The sound of drowned bells
Almost every coast with a lost village has the same legend: on still nights you can hear the church bells ringing under the water.
Why the legend lasts
Sound travels about four times faster in water than in air, and it travels far. Fishermen really do hear strange things through a hull. The bells are a good story to put on top of a real noise.
Writing it
For A Map of Drowned Bells I wanted the bells to be frightening without ever being magic. Every time someone hears them, there is another explanation in the same chapter. Readers can choose.
- Read the legend.
- Find the real sound behind it.
- Never tell the reader which one is true.