Older Than Ghosts: A Novella

by Brandon White

In the middle of the night, Daniel and his mother flee their burning home in Mississippi for a bus bound to Chicago. There they find brief peace and safety at his grandparents’ house. But Daniel’s mother cannot resist the siren call of a tumultuous relationship and soon abandons Daniel to go back to her abusive partner.



At thirteen, Daniel believes he’s almost a man. So it’s his responsibility to rescue his mother. When an ancient spirit attached to his family becomes interested in his quest, their partnership will both test and temper the love between family members and the lengths they’re willing to go to save one another.

128 pages, Paperback

Expected publication April 21, 2026

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella is really compelling in its characterization of Daniel, the protagonist, and his quest/mandate to seek justice on behalf of her mother. Playing with the idea of ancestral spirits that could be evil, White explores trauma over generations, and the reasons because choices that define a family. While the novella opens with Daniel and his mother escaping an abusive situation, when his mother leaves to return to her partner, Daniel is visited by a spirit-demon that gives him instructions to seek justice. It’s an entity familiar to his grandparents, both tangible in its presence but also beyond space and time. The ending was quick and a bit unresolved, but also as a novella, it did a lot with the space allotted