Subjects of Interest:
Candle Face Chronicles
The Lost Souls
November 18, 2023
Last night, I had yet another visitor. A vague, dark shape appeared near my bed just as I was about to fall asleep. Gradually, its form became clearer, and I realized it wasn’t Candle Face—this was different. Standing only a few feet away was a young black girl who looked about four or five years old. She seemed more afraid of me than I was of her, tears rolling down her cheeks as she pleaded for my help.
She had a story to share:
I remember the day I last saw my Mama. I was playing outside our mobile home, and it was really, really cold! The wind was like, “Whoosh!” on my cheeks. But the sky was all blue, and the sun was low.
I sat there all wrapped up in my cozy winter coat, playing with my teddy bear that my Granny made for me. My teddy was dirty and fuzzy, but I loved it so much!
Then, I saw some big kids playing near our mobile home. They were in a circle, and one of them, a big boy with nappy hair, was telling a spooky story. He said there was a girl ghost around here who died in a fire, and now she’s a ghost who scares kids who don’t believe in her. The other kids were listening, all wide-eyed and excited, even the tough ones!
But my Mama didn’t like those stories. She came out of our home all fast and waved her hands like she was mad. “Stop scaring my baby girl with those stories!” she yelled. One of the ladies with the kids said maybe we should believe just in case, but Mama was like, “Nope, my baby girl won’t believe in silly stuff like that.”
After Mama helped me brush my teeth that night, she tucked me into bed with my teddy. I felt safe and warm under the covers. Mama leaned in close and said, “Those ghost stories aren’t real, sweetie. Grown-ups sometimes make them up to make kids behave.”
I believed her because Mama knew everything and could protect me from anything. But that night, something weird happened.
I felt hot and heard a sizzling sound like bacon in a frying pan. My heart went boom, boom, really fast. Something hot picked me up, and it smelled bad, like burnt cookies. I wanted to scream for Mama, but I couldn’t. I was so scared!
Then, Mama appeared. She was strong and loving, and she held me tight. She said it was just a bad dream and not real. I cried and told her about the ghost girl, but Mama said those stories can’t hurt good girls who don’t believe in them.
Her words were like a cozy song, and I fell asleep without any more bad dreams.
The next day, I heard a little cry while swinging on our swing in front of our mobile home. Mama was inside, next to the window, keeping an eye on me. I heard some noise coming from some bushes. My heart raced with curiosity and worry.
When Mama moved away from the window, I went to check. I found not a hurt puppy like I had hoped, but a girl. Her skin was all burned, and her clothes were torn. She looked really sad. I wanted to scream and run to Mama, but I couldn’t. I was too scared.
I don’t remember much after that. But I’m not with Mama and Granny anymore. I’m in a strange place with other kids and adults who had tough times, too. I’m really scared here; I don’t like it.
I wish I could hug Mama and Granny one more time and feel their love and protection. Maybe you can find them one day and let them know I miss them. Let them know that I still carry their love with me, even in this terrible place.
The little girl gave me a grateful smile, though I could see such deep sorrow in her eyes. As she backed away toward the wall, her features began to fade, becoming just a shadow that eventually dissolved into the portal.
A sudden adrenaline rush flooded my body—I leaped out of bed, hurrying downstairs as if something urgent was driving me on. Once at my computer, I typed as fast as I could, capturing every word she’d shared before it slipped from my memory.
What used to feel like random nocturnal encounters has now become painfully clear. Each one of these nighttime visitors, once a mystery to me, has revealed the same plea: they’re trapped by the spirit known as Candle Face and need my help. Although I never asked for this responsibility, it seems I can’t escape it. My task is to document these encounters and witness their stories. I don’t know where this road will lead; everything is uncertain, leaving me to wonder what comes next.
Personal Note to My Readers
This visitor left behind more clues than I first realized. She appeared to be around four or five years old, African American, with short braids—possibly black and white, though it might’ve just been the way the light played on her hair. Her voice was gentle, but she spoke in rushed bursts, constantly glancing over her shoulder as if someone or something was lurking nearby.
While she didn’t name her hometown, the mention of Candle Face suggests Austin, Texas, during winter. She said she lived in a mobile home with her mother and grandmother, referring to them as “Mama” and “Granny.” Outside their home was a swing set, and I suspect her last moment with her mother involved playing on that swing.
These details might be key to discovering who she is and what happened to her.
If you feel compelled to help solve this and give this little girl the peace she deserves, please put on your detective hat and join the investigation. You can share your findings and thoughts on our interactive site at www.branchingplotbooks.com.
Is Candle Face real?
