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    Literary Haunts: Nocturnal Screams, #4
    Literary Haunts: Nocturnal Screams, #4
    Literary Haunts: Nocturnal Screams, #4
    Ebook63 pages45 minutes

    Literary Haunts: Nocturnal Screams, #4

    By Mark Leslie

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    About this ebook

    The echo of screams haunt the night in this fourth collection in a series of short horror tales from the dark mind of Mark Leslie.

    SPIRITS: People who haven't died can still leave their spirit behind, tied to a place. Sally and Rob, two young lovers, are caught up in the legend of The Phoenix Baby, the ghostly crying that haunts a repertory cinema in Ottawa and, as they unravel the mystery they find themselves becoming inextricably entangled with the old abandoned building.

    FALL SPECTACLE: In the midst of a small northern community spiraling into the depths of fear and panic over an elusive dark figure rumored to be stalking the night, a young man attempts to reclaim both his innocence and the passion of his youthful first love. 

    LESS OF A MAN: The horror of losing a loved one to a vicious wasting disease can lead a person to try almost anything to bring them back.

    If you're looking for three quick jaunts into worlds reminiscent of an episode of Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone, you'll want to crack open the pages and start listening for the nocturnal screams. The stories and accompanying "behind the screams" notes from the author come to approximately 14,300 words.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStark Publishing
    Release dateAug 14, 2018
    ISBN9781386636021
    Literary Haunts: Nocturnal Screams, #4
    Author

    Mark Leslie

    Mark Leslie is a writer of "Twilight Zone" or "Black Mirror" style speculative fiction. He lives in Southwestern Ontario and is sometimes seen traveling to book events with his life-sized skeleton companion, Barnaby Bones. His books include the "Canadian Werewolf" series, numerous horror story collections, and explorations of haunted locales. When he is not writing, or reading, Mark can be found haunting bookstores, libraries or local craft beer establishments.  

    Read more from Mark Leslie

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      Book preview

      Literary Haunts - Mark Leslie

      For all those who have experienced Lost Love, Unrequited Love and missed opportunities for Love

      Introduction

      IN MY SHORT STORY COLLECTION One Hand Screaming, I confess that I scream a lot. Silent screams were what I called them. I explained how story ideas bounced around inside my head like an impending storm, brewing into a force that would escape in a wild dance of chaos if I couldn’t stop to write them down.

      And I constantly wrote those stories down.

      Sometimes the stories I wrote would be straight out horror. That came, of course, with my penchant for the macabre.

      Other times the stories would be more in line with an episode of The Twilight Zone – eerie and odd events that ventured just a bit left of center, casting strange and dark shadows across the landscape of the story.

      And, at other times, I would create a story that didn’t seem to fit well in any particular genre. Perhaps because the roots to the tale were founded in straight out literary or contemporary fiction.

      And, Lord knows, I had a hard time placing some of those stories in traditional publications.

      Take the first story in this collection, for example. Spirits is, in a nutshell, a love story wrapped up in literary or contemporary fiction sensibilities. But it contains an underlying sense of the paranormal and pulls out some tropes from a classic ghost story. So, it’s a bit all over the place, and was difficult for me to find a home for. But it’s one of the short stories I’m most proud of.

      In this fourth collection in the Nocturnal Screams series, I wanted to share some tales that, while they might contain something a bit darker, their foundation remains within the more contemporary fiction or perhaps even literary regions.

      Spirits suggests and hints at a ghost story. But it’s so much more. It’s really a love story and about the things and places that can tie people together.

      Fall Spectacle looks at the paranoia and fear that can consume a small town, which provides the basis for the classic old tale of you can’t go home again for the story’s narrator.

      And, while the micro short story Less of a Man contains, perhaps, the most blatant element of horror to it, the tale is, at its core, about the relationship between a father and a son.

      I go into a bit more detail, providing full stories-behind-the-stories for each, which appears at the end of this book. That’s where I will reveal to you some insights behind the inspiration and what I was attempting to do when crafting the tales.

      But those are for after you finish the stories, if you so choose to explore deeper and beyond.

      For now, though, let’s walk together, shall we, down a seemingly normal street in a seemingly normal town. Let’s be wary of the shadows and the distant echoes of screams that we hear in the distance as I share a tale or two with you. But let’s not lose our focus on the characters and the plights that they are suffering under, for therein lies the true sadness, and perhaps, the true horror.

      Spirits

      SITTING HERE ON THE bus stop bench is startlingly comfortable, even though the sheets of misty rain have already cut through my jacket, plastering my shirt to my skin.

      The cold dampness doesn’t bother me.

      Because my mind is otherwise occupied.

      By thoughts of Sally.

      I haven’t thought about her in years; ever since I left Ottawa, actually. But now that I’m back, back here, especially, the vacant lot across from where I’m sitting –- the lot where the old Phoenix movie theatre used to stand –- stares back at me and reminds me of her.

      Reminds me of that night.

      DO YOU BELIEVE IN SPIRITS? Sally asked, the flashlight throwing long shadows up her face.

      You mean ghosts? Rob admired how her features could still seem attractive even in such an eerie light.

      No, Sally said, her face disappearing as the flashlight clicked off. He heard the echoes of her movements in the large empty theatre. The complete darkness, coupled with the serious tone in her voice, was suddenly unsettling. Not ghosts. Spirits.

      There’s a difference?

      Uhuh, Something touched his hand in the darkness. At first he flinched and tried to pull away. Then he realized it was Sally’s hand.

      He squeezed.

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