A Spooky Tale for Halloween
How We Composed Our Piece with
Inspiration from Ohio
By
Corey Boyer and Anna Krejci
We
love a good ghost story. This Halloween time, we co-wrote our own tale,
and we had a fun time incorporating the history of several Ohio towns: Marietta
and Hudson. We love historical fiction, too, so a Halloween story that
takes place in the past is a joy to create. Here is a brief synopsis of
our story:
Edward,
a 13-year-old boy, coping with the sudden, recent loss of his father, is sent
to live with his great Aunt Betty and Uncle Daniel at their home in a small
Ohio town near the Pennsylvania border. The year is 1965 and the town is
planning its 50th Fall Heritage Festival, meant to celebrate the
prosperity that the railroad brought to it in the early 1900s. Edward has been
hired by a mysterious, elderly widow to clean and repair things in her grand
mansion, now in need of much attention. Within this mansion lies secrets
regarding the disappearance of a young girl during the 1905 festival. Edward
finds himself an integral part of solving the mystery of the girl’s
disappearance in the present day.
The
Writing Process
First,
before we even identified a plot, characters or setting, we set about our task
by selecting 10 words each that we wanted to include in our story. They
were random words, spoken off the top of our heads. The words gave us
some good prompts for how to write our story, too. We surprised ourselves
with what we generated from those 20 words combined. We chose words such
as “howl,” “shoelace,” “creaking,” and “singing.” Some words had little
connection to Halloween at first glance. By the end, all fit nicely into
our narrative.
Next,
we discussed the plot and characters. We researched facts about the early
20th century, such as inventions that were new at the time.
Photography, film and transportation history were all central to our
story. It was a pleasure to blend elements of true history into our
fiction. When composing a story based on historical facts, we are much
more likely to remember that history because we had such a personal use for
that information. It is easy to become quite attached to our writing.
Inspiration
from Travels
Since
this is a travel blog, we also drew inspiration from some of the places where
we have been. For example, when we visited Marietta, Ohio years ago, we
saw a plaque on the ground where a time capsule was buried beneath in the 1970s.
According to the plaque, it is set to be unearthed in 2076, marking the 300th
anniversary of the United States of America. We included a time capsule
in our story.
We
also found inspiration from the historical clock tower in downtown Hudson,
Ohio. In 1912, a wealthy donor paid to build the clock tower. The
structure is Romanesque brick architecture, and the early clockworks were
built by a company in Boston. Surveyors from Connecticut founded Hudson
in 1799. Last year, the city celebrated its 225th
anniversary. We included a clock tower for the story’s setting.
The
Spirit of Halloween Continues
Writing this story was a combination
of historical exploration, a word game, and flexing our creative writing
skills. It was also thrilling to immerse ourselves in the spirit of Halloween,
one of our favorite periods. Over the years, as we celebrate future Halloweens,
we may return to this activity. Let’s hope Edward and his aunt and uncle keep
the spirit of Halloween alive in their small town and across all of Ohio!
Source
“History of Hudson,” Hudson, Ohio.
Retrieved 28 Oct. 2025, https://www.hudson.oh.us/148/History-of-Hudson .
