Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Swamp of Lost Souls: A Louisiana Story
    Swamp of Lost Souls: A Louisiana Story
    Swamp of Lost Souls: A Louisiana Story
    Ebook114 pages1 hour

    Swamp of Lost Souls: A Louisiana Story

    By Thomas Kingsley Troupe and Maggie Ivy

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Manchac Swamp in New Orleans, Louisiana, is rumored to be haunted, but Josh Athens doesn't believe it. It certainly didn't affect his decision to take a job with Bayou Boat Tours. But while trying to reach a stranded boat of tourists, Josh's coworker, Carter, crashes their airboat and suddenly their rescue mission turns into one of survival. The boys find the swamp is not only teeming with insects and other wildlife, but also the souls of a long-ago town. And the ghost thought to be at the center of it all, Aunt Julia Brown, has taken a particular interest in Josh. Will Josh and Carter find their way out, or will they join the lost souls of Manchac Swamp?

    Every state has its own spine-tingling stories of ghosts and mysterious hauntings grounded in its regional history. The Haunted States of America series uses real-life ghost lore as jumping-off points to new, chilling tales. An author’s note provides historical origins and fascinating facts, but beware: sometimes real life is stranger than fiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNorth Star Editions
    Release dateSep 1, 2019
    ISBN9781631633577
    Swamp of Lost Souls: A Louisiana Story
    Author

    Thomas Kingsley Troupe

    Thomas Kingsley Troupe has been making up stories ever since he was in short pants. As an “adult,” he’s the author of a whole lot of books for kids. When he’s not writing, he enjoys movies, biking, taking naps, and hunting ghosts as a member of the Twin Cities Paranormal Society. Raised in “Nordeast” Minneapolis, he now lives in Woodbury, Minnesota with his awe-inspiring family.

    Read more from Thomas Kingsley Troupe

    Related to Swamp of Lost Souls

    Related ebooks

    Children's Historical For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Why The Stress-reducing 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Is The Game For This Time Of Coronavirus

      Mar 17, 2020

      As the Friday release date of Nintendo's "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" approaches, there have been calls on social media for the Japanese video game giant to unleash the latest edition of the game series early - to pull a similar advance-release mo

      5 min read

    • Article

      Shoot For The Moon

      Nov 30, 2023

      When Dene Carter released Moonring in September, a few days before his 25th wedding anniversary, he’d spent four and a half years working on it. His Ultima-inspired RPG had attracted so little attention in its early-access form that his expectations

      3 min read

    • Article

      Letterbocks

      Nov 19, 2020

      I HAD my septic tank emptied by an engineer called Thomas Moore. I was about make a very clever play on words by remarking “who will rid me of this turbulent piss,” when I remembered that was Thomas Becket, not Thomas More, and so narrowly avoided a

      9 min read

    • Article

      Perv-O-Shine And Sleep Vaping: 23 Things I Learned About The World – And Myself – At Glastonbury 2023

      Jun 26, 2023

      Sure, sure, it’s hot, and you’re not going to shower, and this will force some choices at Glastonbury that you wouldn’t make in regular life: shorter shorts, for instance, or a hat. This doesn’t even come close to explaining the wild precision, the c

      7 min read

    • Article

      “I Love Taking Risks”

      Sep 24, 2023

      “I Love Taking Risks”
      3 min read

    • Article

      What To Play: 'Untitled Goose Game' Gives Us The Rebel Superhero We Need — A Goose

      Oct 7, 2019

      Many of us, especially those who came of age during an era of superhero blockbusters - from Tim Burton's 1989 take on "Batman" to, well, this very second - have dreamed of being a savior. But who knew that all this time the superhero I wanted to be w

      4 min read

    • Article

      Thirty-dollar ‘Coons

      Jan 22, 2021

      Thirty-dollar ‘Coons
      3 min read

    • Article

      Citizen Sleeper

      Jan 26, 2023

      Format PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series Developer Jump Over The Age Publisher Fellow Traveller Origin UK Release 2022 There’s a simple reason why Citizen Sleeper relies so heavily on dice rolls: Gareth Damian Martin discovered tabletop RPGs while de

      8 min read

    • Article

      Birth

      Aug 11, 2022

      Developer Madison Karrh Publisher Madison Karrh, Wings Format PC Origin US Release January There is a fine art to evoking the particular churn of emotions that accompany a major life event, and Madison Karrh’s macabre point-and-click adventure percep

      3 min read

    • Article

      Chinatown

      Sep 27, 2020

      Chinatown
      2 min read

    • Article

      Justin Wack and the Big Time Hack

      May 26, 2023

      Point-and-click adventure fans rejoice! Justin Wack and the Big Time Hack is an indie tribute to the much-loved LucasArts games from yesteryear. If you have fond memories of The Secret of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Loom, a couple of Indiana Jones

      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘Why Can’t Anyone Make A Decision?’ My First Time As A D&D Dungeon Master

      Dec 13, 2022

      Four bedraggled adventurers stand together on the shore of a desolate island, shivering in the evening mist. They don’t know each other, and their motives for being here are unclear. But as they make stilted conversation they see, emerging from the b

      6 min read

    • Article

      Mummy Dearest

      Dec 1, 2023

      Mummy Dearest
      8 min read

    • Article

      Drawing Dogs in George Booth’s Living Room

      Oct 5, 2017

      Early pages from Here, George! Even with the most contemplative toddler on your lap, a dramatic reading of Sandra Boynton’s Moo, Baa, La La La! will probably top out at two minutes. That’s approximately how long it took Boynton—the beloved children’

