Welcome Paranormal Enthusiasts!

As the nights grow longer and the air turns crisp, it feels only fitting to dive into the world of the paranormal. With Halloween just around the corner, we're shining a spotlight on auronautic, whose work taps into the eerie, the unexplained, and the wonderfully strange. From their love of bending reality's rules into a 'what if' playground, their storytelling reminds us why this season is the perfect time to explore what lurks in the shadows.

Author Spotlight: auronautic

What draws you to the paranormal genre?

I just think that reality has so many rules... gravity is non-negotiable, you have to pay taxes, and you can't just develop telekinesis to grab the TV remote when you're feeling lazy, right? And the paranormal genre allows me to break all the rules. The ultimate 'what if' playground for a writer, if you may. I've also always been incredibly fascinated by the blurry line between myth and reality, between science and superstition. The paranormal lives in that grey space. It's like the modern folklore of our time. It allows you to ask enormous questions: What happens after we die? Are we alone? What is the true nature of good and evil? But you get to explore those questions with vampires, haunted houses, and ancient curses! Just super cool stuff.

Was your first paranormal story and has it inspired your other works so far?

That would be Dead Wrong! The whole story really started with a single image in my head: a student trying desperately to get to class on time, but being physically blocked by a very stubborn, very transparent 200-year-old ghost. That student became Soren Everglade, a faerie who sees the dead and is just deeply annoyed by it. And Soren's voice has definitely inspired everything that's come after. I discovered how much I enjoy writing characters who are thrown into these epic, world-altering situations and their only reaction is like, 'Are you kidding me right now?'. I love writing about the mix of the extraordinary and the utterly mundane! Like, how does a looming supernatural threat affect your friendships, your study habits, your love life? This human-level, relatable struggle within a supernatural setting is a theme I'll probably be chasing for my entire career.

What paranormal trope do you secretly love—even if readers roll their eyes?

Entities that feed on human emotion. Fear, sorrow, rage, or even joy... I guess, sometimes readers might feel like it's a bit on-the-nose; oh, the monster isn't just a monster. It's a walking, talking metaphor for anxiety, blah, blah.

But that's precisely why I adore it so much. I think it makes the paranormal deeply personal. Because the threat isn't just an external force to be punched; it's tangled up with the character's internal state. To defeat the monster, you can't just shoot it with a silver bullet. Now you have to find courage, process grief, or learn to hope again. It turns a simple monster hunt into a story about healing and self-discovery, and it gives the supernatural stakes that feel incredibly real.

Also a big fan of the idea of simple, household items being powerful wards against supernatural evil. You know, a line of salt stopping a demon, the idea that vampires need an invitation, or that the fae are repelled by cold iron.

You could also just throw me a good old-fashioned haunted object and I'll eat it up every time. The creepy doll, the antique music box, the locket that feels cold to the touch? I'll take all of them, actually.

What's your process for worldbuilding in the paranormal realm? Where does logic meet lore in your work?

My process is to anchor everything in our reality first, and then decide where the magic leaks in. Like for example, in Dead Wrong, I started with a real-world setting (a university campus) and then treated the paranormal like a hidden layer of physics. Every student knows you don't walk on the grass on the main quad; in my world, they also learn (the hard way) that you don't walk through the ghost of the old librarian in the history section. For me, lore is the source code, the ancient myths about ghosts or fae. Logic is how that code gets compiled and executed in a modern setting. It's the 'user manual' for the supernatural. For every piece of lore like, 'Iron is harmful to fae,' I create a logical extension: 'Okay, so does Soren get a rash if he leans on a wrought iron fence? Is his dorm room bed frame a problem?' That process of applying practical, almost scientific logic to ancient, magical lore is what makes the world feel solid and believable to me. It's less about grand magical systems (I'm also not nearly smart enough for all of that) and more about the gritty, everyday details of living with magic.

What's the most "serious" research rabbit hole you fell into while writing?

Medieval grimoires, specifically the Ars Goetia (which is essentially just a 17th-century textbook on demonology, by the way). I wanted to understand what a historical 'spellbook' was actually like. And I discovered that apparently, it wasn't just a list of spells; it was a full-blown demonic encyclopedia. I spent weeks learning the names, ranks, and appearances of the 72 demons of the Goetia, studying their sigils, and reading the incredibly intricate, almost legalistic instructions for summoning them. LOL. The idea that magic in history wasn't always chaotic... it was often systematic, procedural, and full of rules, is a fascinating concept to play with as a writer.

