When Ghosts Walk and Legends Stalk: A Review of "Skinwalker Medium" and Author Guest Post
- Kim Bartosch
- Jul 21
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 27
Looking for your next spooky read with a dash of legend and a lot of atmosphere? Skinwalker Medium: A Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mystery by G.G. Collins might just be the book for you. As a part of this book tour sponsored by Bewitching Book Tours. I’m thrilled to spotlight this eerie and engaging paranormal mystery — complete with a guest post from the author herself about how she researched and developed the story’s chilling mix of folklore and real-life events. Plus, don’t miss the giveaway at the end of this post where one lucky reader will win an eBook copy of Skinwalker Medium! 👻📚
About the book:
Title: Skinwalker Medium: A Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mystery, Book Five
Author: GG Collins
Genre: Indigenous Paranormal Thriller
Publisher: Chamisa Canyon Publishing
Date of Publication: March 19, 2025
Cover Artist: Tatiana Vila, Vila Design
Book Description:
Rachel’s interview subjects are turning up dead, but only those linked to a certain story: the Santa Fe Penitentiary riot of 1980.
It’s beginning to look like something malevolent is involved and it’s threatening everyone connected with the story.
Rachel, the Reluctant Medium, must learn the Navajo ways to prevent another horrific skinwalker death – maybe even her own.
Reviewed by Publisher's Weekly
Nominated for the New Mexico Book Award
The Strand Magazine Reading List.
Fellowship & Award-Winning Writer
SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) Awards
How I Researched and Developed this Story
by GG Collins
My interest in Indigenous culture, particularly in the American Southwest, has been growing since my first exposure to a Hopi ritual to return the dead. I couldn’t help but think, what would happen if the wrong person appeared? I began my series with Hopi characters and went on to add Navajo. My protagonist, Rachel Blackstone, has become friends with a Navajo park ranger, and it may blossom. Rachel is the Reluctant Medium. As a fact-based reporter, this whole psychic thing is annoying, but she is finally realizing that these “cases” aren’t going to stop, and she rises to the challenge with the help of her best friend Chloe.
Hardly an expert on the Navajo, my readers learn along with me. In the fourth book in this series, Anasazi Medium, I told the story of the end of the Fourth World of the Hopi. It was a close call. This time out, I wanted to learn about the Navajo skinwalker, or yee naaldlooshii. By the way, Natives never say the word for fear it will call one to them.
My question was what would prompt someone to go to the dark side and become a skinwalker? And then, I remembered the Santa Fe Penitentiary riot of 1980, one of the worst ever in this country. Losing someone in that blood bath could motivate a person bent on revenge to take such an extreme step.
For background, I took the tour at the prison, called Old Main. After the riot, New Mexico Corrections built a new prison. I wanted to get a sense of what the prison looked like and how it felt within those walls. Film crews and ghost hunters have gone there and left without finishing their tasks. Even in daylight, it is tomb-like. I could feel the horror, and the souls still looking for a way out. It is a long distance, not in miles but in time and place, from the happy visitors in the downtown plaza sipping margaritas.
For Navajo culture, I read some of Tony Hillerman’s books and his articles. I haven’t read all his books; in fact, I hadn’t read any until I began writing Skinwalker Medium. I envy his connection to these Native peoples. He described some of their mannerisms and etiquette, which I included. Then I took a trip to the reservation, by way of Shiprock – a massive volcanic monadnock that rises 1,583 feet above the desert plain on the Navajo reservation. The reservation includes more than 27,000 square miles. Most Navajo live modestly, many in trailer houses or caravans. Some keep a hogan on their property. The hogan is the traditional dwelling, and the door always faces east so those inside can wake to Father Sun. The structure is a sacred space where Diné traditions are handed down and a spiritual balance can be achieved.
Some Native Nations in the Southwest still have to haul water to their houses and don’t have internet. It can be a scant life. But that doesn’t stop the many Natives who become artists, writers, performers, professors, and medical professionals.
I hope your readers will learn, as I am, how special these tribes are. And while learning, enjoy Rachel and Chloe as they work to solve another mystery with a supernatural twist.
