Dom was smarter than me. He stayed put. I tried moving for the figure heading toward the front doors of Benson’s. I had questions. A lot of them, and I wanted answers.
My hand touched the right shoulder of that figure and I pulled him back toward me as my fingers clenched around fabric.
That fabric felt like it covered only bones. The shoulder felt too thin for the way it filled out the jacket under the shroud. Cold sucked the warmth from my hand as the Black Wraith stopped moving and turned his head toward me.
The fog was growing thicker, and even from a few feet away the shape of the pulp hero I had adored as a kid started getting lost. Hell, I could barely even see my own hand.
It was Dom who spoke. “Billy. Don’t. Don’t do it.”
I knew what he meant. Don’t be this stupid. Don’t start something with a dead man who was already a hard killer. Don’t touch a fucking ghost. Don’t interfere. Don’t get your damned fool self killed. All of that and more.
I got wise and listened.
The Black Wraith, a ghost that could not possibly exist, a ghost of a fictional character, nodded curtly and then moved forward and I removed my hand from his shoulder. The front door did not open. Instead the dark shape moved through the door. As it stepped outside I saw the fog rising from the ground, obscuring the feet and legs of the shape that walked through wood and glass like it wasn’t there.
The mist-shrouded shape turned toward the left and looked through the windows at me and at Dom alike. I felt the eyes looking at us.
It took about four seconds for the form to get lost in the fog.
I stared after it for a lot longer. I’m not sure how long, but before I looked away the fog had lifted and the street was dark again, except for a few lights that seemed more faded than before.
We didn’t speak.
We’d been partners long enough that without a single word spoken, I looked at the questions in Dom’s eyes and knew he wanted answers as badly as I did.
I showed him where the Black Wraith had come from and he followed, opened the door. It was locked. That didn’t stop him. Cat burglars couldn’t have used lock picks as easily as he did.
He went down the stairs into the cellar. It was maybe ten minutes before he found the spot where the ancient concrete of the floor was misshapen.
That night there was one more death. A third generation mobster named Tommy Robbins got pounded so hard his scalp was left on the wall where he’d been attacked. The killer came into Robbins’ apartment, ignored the man’s wife and children, and ruined Robbins with a dozen punches to his head. Each and every one of those punches shattered bone and pushed flesh around until there was nothing left but strings of meat to hide the ruination.
The widow Robbins explained to us that she’d seen the man who killed her husband and had tried to stop him. She even took a swing with a cast iron skillet that would have easily knocked Muhammad Ali into a coma. I blame adrenaline for her even being able to lift the damn thing.
The pan never touched the assailant, but her swing left a dent in the wall where it landed.
She said it went right through him, and I quote, “Like he was a fucking ghost.”
Two days later, after some digging around with a pick axe and a jackhammer, a collection of bones was found under the cement in the basement of Benson’s Pub.
The miracles of modern science. The DNA linked the bones to Dom’s family. It may not be positive identification, but it was enough for Dom and the local newscasters. Even made the national news for a day or two, because whether or not he was a big celebrity, Anthony Galliano was once a star in Hollywood. That put paid to a footnote in at least a dozen books of faded celebrities who’d vanished over the decades.
In a perfect world I’d say that the murders had ended and Dom was making a fortune based on the old movies his family still owned. Some of that is true. Dom made a deal and is getting a nice income from the residuals on his great-grandfather’s films. We both got a nice pat on the back for solving a cold case and finding a body. Looking into the old files, yes, the people the Black Wraith beat to death were all related to other people who had been seen at Benson’s the night the blood was seen all over the floorboards.
The problem is, there were a lot of people in and out of Benson’s that night. Most of them might have been innocent bystanders, near as we can tell, but how can we know? Five people were ruined by the Black Wraith. Literally beaten until their faces were nothing but bone and pulp.
That was before we found the body.
Since then three more have been killed in similar fashion. One of those names was on the cold case list of people seen at Benson’s Pub, but the other two seem to have no affiliation.
Who can say how many people might have been there the night Anthony Galliano was murdered? Who can say why he was killed?
