Kevin Lucia - Things Slip Through

Crystal Lake Publishing

www.CrystalLakePub.com

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Copyright 2013 Kevin Lucia

All Rights Reserved

Cover Design:

Ben Baldwinhttp://www.benbaldwin.co.uk/

Interior and e-Formatting:

Lori Michellehttp://www.theauthorsalley.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

OTHER TITLES BY KEVIN LUCIA

Through a Mirror, Darkly

Devourer of Souls

A Night at Old Web

The Way of Ah-Tzenul

Strange Days

Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories (anthology)

American Horror Cinema

Hiram Grange and the Chosen One

OTHER COLLECTIONS BY CRYSTAL LAKE PUBLISHING

Tribulations by Richard Thomas

The Dark at the End of the Tunnel by Taylor Grant

Flowers in a Dumpster by Mark Allan Gunnells

Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast by Jonathan Winn

Wind Chill by Patrick Rutigliano

Or check out other Crystal Lake Publishing books for more Tales from the Darkest Depths

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.

Francis Bacon

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Shakespeare, Hamlet

For now we see through a glass, darkly...

1 Corinthians 13:12

COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Lament, Anthology: Year One, Shroud Publishing, 2012

Way Station, Editors Choice Award, The Midnight Diner, 2008

Water God of Clarke Street, Abominations, Shroud Publishing, 2009

Lonely Places, The Midnight Diner, Volume 3, 2011

The Gate and the Way, The Midnight Diner, Volume 4, 2012

The Sliding, Morpheus Tales, Issue #1, 2009

Bassler Road, originally Darkness Road, Next Gen Pulp, Issue #1, 2009

A Willing Donor, Raw: Brutality As Art, Snuff Books, 2010

On A Midnight Black Chessie, For the Night is Dark, Crystal Lake, 2013

Mr. Nobodypreviously unpublished

Monsterpreviously unpublished

PRAISE FOR HIRAM GRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE, BOOK FOUR OF THE HIRAM GRANGE CHRONICLES:

In the mood for a wild ride of a book? Something smart and scary and exciting? Kevin Lucias HIRAM GRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE fits the bill to perfection. It teems with monsters and demons, with arcane lore, black magic and narrow escapes. What could be more delicious?

Robert Dunbar, Bram Stoker Nominated author of THE SHORE and MARTYRS & MONSTERS

HIRAM GRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE moves fast, fun and furious... I couldnt put it down! If youve always thirsted for James Bond to have a serving of Lovecraftyoull eat this one up.

John Everson, Bram Stoker Award Winning Author of COVENANT

Brilliantly paced and with very few moments for the reader to stop and catch their breath, Hiram Grange and the Chosen One is an adrenaline drenched jaunt through the realms of horror, fantasy and dark humor. Violence and gore abound, presented expertly by Lucia in a way that not only shows his raw talent, but the ruggedness of Hirams character as well.

Apex Publications

There is non-stop action seasoned with Lovecraftian chills, forming a page-turning final product that satisfies. Lucias pacing is tight and his writing descriptive... each chapter leaves you wanting to see what happens next.

Serial Distractions

Kevin Lucia has created a world of dark magic that spins through the midnight streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland with a lyrical and deeply affecting narrative filled with magic and folklore.

Count Gores Creature Feature

I want to personally endorse this as one of the best stories Ive read this year... packed with so much action that youll be sitting on the edge of your seat throughout. Its tough not to care about the characters that show up in this story, as Lucia has written them out to fit Granges world perfectlya world that is dark and cold, yet very familiar to each and every one of us.

Paperback Horror

INTRODUCTION

Dark and Hungry

I guess the first thing to deal with is how I came to be here, in this place, at this time, writing an introduction to a collection of stories written by a young guy who lives in the same town that gave us another talented teller of strange tales, Rod Serling.

And so... a story of my own.

For the past ten years, Elizabeth and I have been conducting the Borderlands Press Writers Boot Camp during that cold, dark internecine week-end between the conclusion of the NFL Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl (Yes, we like our football as well as our books... ). And each session brings us between twenty and thirty writers willing to undergo the harsh critiques of grizzled veteran writers and New York editors, as well as suggestions from their fellow grunts. Its always a splashy combination of personalities, ages, and skills. Some of the attendees take their lumps and are never heard from again; others return for several additional injections of criticism and instruction; and an alarming number go on to create careers for themselves as professional writers.

It was at one such gathering that I met Kevin Lucia. I cant remember the year because I need to use my failing memory for more important stuff these days, but thats okay because Im sure Kevin remembers and would be happy to tell you. Regardless, I can tell you I definitely remember seeing him for the first timewhatever year it was.

It was at our usual Friday Night warm-up session in which the Instructors for the week-end introduce themselves, each speaking a few minutes about the areas of the writing craft on which they will concentrate (Such as Plot, Dialogue, Characterization, Voice, Setting, Grammar, Style, etc.), and wrap up with a great exercise that increases not only awareness but also the need for honest, if sometimes brutal, criticism. As I looked out over the assemblage, I could see the usual wide-eyed anxiety in the faces of the grunts. A familiar expression that suggests they are all thinking: what the hell am I doing here?!

All but one.

There was this one guy in the second row who looked tall and rangy even when sitting down. He was leaning forward in his chair, his dark eyes sunk into his angular face, and staring at the front table of Instructors as if we were there to challenge him to a bar-fight (And in a way, we were). I remember thinking that if I were casting this guy for a part in Julius Caesar, hed have Cassius nailed down so tight nobody could ever pry it loose.