Author E.J. Copperman on Cozy Ghost Stories, Writing Humorous Mysteries and Who They Would Haunt

Halloween doesn’t always have to be bone-chilling horror and blood-curdling screams (though we do love a good scare!) There’s a cosier side to spooky season – where ghosts are benign, helpful, and sometimes downright charming. We sat down with E.J. Copperman – author of All Spooked Up, the first entry in the Haunted Paint Store series – to ask about what inspired his more wholesome take on the paranormal mystery.

You’re no stranger when it comes to ghostly cozies – what gave you the idea for the current Haunted Paint Store series?

I felt the need to get back to my “roots,” that is, the same kind of story that my readers appear to have enjoyed the most, which involved sort of quirky, non-scary ghosts. And my father did indeed own a paint and wallpaper store in my hometown for forty years, so that seemed like a natural setting.

What is it that draws you to paranormal/supernatural themes?

I suppose we all fantasize about one kind of afterlife or another, a way to think that our own deaths will not be the end of the story. I personally like to play with the idea of a ghost because I don’t take it very seriously. Amos, in All Spooked Up, is a man who had two specific careers – first as a police detective and then as a shopkeeper – and is just adjusting to the new reality for him, that he ended up in the store for what he assumes is eternity. So he uses the opportunity to observe his daughter and comment on her situation.

In All Spooked Up you set up a wholesome premise of a fatherly ghost who helps his living daughter solve a crime – is that relationship something that was close to your heart?

Certainly. Even in the Haunted Guesthouse series I invented a ghost father because that made it possible for me to imagine spending time with my own dad, who we lost thirty years ago. Neither that father or Amos is really very much like my own, but once we start imagining, things tend to take off in their own direction.

In addition to being a great mystery with supernatural elements, All Spooked Up is great fun, with quirky characters and laugh-out-loud dialogue – how do you manage to make your books this entertaining?

When I’m writing, I’m doing so to entertain myself. I always have the reader in mind, but I have to avoid getting bored in the writing process, which takes considerably longer for me than reading it will for you (hopefully). I write comedies that have a mystery in them because I have a comedic sensibility, and serious stories have very little interest for me. I also tend to be a wiseass, so adding a somewhat snarky attitude for my main character (Laura Meehan, in All Spooked Up) was just natural. I wouldn’t know how to write a completely serious book. Probably because I wouldn’t want to read it.

Do you believe in ghosts and why/why not?

I plead the fifth! There’s no answer to that question that isn’t going to annoy at least some of my readers. So whichever way you believe, I agree with that.

If you could come back as a ghost and haunt anyone, who would that be and why?

I would definitely haunt my spouse and children. Because that would give me more time with them, and after all, isn’t that what I’d miss the most? There are a few politicians I might drop in on if they’re especially afraid of ghosts. Gotta do my part.

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4th Nov 2025

All Spooked Up

E.J. Copperman

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