I am slowly getting caught up with my reading — not only the stuff that I’m supposed to be reviewing, but also those projects of which I am fortunate enough to be a part. Northern Haunts is one such — an anthology of 100 flash fiction stories released back in the beginning of the year. The book has an interesting theme — not only is it set specifically in New England, but each story is intended to be the sort of thing one could tell around the campfire. Indeed, you could use Northern Haunts exactly in that way, just picking it up to read a piece or two to give your friends the willies.
Like The Best of Every Day Fiction, I find that Northern Haunts and other flash fiction anthologies are best read a few stories at a time, rather than in one big gulp. And, although I have yet to finish it, I’ve been very impressed by the quality of the fiction so far — everything from ghost stories to gross-outs, mysterious strangers, monsters, and haunted environs of all kinds. There’s even a story about a pirate named William Ward!
My own tale, “The Thing in the Woods,” is about a hunting expedition that discovers a . . . well, a thing in the woods. But it is just one of 100 creepy and clever bite-sized horrors that make for great snack food reading or read-aloud storytelling.
All proceeds from Northern Haunts go to benefit the American Cancer Society. It is available in both paperback and hardback from Shroud Publishing.
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Bill, did you enter that shroud contest. 500 words and humpty dumpty? It may still be open if you haven’t.
No, I hadn’t heard about it, thanks for the heads up.