The Journal

These are my field notes from the Candle Face investigation, dated as the events happened, beginning in October 2023. They track the Lost Souls, the Fugitives and Isabel. The newest entries appear first. To follow the case in order, go to the last page, read from the bottom up, and work back one page at a time. If you catch something I missed, tell me.

The Journal

A metal desktop letter holder cut with the word

Candle Face Victim #25 and #26: The Pen Pal Letters

A young woman opened my locked car door and sat down, half her head gone. In life she was an Austin skeptic who traded handwritten...

Arthur Mills
Bare, stained concrete basement with exposed pipes, a small high window, fluorescent light, and an old utility sink against cracked walls.

Candle Face Victim #24: Buried Beneath the House

A man with two knives still in him leaned against my bar and told me how he died. His cousin pitched an easy gun-running job,...

Arthur Mills
Candle Face Chronicles: The Journal — Victim #13 “Identified?” lost soul case file.

Identified? Candle Face Victim #13: Beneath the Surface

A commenter tied the drowned boater from December and February to a real, unsolved Lake Travis disappearance from the late 1990s, a man who swam...

Arthur Mills
A glowing white cross formed from cloud and light against a dark, star-filled night sky.

Candle Face Victim #23: The Preacher Who Lost His Faith

A man of the church stepped from the portal, an inverted cross at his neck. In life he preached "never lose faith," until Candle Face...

Arthur Mills
The Shadows, dark figures emerging from flames, representing Candle Face’s tormentors.

Candle Face's Lair: The Price of Speaking

The breakthrough had a cost. Furious that a Lost Soul spoke to me directly, Candle Face pulled me back into her lair and made me...

Arthur Mills
Close-up of a wooden Ouija board showing letters, numbers, and occult symbols used for communicating with spirits.

My First Real Conversation with a Candle Face Spirit

Something changed tonight. For the first time, a Lost Soul didn't just tell his story and vanish, he answered me. A real, two-way conversation, over...

Arthur Mills
A plate of freshly baked brownies stacked on a red dish against a white background.

Candle Face Victim #22: Beneath the I-35 Overpass

For the first time, a visitor sat down, and eyed my wife's brownies. In life he was homeless under the I-35 overpass, offered a "savior"...

Arthur Mills
Several bright blue-white lightning bolts branching down a solid black night sky.

Candle Face Victim #21: Lured by the Drumbeat

A drummer who spent his life chasing one perfect beat. One day he heard it in the woods and followed, straight into three of Candle...

Arthur Mills
A lone figure standing among bare trees in a dark forest at night, lit from behind by an eerie green glow and mist.

Candle Face Victim #20: Led Into the Woods

A wary, limping man in my bedroom doorway. In life he drifted around downtown until a woman he called his "Lady Friend" took an interest...

Arthur Mills
Candle Face Chronicles: The Journal — Victim #18 “Identified?” lost soul case file.

Identified? Candle Face Victim #18: The Walkman Left in the Road

A blog comment tied the runner and her killer from March 8 to a real, long-unsolved Georgetown missing-persons case. A cross-country runner, jogging near home,...

Arthur Mills
A small creek tumbling over mossy rocks through a dim autumn forest, long-exposure water blurred silky white, fallen orange leaves on the banks.

Candle Face Is Real, and She's Here to Help

An email from a believer who calls himself Sammy. He talks to Candle Face at the creek while walking his dog and swears she answers,...

Arthur Mills
A sunlit dirt road winding through dense green woods in daylight, dappled with shadow, a vehicle barely visible far in the distance.

Candle Face Victim #18 and #19: The Walkman Left in the Road

Two figures in the sunroom corner, holding hands: a murdered runner and the man who killed her. He was sent by Candle Face to take...

Arthur Mills
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