River Hill

River Hill: A Ghost Story is a work written in four parts, each using a different strategy: social media, map, hypertext fiction, and interactive fiction. If you haven’t read the whole story yet, follow the links below. Though a linear narrative isn’t always necessary in this kind of storytelling, you may want to start at the beginning, so you get to know the characters. I would tell you to keep reading until you reach the end, but how many endings are there really, and for how long will the story continue to be written?

Part 1: Meet Sarah as she moves to Columbus, Mississippi, and starts to make friends. This part of the story was initially told on Twitter, and retold recently on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads.

Part 2: Follow along as Sarah and Marcus explore their town and do research on the local history behind the town’s ghost stories, which will lead them to River Hill. This part of the story is told using Google Maps. or now also on uMap.

Part 3: Explore River Hill with Sarah as she looks for Marcus, or read the early stories of Mary, Rose, and others associated with this house, which just might be haunted. This part of the story is told on its own website.

Part 4: Continue the search for Marcus, as Sarah wanders through the empty house, discovering its many secrets. This part is told as Interactive Fiction, a text-based game written in Inform 7.