University students Sara Barrett and Jamie Denton are given their first assignment on the course, to report on a ghost story in a nearby village. Supposedly a woman appears and then disappears in the area. Heading to the village, they find out where the ghost is normally sighted, but also hear several tall tales and speculations from the locals. However, the ghost had allegedly been sighted recently and the pair go and interview the person to find out more. Directed to a local lake, they spend the time setting up their equipment, wondering if a few shots and a write-up would be enough as a freezing mist closes in over the area. Sara find herself in the midst of a group of villagers who are ducking someone they claim to be a witch. Unable to stop them killing the woman, Sara looks to carry out her final please over rescuing her children, even though she has no idea where or when she is.

A clever, self-contained, ghost story that wraps neatly back on itself. While the story starts off with a few hints of what might be to follow, by the end you can see where the pieces fit together. For the length of the work it feels surprisingly full of events pushing the plot onwards with few wasted words in setting a scene or reasoning to the reader. I did appreciate that the story doesn’t stop where it might have, but details some of the after effects of what would happen in the modern day, if such an event were to happen. The characters work well in the plot, starting as sceptics, before finding their world view is not entirely correct. Aside from that, the brief cast of supporting characters work nicely in guiding the story along, allowing the reader to discover the story at the same pace as our two journalists. There are a couple of issues, but in general for formatting and editing was fine and it certainly did not detract from the story.

The only time I was taken slightly out of the story was about Sara’s reactions in a situation that would have most people wondering if they had completely lost their mind. But in general, this was an enjoyable read and I would recommend to anyone looking for a well-written, coffee-break, ghost story.