Today, September 23, is release day for the Red Herrings Society’s spooky anthology What Hides in the Shadows.
You can find short blurbs for several of the stories in this collection here. When I posted these last week, I don’t think I emailed them out, so you probably didn’t see them. If you like creepy stories, take a peek!
Below, you’ll find an excerpt from my contribution, “The One Who Wouldn’t Jump.”
When I was a kid, I thought I’d love that big, new room of mine. It sat at the end of a second hallway, like a private wing separate from the rest of the old ranch-style house. It also had one massive, full-length window, but at night, a streetlamp shone through the pane, and that orange light sliced across the shag carpet and did strange things.
Shelves, toys, books, and an overloaded rocking chair morphed into eerie mounds and sticks of shadow—menacing creatures with grasping skeletal arms. Sometimes, it even looked like one of them moved.
Squeezing my eyes shut—there’s nothing there—I’d turn over, pull the covers up to my chin, and will myself to sleep.
“Close the drapes at night,” my mother said when I told her, in late August, that something was wrong in my bedroom. “Then there won’t be any light to cast weird shadows.”
“But too much darkness might be worse!”
“Jess…” She was considering a kitchen renovation, and she paused her contemplation of the 1960s cabinets to look at me. “You’re letting your imagination tell you tales. It’s been a rough few months since the divorce, I know. We’ve made a big change starting over like this, so it’s okay to be anxious. You’re so sensitive.” She ran a tender thumb along my cheek. “But you’ll get to spend the weekend with Dad soon. And …” she looked back at the planked wooden doors and colonial wrought-iron pulls. I thought they were ugly, but they reminded her of her own mother’s cabinets growing up. “There’s nothing wrong with this house. It is superb.”
Mom was happily indulging in her new freedom, and she wouldn’t hear me. So, I stopped complaining.
But things in my room got worse.
One night, something else appeared.
I lay curled up facing the window, just under the surface of sleep, when the floor creaked with the weight of something shifting on the carpet. A stink of weedy, putrid water wafted across my bed.
I lifted my head. A new silhouette stood at the foot of my bed, entirely separate from everything else. An ink-black figure my height. Rounded at the top like it bore a head, something longish—hair maybe?—plastered against its coal-dark face.
I blinked.
Just your mind telling tales.
It stared at me. It felt eerily familiar.
Silly, stupid imagination!
Something else moved over the top of the bed frame. Fingers curling over the bar.
“You—” it hissed.
My heart exploded.
***
Thanks for reading!
I loved writing this one, especially when it came to creating the eerie and nostalgic vibes. It’s set in 1992, so if you’re an early Millennial like me, you’ll probably enjoy the references. It’s definitely a work of fiction, but the main character, Jessica, is a lot like I was at that age (and still am, sometimes), so giving her these struggles, choices, and consequences was personally cathartic.
You can download an e-copy of What Hides in the Shadows for $.99 here. All proceeds will go to a literacy fund. The paperback will be available soon. If you enjoy the anthology, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews help other readers find this book.
If you’re not already all in on Spooky Season, consider this your friendly invitation. What else are you planning to read this season? Let me know in the comments!
XOXO,
Jenn