      5 min read

    • Article

      Richard Porter

      May 12, 2021

      THE GENIUS WATCHED THE EXPLOSION ON THE screen with cold, impassive eyes. As the burning debris fell across the launch site he calmly tapped the side of his wireless headset and spoke. ‘Have them build another one,’ he said flatly. ‘I want it ready b

      3 min read

    • Article

      ‘What An Unpleasant Man’: Alan Partridge Interviews Steve Coogan

      May 14, 2022

      Full disclosure. I don’t like Steve Coogan. But when the Guardian asked me to interview the controversial funnyman, I jumped at the chance – and not just because I’ve been replaced by a younger presenter on the BBC’s magazine show This Time, and have

      7 min read

    • Article

      'The Card Life'

      Jul 20, 2021

      'The Card Life'
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Swamp of Lost Souls

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Swamp of Lost Souls - Thomas Kingsley Troupe

      Swamp of Lost Souls © 2020 by North Star Editions, Mendota Heights, MN 55120. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Book design by Sarah Taplin

      Cover illustration by Maggie Ivy

      Interior illustrations by Clonefront Entertainment (Beehive Illustration)

      Published in the United States by Jolly Fish Press, an imprint of North Star Editions, Inc.

      First Edition

      First Printing, 2019

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Troupe, Thomas Kingsley, author.

      Title: Swamp of lost souls / by Thomas Kingsley Troupe.

      Description: First edition. | Mendota Heights, MN : Jolly Fish Press, [2020] |

         Series: Haunted States of America | Summary: "Due to a series of unfortunate

         events, Josh is stuck in Manchac Swamp, Louisiana, with the souls of a long-

         ago town, and Aunt Julia Brown"—Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2018060108 (print) | LCCN 2019003928 (ebook) | ISBN 

         9781631633577 (ebook) | ISBN 9781631633560 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781631633553 

         (hardcover)

      Subjects: | CYAC: Ghosts—Fiction. | Haunted places—Fiction. | Blessing and 

         cursing—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Manchac Swamp (La.)—Fiction. | 

         Horror stories. | LCGFT: Ghost stories. | Fiction.

      Classification: LCC PZ7.T7538 (ebook) | LCC PZ7.T7538 Sw 2019 (print) | DDC 

         [Fic]—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018060108)

      Jolly Fish Press

      North Star Editions, Inc.

      2297 Waters Drive

      Mendota Heights, MN 55120

      www.jollyfishpress.com

      Printed in the United States of America

      Thomas Kingsley Troupe

      Mendota Heights, Minnesota

      Chapter 1

      Stranded

      Josh Athens moved the size small alligator T-shirt to the front of the rack. He made sure the medium, large, and extra-large sizes were all lined up behind it, in order.

      You know that’s going to get messed up pretty much an hour or so from now, right?

      Carter, Josh’s coworker, leaned over the gift shop counter, shaking his head at him. He held his smartphone in his hand, as if the straightening of the T-shirts had interrupted something much more important that was happening on his phone.

      What else are we supposed to do? Josh asked. He didn’t have a smartphone of his own and was saving his money for something else.

      Relax, overachiever, Carter said. I know you’re the new guy here, but you’re going to make me look bad.

      That shouldn’t be hard, Josh thought and turned to hide his smirk.

      It was Josh’s third day on the job at Bayou Boat Tours, a touristy spot outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, that took curious customers on a tour of the Manchac Swamp. He’d wanted to find a job that didn’t require getting greasy while working in a fast food restaurant. At fifteen years old, there weren’t many better options.

      None of Josh’s friends from school bothered to apply to Bayou Boat Tours. Some of them thought the swamp was haunted, while others didn’t want to go anywhere near a place with that many alligators swimming around. Since Josh didn’t believe in supernatural stuff and knew alligators weren’t looking to eat people, he applied and landed the job the next day.

      He just hoped working there wasn’t going to end up making for a boring summer.

      So what should I do instead? Josh asked.

      Just sit and wait, man, Carter said, turning his attention back to his phone. Watch TV until the tour gets back. Or, I don’t know, eat some chips or something.

      Josh walked around the small gift shop, looking once again at all of the stuff Bayou Boat Tours had for sale. There were racks of T-shirts with the company logo on the breast pocket, but more than a few of the shirts had alligators or frogs them instead. There were stuffed gator toys for kids, pint glasses, and keychains. Josh was convinced they sold about anything a tourist would want as a swampy souvenir.

      The store itself was kind of small, with wood paneling. The counter had a cash register on it along with some small snacks like gum, gator jerky, and breath mints. Josh saw that a pack of the mints had fallen outside of the little display box and he went over and put it back.

      All right, you’re going to drive me nuts, Carter said. Are you one of those neat freaks or something?

      What? Josh asked. No. I mean, I don’t think so.

      You seem like the kind of person who has to have everything in order, Carter said, setting his phone down.

      Not at all, Josh said. I just don’t want to get fired if the place is all messy and it looks like we’re not doing anything.

      Don’t worry, Carter said. I’ve been working here since I was your age—

      How old are you now? Josh asked, interrupting.

      I’ll be nineteen at the end of the summer, Carter announced, as if proud of himself for having lived that long. And it’s pretty laid back here. Tom takes the tourists out for a spin through the swamp, they get all excited if they see an alligator or two, they come back and buy stuff from the shop. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Easiest job ever, man.

      Josh nodded. Carter wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know from his first two days on the job. Tom and his wife Cindy had shown him the ropes the day he started. They even gave him a quick tour of the swamp in case one of the customers had any questions.

      It seems pretty easy, Josh said. But don’t you get bored?

      Carter shrugged. I get paid whether I’m bored or not.

      Yeah, I just need something to do, Josh admitted, picking up a small, dark-green stuffed gator with

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1