Whispers from the OUTER SHADOWS, Issue 5
Outer Shadows is Outland Entertainment’s horror imprint, featuring work created by and curated by Cullen Bunn.
It’s almost time, kids.
Time for…
When I was a much younger man, I packed my bags and moved from my home in North Carolina to the Missouri Ozarks. My new home lay at the end of a long, winding dirt road… a road that was sometimes carpeted in tarantulas. In order to reach the house, you had to drive through two creeks… not over two creeks… but through the shallow, babbling waters. Kick over a rock, and you were likely to find scorpions scurrying over your shoes and up your leg. Step outside in the early morning, and you would probably find yourself in a fog bank so thick you couldn’t see more than an inch or two past your face.
It was there that Crooked Hills was born.
Crooked Hills is “most haunted small town in America” and it is home to ghosts and ghouls and hellhounds and witches. It is also the setting for the next offering from the Outer Shadows imprint!
CROOKED HILLS is a middle reader horror novel. An 8 to 12 year old could read and enjoy this book. But adults with a sense of adventure, fun, and spookiness will absolutely love this tale of terror.
I promise.
I mean, just look at a few of these review comments:
Crooked Hills is going to be marketed as the kind of book that you and your kids can read around Halloween and get a good scare from. This of course is true, but Crooked Hills offers so much more as well. What Bunn has created is something that can be appreciated by kids and adults alike. Crooked hills is not only a fantastic all ages horror book, but also an adventure story that reminds us of the magic that is childhood.
—Geeks of Doom
One of the most fun, delightful reads (even for adults!), I will say that if you read only one YA book this year, Crooked Hills should be it without a question. It will remind you why you got into horror in the first place, and introduce you to a great story with a fantastic cast of characters that you won’t soon forget.
—Hellnotes
Reading this book as an adult, I was struck with a sense of nostalgia for my youth. Young readers will find a well-told adventure story with real thrills. And if a great story urges the youngsters to put down their DSs for a while and explore the wild places in their neighborhood, well, that’ll be just fine by me. The woods still teem with bad guys and they aren’t going to take care of themselves.
—Serial Distractions
The Kickstarter for this novel—the first in a series of horror novels set in Crooked Hills—is launching in just a few days! For The Love Of God, Montresor, head over to the pre-launch page and follow the campaign so you don’t miss out once it launches!
If you have a kid… if you know a kid… or you’ve ever been a kid, you do not want to miss out on this!
And now… more horror goodness…
LEGAL JARGON by Aaron Conaway
When Alec and Janice were ready to build their home, few spots remained in Shady Hills. Even so, the deal was so good that Alec had the land surveyed twice to search for sinkholes that could account for how cheap they were getting the house.
“I’ve seen Poltergeist.” Alec said to his wife, though he hadn’t seen all of it, fearful of clowns as he was. “I know what greedy landowners get up to.”
“I know what you mean,” Janice said to her husband, though she only partially listened. She was busy looking at drapes in a magazine. “Do you like mauve for the living room?”
And so it went until Alec—satisfied that Spielberg’s demon jester couldn’t get him—and Janice, content with her color schemes, signed on the dotted line and became homeowners.
A year passed.
Alec’s job started taking him on the road often. Janice ran her online retail business from home and didn’t mind terribly.
The second year in Shady Hills blessed Alec and Janice with the birth of their first child, Derrick. Alec tried to cut back his time on the road, but the economy quickly made beggars out of working men, so he didn’t push hard. Janice, who now did mind that Alec was gone so often, hardly slept. It seemed to her that little Derrick cried whenever he sensed her eyes were closed.
One day, while changing Derrick, Janice noticed a dark spot on his right elbow, almost like a birthmark.
“It looks like someone stamped our son with a little eye.” Janice later told Alec over the phone.
“It’s just a bruise that looks like an eye. Kids bruise themselves all the time.” Alec assured her. “If it gets worse, take him to the doctor.”
Two years passed.
Janice was sorting mail from the day before when she came across a plain brown envelope with the eye stamped in place of a return address. She felt ice in her stomach as she opened it.
Dear Sir or Madam,
Per your signatures on the Housing Ownership Agreement for the Shady Hills subdivision, per article seventeen, subsection C, paragraph four, a representative from EYE INC. will arrive within twenty-four hours to collect your firstborn, one Derrick Boer.
Have a pleasant day.
Janice jumped as the doorbell rang.
She looked out the living room window to see a man in a black suit holding a briefcase emblazoned with the same eye that her little boy bore on his arm.
“Go away!” Janice cried. She ran for her cell to call Alec.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, ma’am,” the man said as he tried to open the locked front door. “I have a copy of your and your husband’s signatures here. EYE INC. is fully within its rights according to the law.”
“Answer, damn it!” Janice screamed, only getting a busy signal from Derrick’s number.
Janice jumped as she saw the man from EYE staring in her kitchen window.
“Let me in, ma’am,” he said as he pushed on the window, trying to force it open. “You’ve lived here for years, cheaply and pleasantly. Now give us what is ours.”
Janice ran to Derrick’s room and shut his door, locking it. She collected her little boy and sat in the corner, hugging him close, terrified.
“You really should read the fine print,” a second suited man said as he exited Derrick’s closet. “I won’t be a minute collecting the boy.”
Janice screamed again.
And again.
And again.
Aaron lives in K.C., MO. He makes up stories more than he eats, eats more than he sleeps, and has been given to frequent a Ferris wheel when occasion permits.
A huge fan of myths and folklore, he loves to experiment with tales; mostly flash pieces and short stories. Waking The Weaver, his first novel, kicked off The Timberhaven Chronicles, followed up subsequently with The Michael Gideon Collection's first entry, Tales For Halloween. His latest story collection, Appalachian Blues, began his Harrowed Earth series.
Website: aaronconaway.com, Youtube: aaron conaway, Facebook: @aaronconawayauthor, Instagram: @aaronconawayauthor
Here’s what OUTER SHADOWS has in store for you… SO FAR!
CROOKED HILLS, a middle grade horror novel written by Cullen Bunn
I’LL KILL YOU LAST, a horror anthology fusing 80s action movies with pure terror, edited by Cullen Bunn
CROOKED HILLS II, a middle grade horror novel written by Cullen Bunn
And much, much more…
Well the most wonderful time of the year—Halloween!—is nearly upon us once again. And if you’re from the Ozarks, you might know about the Ozark Howler. (That’s a giant monster cat, for those unfamiliar.) What you might not know is that it’s owned by an old witch! Now legend has it that the witch steals misbehaving children of the hills to do her bidding. Unfortunately, her bidding is to clean out the litter box of the Howler for all eternity! So beware, young hooligans, for the poop scoop awaits you.
Mr. Macabre is a freelance boogeyman, Kansas City’s Worst Horror Host, hack comedian, novice writer, semi professional race car driver, and amateur tattoo artist.
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