About American Dark

American Dark is a free collection of true American stories: the haunted places people still whisper about, and the disappearances nobody has ever been able to explain. It is the work of a writer publishing under the pen name Clara Whitlock.

What this is

Volume I collects one hundred stories in two parts. The Places That Remember covers houses, asylums, prisons, hotels and battlefields where something terrible happened. Into Thin Air covers vanishings and unexplained deaths. Volume I is the first of ten planned volumes, which together will tell one thousand true stories from every corner of the United States.

How the stories are written

Each story is retold from public records, contemporary newspaper reporting, court documents, official reports and published histories. Sources are listed at the end of every story. Hauntings are presented as what they are, the accounts of witnesses, staff, visitors and investigators, and when a popular legend has no basis in the record, the story says so. Read more in our editorial policy.

About the pen name

Clara Whitlock is a pen name. The stories don’t rest on the writer’s credentials. They rest on the sources, which are listed openly so any reader can check them and follow a case further.

The free ebook

Every story on this site is also collected in one free ebook, American Dark, Volume I, in PDF and EPUB.

Get in touch

Corrections, questions and suggestions for future volumes are welcome at contact@americandarkbook.site.