The Ghost of the General

In The Ghost of the General, gothic horror novelist J.T. Marrow sends a quiet Oregon town hurtling down a track it can’t escape. Cottage Grove is celebrating its annual Buster Keaton Festival when park ranger Ellie Harper arrives, drawn to the lovingly restored locomotive known as the General — the same engine made famous by the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase, and infamous for the legend that rides with it.

That legend is Ezra “Blackthorn” Wade, a ruthless train robber whose vengeful spirit is said to haunt the rails. When eerie whispers, cold signs, and spectral warnings begin gathering around the festival, Ellie realizes the old story is no longer just a story. Alongside a skeptical engineer, a folklore expert, a sharp-witted teenager, and a carriage full of unsuspecting passengers, she is swept aboard a runaway train with no brakes and a ghost at the throttle.

To break Blackthorn’s curse, the group must recover a cursed gold coin and complete an ancient ritual before the General reaches a crumbling trestle bridge — a nexus of spectral power where the dead hold every advantage. Racing the clock and a rising tide of dread, they confront a wrath more than a century in the making.

Blending historical suspense with supernatural terror, The Ghost of the General is a haunting tale of ancestral guilt, redemption, and the stubborn strength of community. A gripping read for fans of ghost stories, gothic horror, and paranormal thrillers — available now in eBook and Paperback.