What Goes Bump In the Night?

By Maureen L. Bonatch 

Why is it that everything is more terrifying in the dark? Do all of the boogeymen in the world wait for dusk to fall to prepare for an evening of shenanigans? As if they realize that moving the door ever so slightly or messing with that creaky step will be completely wasted if the sun is still up? Do they all wait for the sunset to begin a night of terror and torment, as if an office employee waiting for five o’clock to rush the door?

Creatures of the Night vs. Imagination

As darkness settles and cloaks the world it opens opportunities for ghosts, goblins and all likes of goobers to strike terror into the heart of ordinary day-walking folk. It’s that or it’s the blanket you forgot you hung over the chair that now resembles something unearthly in the shadows. 

You can’t suppress the terror that fills you when the linen room closet slowly opens—even though you routinely slam it shut in annoyance when it resists the plethora of linens jammed in there. 

However, that’s in the daytime. At night, it must be a spirit bursting from its confines.

Rules of the Night

I can’t attest for too much of the shenanigans of the midnight hours, because as an early bird, spending too much time willingly awake during those hours is unheard of for me. Although I do abide by certain guidelines when the night falls.

• A blanket serves as a superior shield against most evils. If you choose to stick your leg out to regulate your temperature you’re just asking for it by dangling this fleshy bait.
• Basements seem to serve as a storage area or family room during the day but once night falls they offer shelter to all likes of entities—get what you need early and get out!
• If you happen to wake up exactly at midnight go back to sleep fast because that’s like “happy hour” —quick, go back to sleep! Or if nothing else, close your eyes.
• Otherworldly entities seem to flee when faced with more than one person—don’t go it alone! As soon as you wake your partner to share your distress you know darn well that demonic disturbance will slink back to the shadows.
• Spiders and centipedes and other creepy-deeks seem to know that this is their time to shine. They gleefully strike terror into the heart of the hapless victim unfortunate enough to choose this time for a toilet break—watch your step!

Nightwalkers

My heroine in my upcoming release Evil Speaks Softly writes during the midnight hours, so of course this opens the door for a darker story than if the setting had been a cheery sunlit coffee house. 

Liv struggles with sorting the difference between the perils of her overactive imagination and the spirits that walk the night.

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They were never supposed to meet. Fame came easy for Liv by following in the footsteps of the female writers in her family. The cycle repeated for decades…until Liv changed the story. 

Her villain doesn’t like the revision—and he isn’t a fictional character. In his story, the bad guy always wins.

How Do You Deal With What Goes Bump in the Night?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four

seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter