With THE WHISTLER, Medina delivers a ghost story that explores themes of disability and otherness with both an unflinching and empathetic eye, as well as a cautionary tale against greed and the cost of ignoring the lessons of the past.
The REAL Indigenous myths behind his novels:
Nick is a member of the Tunica-Biloxi tribe of Louisiana and draws inspiration from the stories passed down by his grandmother, a tribe elder.
Contemporary issues affecting Native communities:
Nick’s novels have been praised for expertly weaving in contemporary issues affecting Native communities. His debut novel highlighted the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women epidemic, his second novel addressed the effects of alcoholism, depression, and rising suicide rates on Native communities; and with his third novel, Medina explores both every day and systemic challenges that Native disabled people face.
Horror written by a true savant:
Hailing from Chicago, one of the most haunted cities in the United States, and with a family in the funeral business, Medina is no stranger to hauntings and ghost stories.
The Whistler
by Nick Medina
September 16, 2025
genre: Indigenous Fiction, Ghost Thrillers,American Literature
A young man is haunted by a mythological specter bent on stealing everything he loves in this unsettling horror from the author of Indian Burial Ground and Sisters of the Lost Nation.
For fear of summoning evil spirits, Native superstition says you should never, ever whistle at night.
Henry Hotard was on the verge of fame, gaining a following and traction with his eerie ghost-hunting videos. Then his dreams came to a screeching halt. Now, he's learning to navigate a new life in a wheelchair, back on the reservation where he grew up, relying on his grandparents’ care while he recovers.
And he’s being haunted.
His girlfriend, Jade, insists he just needs time to adjust to his new reality as a quadriplegic, that it’s his traumatized mind playing tricks on him, but Henry knows better. As the specter haunting him creeps closer each night, Henry battles to find a way to endure, to rid himself of the horror stalking him. Worried that this dread might plague him forever, he realizes the only way to exile his phantom is by confronting his troubled past and going back to the events that led to his injury.
It all started when he whistled at night....
About the Author
website
Nick Medina is a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, and he drew on personal and family experiences, along with research into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) epidemic, as inspiration for his debut novel, Sisters of the Lost Nation. He has degrees in organizational and multicultural communication, and has worked as a college instructor. He also enjoys playing guitar, listening to classic rock, and exploring haunted cemeteries and all sorts of spooky stuff. Learn more online at .
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