Story Spotlight: “Haunting Chloe” by James Pyles
In “Haunting Chloe,” James Pyles sets a lonely girl on a frozen lake during winter break—where an encounter with a ghostly boy turns eerie, unsettling, and quietly unforgettable.
Chloe didn’t expect much from her winter break in the tiny town of Alice Cove—until a pale boy appears on the ice and tries to pull her under. What follows is a quietly chilling tale of grief, resistance, and the blurred line between kindness and manipulation. Middle-grade horror meets emotional resonance in this fog-draped ghost story for all ages.
Then she heard a crack. Her stomach churned and her legs started shaking. Chloe held her breath and looked down. She could see the water under the ice, and it looked way too close to the surface. Fracture lines formed around her like a spider web. She began to panic as she kept sliding further out, and then remembered how to stop. She wanted to go back to shore, but what about the boy?
“Come on!” She waved at him again, but he kept shouting for her to go back.
She felt herself tremble but then realized it wasn’t just her shaking. Chloe turned around and headed for the pier. He was right. The ice was breaking. She kept going, watching the pier get closer. Then she heard a scream and a crash behind her. Chloe swiveled around just in time to see the boy disappear in a hole in the lake. The shattering ice became deafening. A second later it was quiet.
He didn’t come back up.
About the Author
James Pyles is a science fiction and fantasy writer and technology author. Since 2019, over sixty of his short stories have been featured in anthologies and periodicals. His novellas include Time’s Abyss, Ice, The Fallen Shall Rise, and The Haunting of the Ginger’s Regret.
Find James at: poweredbyrobots.com
Behind the Story
Davy, the ghost boy in “Haunting Chloe,” died in 1964—though the story never says so outright. For James Pyles, knowing that detail shaped everything, from Davy’s behavior to his bond with his sister. James even tracked down old TV schedules to decide whether Davy would’ve wanted to watch Route 66 while his sister preferred The Flintstones—a moment that didn’t make the final cut, but still echoes in the story’s emotional texture. “I don’t think my parents let me watch Route 66,” James said, “but I did watch The Flintstones.”
Read the Story
“Haunting Chloe” appears in Haunted Places, available now from Blackbird Publishing.
📚 Buy the book from your favorite store
If you liked…
- Small Spaces by Katherine Arden—for its eerie atmosphere and clever, vulnerable protagonist
- The Girl in the Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn—for ghost stories with heart and quiet danger
…then you’ll enjoy “Haunting Chloe”—a frozen-lake ghost story about letting go, holding on, and listening to your instincts.
📘 Also featured in Haunted Places: “That Lake House Summer” by Deb Logan, another story of connection, haunting, and transformation told through a young girl’s eyes.