Ever finished a draft and thought, "This is either genius or a disaster. I'll let the readers decide"?

All the time. The stories that feel the most potent are often the ones I have to look back on and almost reverse-engineer to see if they make sense. I wrote a story about a woman haunted by a pair of porcelain dolls, and the logic of that story isn't exactly linear; it's the cold, inescapable logic of a nightmare.

When I finished that draft, I knew I hadn't written a story for everyone. I'd created a tuning fork. The 'genius' is if I hand it to a reader and it vibrates in them. If they feel that claustrophobia, that awful sense of inherited guilt, and if that final image of the glass eye makes their own eye water in sympathy.

The 'disaster' is... if their frequency doesn't match. That's one of my greatest fears as a writer, too. To them, it's just a silent piece of metal; the story will feel strange for strangeness's sake. So, I don't just let readers decide. I rely on them to.

But at the end of the day, I guess my job is to just strike that tuning fork as clearly as I can. Their job is to tell me if they heard anything.

What's your writing process like? Plotter, pantser, somewhere in between or depends on the moon phase?

I'd call myself a hybrid (leaning towards pantsing). I don't enjoy creating detailed, chapter-by-chapter outlines. For me, that removes the joy of discovery from the actual writing. However, I do think a certain amount of planning is essential to prevent the story from falling apart. Before I start a draft, I'll typically write a short summary that establishes the beginning, a few major, non-negotiable turning points, and, most importantly, a clear ending. Knowing my final destination is crucial. From there, the scene-to-scene journey, the dialogue, and most of the subplots are discovered as I write.

Do you believe in real-life paranormal experiences? (Tell us more if you want!)

I suppose you could call me a hopeful skeptic? A hopeful skeptic with their skepticism seriously challenged, more like.

I grew up in a home with a heavy history of family tragedy, and for years, we had all sorts of odd, unexplainable experiences. Enough to convince me that I was living in a classic haunted house.

But... then we discovered a severe, undiscovered mold infestation (which, as it turns out, can cause hallucinations, paranoia, and feelings of dread, for those who do not know). It was the perfect, rational, scientific explanation. I was like, 'Well, case closed. No ghosts, just fungus.'

But! But. I moved about two years ago. No mold in the new house but the experiences were even more intense. The air felt heavy, things would move, there was a deeply unsettling feeling that I just couldn't explain away. I would see things. Hear voices. Laughter. At some point, someone from the (third floor!) window would call my name every night. The ONE time I followed it to check what was going on, I ended up severely injured. So... the jury's back out! *laughs nervously*

My current house is wonderfully, blissfully boring. And incredibly quiet. So, do I believe? I believe some houses have bad plumbing, some have mold, and some... well, some just have bad roommates you can't see. I'm just grateful to have finally found a quiet one.

Which supernatural creature would you most want to meet in real life – and why?

Hard pass on all of them, chief. My personal experiences have taught me that the real-life uncanny isn't exactly an adventure. It's a deeply unsettling feeling of 'wrongness' that's hard to shake. My experiences have taught me a profound respect for the boundary between our world and... whatever else is out there, I suppose.

Like, hey, your power is awesome! It's power I'm content to observe from a very, very safe distance. Besides, can you imagine the logistics in an Indian city? Trying to get a vampire an Aadhaar card? Explaining to my housing society secretary why my new friend has a strict 'no sunlight' policy and a weird aversion to the Ganpati festival? What a nightmare.

What's the biggest challenge when writing supernatural elements?

Maintaining believable stakes. Always. In a story where the normal rules of life and death are optional, it's incredibly easy for nothing to really matter. If your protagonist is a ghost, what are they afraid of? If they can be healed by a magic spell, how do you make a fight feel dangerous? The key is to realize that the most compelling stakes are rarely physical. They have to be emotional, psychological, or spiritual. For a ghost, the true terror isn't being exorcised; it's being forgotten. For a magic user, the consequence of a spell might not be a backfire, but an unforeseen, terrible moral cost. The challenge is ensuring every supernatural act has a real and often painful human consequence.

