The Dead and the Dark
Page 30
It felt like this.
“Home,” Logan said, tasting the word. “Weird concept.”
Ashley smiled. She leaned across the center panel and gave Logan a soft, short kiss on the lips.
The road stretched ahead of them, twisting into nowhere. Logan’s heart skipped a little faster with each mile. Even without the Dark, it would be a long road ahead. Ashley settled into the driver’s seat with sunlight caught in her hair and it was hard to believe she was real. There would be pain and there would be hope, and Logan wasn’t sure which scared her more. But she wasn’t alone anymore.
And wherever the road took them, they’d been through worse.
Acknowledgments
The thing they never tell you in writing class is how many people it takes to make a book. Growing up, I always thought writing a book meant sitting down, cranking out a novel, and then hurling it into the world. It’s so much more than that, though. I have been beyond privileged to work with an entire team of absolute rock stars over the last two years who have all been dedicated to making The Dead and the Dark a real book. I can’t even begin to cover all the help I’ve received, but I can at least try to thank you all.
First of all, a huge thank-you to my incredible editor, Jennie Conway. From our first phone call where you yelled at me for the contents of chapter twenty-five and told me the whole thing was “like Riverdale, but good,” I knew we were going to be a great match. You have been an amazing champion for me and my girls, and I feel so lucky to be working with someone who so deeply understands what I’m trying to say, even when I don’t. Thank you to the entire team at Wednesday Books and St. Martin’s Press. To Mary Moates, Melanie Sanders, Alexis Neuville, Lauren Hougen, Jeremy Haiting, Omar Chapa, and Elizabeth Catalano. Thank you to Kerri Resnick and Peter Strain for my mind-blowingly gorgeous cover. I stare at it every day and imagine I will until the end of time.
My second thank-you goes to Claire Friedman and Jessica Mileo, my tireless agents. Thank you for always answering my panicked midnight questions, for reassuring me through many anxiety spirals, for always encouraging even the most out-there of my ideas, and for sending me Red Dead Redemption memes to keep me grounded. I cannot imagine a duo better suited for me and all my creepy, unnerving stories. Here’s to this first story and to many more to come. Thank you to the rest of the InkWell team, too. The Dead and the Dark wouldn’t be here without you all.
Thank you to my CPs: Lachelle Seville, who has been writing with me for almost a decade now and still doesn’t hate me. To Emily Khilfeh, who saw the very first spark of this idea and helped me kindle it every step of the way. To Cayla Keenan, who is an unrelentingly positive cheerleader and fierce supporter of all things queer. To Alex Clayton, who is the most supportive, kind, and loyal person I know. I wouldn’t be here without you, and I am forever grateful for your friendship and love. Thank you to Sadie Graham, Allison Saft, Ava Reid, and Rachel Morris for being such incredible friends through this journey. We all have to stick together through this tough process. I look forward to backing one another up for years to come.
Thank you to Kelly Jones, my Writing in the Margins mentor, who has always held the door open for aspiring writers. Thank you for listening to all my venting and for always offering to connect me with writers who really know what’s going on. Doing this whole thing one time was exhausting; I can’t imagine how you’ve done it a dozen times!
Thank you to Trisha Kelly, Adrienne Tooley, and Ashley Schumacher for being early readers and supporters of this odd little story. Thank you to Andrea Gomez for your help pushing this book to a deeper level. Thank you to the Tea Time crew: Rachel Diebel, Anna Loose, Ingrid Clark, Maylen Anthony, Lauren Cashman, Adrian Mayoral, Camille Adams, Sylvie Creekmore, and Mike Traner. Thank you to Courtney Summers, Dahlia Adler, Emma Berquist, Francesca Zappia, and Erica Waters for reading and loving The Dead and the Dark. You’re all incredible writers and it means the world to hear your kind words about my girls.
Thank you to Red Dead Redemption, Riverdale, Sharp Objects, Holes, Johnny Cash, Westworld, and all the other strange pieces of media I devoured while trying to figure this book out. Thank you to the towns of eastern Oregon I visited while trying to bring Snakebite to life—I hope you see yourselves represented in these pages.
Lastly, my family. Thank you to Carly for being the original hype-man for my creative pursuits. Thank you to Dad and Grandma for your patience while waiting to see if this writing thing would pay off. Thank you to Davis for always believing I could do this. Thank you to Mom for always saying this dream was practical, for sacrificing so much for us, and for always being home for me. I am beyond lucky to have you. This book is for you.
Thank you to everyone who helped create this story about two girls looking for love in a world of hate. I hope you like what it’s become.
About the Author
COURTNEY GOULD writes books about queer girls, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and publishing. Born and raised in Salem, Oregon, she now lives and writes in Tacoma, Washington, where she continues to write love letters to haunted girls and rural, empty spaces. The Dead and the Dark is her debut novel. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Interlude
1. Love, Hollywood
2. A Viking Send-Off
3. The Murder Hotel
4. Into the Wild Abyss
5. Eat The Blues
Interlude
6. Country Roads
7. What’s Done In The Dark
8. A Necessary Fire
9. The Choking Light
10. From The Beginning
11. The Piano-String Woods
12. Herd Of Black Sheep
13. A United Front Of Losers
14. Grief Like Seeds
15. The Cabin In The Woods
Interlude
16. Sunny Side Up
17. Old Sins
18. Long Shadows
19. The Body But Not The Soul
20. A Whisper Soft And Staying
21. The Jukebox Knows Your Name
22. How To Breathe Underwater
23. The Witching Hour
24. On A Cold, Bleak Morning
25. Let The Survey Show
26. An Apple Off The Cleaven Trunk
27. Chokecherry And Other Menacing Flora
28. And Then There Was One
29. Hands Made For Hurting
30. Game Over
31. The Great Stage Of Fools
32. At The Bottom Of Below
33. The Devil, The Devil
34. If The Truth Is A Lie
35. The Dead And The Dark
36. A Goodbye Of The Forever Kind
37. And Then You Find Your Way
Interlude
38. Swimming In The Smoke
39. Only Homesick Ghosts
40. In The Morning Hour She Calls Me
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Wednesday Books, a division of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE DEAD AND THE DARK. Copyright © 2021 by Courtney Gould. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gould, Courtney, author.
Title: The dead and the dark / Courtney Gould.
Description: First edition. | New York : Wednesday Books, 2021. | Summary: When Logan, the adopted daughter of reality television ghosthunters, teams up with Ashley to search for missing teens in Snakebite, Oregon, they find themselves falling for each other as they uncover a hidden evil.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021008146 | ISBN 9781250762016 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250762023 (ebook)
Subjects: CYAC: Ghosts—Fiction. | Gay fathers—Fiction. | Fathers and daughters—Fiction. | Lesbians—Fiction. | Good and evil—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.G68634 De 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008146
eISBN 9781250762023
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: 2021