Louise Brooks-inspired thriller, The Haunting of Emily Pierson, now published

Scott R. Howe is a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, and a longtime supporter of the Louise Brooks Society. His novel, The Haunting of Emily Pierson, has just been published. The book is a revised and retitled version of his 2022 Louise Brooks-inspired thriller Pandora's Box. Scott is a good writer, and I am looking forward to checking out this new edition of what promises to be a terrorific novel.

The Haunting of Emily Pierson marks Scott R. Howe’s debut into the world of psychological horror. This gripping first novel blends psychological tension with supernatural dread, while promising to keep readers on the edge of their seats. And what's more, Louise Brooks is a central "character".

The book's description: 

"Emily thought she was running toward a fresh start when she left behind her job, her two-year relationship, and her old life, settling in a quiet apartment in Rochester, New York. But what was supposed to be a refuge quickly turns into something far more unsettling. The previous tenant, an elderly recluse and once silent film icon, died in this same apartment—and she hasn’t truly left.

Emily finds ever more disturbing connections with the woman. They seem to share a secret and she feels compelled to uncover it. The deeper she digs, the more the apartment’s chilling presence tightens its grip, making her question what is real and what lies hidden in the shadows.

In order to regain her peace, Emily must confront the unsettling truth that connects her to this haunting presence. However, there are certain secrets that are better left buried, and facing them may not only harm her and those she holds close, but also have far-reaching consequences.

A spine-tingling tale of psychological horror and the supernatural, The Haunting of Emily Pierson, will make you question what lingers in the spaces we call home."

An excerpt from the novel:

After a pause, Hazel said, “I’m so sorry, dear. I just realized that I haven’t told you who I’m talking about.” 

Emily shook her head, smiling politely.

“Well, if you were as old as I am, you’d probably know her by name or at the very least by that hair style she had when she was young.”

Hazel paused again. “Can you believe I used to care for a world-famous Hollywood film actress?”
Emily perked up a bit. Hazel’s reference to a once-famous person provided an intriguing twist to the mystery. 

“Please tell me you’ve heard of Charlie Chaplin or Greta Garbo, dear,” Hazel teased.

“Yes, of course, I’ve heard of them.”

“Well, the woman I’m referring to had affairs with both of ’em!”

Emily grabbed her laptop and pulled it closer.

"Who was it that used to live here?” asked Emily, opening her browser with her fingers poised, ready to type.

“Louise Brooks,” responded Hazel as she watched Emily type the search terms into the search bar. 

“Louise Brooks,” 1920s film actress…

Emily’s screen became filled with references and images, causing her to be transfixed. A black-and-white image of a woman from a bygone era stared back. She was incredibly beautiful, and her appearance seemed quite contemporary. The woman in the photos wore her jet-black hair in a bob, cut short, at her ears, with the dark pointed tips cutting into her alabaster cheeks, perfectly framing her dark, sultry eyes. The straight lines of her blunt bangs were the ideal accent to her stick-straight brows, and her perfect lips curved in just enough of a pout to seem sad yet inviting. 

Emily had no clue that women in the 1920s could look like this. The flappers she had seen in photographs from that era looked nothing like this woman. They wore their hair in curls, and they looked almost comical — like Betty Boop.

For Emily, the woman’s appearance was completely hypnotic. One image struck Emily’s eye. The faded picture of a little girl standing outside, next to a chair. Emily focused her concentration even more and clicked on the image, enlarging it to fill her laptop screen. Emily’s mind swirled. The little girl in the photograph looked like the young girl she had seen on Halloween night. Emily’s eyes moved down to the caption below the photo.

Louise Brooks, age 9, on the front porch of her family’s home in Cherryvale, Kansas, 1915.
“As I told you, dear, Louise Brooks hasn’t lived in this building for a very long time, and she died before you were even born.” Hazel surveyed the room, then added, “She lived here, in your apartment.”

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Scott R. Howe grew up in Sacramento, California, where he still resides. He spent his formative years watching horror and Sci-fi movies which eventually grew into a general interest in film history, early Hollywood — and a life-long obsession with the silent film actress, Louise Brooks. In addition, Scott has had an interest in the paranormal. Scott is also a graphic artist, painter, filmmaker and musician. More about the author and his new book can be found on his website at https://scottrhowe.com/ 

Back in 2022,  the Louise Brooks Society spoke with Howe about his original novel.

LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY: When and how did you first come across Louise Brooks?

SCOTT HOWE: My earliest recollection is that I had purchased a sort of coffee table book on early, silent-era film making in Hollywood. It was filled with images from the turn of the century, up through the 1920s. When I was flipping through the pages, I stopped at a photo of this woman I had never come across before. She was striking to me, initially, because her look didn't seem to match anyone else in the entire photobook; in my eyes, she was a complete anachronism. I was in my mid-twenties at the time (this was like 1985 or '86) and she just really stood out as being uniquely attractive, even by 1980s standards. That was enough to intrigue me and I was off on a quest to find out as much as I could about her. That was before the internet so I found myself driving to Berkeley to make use of their libraries, etc. It became a fun side-hobby to sort of try and sleuth out information about her throughout the years. 

LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY: What is it about her that draws you?

SCOTT HOWE: I sort of answered this in the first question. At first, it was that she appeared out of place in her own time. She seemed completely modern to me. The first book I found was her own book, the compilation of some of her essays that had appeared previously in other journals, "Lulu In Hollywood." Her writing felt as if I was reading the thoughts of a young twenty-year-old girl. That made her even more attractive. It was almost like I was falling in love with this "young" woman, and I guess I ignored the fact that she had actually passed, perhaps only a year earlier. (I hope this is making sense). Later, I found the Kenneth Tynan article on her, "The Girl in the Black Helmet." It felt good to know that I wasn't the only one who found himself falling in love with her.

LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY: You have written a paranormal historical thriller. What are some of your favorite books or authors in that field?

SCOTT HOWE: One of the earliest books on the paranormal that I read as a teen was The Amityville Horror. The idea that this series of events may have actually happened completely fascinated me. I remember asking my mom to take me to the library so I could look for news stories, on microfiche, from the time of the original Defeo family murders; since the book mentioned that George Lutz, who moved into the house shortly after the murders with his family, held a striking resemblance to Ronald Defeo Jr., the one who killed his entire family, I wanted to see, for myself, if they did have a similar appearance  — and they did. It was also around this time, in the mid-seventies, that my older brother brought back a souvenir book he'd bought for me, from his visit to Washington D.C.. It was called Ghosts: Washington's Most Famous Ghost Stories by John Alexander. Reading that book, as a kid, led to my love for history in general.

LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY: Do other early film stars or early films interest you? Or the Jazz Age?

SCOTT HOWE: I grew up on the Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts and Laurel and Hardy. They were a Saturday morning staple here in Sacramento when I was growing up. I found myself strangely mesmerized by the music in those Hal Roach comedies. For years, I tried to find information on that music. Eventually, in the late eighties, while I was working as an artist at Tower Records, I was able to discover the music of Beau Hunks where they recreated all of that old music from the Hal Roach films. I knew of Chaplin too, but did not grow to truly appreciate his genius until I got into college and took some film history courses. It wasn't until later that I discovered Chaplin's connection with Louise. I was also excited to learn that Buster Keaton shot Steamboat Bill, Jr. here in Sacramento right along the river, near what is now West Sacramento.

LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY: How was it that you had the idea to blend your two interests - gothic thrillers and a certain silent film star?

SCOTT HOWE: I'm not sure if you can relate, but I've felt for a long time that I had an itch that needed to be scratched when it came to Louise Brooks. In college, I began my interest in film making and in film history. After my daughter was grown, I took up film making again and had the ridiculous idea to try and make a short film about Louise. I failed miserably, of course. All the while, I kept hoping someone else would do something. Anything. I still hope that someone, someday, will finally produce a biopic about her. But I digress… Over the pandemic, I had to have quadruple bypass surgery. While recovering from that, I started thinking about coming up with an idea for a novel that might use Louise as a framework. Initially, it felt too daunting a task. After all, people way more qualified — people like you — have already written so much about her; what could I possibly add to that? But my mind kept coming back to something about Louise that had always affected me. It was the fact that she was sexually abused as a child. I found it both heart-wrenching and chilling that this had happened to her at all — and that it was as common, then, as it is today — seemed unthinkable. One could see how much it changed the trajectory of her life forever after that experience. Barry Paris wrote in his famous biography on her that Mr. Flowers was her "Rosebud." It finally hit me that one way I could talk about all of that was to couch it within a ghost story. Good ghost stories, after all, are just mysteries wrapped up in a nice, scary package. Writing scary short films was always in my wheelhouse, so why not try writing something longer-form and see if I could manage it. As it turned out, this was the spark I needed to finally scratch that Louise Brooks itch that I'd had ever since I first discovered her for myself. I think it's natural for creative people to get inspiration from their muses. Louise has been that for me. I've drawn her, painted her, tried to make a short film about her... and now, I've finally found a way to express some of my thoughts about something that truly hurt me when I first learned of Louise’s sexual abuse as a child.

LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY: What might you want readers of your book to know?

SCOTT HOWE: I hope people will understand that I wrote this book with a deep admiration and affection for Louise Brooks. Those who have done their own research on Louise will no doubt recognize some familiar acknowledgements to her in the form of small factoids about her life that I sprinkled throughout this book. Finally, I hope that by delving deeper into the issue of sexual abuse, readers will gain a better understanding of the strength of will required to survive such trauma. I'm left to wonder how much more Louise would have achieved had she not had to carry such a burden with her over her lifetime.
 
I have to apologize for my lengthy responses. Once I get going, I can't stop. :)

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