From creatures in closets to monsters under the bed, we’ve always had darkly fascinating friends. As horror readers, we get the opportunity to dig up all the ghoulies the shadows are hiding, and then decide what is to become of them. Are we the monster, or the victim? Can we survive the tale, or are we just another ragged body left slumped in the corner?
We move through these stories as if someone held out a shadowed paw to take, and by accepting it, we’re opening ourselves up to new visions of the nightmarish or macabre. Our dark companions are varied and wear a thousand snarling faces, but we all know how it’s going to end, don’t we? Can we trust the ones we’re with to follow us to the end of the road, or will they see our darkness and run screaming into the night?
I’m here with you. My paw’s only a little on the shadowy side. Let’s walk down the road together a bit, side by side, and we’ll see where the darkness takes us.
Track One: 57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides
Jared and Anchal have some serious high school problems, but Edgar Allan Poe’s “Hop-Frog” inspires some drastic solutions. Winner of the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award for Short Fiction.
Track Two: Twilight Travels With the Grape-Paper Man by Sara Saab
In this unique story, Layal joins the grape-paper man on a search for his missing face.
Track Three: The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains
The narrator hires Calum MacInnes as a guide to a certain cave on the Misty Isle, and their journey leads to a just reward.
Hidden Tracks
Sometimes you’ve got to dig a little deeper. Pull a book down from your shelf, run out to the library, or order it from Amazon. Get a collection or anthology in your hands, crack the pages, and get into it. These “Hidden Tracks” can’t be found online (as of this publication), but are worth seeking out and devouring. Enjoy the thrill of the hunt by tracking them down.
This story gives me the creeps every time I read it. Even the ninth or tenth go around. It’s a tight, sharp tale about a boy and his sister and the guy invited back to their room. Unsettling, but oh-so satisfying, this story can be found in Grau’s stand-out collection The Nameless Dark.
From The Woman Who Married a Cloud: The Collected Short Stories, ‘Mr. Fiddlehead’ is a strange tale of friendship–both real and imaginary–and love gone awry. Seemingly innocuous coincidence leads to a dark betrayal in this unforgettable story by one of the world’s best fantasists.
If you have a favorite story or two that fits our theme, whether online or sitting on a shelf in your library, add it to the Comments below!
JAKE MARLEY
If you enjoyed our Horror Mix-Tape and want to read our Hidden Tracks please consider clicking through to our Amazon Affiliate links. If you do you’ll help keep the This Is Horror ship afloat with some very welcome remuneration.