Mistwalker was such a refreshing change of pace from all the young adult books out there that almost always feature romance in a big way. This instead focuses on family and friendships.
One of the coolest parts though is the Grey Man, the mysterious figure that lives on the lighthouse island. Today Saundra Mitchell tells us he came to be!
Read my review of Mistwalker
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In MISTWALKER, Willa Dixon’s quiet lobstering community of Broken Tooth, Maine has a legend living on the island in the harbor. If you can get the Grey Man on your side, you’ll have the best fishing of your life—or so the story goes.
That’s not quite the truth of it. It turns out the post of Grey Man is currently held by a boy cursed to take it in 1913. He’s just the latest in a long line of cursed Greys to haunt the island of Jackson’s Rock. He holds sway over the mist and fog, calling it or banishing it as he wills.
There’s other magic afoot in the lighthouse where he makes his home. The rooms change to reflect what he needs or what he wants. Each morning, he gets a wish granted—but it’s never a wish that would free him. Bound to the island, his body is insubstantial. It shears apart if he tries to leave, and dissipates into mist if he tries to throw himself off the lighthouse tower.
It was a pleasure to make up a new mythology for MISTWALKER, but I owe a debt to other legends that already exist. The one that sparked the idea for The Grey Man as the Irish an far liath. Also known as the Grey Man. it’s a trickster fey who calls in the fog to lure travelers to their death. From that, I borrowed the idea of a creature who used the mist to collect souls.
There is a Grey Man that appears on the shore of Pawlys Island, South Carolina as well. More of a ghost, he warns the families there of coming storms. The people of Broken Tooth have a traditional belief that the Grey Man can help them, and that’s a bit that I borrowed from Pawley’s Island.
The rest, I sewed together from random ideas—there’s a taste of the Phantom of the Opera in there, a little bit of Beauty’s Beast, and a touch of Hannibal Lecter. Grey in MISTWALKER was always supposed to be dangerous. Like an animal in a trap, Grey
When Willa Dixon’s brother dies on the family lobster boat, her father forbids Willa from stepping foot on the deck again. With her family suffering, she’ll do anything to help out—even visiting the Grey Man.
Everyone in her small Maine town knows of this legendary spirit who haunts the lighthouse, controlling the fog and the fate of any vessel within his reach. But what Willa finds in the lighthouse isn’t a spirit at all, but a young man trapped inside until he collects one thousand souls.
Desperate to escape his cursed existence, Grey tries to seduce Willa to take his place. With her life on land in shambles, will she sacrifice herself?
Mistwalker
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Tabitha (Pabkins)
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Angie Bo Bangie
I love ghost stories-especially ones that take place in Maine-Stephen King really sealed that for me as a young reader. This looks like a fantastic story and I can’t wait to pick it up!
Tabitha the Pabkins
It is, it is! Oddly enough he isn’t even a ghost!
Tabitha the Pabkins
Hannibal Lector! Oh man what part of him is Hannibal? *grin* I loved how he was made of mist it was so eerie. LOVED it!
Jessica @ Rabid Reads
So I don’t normally go for creepfests (and this definitely sounds like a creepfest), BUT I’m thinking this is the kind of creepy that doesn’t bother me that much b/c it’s not creepy-for-the-sake-of-creepy (I don’t think I’ve ever been that redundant in my LIFE). Also, I used to summer at DeBordieu, so I feel kind of gypped that I never heard that story.
Basically all of that means I am very much looking forward to reading this book 😉
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Anya
I honestly didn’t think it was too creepy since we get Grey’s PoV as well and know that he isn’t evil or anything. I absolutely adored this book and really recommend it 😀
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Pabkins
Hey this totally wasn’t creepy in my mind at all. Cause just Anya says you get to read from Grey’s perspective as well, so he is very much a person that you get to see his thoughts and fears making him so real such that the mystique around him doesn’t creep you out.
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Jessica @ Rabid Reads
Even better. No creepy 😉
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Anya
Woot, I definitely got a Phantom of the Opera vibe from Grey and now that I think about it, I think that was one of the things that really pulled me into this one.
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Pabkins
Hah, I haven’t read Phantom of the Opera, nor have I seen the movies….am I weird?
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Anya
Oh man! I had to read it for school, but I actually really enjoyed it. I have also seen the most recent movie rendition and really enjoyed it for the most part, along with having the broadway soundtrack mostly memorized >.>. I think you would really enjoy the movie ;-).
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