Horace Thomas Cross

Horace Cross provides one of two central narratives in A Visitation of Spirits, which centers on the circumstances and events leading up to his suicide on April 30, 1984. Horace is an intelligent and ambitious 16 year old interested in science with a love of reading, fantasy, and superheroes. He was raised by his grandparents Ezekiel and Aretha Cross and grew up in a Fundamentalist Christian family, in which he attended church and is part of the religious community. Horace is subject to racism as a black student at his school, and upon befriending a group of white students, is condemned by his former black friends as well as his family.

Since Horace was a child, he recognized his sexual attraction toward males. The root of his suffering as a teenager is the cultural and religious homophobia he experiences within the Cross family and Tims Creek. Horace comes to...