Hello peeps!
The last couple of weeks have been a blur of Jewish holidays, so I haven't watched much of anything lately.
But I HAVE been writing and reading quite a bit, so let's get into it!
✍️ I Think My Next Book Has a Title...
I officially finished Act One of the first draft!
I'm currently working on Chapter 12, and I'm really happy with how the story is coming together.
And... I think it finally has a title.
The Abandoned School
It's still technically a working title, so don't tattoo it anywhere just yet, but this is the one that keeps calling me back.
And there's a reason for that.
Back in my Jewish high school in Venezuela, there was an urban legend that had been passed down for generations. My parents knew it too.
On the grounds of the Jewish club sat an old abandoned structure that had originally been a school run by nuns. Later, after the Jewish community acquired the property, it became the first school of the newly formed community.
Eventually, the community outgrew it and built a much larger school, leaving the old building tucked away in a forgotten corner of the club.
And over the years, stories started spreading.
The most famous one?
The Headless Nun.
That legend stuck around for decades, and it's one of the things that inspired this book.
The supernatural elements are fictional, but a lot of what happens in the story is inspired by real events and personal experiences.
And honestly, I think that's what makes this one feel darker than anything I've written before.
Because some of the scariest things in The Abandoned School have nothing to do with ghosts.
I'm still a long way from the finish line, but Act One is officially done.
What do you think of The Abandoned School as a title so far? Hit reply and let me know. I'm curious whether it gives you the same creepy feeling it gives me.
📖 The Haunting of Hill House
I also finally finished Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.
This was a strange one for me.
The book was published in 1959, and honestly, one of my favorite parts was simply getting a window into that time period. The way people interacted, entertained themselves, and moved through everyday life feels surprisingly foreign now.
As for the horror, it's much quieter than most modern horror I've read. It's unsettling rather than terrifying, and there's some genuinely beautiful prose in here, especially at the beginning and end (If you know, you know.)
That said, I struggled with parts of it. Some of the prose was difficult for me to follow, probably partly because English is my second language and partly because the writing style comes from such a different era. A few of the characters also felt a little thin to me, and there were moments where the story became more convoluted than I wanted it to be.
And I'm going to say something potentially dangerous...
I think the Netflix series is considerably better. 😅
It feels more cohesive, the characters have more depth, and there are more twists and layers to the story as well as a lot more horror.
Still, I'm glad I finally read the classic that inspired it all. 6/10
📚 What I'm Reading Next
Next up is Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez.
I'm only about 20 pages in, so I have NO idea where this thing is going yet.
So far, there's a father and son who seem to be running from something or someone, supernatural entities, unnerving horror, and what appears to be some kind of dark magic system.
So naturally...
I'm HOOKED!
I also love that it's set in Latin America, specifically Argentina. I haven't read enough horror set in that part of the world, and it's close to home, so I'm really excited to see where it goes.
I'll keep you posted!
🐶 Meet my bed companion
That's all for this week! And if you haven't already, let me know what you think of The Abandoned School as the working title.
Stay weird and keep those pages turning,
A.B. Cohen
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