We’re still looking into the situation. We’re still investigating.
Want to know something else?
We’ve both been looking into possible ways of getting rid of a ghost.
So far none of them have worked.
But we’re still trying.
I’m stubborn, but Dom is patient.
He’s always been a better detective than me. He keeps his cool when I lose mine.
He’s classy that way. Him and his Hollywood looks.
Sometimes though, I have to wonder if he’s trying as hard as I am.
I mean, at the end of the day, someone killed a member of his family, and Dom and his have always been keen on family.
ABOUT THE COVER ARTIST
Mikio Murakami is a Japanese-Canadian graphic designer. He specializes in cover art, T-shirts, logos and drinking bad coffee. His design company SILENT Q DESIGN was founded in Montreal in 2006. Melding together the use of both realistic templates and surreal imagery, SILENT Q DESIGN's artistry proves, at first glance, that a professional for art is still alive, and that no musician, magazine, or venue should suffer from the same bland designs that have been re-hashed over and over. The evolution of artwork ranges both locally and internationally. SILENT Q DESIGN has commissioned work for Montreal and surrounding area bands such as Synastry, Endast and The Agonist. Likewise, SILENT Q DESIGN also boasts work for international musician Bob Katsionis (Toshiba-EMI / Lion Music / Century Media) as well as Montreal Radio station 90.3 FM's Sounds of Steel music program. Their works go beyond fantasy landscapes and surreal imagery, offering their customers personalised service. SILENT Q DESIGN prides itself on being a multi-faceted entity that can serve even the contemporary business world.
ABOUT THE INTERIOR ARTISTS
Artist, graphic designer, cartoonist, and fiction author -- Kali Moulton is a dreamer of possibilities and “what ifs” who loves exploring art in all of its forms. She’s on a mission to open minds through art and writing that twist perspectives. At home in New Hampshire, she spends her weekends cosplaying as a Ghostbuster and practicing magic with her husband and daughter. To see more of Kali Moulton’s work, or to pop in for a quick hello, you can find her online at Operation-Art.com or on Facebook & Instagram.
Ogmios is an artist, story-teller and is the publisher for OTB Comics and Games. Art by Ogmios can be seen on many book covers and interior illustrations for publishers and independent authors. He currently illustrates for Loxley, Inc. (a new game company by the original Dungeons & Dragons/TSR staff) as well as working with smaller publishers while developing OTB Comics and Games. Ogmios likes to use pencil, ink and digital paint when illustrating and is focused on Horror, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Myth. See more at www.ArtByOgmios.com and www.OTBcomics.com.
Judi Calhoun lives with ferocious black bears and wild wolves that howl at the moon every night in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire. She is both an artist and an author. Her artwork can be found on more than a few e-zine magazine covers, and well over two-dozen articles. Judi’s short stories have appeared in many fiction anthologies such as: Love Free Or Die, NH Pulp Fiction; Snowbound and Zombies, Tales of The Super
natural A John Greenleaf Whittier Inspired life work; Murder Ink, New England Newsroom Crimes; Canopic Jars: Tales of Mummies & Mummification; Bugs Anthology, Tales that Slither, Creep and Crawl; Green Gecko’s The Passion of Cat anthology. Her work is featured in many genres such as Horror, Sci-fi and Fantasy, and literary short story publications. Judi is currently looking for an agent and publisher for her new novel, Dragon Girl. Artwork can be viewed a http://judiartist2.wix.com/judisartwork
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Peter N. Dudar is a United States Postal Worker from Lisbon Falls, Maine. His debut novel, A Requiem For Dead Flies was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, and his novella Where Spiders Fear To Spin was the 2015 winner of the Solstice Award for best long fiction. Dudar is a proud member of the New England Horror Writers, and his story in this anthology marks his fourth inclusion in the NEHW publication series. Ghost stories, by the way, are his favorite thing to read.
