I've been having a lot of fun lately experimenting with animated storytelling.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally finished my animated Myron Cope tribute, Quoth the Raven, "Yoi!" That was a blast to produce, and naturally, no sooner had I finished it than I found myself fixated on another project. This one is called Fairway Thirteen. It's a ghost story about a golfer, a Native American, and a rather unusual encounter in the woods at North Park Golf Course.
Photo: Yours truly, playing amateur photographer with my Canon Rebel at North Park Golf Course, just north of Pittsburgh.
Armed with a camera, a little ambition, and considerably more enthusiasm than expertise, I spent a beautiful October evening capturing the fall foliage and revisiting the setting that inspired my ghost story Fairway Thirteen nearly 30 years ago.
Unlike my little Raven production, this one is a longer-form audio story. The narration is pretty much in place. The trick is figuring out how to bring the visuals along for the ride without turning the whole thing into a Hollywood production.
I'm getting there. But something especially enjoyable happened this past weekend. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The kind of crisp, golden autumn evening I had imagined when I first wrote Fairway Thirteen more than twenty years ago. Actually, it might be closer to thirty. So I grabbed my Canon camera, my tripod, and my selfie stick and headed to North Park Golf Course around six in the evening.
Now, I should explain that I'm something of a stooge with a camera. I know just enough about photography to realize how much I don't know. But I'm learning.
The sun was beautiful, filtering through the fall foliage surrounding the course.I spotted a greenskeeper wrapping up his work and asked whether he'd mind if I wandered around taking pictures. I explained that I was an amateur photographer practicing my craft. He didn't mind at all. So off I went, walking the back nine, taking photographs and shooting little bits of video until I reached the very fairway that inspired my story.
And that's when I made a rather embarrassing discovery.
Fairway Thirteen is actually Fairway Fourteen. Oops. The real thirteenth hole at North Park is a par three. Both holes have woods to the left, and I've donated more than a few golf balls to those woods over the years.
But Fourteen is the one I remembered. It's a sharp dogleg with a steep ravine leading into the trees on the left. The perfect place to lose a golf ball. And, if your imagination works anything like mine, the perfect place to go wandering into the brush looking for that ball and stumble into a time-traveling ghost story.
That's how my mind works, anyway.
What made the evening special wasn't just getting some beautiful photographs. It was reconnecting with a place that inspired one of my earliest attempts at fiction.Fairway Thirteen was my first real short story. Before that, I don't think I'd written anything much longer than a page. And here I was, decades later, walking the same fairway, camera in hand, trying to bring that old story to life in an entirely new way. I still think it's a solid little tale. I've revised it for a new narrated edition, and I've even tucked in a little lore from The Midas Files that longtime readers might enjoy. Maybe someday I'll turn the whole thing into a fully animated story. For now, I'm having fun discovering what's possible.
Photo: Yours truly, playing amateur photographer with my Canon Rebel at North Park Golf Course, just north of Pittsburgh.
Armed with a camera, a little ambition, and considerably more enthusiasm than expertise, I spent a beautiful October evening capturing the fall foliage and revisiting the setting that inspired my ghost story
Fairway Thirteen nearly 30 years ago.
And sometimes that's enough. Anyway, I think I hear the dogs barking out on Fairway Thirteen. Or Fourteen. Whatever. I'd better go.
Look for Fairway Thirteen on my YouTube channel later this week.
About the Author
Matt De Reno
Matt De Reno is the author of The Midas Files, a Pittsburgh-rooted science-fiction thriller series exploring UFOs, secret histories, ancient technology, and the occasional problem caused by reality folding in on itself. In The Scratching Post, he writes about the creative life behind the books—storytelling, indie publishing, AI experiments, live readings, works in progress, and whatever strange idea has wandered into his notebook that week. Email him at
Explore North Park: The Real Setting Behind Fairway Thirteen
Located in Pittsburgh's North Hills, North Park is Allegheny County's largest county park, encompassing approximately 3,089 acres across Hampton, McCandless, and Pine Townships.
Known for its wooded trails, scenic lake, recreational facilities, and beautiful fall foliage, North Park offers outdoor adventures throughout the year.
The park is home to an 18-hole public golf course, where the wooded terrain surrounding the back nine helped inspire my supernatural short story, Fairway Thirteen.
North Park at a Glance
- Location: 303 Pearce Mill Road, Allison Park, PA 15101
- Park hours: Daily, dawn to midnight
- Golf: 18-hole public North Park Golf Course
- Lake: Approximately 66 acres, with a scenic five-mile loop
- Activities: Hiking, cycling, kayaking, fishing, golfing, photography, ice skating, and more
- Nature: Wooded trails, wildlife habitats, and the Latodami Nature Center
- Best time for fall photography: October, when the surrounding hillsides turn brilliant shades of red, orange, and gold
