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Three ghosts.
One psychic.
Zero patience for corporate
greed.
A hilarious, fast-paced romp through the supernatural
underbelly of the Isle of Man!
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Three Shades Called Horace
Witchery, Trickery, Love & Serendipity
by Jinx James
Genre: Humorous Paranormal Thriller
“delightfully
twisted…offbeat supernatural romp” Amazon Review ★★★★★
“A unique and hilarious story with a lot of twists and awesome revenge.
I loved the ending!” Amazon Review ★★★★★
They have the magic, the visions, and
the afterlife on their side. But will it be enough to stop an ROI Reaper of the
airwaves from hostilely taking over their dream?
Their “Super
Moon Show” is the viral hit of the year. Too bad the stars are all dead.
Pansy Peonie is a
psychic with a problem. Actually, three problems, and they’re all called
Horace. As the host of the world’s craziest paranormal livestream, she spends
her nights herding her team of opinionated ghosts and her days trying to keep
her witch mother from accidentally summoning something worse.
But when you’re
the top-rated supernatural show on the internet, you don’t just attract
spirits—you attract sharks.
Enter Rollo
Mansell: a ruthless media mogul who doesn’t care about the afterlife unless he
can monetise it. He wants the show. He wants the ghosts. And he’s not above
using a little corporate necromancy to get what he wants.
Now, Pansy is
caught in a high-stakes tug-of-war between the living and the dead. To save her
show—and her skin—she’ll have to outmanoeuvre a billionaire, survive a voodoo
conspiracy, and figure out if Rollo’s assistant, Max, is actually on her side.
Featuring a new
cover and a tighter, more suspenseful edit, this revised edition of Three Shades Called Horace will
keep you on the edge of your seat, while laughing uncontrollably.
If you love
fast-paced paranormal suspense with sharp wit, mysterious secrets, and un
forgettable
characters, dive into the newly polished edition of Three Shades Called Horace ]
**Celebrate the relaunch and get it FREE until Oct 3rd!!**
Amazon * Books2Read * Bookbub
* Goodreads
Over on the
ever-lovely Isle of Man, it’s turned out to be the most sensational evening.
The Three Shades, Horace Flaccus, Horace Walpole and Horace Silver are already
there, hovering in the twilight, when PP and Fenella finally arrive on Pansy’s
motorbike. They’re late as usual, but The Three Shades don’t seem to
mind. After all, they do have all the time in the world, don’t they?
The team is
getting together at dusk, at an ancient place where they like to meet when the
weather’s nice. It’s in the middle of the most beautiful circle of prehistoric
standing stones on the island’s southwest. This mystical place is situated on a
remote hillside, one side of which looks across to the mountains and the other
down towards the sea.
Hearing the
vroom of a hot, racing motorbike heading up the hill towards them, the three
ghosts turn their heads expectantly. Pansy, aka PP, parks behind the largest of
the enormous stones.
She appears
first, walking briskly towards the Three Shades, unbuckling, lifting her helmet
off and shaking out her hair. Behind her, Fenella, her older, White witch
partner, picks her way over the rough ground.
‘We just have
to tell all you Horaces straight away!’ says Pansy, getting excited now.
‘Barrett says the ratings for the last show were amazing!’ she gushes, adding,
‘he even told us they were “Earth-shattering!” she grins.
‘Er, would it
be possible for you to explain to us what exactly that means, Ma’am?’ asks the
ever-polite Walpole.
‘What it
means, gentlemen,’ says PP, grinning, ‘is that not only are we already getting
a huge worldwide audience, but it’s growing bigger and bigger with every show!’
‘And after the
last one,’ Fenella butts in excitedly, ‘we’ve had so many people trying to sign
up that Barrett has been overwhelmed. His computers and the social media
department can’t cope. He’s having to put on more people every day to handle
it!’
‘Yes, but, um,
what precisely does all of this mean, Ms Pansy?’ asks Flaccus.
‘Look, I’m
sure we explained it to you before, Horace. Don’t you remember? The
viewers of our Supermoon show all over the world are also a part of the
show, right? They’re active participants with their “Cozmics”, says
Pansy.
‘Well, yes, my
dear, you certainly did,’ said Flaccus, with that lovely smile of his. ‘But I’m
afraid that was the part I could never quite understand,’ confesses the Roman
Horace. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he adds, looking seriously embarrassed now.
‘Not to worry
at all, Horace,’ says Pansy gently. Flaccus has always been her favourite, even
though she always enjoys teasing him.
‘Did you know
that on the next show,’ she says, ‘the Supermoon is going to be the
closest it’s been to the Earth for sixty-nine years! Yes! And that
means that if we can add the viewers’ Cozmics together with all of that extra
Moon energy,’ she tells them excitedly, making a fingers-crossed sign.
At that point,
Pansy pauses, grins, and says, ‘Well, just try to imagine the power
involved!’
‘The technical
guys even think we might have enough energy,’ says Fenella, ‘to maybe bring you
back in full colour… and all of you at the same time!’
‘All of us in
colour… and at the same time?’
says Horace Walpole, getting really excited himself now.
‘Are you sure?’
says Horace Silver, ‘In full colour?’
‘Absolutely!’
says the by-now almost gushing Fenella! ‘Bye-bye to all that fuzzy black and
white stuff, eh?’
They can all
feel the excitement rippling the air between them. The psychic, the witch, and
the three Horaces gathered in the magic circle of prehistoric standing stones.
‘It’s called “collective
mental focus”,’ says PP. ‘And that means that if it all works out, you
three guys will materialise as psychic energy through me!’
‘And that’d be
sooo cool, baby! Right?’ smiles jazzman Horace Silver.
