LIVE at last in the excellent anthology +Horror Library+ 9, from Dark Moon Books, comes my latest publication, “Merlin’s Vicious Trick.” Longtime readers may note that “Merlin’s Vicious Trick” is the same general storyline as two stories from last year’s Sinister Century box set, “Red Rover, Red Rover” and “Sorry Girls, He’s Married.” Specifically, in “Red Rover, Red Rover,” Jimmy Kowalski has this introspective bit:

Stepping out of the bunker, he was careful to examine each direction slowly and carefully, aiming down the rifle’s iron sights and straining to see any movement, no matter how slight. There was nothing. There never had been anything. He walked down to the spot that overlooked the beach and stared out into the ocean. Black smoke rose out of the jungle cover that was his view of Guadalcanal. Nothing good was ever happening where that kind of coal-black smoke rose from. He suddenly remembered standing in his grandfather’s field when he was five. This was when they’d lived in Shelby, Montana, back when they’d still had land and a family business. They had awoken one morning to find a pall of black smoke rising from north, up in Canada. He’d been fascinated with the way it billowed and spread through the sky, covering the deep endless blue of the sky, over the vicious golden coin of the sun. Later, eavesdropping on his father and mother, he learned that a small village near Medicine Hat had burned to the ground. Dozens of people had died. He’d imagined the blackened stumps of the town, the scorched corpses littering the streets. Had dreamed of it ever since.

The village he sees burning in the distance is of course the town in “Merlin’s Vicious Trick,”

More on +Horror Library+ 9 from Dark Moon Books:

Since 2006, the +Horror Library+ series of anthologies has been internationally praised as a groundbreaking source of contemporary horror short fiction stories—relevant to the moment and stunning in impact—from leading authors of the macabre and darkly imaginative.

Filled with Fears and Fantasy. Death and Dark Dreams. Monsters and Mayhem. Literary Vision and Wonder. Each volume of the +Horror Library+ series is packed with heart-pounding thrills and creepy contemplations as to what truly lurks among the shadows of the world(s) we live in.

Containing 30 all-original stories, read Volume 8 in this ongoing anthology series, and then continue with the other volumes.

Shamble no longer through the banal humdrum of normalcy, but ENTER THE HORROR LIBRARY!

You can find multiple ways to snag yourself a copy of +Horror Library+ 9 below via the store links from Dark Moon Books!