Beyond the Rail and Other Nightmares

by Ichabod Ebenezer

Overview

A petty thief steals a car and the curse that comes with it...

 

An abandoned laptop leads an overstressed software designer to the dark web, where ruthless traders barter in something more intangible than money...

 

A small-town cop shows up for a routine eviction, but finds an abomination hidden beneath the house...

 

From the mind of Ichabod Ebenezer, author of Between Bloom and Decay and A Shadow Stained in Blood, comes a collection of short stories destined to sink its teeth into your bones. Beyond the Rail and Other Nightmares lures readers into a world of sentient shadows where every smile comes quiet in the black. A world where no object is ordinary, and trusting in the mundane can get you killed. For the readers who wish to be haunted-this collection will keep you up at night, within reach of a nightlight and a warm blanket against the dark.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781732979642
Publisher:	Michael Burke
Publication date:	06/28/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	254
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Ichabod Ebenezer is the genre-promiscuous author of "A Shadow Stained in Blood" as well as countless short stories ranging from Horror to Sci-fi, from Fantasy to Mystery. He lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest with his family, a chameleon, and the ghosts of three cats. He is currently working on a Fantasy novel, but there is always another skeleton at the back of his closet.

Table of Contents

Singalong

Transplant

Fertile Minds

The Permanent Clerk

Condemned

The Nocturnal Habits of the Late Derek Gray

The Ritual

The Raven

Trick of the Light

Two Hundred Miles

Agatha Hemsley, Beloved Mother

Beyond the Rail

Two Shadows, One Gun

Editorial Reviews

Ghosts, werewolves, and things hidden in the dark lurk in this collection of horror stories.

Ebenezer doesn't shy away from genre conventions, like an old-fashioned ghost story. In "The Permanent Clerk," Martin's new white-collar gig in New York City comes with an ever lingering apparition. Martin should be OK if he doesn't make contact with the ghost, which may not be an easy feat. Other tales in this 13-story collection save much of the horror for twisty endings. The author's skillful character development gives these denouements a hefty punch. In "The Nocturnal Habits of the Late Derek Gray," for example, the sheriff of a small Maine town investigates a murder. It's a simple mystery-a local man shot and killed his best friend-that builds to a memorably eerie turn. Ebenezer's impressive pacing drops readers into the narratives and generates action scenes (for example, characters battling otherworldly beings) within relatively short stories. At the same time, he aptly describes all the spooky morsels, like a summoned demon: "Its spine protruded through the scaly skin of its back, its corded muscles visible underneath, though its chest was encased in an exoskeleton, as if it were wearing the rib cage of a larger creature. The tail came last, no trace of skin attached to it." The collection's most indelible stories fuse genres, like the dark Western "Two Shadows, One Gun." The tale follows notorious gunslinger Deadeye Dixon, who takes out anyone that challenges him in his Old West town. Locals soon learn the terrifying reason Deadeye never loses a gunfight, but not before more bullets fly and bodies fall. Another cross-genre story is the steampunk-inspired "Fertile Minds," which is also the book's highlight. The tale's hero, Chelsea Pepperdine, combats evil in 19th-century London; she's a whip-smart, formidable woman who practically demands her own series.

Chilling tales that deftly blend the traditional and the unorthodox.

- Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher