He explained that that the house was haunted by many ghosts, and each had a backstory that he’d surmised from communicating with them. One of these ghosts was Chloe, an abandoned child with an affinity for playing with a yellow bouncy ball, which she would move of her own accord. He tossed the yellow ball into the center of the circle and all of us stared at it, waiting. A few minutes passed.

The man met her gaze with rheumy eyes that welled with fresh tears. Justine felt her own throat tighten as she spoke in hurried, hushed tones. “My mother’s an invalid. We can’t travel. But you and your family could still book a flight, or just get in your car and drive. Get as far away as you can before it happens.”

It was around July 4th, as I immersed myself in Holcomb, Oklahoma. Holcomb was not a big or even mid-sized suburb like Burbank, but it was a town where everyone knew each other with a downtown not unlike Burbank’s. Perry Smith and Dick Hickock shot the Clutters in the comfort of their home, in their own beds, at close range; in the face. Although the Clutters were targeted, rumored to have money, the randomness of the crime, in the middle of nowhere made me wondered when and where The Nightstalker would strike next.