“Some places speak distinctly. Certain dark gardens cry aloud for a murder; certain old houses demand to be haunted; certain coasts are set apart for shipwreck.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
Ghosts are a big part of The Palantir, so I did a little digging into ghosts and how many people believe they exist. If you believe in ghosts, then you’re not alone. Surveys show that between 40-50% of people believe in ghosts, up from 25% a few decades ago. It’s not just in the U.S. either. Belief in the supernatural is common throughout the world.
Before I started writing these books, I didn’t believe in them. But as I researched later books in the series (especially quantum physics, where some of the most intelligent people in the world think there are alternate universes), I have become more open to the possibility. I’ve also thought about this question because my wife believes she’s had three instances where a spirit reached out to her.
As I said in an earlier post, I initially set my first book in Salem because of its reputation (by the way, I loved visiting the city). Since I imagined it as a Young Adult fantasy book, I gave my protagonist the ability to see ghosts. I didn’t add magic to the series for a long time.
At first, my ghosts were fictional characters. It wasn’t until after my trip to Lamanai, where I learned that truth is stranger than fiction, that I decided to link my ghosts to historical people or legends. I’m so glad I did. I think the characters are far more interesting with their real backgrounds than anything I could make up. Below are three of the ghosts in The Palantir.
Thorfinn Karlsefni. Early Viking explorer and father of the first European descendant born in North America.
Sylvanus Morley. The man some say was the inspiration for Indiana Jones.
Ichabod Crane. Disney’s 1949 version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the first film I can remember seeing. With something that is that memorable, how could I not put Ichabod into the book? But I’ve always felt bad for him, so I’ve added him to my series. You’ll see him again in later books.
When people think of ghosts, they often think of cemeteries – I tend to think of houses. For instance, I’ve always associated The House of Seven Gables with ghosts. The picture below is the actual House of Seven Gables that Nathaniel Hawthorne based his book on.
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