Book Tour and Giveaway: The Wraith by Bryan W. Alaspa

Title: The Wraith

Author:  Bryan W. Alaspa

Publisher: Guffawing Dog Publishing

Publication Date: July 9th 2019

Genres: Horror, Suspense, Thriller 

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***FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING THE MAN FROM TAURED COMES A COMPANION NOVEL EXPLORING NEW DIMENSIONS OF HORROR***

The tiny town of Knorr, PA, is one of those places where the walls between this reality and others is very thin. It draws people from all over the world and sometimes things slip through from our world into others while sometimes things slip from other worlds into our own. Nightmare things.

During World War II an experiment was done using a steam engine to see if entering another dimension could create instant transportation of goods and men from one place to another. It unlocked a nightmare from another dimension and only agents from the agency IDEA were able to stop reality from unraveling. The train, known as The Wraith, disappeared along with the scientist who built it.

Now, in present day, a young man hears the distant sound of a train whistle. The rundown train station at the end of the wooded path is somehow regenerating. Plus, people in and around Knorr are acting a little stranger than normal.

The Wraith is coming back, but it's not coming alone. Will Knorr survive? Will the universe?

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Bryan W. Alaspa is a Chicago born and bred author of both fiction and non-fiction works. He has been writing since he sat down at his mother's electric typewriter back in the third grade and pounded out his first three-page short story. He spent time studying journalism and other forms of writing. He turned to writing as his full-time career in 2006 when he began writing freelance, online and began writing novels and books.

He is the author of over 30 books of both fiction and non-fiction and numerous short stories and articles.

Mr. Alaspa writes true crime, history, horror, thrillers, mysteries, detective stories and tales about the supernatural.

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How I Wrote The Wraith
by Bryan W. Alaspa

One of the things people always want to ask us writers is “where did the idea come from?” Basically, the act of writing a novel seems like magic to people who are not writers. I am not sure why, but it does. You get these kind of questions a lot when you write horror or creepy stuff like I do. How does your mind think that way?, they ask. Are you warped?

Well, I may be warped. That’s not for me to decide. For me, I think writing horror allows me to deal with the nightmares of the real world and channel them into something entertaining. I am not trying to change the world with my writing. I just want to entertain some folks. Allow them to spend a few hours reading my work and getting lost in the story.

So, how did I end up writing my latest novel - The Wraith?

Like so many things, it comes from something mundane. This is the thing to remember about horror. What is horrific? Horror can lurk in just about anything. Take my books out of the equation. Go to the King of Horror - Mr. Stephen King. Dogs, cars, hotels, cell phones, have all been the catalyst for tales of horror.

In the case of The Wraith it was standing outside my house one night walking my dogs. This isn’t the first time walking my dog has led to a novel, either. My novel After the Snowfall came about while walking a dog. But, this time, it was night and it was very dark. Then, while standing there waiting for the pooch to do his or her business when I heard a train whistle.

Have ever heard the horn of a freight train in the middle of the night? In particular, when it’s very dark and quiet. Not much happening and the nearest train track is a mile or two away. It sounds like a creature moaning in the night. It’s spooky.

I remember the sound sending chills down my spine. I thought this sounded like something haunted. From there, it reminded me of ghosts in the middle of the night, moaning and crying. Something lost trying to be found in the darkness.

The original title was The Phantom Train. As the story kicked around in my head for more than a year, it took on many forms. At one point, it was about as close to a zombie story as I ever got with bad guys from the ol’ West coming back on a ghost train to seek revenge. Then, something clicked. I saw this taking place in my fictional town of Knorr, PA (same location as Sapphire, The Witness and The Dead Phone). As I wrote, I combined elements from urban legends and creepy online stories. Then, at some point, I knew the Agents of IDEA (first seen in The Man From Taured) had to come back.

The Wraith then sat for a while before I came back to it and polished the story. It’s tough to juggle an entire town full of characters. Plus, my novel Storyland came to me in a bright flash and with the fury of a thousand suns, requiring me to put this story aside to work on that one for a while. Sometimes the stories come easy. The Wraith I had to work for.

No it’s out and, to my surprise, the companion novel The Man From Taured became a bit of a mild success for me. It seemed like perfect timing.

The Wraith was and is a labor of love. I love the town of Knorr. I love the Agents of IDEA. I’m glad you can finally be haunted the sounds of a train whistle in the night.

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