There are books which grab you from the get-out. Some scream for attention. Some will haunt you and drive you nearly insane because they won’t go away. There are even books which will give you nightmares. And let’s not forget the books which tug at the heartstrings.
When MuseItUp Publishing received Lisa Forget’s submission of Deathly Quiet, this little story, very quiet story didn’t exactly reach out and slap me across the face screaming for my attention. Lisa had written a very simple tale of dark fiction.
At the time of edits, I kept coming back to Lisa’s story. We were all plugging away on edits, meeting due dates, reading more submissions, the normal every day business of a publishing house. And there was Lisa’s story waiting for an available editor. Every time I checked back to see what was in the que, there was Lisa’s story staring back at me.
I once read that if you keep coming back to something, it’s meant to be yours. Boy, do I believe that. Boy, oh boy, am I glad no one beat me to this one!
This short little piece of dark fiction still sneaks up on me. Every time I look at the cover I see something new. Every time I think on the title, I’m thrown back into the story’s soft voice. I remember this story. I can’t wait to grab every submission from Lisa.
Hope you’ll give Deathly Quiet a chance of sneaking up on you.
Moira Murphy encounters a terrifying stranger who forces a new existence upon her – one that is deathly and quiet.
Blurb:
When Moira Murphy stops by Sebastopol Row to visit the handsome young Percy Brown–the man her heart desires -she finds nothing but empty stables and a pool of dripping blood. With a large black crow watching her every move while black clouds and rolling thunder suddenly fill the skies above her, fear propels her into the Brown family home. The moment she crosses the threshold, stepping into the dark and seemingly empty house, Moira knows something is very wrong.
Dread races through her and dark shadows take on a human-like shape. When long, razor-sharp canines glint in the candlelight Moira realizes what lies within the deathly quiet of that house is a fate even her vivid imagination cannot fathom.
Excerpt:
I trudged through the grassy field and emerged onto the dirt road across from Percy’s house. Mr. and Mrs. Alistair Brown and their sons lived in one of the oldest houses in St. Charles’ Point, our village, just west of Montreal’s harbour. With its crumbling corners, and vines clinging to the mortar and stone, it resembled the mysterious buildings described in my favourite gothic tales. It inspired many ghost stories, frightening and thrilling my friends and me when we were younger, for we were convinced the place was haunted. At eighteen, I was long past believing in childish things. I knew ghosts did not exist, and was certain the only thing one would find living in that house was kind, hardworking people.
Standing on the dusty road, I noticed the curtains were drawn and the windows closed despite the warm late summer air. I found it odd not to see Percy’s mother sitting by the window enjoying the beautiful evening breeze as she usually did.
At the very moment I thought that, a crow cawed from atop its perch in an Ash tree, startling me. Narrowing my eyes at the bird, I put out of my head the unusual and strange thoughts his presence evoked and continued on my way.