Haunting Stories - Staying overnight at a haunted palace

A real haunted palace, belonging to a royal family in the UAE.

Do not walk near mangroves at night….

Scorned Jinn hide in teeth….

Bury bones in the sand near those you want to disappear…

It all started when I wrote a feature on staying inside a haunted palace in the UAE for a local

newspaper, which was a big hit and inspired a book of mysteries, Jinn and buried memories - Maskoon in Arabic (Kalimat Publishing), and Haunted in English (House of Attis - Amazon). Images from the books shared here:

My visit to the palace left me with questions and doubts that translated into this bedtime fable-

like tale of friendship, loneliness, courage, loss, guilt and love. This book also weaves in old

superstitions and myths from other cultures with a particular haunting poem.

It became a national bestseller.

“Kan fi qadeem alzaman ...” — once upon a time…

Fairy Tales or rather “jinn-tales” bedtime stories to come out of the East are hundreds of years

old. In this book, I revisit some of the region's old stories and fables from other cultures with a

modern twist. I wrote this book so that readers can return to the days of sitting around a

campfire telling ghost stories.

It all started when I wrote a feature on staying inside a haunted palace in the UAE for a local

newspaper, which was a big hit and inspired this book.

The legendary Scheherazade in the 1001 Arabian Nights has been my first teacher in

storytelling. I dedicate this book to her and her timeless tales in a reimagined collection of

bedtime stories written via four characters in magical realism style with a psychological thriller

twist.

The underlying theme of loss drives the main character’s actions. The haunted palace becomes

a metaphor for confronting past traumas, with the disappearances and unexplained events

serving as potential coping mechanisms for dealing with grief.

As a storyteller via different mediums for over 20 years, with 2000+ published articles,

including working as an explorer with National Geographic, I thought it was time for a new

collection of Jinn-Tales. Part folklore, philosophy, myth, and truth, ‘Haunted’ is

based on a real haunted palace in the UAE but goes beyond it to include lore and fables from

other cultures.

I hope it inspires nostalgia, familiarity, reflection, and imagination in its readers, especially the

child within us all.

And remember...

’“Fear can make a donkey attack a lion,”— An old proverb

Here are some of the readers’ reviews on Goodreads:

“I personally liked each and every of these characters. I loved the stories they told, the

memories they shared, and their relationships with each other.

The book was not really creepy, and in my opinion, that is not the point behind it. Some scenes

really creeped me out though. I was imagining voices while I was reading Maskoon at night. I

personally found many quotes that I could relate to…I really enjoyed this story in general, but

the ending really took me by surprise and was my favorite part of the story. It was so perfectly

written and made quite a lot of sense. I am still shocked by how well-done it was. I will

remember it for the longest time because it was really unique. In my opinion, the ending had a

huge psychological twist. Maybe it's safer to say that Maskoon is a psychological thriller rather

than a story about djinns …” by Adeeb, who gave it five stars.

“It is different from most haunted places types of books I have read in the past. It has a lot of

psychological mystery, lore, and thankfully no gore! So, it is suitable for everyone, young readers

and for us adults who like to just forget our world and disappear into a world of mystery,

shadows and myths involving Jinn…” by Gretchen, who gave it five stars.