The Jack O'Lantern Men - Preview

Read on for a preview of my new novella, The Jack O'Lantern Men, publishing Hallowe'en 2015:

The Jack O'Lantern Men
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Life is but a whisper on a long forgotten wind.

They were the final words my wife spoke to me, as she lay on her death bed and limply held my hand, as mine grew tighter on hers. It is true, is it not? In that moment I forgave her all; her heresy, her infidelity, all the wounds she’d opened up in me over those long years. I stayed because I believed in my vows, and I cherished my daughter. Thus, I buried my hatred for this woman I had loved with all of my heart. Yet they were not the only reasons. I still loved her so, and though I never spoke of it again, my love sat with my hatred, and they shared the heart that belonged to that woman.

Oh Year, one which was so full of pain to enter, and shall be evermore agonising still to feel die. What secrets have you left to share with us in your final days? As the winter creeps upon us now that autumn has done its worst.

The fate of men resides in my hands once again. My keys grow heavier at my side, as I stalk the dark and dingy corridors, checking each cell to see if men still breathe so that we can take their last breaths from them. They are all sentenced to hang, all the men under my care.

Today, I was delivered the latest of these damned souls. Frank was his name. He said hardly a word as he was brought down to his cell and I unlocked the one farthest down the corridor. He turned and looked at me as I locked it behind him, looked me right in the eye and spoke to me without a word.

My day of reckoning had come.

Before leaving for home, I returned to his cell and looked through the bars. He sat motionless in the corner, and only stirred when I had stood at the bars for an endless five minutes.

“You know, don’t you?” His voice sounded as if it clawed over a thousand needles to escape his throat. For the first time, I noticed his nose and mouth were bloody; one blackened eye could only manage a squint to share vision with the other.

“I do,” I replied to him.

For I knew they haunted him too. I could feel them just out of sight at the end of the corridor. I ignored them, fixing my eyes on Frank.

“Find my daughter,” he implored me, finally moving from his corner toward me. “Find that she understands it was not of my doing.”

I nodded and said nothing further, moving from the cell into the darkness of the corridor.

The Jack O’Lantern Men followed me, their mouths grinning wickedly at my back. Long, tapered, fingers brushed my neck as I hurried from the prison.

“Leave me!” I cried into the dark, as I had done every night since she had gone.
They were not words that met my ears, more drifting thoughts that met my mind.

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The Jack O'Lantern Men, available October 31st.

Hear our words. Say your prayers.

Late on Hallowe’en night, Frank is delivered to the Jailer, standing accused of a crime for which he will hang. He has a tale to tell, and begs the Jailer to speak to his daughter.

His daughter, Laura, has her own tale to tell. Through their words, the Jailer hears of the events that will lead him to his last execution.

All the while, the Jack O’Lantern Men wait in the wings for the last act to play out and the curtain to fall.