Question

what did hallock mean by curious how idea of plot had come to me nowhere after i had chased inspiration in vain!

Answer 1

The narrator expresses that he did not know how he ended up writing such amazing horror stories despite  not having much interest in them. They somehow came to him. He often sat struggling to write a good piece and desperately looking for some inspiration when he was trying to write his first proper piece. He remembers how all of a sudden, after months of uselessly searching for inspiration, he came up with an exciting plot. It is later revealed that this outburst of ideas and production of interesting pieces was all because of the 'The Writer's Inspiration Bureau' which was being run by the ghosts in an attempt to help the living struggling writers.