Category: Haunted Passages

A Hawk in the Woods, a supernatural road novel by Carrie Laben (An Excerpt)

When newscaster Abby Waite is diagnosed with a potentially terminal illness, she decides to do the logical thing … break her twin sister Martha out of prison and hit the road. Their destination is the Waite family cabin in Minnesota where Abby plans a family reunion of sorts. But when you come from a family…
“The Minister’s Black Mass,” a short story by Chase Dearinger for Haunted Passages

When the fireplace was so full that the air grew heavy and beads of sweat broke out across his forehead, Tom went to bed. But the hallway where he expected to find the doors to his family wasn’t the narrow, wood-paneled one he expected. What he found instead: floral wallpaper, rose-tinted golden sconces, thick red…
A Haunted Passages Excerpt from A Spectral Hue, a horror novel by Craig Laurance Gidney

For generations, the marsh-surrounded town of Shimmer, Maryland has played host to a loose movement of African-American artists, all working in different media, but all utilizing the same haunting color. Landscape paintings, trompe l’oeil quilts, decorated dolls, mixed-media assemblages, and more, all featuring the same peculiar hue, a shifting pigment somewhere between purple and pink,…
Hybrid Work for Haunted Passages: “Steppes of Null” by Mike Corrao

*Ed.’s Note: click on image to view larger size. Mike Corrao is the author of Man, Oh Man (Orson’s Publishing) and Gut Text (11:11 Press). His work has been featured in publications such as The Collagist, 3:AM, Always Crashing, and The Portland Review. He lives in Minneapolis. Learn more at mikecorrao.com.
Haunted Passages Fiction: “Blood Fugue” by Shannon Barber

The music is quieted and leaves him in an inelegant sprawl. He is my minuet, so stately and the dance while it lasted was nice if, clumsy. When I stand over him, his still face is pretty again. He relaxed at the last and released himself to whatever is after. I wish I’d thought to…
James R. Gapinski: “The Fourth Attic,” new fiction for Haunted Passages

We buy an old house in some up-and-coming Portland neighborhood (see: gentrification; also see: we are the problem, not the solution; also see: housing injustice). Somebody has left old boxes in the attic (see: 50% of all horror movies). The boxes are empty, but oddly enough they feel full. They weigh upwards of thirty or…
Haunted Passages: “eraser,” new poetry by Tariq Shah

They erased me yesterday.After they took up the gavel, hammered the sound block, the wheels setinto motion.They assembled their people into teams.Notary publics, solicitors general, coders, flame throwers, telephoneand wrecking ball operators.It was quite early the morning they commenced.A sky still the blue pink of gloveless winter hands.Quite quiet.I don’t know what to do.The new…
Em Mingus: “Confession,” new poetry for Haunted Passages

I don’t know where to startOr where you want me to startBut I’m hereAnd I’m tryingAnd I’m sorryI don’t remember much of last nightMaybe I had too much to drinkWe all make mistakes, right?I remember there was a lump in my throatAnd I remember being scared to speakAll the windows were shut and the air…
Susan Nordmark: “Last Ghosts,” two flash fictions for Haunted Passages

Last It’s not even a rag. It would be a good idea to visit. What the doctor cooked up is not at all sustainable, I’m wanting to say. The hip replacement seemed to go well. I relied on it for a long time. We had a dull finish and dents from inappropriate handling, and some significant splitting. Eventually I…