Hello, and welcome to Everlost. For new arrivals, I am happy to provide a comprehensive list of everterms and definitions that may help you in your postmortal journey. Naturally I’ve included my own personal opinions as well, for what list would be complete without the wisdom of someone who knows? Thank you, and I look forward to meeting you very, very soon.

Yours most truly,

Mary Hightower

afterglow: This is the gentle light that all spirits in Everlost generate. Of course some shine more brightly than others.

Afterlight: All residents of Everlost are properly referred to as “Afterlights.” To call us ghosts is insulting.

chime: To hang one’s captives upside down by their ankles from long ropes, allowing them to swing free. As it is impossible to feel physical pain in Everlost, certain evil entities, such as the McGill will chime their prisoners in an attempt to induce long-term boredom.

chiming chamber: A place where such unfortunate afterlights are chimed.

deadspot: This is a small patch of ground that has crossed from the living world into Everlost. In most cases these spots are just a few feet wide, and mark the place where someone has died; however, in certain instances deadspots can include larger areas.

dominant reality: When a building is destroyed, and crosses into Everlost, and a new structure is built in the living world to take its place, which of those buildings is more real? To us in Everlost, the older, “crossed” building is the one we see. Therefore, it is my opinion that Everlost is more real. You can read more about this in my upcoming book The Living World and Other Myths, as Told by Mary Hightower.

ecto-ripping: One of the criminal arts, as I like to call them. “Ecto-ripping” or “ripping” is the ability to reach into the living world, and rip things out of it, and into Everlost. Avoid ecto-rippers at all costs. Any ecto-ripper sighting should be reported to an authority.

evercookies: Certain individuals (whose names I shall not mention) claim that all Chinese fortune cookies cross into Everlost, and if that’s not enough, they also insist that every fortune in Everlost is true. I say that these are lies, lies, lies. I advise you to stay away from fortune cookies as if they carry the plague.

eversight: We Afterlights can see the living world, but it looks blurry and out of focus to us. Even the colors of the living world are subdued. Only the things and places that have crossed into Everlost appear bright, solid, and clear to us. Such is the nature of eversight.

everslugs: You may have discovered a time-worn coin in your pocket when you awoke in Everlost. Throw it away. It’s worthless.

The Everwild: The unexplored, uncharted, and mostly dangerous regions of Everlost.

fleshie: A skinjacker slang term for a living, breathing human being.