Subjects of Interest:
Candle Face Chronicles
The Lost Souls
November 8, 2023
Every night, as the rest of the world sinks into slumber, my reality shifts into something like a living nightmare. It’s been just over a week since the first strange, vivid dream, and I’m still caught in what feels like an endless cycle of fear. What began as a jumble of indistinct screams and shouts has intensified into distinct voices, each one clearer and more insistent. These voices come from all walks of life, all ages, yet they share one trait: they seem determined to speak directly to me.
I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to about “hypnagogic hallucinations,” the term that initially seemed to explain my situation. But as these voices sharpen and grow more demanding, I can’t believe this is simply stress or an overactive mind.
At first, the experience was just swirling patterns when I closed my eyes, but then the voices began to seep through, as though those shapes were a gateway. Now, the sounds are constant—a chaotic mix of chatter, cries, and sobs. Some voices speak in languages I don’t understand; others are heartbreakingly clear. Regardless of how they sound, it’s obvious they’re addressing me, as though I’m the only one who can understand their pleas.
Night after night, I wrestle with them, only to wake drenched in sweat, heart racing, desperate for relief that never comes. I can’t help but wonder if this connects to my research on Candle Face. By digging into her story, did I open some kind of portal? Is that what unleashed this flood of voices?
I tried calling Mr. Doe again to see if he had any advice. His response was frightening: “You must listen. They have chosen you for a reason.” Then he hung up and demanded I leave him alone.
That line—”They have chosen you”—haunts me. Why me? I don’t know, but it’s clear I’m not in this alone. Some presence is entwined in this and isn’t letting go.
As the nights drag on, I’ve started to distinguish individual voices in the chaotic chorus. Some are the frightened cries of children, heartbreaking in their innocence. Others burn with bitterness and regret, their words heavy with anger that’s lingered for ages. The older voices carry sorrow and wisdom, hinting at something I can’t quite understand. But they all want one thing: to reach me. They call me by my childhood name, Ray, sharing fragments of their stories—lives cut short, unresolved conflicts, dreams that ended too soon. They seem to believe I’m their chance to be heard.
The idea of being their messenger terrifies me. I just want these voices gone so I can sleep. But each night, they grow louder, more determined, forcing me toward a choice I’m not ready to make. Leaving a light on doesn’t help anymore—the glow does nothing to ward off these intrusions. Whatever this is, it’s growing stronger.
I’m caught between the urge to understand what’s happening and the fear of what I might discover if I fully open myself to their pleas. For now, I’m taking it one night at a time, documenting everything in hopes of making sense of it someday. I can’t shake the feeling that all of this connects to Candle Face in ways I don’t yet understand. Until I figure it out, I’m balancing on a razor’s edge, hoping to hold on to my sanity.
Personal Note to My Readers
I never asked for these visits. My natural response has been to block out the specifics of these encounters upon waking, leaving only flashes of dread and confusion. Maybe it’s instinct—a defense mechanism against what terrifies us. But forgetting isn’t an option this time. I didn’t choose this, but it’s happening anyway. It seems I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.
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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