Thank you, GG Collins, for your guest post, and yes, we love a good supernatural twist along with a spooky mystery. I look forward to reading more of your books! I enjoyed this story, and my thoughts are below, along with a giveaway for a chance to win an ebook of "Skinwalker Medium".
My Review of "Skinwalker Medium" by GG Collins
If you’ve ever binged shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Winds, or even True Detective: Night Country, you’ll likely feel right at home in Skinwalker Medium: A Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mystery by G.G. Collins. Set in the high desert of New Mexico and drenched in the eerie remnants of true historical tragedy, this supernatural thriller blends folklore, murder, and mystery with an unmistakable love for the paranormal.
Collins may not be out to win literary prizes, but what she offers instead is a story rich in atmosphere, legends, and ghostly thrills — especially appealing to readers who seek out stories that walk the line between reality and myth.
📰 The Story: A Medium Meets a Legend
Rachel Blackstone is no stranger to the strange. A journalist with a complicated gift — the ability to communicate with the dead — she’s drawn into a chilling case when the subjects of her latest interviews start dying under mysterious circumstances. The common thread? All were tied to the Santa Fe Penitentiary riot of 1980, one of the most violent uprisings in U.S. prison history.
As Rachel investigates, the lines between history and horror begin to blur. A skinwalker — a terrifying shape-shifter from Navajo legend — seems to be at the center of it all. The deeper Rachel goes, the more danger she faces, not just from the creature stalking her, but from the haunting truths of the past. To survive, she’ll need to embrace Navajo teachings and confront both the spiritual and the very real threats before another death — perhaps her own — makes the story’s final headline.
🪶 What Worked: Genre Fans Will Rejoice
There’s a distinct charm to the way Collins writes — not in polished prose or masterful pacing, but in the clear affection she has for these kinds of tales. It feels very much like a “B-rated” paranormal series in the best way possible, the kind of book that would make a fun cult TV show on CW or WB in the late ‘90s or early 2000s. Think Supernatural, but with a female lead, New Mexico mysticism, and real historical events layered in for emotional weight.
The prison riot element is particularly well handled — real-life tragedy adds a gritty, unsettling texture that elevates the ghostly themes. And the use of Navajo folklore, while fictionalized, adds depth and intrigue, grounding the horror in a specific cultural context.
🧙♀️ What Might Not Work for Everyone
For readers who’ve been steeped in literary heavyweights — Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, or Tana French — Skinwalker Medium might feel a bit underdeveloped. The plot sticks mostly to a single arc without major subplots or deeply layered conflict, and the prose can be straightforward, even simplistic at times.
But this isn’t necessarily a flaw — it’s a stylistic choice that suits the genre. What may seem like missed literary opportunities to some will read as campy, cozy, or comfortingly spooky to others. It’s not a book that tries to reinvent the genre — it just loves being in the genre.
🌵 Setting the Scene
The New Mexico setting is a standout. Collins evokes the desert’s haunting beauty and blends it with the creepiness of forgotten places and ancient stories. The spiritual danger feels real because it’s tied to land, history, and belief — not just jump scares.
You can almost feel the chill in the dry air, hear the whispers in the wind, and see the skinwalker lurking in the shadows of the past.
👁 Final Thoughts: Know Thy Reader
Skinwalker Medium may not appeal to everyone — especially readers who expect traditional literary structure, complex subplots, or elevated prose. But for fans of paranormal mysteries, urban legends, and ghost stories with a dose of cultural folklore, it’s a satisfying and spooky read.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
Fun, spooky, and atmospheric — best enjoyed by fans of genre storytelling who don’t mind a little camp with their creepy.
Meet the author:
G.G. Collins loves the American Southwest where many of her stories are located. She can be found hiking through ruins of the ancient ones and enjoying New Mexican cuisine. When not traipsing about, she makes up stories with great friendships, quirky characters and, oh yeah, dead bodies. She has worked for a book publisher and as a journalist; publishing is in her blood. In real life she shares her time with a man, several neurotic – and psychic – cats and the ongoing struggle to grow a garden.
Tour Giveaway:
One (1) Ebook copy of Skinwalker Medium by GG Collins. Ends on July 22, 2025, Midnight EST.
Thank you for featuring me and my book Skinwalker Medium. Much appreciated.