This is a complex and deeply personal question. On the one hand, there's the possibility that Candle Face is a manifestation of my childhood trauma, a figure created by my mind to cope with fear and emotional turmoil. On the other hand, the consistent details, physical evidence, and shared experiences with others suggest that Candle Face may be a genuine supernatural entity. Whether Candle Face is real or a creation of my psyche, her impact on my life has been undeniably profound. Ultimately, the answer to this question is up to you.
How are you able to communicate with the dead? Are you a psychic or medium?
I don’t consider myself a psychic or medium, although many in the paranormal community believe I have some kind of gift, perhaps one that I haven’t fully tapped into yet. Unlike those who claim to communicate with any spirit, my ability seems limited to connecting with Candle Face’s victims and Candle Face herself. While I’m not sure how this works, the connection is strong and focused on these particular Lost Souls, allowing me to share their stories and seek justice for them.
Do you use AI to create your content?
From October 2023 to around March 2024, I personally wrote the short descriptions you see on Google and social media platforms when my web pages or journal entries are shared or found in search results. These descriptions are those brief, 160-character summaries that pop up beside the URL. It was challenging to condense complex ideas into such a small space.
By March 2024, I began letting Wix, my website host, handle this task for me. Their AI generates these summaries much faster and often with more precision than I could manage within that tight character limit. It was a practical decision to let the system take over this small aspect of my work, allowing me to focus more on my writing and investigations.
The web pages and journal entries themselves are entirely my own. My writing encompasses a wide range of topics, including the testimonies of the Lost Souls, my investigations into Candle Face/Isabel, my books like Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona and The Haunted Handbook, as well as other works and research. Everything I write is rooted in my decades of experience in writing (over ten books in 15 years) and my 30+ years of expertise in intelligence analysis, missing persons cases, and human trafficking investigations. The core content you read always comes from me.
By early March 2025, I decided to create a Shopify account to sell copies of Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona, The Haunted Handbook, and to look for caretakers for The Scrolls of Souls. It was a tremendous amount of work to manually transfer all 130 journal entries from Wix to Shopify and recreate the Google SEO titles and descriptions for each entry. Shopify’s blogging platform also required a summary for each journal entry. Summarizing my work was taking around 30 minutes per entry, which became overwhelming and unsustainable.
To streamline the process, I allowed AI to create the summaries for me by uploading each journal entry and letting the AI generate the SEO descriptions, summaries, and ALT text for images. Here's a clear breakdown of what is AI-generated:
- Some journal entry titles.
- Nearly all SEO journal descriptions (up to 160 characters).
- Nearly all summaries (which are only available in the backend and not visible to the public).
Everything else you read comes from me, whether it’s documenting testimonies from the Lost Souls, researching Candle Face/Isabel, or writing my books. The AI simply handles the tedious, mechanical parts of the process, leaving the writing, storytelling, and investigations entirely in my hands.
I review all AI-generated summaries and descriptions to ensure they accurately represent the essence of my writing. My decision to use AI for these backend tasks is about maintaining efficiency and allowing me to focus on what truly matters: writing, storytelling, investigations, and giving voice to the Lost Souls, protecting the Fugitives, investigating Candle Face/Isabel, and exploring new projects. Your experience as a reader is shaped by my work, not by AI.
Why did you end the podcast?
I decided to cancel the Candle Face Chronicles Podcast for two key reasons. First, while the Get Haunted Network is a fantastic community for paranormal entertainment, it wasn't the right fit for the serious and important nature of my work with Candle Face Chronicles. The network's lighthearted tone didn’t align with my mission.
Second, the friends and family of one of Candle Face's victims reached out and asked me to stop discussing their loved one on the podcast because it was causing them too much pain. Their request made me realize that my work, while well-intentioned, was unintentionally hurting those who are still living and grieving.
These reasons led me to end the podcast, but I remain committed to continuing my mission to uncover Candle Face’s origins and methods with a renewed focus on compassion and respect for the living.
Why did you stop using www.candleface.com and start using www.branchingplotbooks.com?
I have had the branchingplotbooks.com domain since 2012, but I transferred the domain to Shopify to use it as my storefront. I needed to do this because Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona can't be published or sold via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing because of its spiral binding requirement. The same goes for The Haunted Handbook.
I decided to sell them, along with most of my other books, on Shopify because it allows me to provide a more streamlined and reliable experience for my readers. It also enables me to have full control over my work and how it reaches my audience. Additionally, all my books are still available on Amazon (paperback and Kindle), except for Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona and The Haunted Handbook due to their unique binding requirements.
I also chose to use Shopify’s blogging platform, keeping all books, my journal, and the shopping experience located in one place.
I plan on keeping www.candleface.com up for the interim, but it will likely go down as well, or at least be redirected to www.branchingplotbooks.com. In the end, I want my work to be more streamlined and easier for the paranormal community and my readers to find my work, read and help the lost souls, protect the fugitives, and care for the Scrolls of Souls.
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