Indian River — It’s 9 a.m. on Halloween when I open the door to Chillermania and a black bat descends from the ceiling and hangs in the air in front of my face, dangling and bouncing. It’s a fake bat, of course, hooked to a fishing line running along the low ceiling toward the back of the store where Johnathan Rand, esteemed writer of the beloved Michigan Chillers series, tugs on the line, animating the bat while fixing the puppet-like contraption.
He’s got these little traps set up all over the store. Snakes, bodies, bats, and spiders are moved by way of fishing line clandestinely attached somewhere behind the front counter. Just as you might be perusing a shelf of new releases in the corner, a threatening insect might scurry down and onto your hand. Chillermania is filled with haunting figures and creepy crawlers. It’s like a permanent Halloween decoration, and it’s terribly fun.
The first thing you need to know about Rand is that over the past 25 years he’s created a whole world full of all things spooky and scary. Michigan Chillers is perhaps his most well-known series, a collection of 21 books beloved by countless kids. For over two decades, titles like “Poltergeist of Petoskey,” “Aliens Attack Alpena,” and “Terror Stalks Traverse City” have tantalized and inspired Michigan kids from every corner of the state.
The second thing you need to know about Rand is that he wakes up at 1:30 a.m. every single morning. I’ve met people who wake up at 5 a.m. I’ve met people who wake up at 4 a.m. But 1:30 a.m.? No. That’s something else entirely. Rand told me that’s when he is most productive. In the middle of the night when the world is asleep, he’s awake writing the stories designed to keep you awake, as all good scary stories should.
The third thing you need to know about Rand is that he’s warm, welcoming, kind, and thoughtful. Once I made my way past the tarantula, he immediately offered me a cup of freshly brewed coffee. As someone deep in the throes of a glorious coffee addiction, it was very welcome. Rand too is a coffee hound; we both drank it black. I told him I wouldn’t take much of his time, but he said he’s got plenty of time. I told him I wanted to buy some books for my kids. He asked their ages, picked them himself, autographed each one, and gave them to me for free. I tried to pay and insisted twice, but he refused to take any money.
Rand told me all about his life. He was always a vociferous reader. In first grade, he began writing what we might call fan fiction. He always gravitated toward ghost stories and continued reading all the way through middle school and high school. After a brief stint in college, Rand got a job at a radio station making commercials. He enjoyed what he did and lived in a cabin way out in the middle of Cheboygan County.
Rand told me that all through his time in radio and television he was constantly thinking about new stories on his off-time. So one day, he decided to write one himself. He was immediately hooked. He became obsessed with writing, crafting stories, and building worlds. It was while he was writing a book called “Ferocity,” an adult novel about a giant man-eating muskellunge that lives in Mullet Lake, that he came up with the idea for the Michigan Chillers series. He mused, “If you took everything about the beauty of Michigan and you put it into a bottle and you sold it on the shelf of a store what would you call it?”
One of the names he came up with was a Michigan Chiller. It clicked. He thought about it, talked with his wife about it, and finally realized that Michigan Chillers would be a perfect series for kids. His first Michigan Chiller was “Mayhem on Mackinac Island,” published February 16, 2000.
Rand says, “Not a single day goes by where someone doesn’t come up to me that’s maybe in their 20s or early 30s, and they’ll say, ‘I don’t want you to feel old or anything but you came to my elementary school when I was in 3rd grade, and this is my son, and he’s reading the very same books that I bought from you when you came to my school.’”
Rand confided, “To me, that’s an aspect of what I do that I never expected, and it’s the most rewarding thing I think I’ve ever felt. There is no paycheck in the world that could replace that.”
In an era of zapped attention spans, iPad kids, and a world that seems more intent on scrolling short-form video slop than it does on reading an enthralling story, inspiring kids to read—and love it!—is a Herculean feat and a public service that deserves high praise.
The impact we make on others is often hard to quantify. It fans out in mysterious ways. One thing leads to another, and another, and then another after that. It goes like that for so long that we forget what started the ball rolling in the first place. It might be impossible to quantify the full impact of Rand’s work.
How many hours have been spent by how many kids reading Michigan Chillers on vacation, in the library during 5th hour, on the school bus home, or late at night because they just can’t put the book down? How many kids thought they hated reading until they held a Michigan Chiller? How many kids did Rand help discover that they love reading?
The gift of reading is also the gift of knowledge and imagination, curiosity, and even patience. Without it our world would be worse. It’s a gift Rand has enjoyed ever since he was a little kid dreaming up his stories in first grade, and it’s one he’s given back to thousands of Michigan kids since.
O.W. Root is a writer based in Northern Michigan, with a focus on nature, food, style, and culture. Follow him on X @OW_Root.
