In this special Halloween edition of From the Author’s Desk, Miles Beyond the Page host and author Michelle Miles trades the usual conversation for a story—a spooky warning tale from the world of her Enchanted Realms books.

By the fire, Aunt Hilde tells Marigold about an old rule in East Hallow: if a blue lantern appears in the forest after midnight, don’t follow it—and whatever you do, don’t answer when it calls your name.

Seventeen-year-old Sofia knows the warning. But grief has a way of making us listen to things we shouldn’t. When the mysterious lantern calls to her in the voice of her dead brother, Thomas, Sofia follows it deep into the woods and toward a ruined cottage. There, she discovers that the thing waiting for her isn’t her brother at all—and that some creatures know exactly how to use our deepest longing against us.

To escape, Sofia must do something far more difficult than running: she has to let go.

Michelle closes the episode with a look at why fairy tales and folklore make such powerful vessels for fear, grief, temptation, and the things we’re afraid to face. Because sometimes magic doesn’t hide the truth. Sometimes it makes the truth impossible to ignore.

🎧 Turn down the lights, settle in, and join Michelle for The Blue Lantern—a haunting little tale about grief, longing, letting go, and why you should never follow strange lights into the woods.

🎃 Happy Halloween from Miles Beyond the Page! Don’t forget to subscribe for more author interviews, creative conversations, and stories From the Author’s Desk.