I'm part of a study group that meets once a month. We typically meet on a Saturday afternoon

and spend several hours hanging out and discussing ideas, talking about problems we've

been having and helping each other with feedback from reading each other's stuff. On the holiday

months, which in our case is typically meant October and December. We try to make the meeting

a bit more festive and it becomes more of a party than anything else.

That's why, when Colby suggested we do an overnight camping trip this October, complete

with a spooky ghost tour and scary stories around the campfire, it sounded like a great

idea that was more of an expansion of what we normally would have done around Halloween,

rather than any real departure from the past four years I'd been part of the group.

I was excited for it, not just because the activities seemed like they would be fun,

but because these people are my friends. Sure, we don't see each other as often as some

friends, but I feel like I've gotten to know each of the five other members of our group

pretty well over time, and I've reached the point that I look forward to our meetings more

for the social aspect than for any help or support it gives my writing. So, we gathered

up at Colby's house and headed out in his SUV to Winterfell's Wildlife Preserve.

Colby said he knew one of the guys that administered the property and we had the green light to be

there, which was cool for two reasons. First, only a handful of people were given permission

to camp on the property every year, so the likelihood of running into loud drunk teenagers camping

too close for comfort was very low. Second, there was an old abandoned place on the land that

was rumoured to be haunted. Now, I assume this second thing was likely BS, and if it had come from

Alan or Janet, are two horror and paranormal writers in the group, I would have said they were

just making up stuff as part of some elaborate Halloween story or prank. But all this information

...