by Paul O'Neill
First published 2022
Paul O'Neill delivers thirteen stories that crawl under your skin and stay there. A board game pulls players into literal hell. A heavy metal band discovers their instruments carry an ancient curse. Strange beings scratch and whisper from above the ceiling tiles. A forest wraps its roots around visitors who try to leave. An mysterious object grants wishes through nightmares. Each tale features ordinary people who stumble into extraordinary horror. The collection spans from brief, sharp shocks like "Keep Your Head Down" to the full novella "With Dust Shall Cover." O'Neill, who won acclaim for "The Nightmare Tree," crafts scenarios that feel both impossible and inevitable. His characters face choices between terrible options, discovering that some burdens cannot be refused and some dice must be rolled. The stories connect through their exploration of how horror hides in plain sight, waiting in game boxes, concert halls, and quiet suburban homes.
Genres: short-stories, horror, supernatural, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: ordinary-people, terrible-choices
316 pages · Paperback · Independently published
Content warnings: body-horror, gore, graphic-violence