Sylvia Shults is the author of several books of paranormal nonfiction, including Gone on Vacation: Haunted Zoos, Museums, and Amusement Parks, the award-winning Days of the Dead: A Year of True Ghost Stories, and Grave Deeds And Dead Plots. She sits in dark, spooky, haunted places so you don't have to. She has spent the last twenty-five years working at a public library, slowly smuggling out enough words in her pockets week after week to build a book of her own. She lives a short, ten-minute motorcycle ride away from the haunted asylum that features in so many of her books. She considers it the highest privilege to share the incredible, compassionate history of the Peoria State Hospital.

After battling an intense, lifelong fear of the dark, Sylvia decided to become a ghost hunter. (What WAS she thinking?) As a paranormal investigator, she has made many media appearances, including a tiny part in the Ghost Hunters episode "Prescription for Fear", about the Peoria State Hospital.

She is the writer, narrator, director, and producer of the true ghost story podcast Lights Out With Sylvia Shults, available on any podcast platform, and on YouTube.

Sylvia loves hearing from her readers, especially when they have spooky stories of their own to share with her. She can be found at www.sylviashults.wordpress.com, and on Facebook at the pages for Fractured Spirits, Lights Out, and Ghosts of the Illinois River.