Shadows and Mist: Twelve Terrifying Tales

The butler has just delivered your cucumber sandwiches and tea. The old, gothic clock above the mantle strikes the noon hour. Twelve hours to kill until the hands make their rounds and announce a new day. Taking a sip of your Earl Grey, you reach for the book. Like the clockface above your mantle, the book contains twelve stories, measured doses of thrill and excitement. Your journey starts, most appropriately, with a unique coming of age story by JM Lee. Ms. Lee’s first book launched HCS Publishing, her work the inspiration needed for her patron and father to forge the publishing company. Without her, this culmination would never have been imagined. As the pages turn, you will come upon another story set in childhood; Nicole Ordway allows us to glimpse what could happen if sibling rivalry could pair with the supernatural. A man of the cloth with a fiendish devotion will chill you to the bone in Stephen Chapman’s story, “The Inquisitor.” Jeanne Wilkins takes us to opulent, beautiful cruelty in “The Bargain” and then you are led deep into a dangerous wood, made even more treacherous by ambition as you step on the path with Matt and Lori DeLoach. The creative talent of the duo known as Valentine Wolfe show us that sometimes music is the savage beast, and Hunter Royall teaches us to choose our words ever so carefully when making a bargain with the fae. Hogglesnot the Troll will learn that sometimes your greatest desire can cost too much, a lesson presented by David Lee. Fred El Maafer’s lyrical poetry questions the nature of our beloved steampunk genre, his poem is presented in both English and French. If you are lucky enough to remember a show called The Twilight Zone, you will not be disappointed with the chilling screenplay presented by Michael Parodi. “D.A.I.S.Y.” by Charlie Stayton will steal your heart as the steel companion of a brilliant young scientist. Taking you to the midnight hour on our literary clock, D. M. Patterson reimagines the dark, sooty, unscrupulous world that might be the real setting for a popular nursery rhyme. These are the tales from the darker imaginations of the HCS family. We thank you with all our hearts for supporting us and hope you find delightful diversion in them. Just a thought, you may need the butler to stiffen your drink a bit along the way.Jeanne L. Wilkins, Editor/Author

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