Also, constantly answering the question: 'So what?' It's easy to get lost in creating cool monsters or intricate magic systems, but a supernatural element for its own sake is just a special effect. For every strange occurrence or creature I introduce, I have to ask, 'So what does this actually mean for the human characters?' If you can remove the supernatural element and the core emotional story still works, then you've failed the test.

What's the vibe: creepy, romantic, mysterious, all of the above?

All of the above is my go-to. A very deliberate choice because I feel like unrelenting creepiness can be exhausting for a reader. You need to give them moments to breathe, and that's exactly what the romance and comedy are for. They're the perfect breathing room. A moment of genuine romantic connection makes the threat of losing that person feel ten times more potent. A well-placed joke heightens the tension, because that right there is a stark contrast to the horror that's coming. It's a balancing act. I love writing the full spectrum because I want the reader to feel the full spectrum: Laugh at a joke! swoon at a kiss! And then be absolutely terrified when the lights go out.

What's one fun or random fact about you that might surprise readers?

This might sound like a professional failing for a paranormal writer, but I get spooked incredibly easily. I have an extremely overactive imagination, which is a great tool for a writer, but a terrible feature for someone trying to walk to the kitchen for a glass of water at 2 AM.

I have the courage of a very small, very nervous hamster. I'm the kind of person who will see a scary movie trailer and have to sleep with a light on for the next three days. People ask how that works, and my honest answer is that when I'm writing, I have the cheat codes. When I'm reading or watching someone else's work, I'm just another potential victim.

So yes, I'll write the haunting, but you won't catch me watching a documentary about it after 6 PM.

Which other Wattpad authors or books in the genre do you admire?

Oh, it's such an exciting time to be reading paranormal on Wattpad right now. So many authors are doing incredible things. A personal favorite who I think everyone should read is Philline (writing00introvert). I'm just consistently blown away by how she weaves queer romance into the spooky stuff. It's a perfect example of what I love about the genre on the platform right now. She nails that vibe the best.

Any upcoming projects, events, or releases you want to tease?

Right now, my main focus is on a collection of creepy little short stories. It's been a fantastic way to explore different corners of the paranormal without the commitment of a full novel.

One of them, however, is getting a little too big for its boots and is starting to feel like a novel.

Here's the story roughly summarized: For Sameer, who grew up an orphan, inheriting a family estate is a dream come true. It's a connection to a history he never had. The sprawling, lonely mansion seems to welcome him. At first, its presence is comforting, almost nurturing. A cold draft stops when he shivers; a misplaced phone appears where he needs it most; the faint scent of his mother's favorite flowers lingers in the air. But the house's affection soon becomes possessive. It doesn't want him to leave. Friends who visit have "accidents." The phone lines go dead when he tries to make plans. The comfort becomes a gilded cage, and Sameer realizes the house isn't giving him the family he never had... it's trying to become his only family.

Forever.

And to escape, he may have to destroy the only home that has ever loved him back.

Is there anything else you'd love to share with readers or fellow writers?

I guess my final thought is a piece of advice I'm constantly giving myself, so maybe another writer needs to hear it too: give yourself permission to be strange.

Don't worry so much about sticking to one tone. The paranormal genre is such a massive sandbox. You can have a gut-wrenching romance followed by a terrifying haunting, and then break the tension with a sarcastic joke. Life is tonally inconsistent; our stories can be too. Let your vampire be a little bit funny! Let your haunted house have a tragic love story! Write the story that only you can write, in all its creepy, romantic, and hilarious glory.

The audience for your specific brand of weird is out there. And they're waiting for it. I promise.

And also just a huge, heartfelt thank you. Honestly, that's the main thing. To everyone who reads, comments, and gets invested in these strange little worlds we build... you are the entire reason we do this. Writing is often a very solitary act, and knowing you're on the other side of the screen, experiencing the story with us, means everything.

Closing out our feature with auronatic, it's clear their journey into the paranormal is as haunting as it is inspiring. As the festival of fear — and fun — creeps closer, their words serve as a reminder that the unknown is never far from reach; sometimes just a whisper in the dark or a flicker in the corner of our eye. So, whether you're lighting a jack-o'-lantern, curling up with a ghost story, or daring to peek into the unknown, keep an eye out... you might just find a little of their magic there 🎃👻