I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: October 22, 2025] “Kushtuka”

It has been six years since Ghost Box III came out….

After years of demand, the Ghost Box is back! Patton Oswalt’s much-beloved spooky-story anthology returns for a fourth edition, with the same trademark production details—magnetized box lid, anyone?—that Ghost Box fans have come to expect.

As always, working with Patton on Ghost Box IV was a dream, and we can’t wait to show you the nightmares that he’s wrangled and stuffed into the box this time around.

This story is set in Alaska.  The main character is not yet twenty but is old enough to want to get married to her boyfriend (actually, he wants to get married and she doesn’t care).  But her mama would like her to get married to a rich white man from Kansas named Ferryman.  This man is terrible, acting like he owns the place and taking what he wants.  He has some “treasures” in his house that she is certain belonged to her grandfather.

Her mama tells her that she (the daughter) is going to work for Ferryman’s party that night.  She bristles but it’s a done deal and she will make some money out of it.

On the way over to his place, he places his hand on her knee, but she brushes him off. He also asks her to tell a story.  She’s not sure what to tell, for she’s afraid of saying some of the words aloud.

But she tells the story of the Kushtuka, a creature who takes on the appearance of those we love and try to get us to go with them.  Ferryman scoffs at this story but moments later they see a woman in the road who looks a lot like the narrator.

The narrator and Ferryman are freaked our, but Ferryman figures if he runs her over then all is fine.

But is it?

This story has been turned into a novel and is coming out this year.  I feel like fleshing this story out would bring in a lot of new and interesting components.