. But when Genevieve arrives at Somerset Park estate, she discovers that the handsome and aloof Mr. Pemberton is anything but the heartbroken lover she expected. Mr. Pemberton then approaches Genevieve with an offer of his own: together, they will stage a séance so convincing it will coax the killer out of the shadows. Attempting to play both sides until she can determine which plan holds the key to her freedom, Genevieve prepares to stage a haunting. But when ghoulish incidents begin to plague the manor, the dogged heroine realizes her tricks may not be required after all. Somerset and its residents are hiding many deadly secrets, and its ghosts could be all too real. Available as ebook/audiobook/paperback! https://a.co/d/8kO7Nef

A turbulent night, friends, and a terrifying overnight at a renown haunted house. Is this night destined to go down the hill for these friends?

Death follows Scott more than his own shadow, seemingly tenfold when he assumes the identity of his alter ego-Vincent Peterson, the estranged author. Bookstore keeper by day and expert in the field of parapsychology and occult sciences by night, it takes a Halloween party turned ritualistic summoning for him to finally uncover the reason why.

There were shadows and mysteries at our new home. Was there a logical explanation or was it haunted?

If you thought the Hargreeves were struggling with family problems and saving the world in the televised dimension, this this one is really going to make your head -and heart- hurt... -------------------------------- Five understood the possibility of the multi-verse, that there were more dimensions and timelines that were unfathomable with his current capabilities. However, he didn't believe it was possible to skate into these dimensions until Number "Eight" shows up willing to help. Mistrustful of the stranger, Eight has to find a way to explain to the Hargreeves why she felt obligated to help their dimension stop the apocalypse, all while facing her own demons. ________________________ Klaus/OC.

Our story begins when a young man receives a phone call from a frantic woman asking him to cleanse her house of evil spirits. It doesn't take long before they're met by a woman set on revenge. They need to diffuse the situation before the entire house goes up in flames.

[ONC2020 Shortlister / A Featured Story on Wattpad Low Fantasy] You can't outrun the past. Hattie Newfield is a fake medium who makes a living off pretending to speak with the dead. But Hattie has a real psychic gift--she can "read" people's memories. When Hattie is approached by a stranger with an intriguing job proposal, she learns that she has other psychic powers that aren't easily controlled. As the two join forces to investigate a mysterious haunting, her psychic powers grow and the past begins encroaching on the present in unforeseen ways. Now Hattie must face her own troubled memories before the dark past overtakes them both.

Some fantasy, in a modern setting, around the idea of debt to others

Captivation in the simple life, where everything can be turned around in the flash of a memory.

Amelia and Mark aren't strangers to getting into trouble. They always go on crazy adventures just for the thrill, but is this one going too far?

A story about four sons who visited a tower that could grant the common desire that all dead beings have, read what awaits for them beneath the tolling bell that hangs at the top of the tower...

"eternal peace is probably overrated."