Bracken MacLeod has worked as a martial arts teacher, a university philosophy instructor, for a children's non-profit, and as a trial attorney. His short fiction has appeared in several magazines and anthologies including LampLight, ThugLit, and Splatterpunk and has been collected in 13 VIEWS OF THE SUICIDE WOODS by ChiZine Publications, which the New York Times Book Review called, "Superb." He is the author of the novels, MOUNTAIN HOME, STRANDED, and COME TO DUST. He lives outside of Boston with his wife and son, where he is at work on his next novel.
Currently in her second-term as Poet Laureate of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Patricia Gomes is the creator of the Octologue, an 8-line syllabic form of poetry. The former editor of Adagio Verse Quarterly, she has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies. A 2008 Pushcart Prize nominee, Gomes is the author of four chapbooks. Performing her work extensively throughout the New England area, she also conducts workshops for adults, students, and children. Ms. Gomes is the co-founder of the GNB Writers Block as well a member of the SciFi Poetry Association, New England Horror Writers, the Massachusetts Poetry Society, and the Bartleby Scrivener Poetry Group.
KH Vaughan lives in New England with his wife and children. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and teaches at local colleges. As a writer, he creates dark fiction and is a frequent panelist a conventions in the area.
Curtis M. Lawson is a writer of unapologetically weird, dark fiction and comics. His work includes It’s a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World, The Devoured, and Black Pantheons: Collected Tales of Gnostic Dread. Curtis is a member of the Horror Writer’s Association, and the organizer of the Wyrd live horror reading series. He lives in Salem, MA with his wife and their son. When he is not writing, Curtis enjoys tabletop RPGs, under-ground music, playing guitar, and the ocean.
Dan Szczesny is a long-time author and journalist living in Manchester, N.H. He's written travel memoirs, short story collections, poetry books and the occasional ghost story. His book, The Nepal Chronicles, won the 2016 State Library Award for Outstanding Work of Non-Fiction. His short story, "White Like Marble," was a finalist in the 2017 Hemingway Foundation Short Shorts Contest. Dan's latest project is The White Mountain, a social and cultural history of New Hampshire's Mount Washington, available in spring 2018. More on Dan's books at www.danszczesny.com
Paul R. McNamee is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts He has had short stories published in small press anthologies. His blog is http://paulmcnamee.blogspot.com and he can be found on Twitter @pmcnamee67.
Larissa Glasser is a librarian, genre writer, trans woman from Boston. Her fiction has appeared in The Healing Monsters Volume One and Procyon Press Science Fiction Anthology (2016), along with Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey and Sylvia Plath (2017). She is a Member at Large of Broad Universe, and an associate member of The Horror Writers Association. She’s on Twitter @larissaeglasser and blogs at https://larissaglasser.com
Matt Bechtel was born just south of Detroit, Michigan (cursing him a Lions fan), into a mostly-Irish family of dreamers and writers as opposed to the pharmaceutical or construction giants that share his surname. As such, he has spent most of his years making questionable life decisions and enjoying the results. Mentored by their late-founder Bob Booth, he serves on both the Executive Committee of the Northeastern Writers’ Convention (a.k.a. Camp Necon) and as a partner in the Necon E-Books digital publishing company. The author of Monochromes and Other Stories, his writing tends towards dark humor / satire and has been compared to Ray Bradbury and Cormac McCarthy. He currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and can be found online at www.matt-bechtel.com.
Nick Manzolillo is a homesick Rhode Islander currently living as a bearded Manhattanite wizard in New York City. His writing has appeared in over thirty publications including Wicked Witches, the previous anth-ology, as well as Grievous Angel, Thuglit, Red Room Magazine, and the Tales To Terrify podcast. He has an MFA in Creative and Professional Writing from Western Connecticut State University. By day he works as a content specialist for TopBuzz, a news app.
