Absent by Katie Williams

HAPPY OCTOBER!

To celebrate October, here is a truly unique ghost story that I will get you all in the Halloween mode.

High School

When 17-year-old Paige dies in a freak fall from the roof during Physics class, her spirit is bound to the grounds of her high school. At least she has company: her fellow ghosts Evan and Brooke, who also died there. But when Paige hears the rumor that her death wasn’t an accident – that she supposedly jumped on purpose – she can’t bear it. Then Paige discovers something amazing. She can possess living people when they think of her, and she can make them do almost anything. Maybe she can get to the most popular girl in school and stop the rumors once and for all.

The thought of spending the rest of my afterlife in a high school horrifies me. I hated being there alive, I’d hate it even more dead. If I was one of those ghosts who could manipulate objects I could probably have fun knocking over books and pulling out chairs.

If I had to be trapped in a place for the rest of my afterlife, I’d want to be trapped in a movie theater. You’d get to watch movies forever! For someone who loves movies I’d be ok with that. Plus, you could explore the back rooms and find out how the projectors work. Unless you turn into one of those ghosts who can still smell then you’d have to live with the smell of popcorn but not be able to eat any. That would be torture.

Besides being able to overshadow people, another unique thing I liked was how whenever one of the ghosts tried to leave the school grounds they would immediately pop back to the place they had died. I’ve read many books about ghosts and I’m happy to say that this story is truly original.