Williamstown’s Tyler Van Niel has turned a childhood passion into a published reality, debuting his first book at 20-years-old.
“The House at Rosemond Place is my first novel. I’ve been an official published author for the last two weeks,” he said.
“I’ve always loved reading and writing, it was one of my favourite pastimes as a child. So when I was sitting there one day and the idea came to me about this book I knew it had to be told.
“In my life I have had some low points and I’ve seen some good people miss out on some great opportunities. I wasn’t going to be one of those people, the world needs to hear this story.”
The House at Rosemond Place is a modern and refreshing take on the haunted house sub-genre.
“I think this book is different from other haunted house stories because of how the book’s mystery is seeded throughout its pages. It takes an honest and realistic look at what life would be like if someone did find themselves in a haunted house.
“While the novel is a brisk 114 pages there is still time to get to know the characters and understand each person’s point of view in the story. The book also depicts children in a different light to most haunted house novels, while they are physically not as strong as their adult counterparts, the children are able to prove useful in the overall mystery and are treated as younger people, instead of infants who have a lack of ideas or personalities.”
The underlying themes of the book are the roles of women in the 1800s when compared to the roles today and the 2000s.
Van Niel explores the theme of horror because it taps into our deepest, most relatable human experiences.
“Everyone can relate to the idea of the uncomfortability of not feeling safe in your own home, so the decision to make this the first book was a simple one.
“As far as personal experiences go, I grew up in the time period that this book was set in, as a child I had a high level of imagination. When I was young I lived in a house that I had some strange experiences in and some of those experiences have ended up in the book. They may be a little different to what happened but some of the more key scenes are from memories as a child.“
Afraa Kori
