Suzerain: a ghost story
Page 29
Epilogue Suzy (January 2005)
Every morning I polish the floor. I polish lengthways along the boards, the way Karen showed me. I work on my knees. I start on the top landing and work my way down. On my knees. At night - if thirst wakes me, if a rasping shadow licks my throat - I polish in the dark. There are voices in the wind. I avoid mirrors. The smudge-eyed ghost that glares at me. We drowned her like a dog, the ghost says. Like a fucking dog, she spits. In the afternoons Karen gives me blue pills. Sometimes she touches me like Moira used to. We drowned Moira like a dog. Martha and me. We fixed a smooth stone to her leash and threw it off the boathouse. Because of Frank, the note said. The stone was blue. She kissed me. Then she drowned. Just like a dog. Then I kissed Karen. I miss Karen. In the blue afternoons, I'm fucked and mauled by strangers. They don't kiss me. I miss Karen. I miss you, I say. This morning, Karen told me that I disgust her. Right now, she is laughing. Upstairs, Karen is laughing. Karen and Martha, laughing together.
By The Same Author
THE LARK MIRROR
It's no small thing to be cursed - so says David Chambers at the outset of his story and so proves to be the case in this darkly comic horror tale. It's the long hot summer of 1976. Wild fires break out over the Western Moors, the trout streams have dried to a trickle and magic and mischief are afoot. When David is cursed by Aunt Alsey, a wandering old crone with supernatural powers, his shadow morphs into a living, breathing and very much darker version of himself - an entity with a powerful thirst, an appetite for mayhem and a determination not to let David forget the more shameful episodes of his past.
Follow David's adventures into the realms of the supernatural as he embarks on a quest to rid himself of the curse - a quest which sees him fighting shoulder to shoulder with the gun-toting, gin-swilling Major Pikestaff in a battle with monster crayfish; a quest which sees him hounded by the ferocious monkey-dog and a quest during which he is obliged to help fellow victims of Aunt Alsey's various bizarre and outrageous curses, all the while having to deal with the debauched antics of his shadow.
Into this maelstrom of madness comes Anushka, an enigmatic yet oddly familiar Russian beauty, and so begins one of the strangest love affairs in modern horror fiction, mind-boggling sex scenes and all.
By turns sinister and hilarious, The Lark Mirror tears off at a cracking pace - kick-started, you could say, by Jed Norton's out-of-control mechanical leg. With action galore and crackling dialogue, this is a must read for those who like their horror fiction laced with a healthy dose of humour. Holidays in Devon will never seem quite the same again.
"A thoroughly enjoyable read, this humorous tale of horror and suspense had me chuckling more than once. The Lark Mirror is a deftly-plotted, well-written story that provides a winning mix of adventure and comedy, madness and mayhem with a splash or two of sex thrown in. With good quality writing and fast-paced action aplenty, the narrative keeps the reader turning the pages with genuine interest and anticipation as it builds to a dramatic and hilarious conclusion."
MA SCREECH AND THE CUNJAH MAN
The Deep South, 1955. Dr Jim Tucker (Doc) is collecting stories for his 'living history' project. When he interviews Nettie Hansum - a hundred and eight year-old African American and sole remaining inhabitant of the Back-Swamp Road - she tells him a tale of murder, revenge and supernatural terror so fantastic it can't be true. Or can it?
As Nettie spins her story - a story which harks back to the years immediately after the Civil War, when Nettie was young - Doc hears how Nettie's husband is lynched for a murder he didn't commit. When heart-break turns to rage for vengeance, Nettie seeks the help of Ma Screech, an old voodoo witch who lives far out in the swamp. Using her dark arts, Ma Screech summons the Cunjah Man - a walking abomination with snakes sliding around in his bones - and unleashes him on Ned's killers who, one by one begin to die horrific deaths. Aware of the hex, sick and dying from it, one of the condemned men visits Nettie with a tale of his own to tell - the truth about the murder which cost the innocent Ned his life - and Nettie is presented with a terrible choice and forced to make a decision which will echo down the decades.
Doc remains skeptical. Can such things really be? And does the Cunjah Man linger yet in the swamp-lands, waiting to be called once more from the shadows? This night will tell. If seeing is believing, Doc is about to find out a whole lot more about history and the dark underbelly of the old south than he ever dreamed possible. Except this dream will be a nightmare.
‘Ma Screech & The Cunjah Man' is a historical horror tale of the occult and supernatural with a strong Southern Gothic flavour. Both moving and terrifying, it is propelled by Nettie's dialogue toward an ending with a classic horror twist. Steeped in a humid, darkly-charged atmosphere, with a strong plot and memorable characters, this one-hour read is horror-writing for readers who enjoy the disturbing power of a well-constructed story with a traditional feel - a story which haunts and lingers.
“A wonderfully detailed and darkly atmospheric creepy story about a lynching and a wife who takes revenge, with the help of Ma Screech, the local witch-doctor. I'll never forget Ole Nettie nor the Cunjah Man, and neither will you.”