I’ve been a fan of Jordan L. Hawk since I was introduced to his Whyborne & Griffin series in 2018, and his stories have only improved in that time. OutFoxing the Paranormal is one of his few contemporary series, and it follows a group of ghost hunters who have a YouTube series and a professor at Duke’s Institute of Parapsychology who uses their adventures as part of his studies for papers. It is one of my favorite JLH series, and I cannot wait to see what Oscar, Nigel, Chris, and Tina will explore next!
The Forgotten Dead is the first book of the series and opens with Nigel Taylor being offered a grant if he’ll work with the OutFoxing the Paranormal team to investigate the home of his childhood best friend, because Ms. Montague is certain that Oscar, the main face of the group, has a legitimate gift and ability to see sprits. Initially Nigel is reluctant to work with the group because most mediums are frauds, but when they enter the supposedly-haunted home, Oscar’s abilities quickly become apparent. They then have to work together to exorcise the sprits trapped in the home, and in traumatic cycles.
Rattling Bone is book two, and this time the group travel to Oscar’s parents’ for the holidays, hoping to do some exploring, but then they learn of a distillery that used to be in Oscar’s family, but is no longer in operation, and is apparently haunted. They also learn of a 25 year cycle where a member of the family dies in a grisly manner. They all go to the distillery to see what they can learn and find out, and they learn of dark secrets in his family’s past, and must work to undo the harm his ancestors had done.
Into the Dark is the newest release, and once again focuses on Oscar’s family history. His Mamaw Fox was a known psychic and Appalachian mountain woman, but when Oscar’s father, Scott, was a young man she got committed to an asylum, where she lived the rest of her life. He never got to meet her, but he wishes to do her proud, especially after how his father tried to keep him from acknowledging his abilities because of how his mom ended up. When Oscar, Nigel, Chris, and Tina have the opportunity to investigate the asylum where Mamaw Fox died, they learn of many other ghosts and dark secrets. They’re also joined by another team of ghost hunters with very different methodology when it comes to how they do their show and search for ghosts.
I really love this series, and especially appreciate the way JLH creates a creeping dread with each story. I also really appreciate how different stories are approached and how they’re familiar horror tropes and premises, but executed through queer and marginalized perspectives. Nigel’s a trans man and I love how its never like explicitly spelled out, but made known via talking about how Mike, his childhood friend from The Forgotten Dead wouldn’t recognize him without dresses or mentioning his T-shot in Into the Dark. Chris is also nonbinary and their identity is never challenged or othered; they just exist in the story and their pronouns are never discussed or questioned. I also love how consistently the characters introduce themselves to others with their pronouns, normalizing it in the setting.
I’m from West Virginia so I have a special place in my heart for Appalachian stories, including horror, and I love how much Appalachia comes up and is a part of the series, especially when it comes to Oscar’s family. Hawk used to live in South Carolina, if I remember correctly, and their love and familiarity with that setting is evident in each of the settings of OutFoxing the Paranormal.
I highly encourage folks pick this series up, and if you enjoy audiobooks, theses are excellently done. The narrator, Tristan James, does a fantastic job at differentiating the characters and doing Southern accents without them feeling exaggerated. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series, whenever it comes out, and if you want a creepy horror (with achillean romance between cis man and trans man that is also low heat) that is by a trans man and centered on a trans man, I highly recommend Jordan L. Hawk’s OutFoxing the Paranormal.
