Here's some more behind the scenes trivia:
The scene with the Rolling Stones record was the first one I wrote for the book.
The inhabitants of the fictitious mansion Herbert Terrace are named after the owners of the Carey Mansion, a house that inspired Trevor Hall.
The night of the visit to the deserted wing of the house, November 13, 1974, is the same night Ronald DeFeo murdered his family in Amityville, NY.
Tour guide Mrs. Harding is named for my friend Leyla Harding, who passed away in 2017. She and I had visited the Elms together several years before.
Fictitious parapsychologist Wilbur Roland is based on William G. Roll, who specialized in poltergeist investigations.
Opposing Viewpoints: The Supernatural is based on a real book I read as a child. It did indeed contain a chapter called “Can Humans Communicate with the Spirit World?”
The fictitious book's editor, William Irish, is a pseudonym of the prolific suspense author Cornell Woolrich (The Bride Wore Black (1940), Rear Window (1942), Black Alibi (1942).
Armand Stokes, contributor to the fictitious book, is named after my favorite "Dark Shadows" character Prof. Timothy Eliot Stokes.
Harry Dingwall, another contributor to the fictitious book, is named after Harry Houdini and Eric Dingwall, skeptics of the supernatural. Dingwall also co-authored The Haunting of Borley Rectory--A Critical Survey of the Evidence (1956).
Fictitious author Klaus Kleiner is based on writer and ghost hunter Hans Holzer, who wrote numerous books about his investigations, including Ghost Hunter (1963), Murder in Amityville (1969), and Real Hauntings: America's True Ghost Stories (1995). Regis Philbin once participated in a televised ghost hunt with Holzer.
The newspaper byline Logan Swanson is a pseudonym of one of my favorite authors Richard Matheson (I am Legend (1954), A Stir of Echoes (1958), numerous "Twilight Zone" episodes, and more).