Halloween has come and gone but the atmosphere is still charged with spooky vibes. This mother and daughter duo chose this time to publish their collection of ‘spook-a-licious’ stories, “Water in My Grave–Horror stories from Sri Lanka”.  “Every one of us has had at least one spooky incident. An uneasy feeling at the back of your mind that something just isn’t right, something out of place maybe, which nags at you for a while and then you shrug it off because it didn’t make any sense. This is our way of bringing out what all of us have gone through,” says co-author Nadeesha Paulis.

Hooked on horror: Nadeesha and Chandrika. Pic by Indika Handuwala

“Nadeesha and I have been writing to the papers and blogging for years now but I was determined to have a book out. There were always obstacles of various kinds, apathy from publishers, lack of funding, doubts about whether this would be financially viable at all- but I was determined to make it happen,” says her mother Chandrika Gadiewasam.

“We have always been fascinated by the dark legends and colourful folklore of Sri Lanka. We did a fortnightly column to a local newspaper, so it followed that we would make the book together,” she added.

“Sri Lankan horror can hold its own in any international line up. We have everything it takes, and more. From dead things to not so dead things to incubus/ succubus to voodoo, yaksha, pretha, bali, bahubootha -you name it, there is a better Sri Lankan original in here with us somewhere. Plus, the “unknown” is always a mystery. We just wanted to build a story around it.”

Chandrika says almost all the stories have a basis of truth. “About 75 percent are based on a true story. All have been told to us by people whose friends or families underwent the experience. Some have been handed down from generations. Sure, there must have been some spice added to the story along the way but basically what we have written is what was told to us plus a little contribution from us to where we thought something was lacking. We’ll leave you guessing as to which parts are true and which are not.”

Nadeesha who is 22, is studying management while working as a news coordinator. She also teaches French and volunteers with the charity ‘Adopt a Dog’. Chandrika is a reporting officer in a human rights organisation. Nadeesha recalls she started watching horror movies from an unconventionally young age. “I remember asking permission from my mum about the PG level of horror movies and still watching even when I didn’t really get the green light. At the age of 13, I was able to hold my dinner down during ‘The Poltergeist’ (1982).”

Publishing the book involved a great deal of effort, they say. “We have one financial sponsor to whom we are very grateful. She believed in us and Udara Chinthaka kindly let us use one of his illustrations for the cover. Every time we hand the book to a friend, they come out with more experiences, enough to fill another set of books. So we have our fingers crossed for another book,” says Chandrika. 

Their aim is to publish another bigger, better book next Halloween, a kind of “Eastern Horror Compendium” Chandrika adds.
“The Sri Lankan paranormal sphere has got much more to it than meets the eye and we’d like to shine a torch on it through our writing. We want to open this field out to a bigger audience even internationally. We can draw our own local parallels to almost every paranormal occurrence. If you like the idea of that, do let us know. Then we can write more stories, and Kalath (Warnakulasooriya, the illustrator) can draw more grisly stuff,” they add with a laugh.

They can be contacted on undeadceylon@gmail.com and through their Facebook page, Facebook.com/srilankanhorror.