Fenella grins
again and nods; ‘But, how about this? If we can get enough Cozmics from the global
audience, all three of you Shades may even seem to fully come back to life for
a while!’
This time, all
three of them just stand there, totally gobsmacked!
‘Now, nobody
is certain exactly what will happen,’ says Fel, ‘but whaddya reckon,
gentlemen? Let’s give it a go, eh?’ she gushes.
By now, they’re
all totally in love with the idea… and it shows.
‘I’m afraid I
still don’t quite understand it,’ Flaccus says to her, almost flapping his toga
with excitement, ‘but wouldn’t it be wonderful if it did actually happen?
Especially for me after two thousand years in the shade!’
‘Hey, you
could even really “Seize the day!” says Pansy!
* * *
“It is
charming to totter into vogue.”
Horace Walpole
1717-1797
⚛︎ ⚛︎ ⚛
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Q: Your new edition of your novel, Three Shades Called Horace, is set on the mystical Isle of Man, but you live in Tasmania. How does living “at the edge of the known world” influence your writing?
A: There’s a distinct atmospheric magic to living on a rugged island like Tasmania. When you are surrounded by untamed wilderness and the vast ocean, the line between reality and the supernatural feels a little thinner. Even though Three Shades Called Horace takes place on the opposite side of the globe on the Isle of Man, that sense of island isolation and mystical fog felt entirely familiar to me. It allows me to lean into both the eerie dread and the dark comedy of being stranded with things that go bump in the night.
Q: Three Shades Called Horace blends paranormal thrills with corporate satire and sharp comedy. What inspired you to mash up these genres?
A: I’ve always believed that the terrifying and the ridiculous go hand in hand. Think about it—if a real ghost showed up on live television today, a media mogul wouldn’t run away screaming; they’d try to monetize it and make it go viral! I wanted to explore that corporate absurdity. Giving a psychic medium a hit TV show featuring three hilariously opinionated, ghosts felt like the perfect canvas to poke fun at modern media culture while still delivering a high-stakes, fast-paced thriller.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration for your ghosts and supernatural elements? Are any of them based on real experiences?
A: Absolutely! I actually spent about a year living in a haunted house in a place called Pratt’s Bottom, in Kent, England. The house was built on top of an old Roman burial ground, and sometimes the energy there got incredibly heavy and bad. But we also had a resident house ghost we called Fred.
Fred was a bit of a character—he actually took a massive liking to my partner, who is Irish. We later found out that before Fred passed away, he had a wonderful Irish nurse, so he clearly retained a fondness for the Irish accent and presence even in the afterlife! Living with that mix of heavy, ancient history and a quirky house ghost with personal preferences is exactly what inspired the tone of Three Shades Called Horace. I love exploring how the paranormal can be simultaneously unsettling, historic, and yet completely normal, in a funny kind of way.
How did you choose the three ghost characters who play such a big role in Three Shades Called Horace?
I chose Horace Walpole, who is the first to appear to Pansy, because I enjoyed his novel Otranto, the first-ever gothic novel to be published, and his 18th century gothic revival house was the inspiration for the look-alike house that the ghosts inhabit on The Isle of Man.
I also enjoy reading the classics, Socrates, Suetonius, and other ancient great men of letters. Poet and satirist Horace Flaccus is up there with the best of them, plus he had a wicked sense of humour.
Horace Silver is one of my all-time favourite jazz musicians and composers. When I read his autobiography “Let’s Get to the Nitty Gritty”
I discovered his family originated in Cape Verde (another island story) and that he had a keen interest in spiritualism. So, another personal choice to complete the trio. Sadly, he died in 2014
Q: Tell us a bit about your free reader magnet short story, and how it connects to your main release.
A: The free short story follows a top fashion model named Silvia who accepts a mysterious assignment at a secluded mansion, only to find her passion for dance twisting into a feverish supernatural obsession. While Three Shades Called Horace leans heavily into dark humour and corporate satire, this short story explores pure gothic suspense and atmospheric tension. I wanted to give readers a bite-sized, high-stakes introduction to how I handle supernatural threats before throwing them into the comedic rollercoaster of the main novel.
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**FREEBIE ALERT!!**
To celebrate the relaunch of Three Shades Called Horace,
the author is having an exclusive giveaway of the supernatural short story The
House on Via Magliocco!
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The House On Via Magliocco
by Jinx James
Genre: Supernatural Dark Fantasy
To be beautiful
forever. Would you turn down that offer?
A mesmerizing one-hour dark fantasy short read.
Silvia is a top fashion model who lives for the spotlight,
but the camera’s love is fleeting. When she’s offered a mysterious assignment
at the secluded House on Via Magliocco, it feels like the ultimate canvas for
her creativity and passion for dance.
But inspiration quickly twists into a feverish obsession.
As the mansion’s haunting music bleeds from her dreams into
her waking life, Silvia realizes she hasn’t just accepted a job—she has stepped
into a beautiful trap. The house demands a performance, the wealthy owner
demands perfection, and the price of eternal beauty might just be her soul.
Get this exclusive
supernatural short story delivered directly to your inbox.
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Bestselling dark humor fiction author Jinx James was born in
the UK and lives in Australia. He has worked in music and advertising, and has
always been fascinated by charisma, satire, and what makes people laugh He used
to write comedy sketches for a well-known Australian TV and film star, but that
was after he was in the music game, as a performer. Later came writing and
producing music for advertising, and for big events like the Sydney Olympics.
All that time he was trying his hand at writing fiction, mostly humorous.
Eventually it became his new way of living while having fun. He writes under
two author names. As Jinx James his dark humor draws on his life in show
business. As dog lover Kit James, his Mutt to Megastar series features Elliott,
a rescue dog who becomes a TV star.
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