Trisha J. Wooldridge writes grown-up horror short stories and weird poetry for anthologies and magazines—some even winning awards! Under her business, A Novel Friend (www.anovelfriend.com), she’s edited over fifty novels; written over a hundred articles on food, drink, entertainment, horses, music, and writing for over a dozen different publications; designed and written three online college classes; copy edited the MMORPGDungeons & Dragons Stormreach; edited two geeky anthologies; and has become the events coordinator and consignment manager for Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester. Because she is masochistic when it comes to time management, she created the child-friendly persona of T.J. Wooldridge and published three scary children’s novels, as well as a poem in The Jimmy Fun charity anthology Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. Her recent publications also include two novellas "Tea with Mr. Fuzzypants" and "Mirror of Hearts," and stories and poetry in besides Dark Luminous Wings, you can find her most recent work in the 2017 anthologies Gothic Fantasy Supernatural Horror, Dark Luminous Wings, and the collector’s book of the Blackstone Valley Artists Association 2017 Art and Poetry Showcase.
Dan Foley is an ex-plumber, ex-Navy Nuke, Ex-Senior Reactor Operator and ex-nuclear operations instructor. He is the author of four novels, two novellas, and one collection of short stories. He has lived on the east coast, the west coast, and places in between. Dan attributes his dark sense of humor on growing up in New Jersey and then serving on nuclear submarines. He currently lives in Connecticut. You can reach Dan at www.deathscompanion.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dan.foley.31
"Tom Deady is a true storyteller, and I can offer no higher words of praise." -Richard Chizmar
Tom Deady is the author of HAVEN, winner of the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. His second novel, Eternal Darkness, was released in 2017. Tom's next publication, a novella, is scheduled for a Halloween release. He has a Masters Degree in English and Creative Writing. Tom is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, where he is hard at work on his next novel.
Emma J. Gibbon is originally from Yorkshire in the U.K. and now lives in Topsham, Maine. She is a writer and librarian. She lives with her husband, Steve, and three exceptional animals: Odin, Mothra and M. Bison (also known as Grim).
Paul McMahon finally has an office and is writing like crazy, which is ironic because writing keeps him from losing his mind. His work has most recently appeared in the NEHW anthologies WICKED TALES and WICKED WITCHES, as well as the superhero anthology CAPED and the werewolf anthology FLESH LIKE SMOKE. He contributes two monthly movie review columns on Cinema Knife Fight, where he is known as The Distracted Critic. He is hard at work on a novel and a themed collection of stories tentatively titled BOWER'S CLOUD.
Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, R.C. Mulhare grew up in one of the surrounding towns. Her interest in the dark and mysterious started at a young age, when her mother read the faery tales of the Brothers Grimm and quoted the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe to her, while her Irish storyteller father infu
sed her with a fondness for strange characters and quirky situations. When she isn't writing, she moonlights in grocery retail, and given the cross-section of people you see in grocery stores, this gives her a lot of ideas for characters in her stories. An emerging author, her work previously appeared in Atlantean Publishing's "Beyond the Wall of Death: Lovecraft @ 125", "A Terrible Thing", and Awen 96, Macabre Maine's "Lovecraft ME", and FunDead Publication's "Shadows in Salem", "O Horrid Night", "Entombed in Verse", and "One Night in Salem", with four more stories slated for release later in 2017. She shares her home with her family, two small parrots, at least a thousand books and an unknown number of eldritch things that rattle in the walls when she's writing late in the night. She's happy to have visitors online at https://www.facebook.com/rcmulhare
GD Dearborn doesn’t own an automobile, but it would be British Racing Green if he did. His previous work has appeared in Northern Frights: An Anthology by the Horror Writers of Maine and Wicked Witches: An Anthology of the New England Horror Writers. He lives and writes in Portland, Maine.
Rob Smales is the author of Echoes of Darkness, which garnered both a five-star Cemetery Dance Online review and a 2016 Pushcart nomination. He’s had over two dozen short stories published, and his story “Photo Finish” was also nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won the Preditors & Editors’ Readers Choice Award for Best Horror Short Story of 2012. His story “A Night at the Show” received an honorable mention on Ellen Datlow’s list of the Best Horror of 2014. Most recently he had two short stories, “A Bee” and “Tracks in the Snow,” appeared in the anthology Insanity Tales III: Seasons of Shadow (2017, The Storyside Press).
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