Rick Hautala - Untcigahunk - The Complete Little Brothers

UNTCIGAHUNK: THE COMPLETE LITTLE BROTHERS

By Rick Hautula

This eBook edition published in 2010

www.ghostwriterpublications.com

www.rickhautala.com

Main novel originally published as Little Brothers in 1988.

Copyright Rick Hautala 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The moral right of the authors has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988

ISBN 978-1-907190-06-3

AN INTRODUCTION TO UNTCIGAHUNK: The Complete Little Brothers

Parents dont love one child more than another. At least they shouldnt. Sure, some parents might understand or get one child more than another; some children are more difficult to raise; and parents no doubt love each child in different ways; but a parents love is (or at least should be) unconditional.

The same applies to a writers books.

I love every one of my books, of course, but you should by no means think that means I think any of them perfect. Far from it. But if I didnt love my books, I wouldnt have written them in the first place.

Once a book is finished, though, a writer can pause and look at it and seelike parents with their childrenthat some aspects are just not quite right. Some books are easier to write while others are hell on wheels tough to get out onto the computer screen. But every book is imperfect in some way or other sometimes in far too many ways.

Writers also, of course, are never fully satisfied with the finished book. No book Ive ever written scratches the itch to my satisfaction. Otherwise, why bother to write another one?

That being said, I can state that Little Brothers and the short stories gathered here under the title Untcigahunk are special to me for a couple of reasons.

Although I am often asked (and usually irritated by) the question: Where do you get your ideas? I remember quite clearly when the initial idea for Little Brothers hit me. It wasnt exactly a stunning moment of overwhelming creative insight. It was more in reaction to a comment from my editor on my second novel, the atrociously named Moonbog .

Side note: After working on my second novel for more than a year, my editor didnt like that this book wasnt supernatural, as was my first novel, Moondeath . Why the Moon in the first two titles? All Ill say is, these werent my working titles for those books. Those titles were foisted on me by my editor. The original titles were The Dark Brother for Moondeath , and simply The Bog for Moonbog. After having the title of my third novel, Nightstone , also forced on me against my strenuous objectionsthe original was The Menhir I was determined to come up with a title for my fourth book that the editor wouldnt be able to change no matter how much she might want to. Hence, Little Brothers .

Any way, while I was revising Moonbog , my editor kept asking me why I couldnt put, like, some creatures in the bog that were killing off the people of the town. If youve read Moonbog , you know that its more of a mystery/thriller than a straight horror novel. When I saw the hideous cover art for the book, I was appalled. It was terrible. Ridiculous. Funny, even. My first reaction was that anyone who bought the book based on the cover art would be disappointed because the cover totally misrepresented the contents while anyone who might actually enjoy the story would never buy a book with such a cover. I saw this as a lose/lose proposition, but I was just starting out, and I had zero clout with the publisher.

Welcome to the world of publishing.

Moonbog it was, atrocious cover and all.

When my editor kept asking me to insert some creatures that hid in the woods and killed people, while I was fishing for an idea to follow up my third novel, Nightstone , I gravitated toward that suggestion. After doing a small amount of research into Native American myths and legends and a whole lot of making stuff up to suit the story, I hit upon the idea of the Untcigahunk, the Micmac word for little brother. I created forest creatures who, like locusts, emerge periodically from underground and wreak havoc.

I thought it was a cool idea at the time, and I obviously still like it. Thats why later on I wrote these short stories. I kept getting ideas for new ways to deliver the depredations of these creatures. With Witch House, I even concocted an origins story that is hinted at by the cellar hole in the novel. I was also working with comic book artists Steve Bissette and Michael Zulli, hoping to launch a Little Brothers graphic novel, but for a variety of reasons, that never came to pass.

Since writing Little Brothers , Ive gravitated more toward ghost stories, which have always been a passion of mine. Starting with Nightstone and right through to Waiting , the novel I recently completed and hope will be published soon, Ive enjoyed the eerie, spectral frisson of the ghost story. The bulk of my novels are more supernatural than horror, if I can make such a distinction.

But Ive always liked writing monster stories too, as Little Brothers and the later books Moonwalker (also not my original title, which was The Siege ) and The Mountain King attest. Theyre a blast to write, and its always a challenge to come up with something original.

I hope I dont sound too egotistical here when I say that I think the little brothers are unique. It never fails that when I do a book signing, at least one personoften severalwill say that Little Brothers is their favorite novel of mine. Sometimes, that comment hurts because...well, the book was my fourth novel. I would like to think that, after writing something like thirty novels, some of my more recent books would hit the mark a bit better. But I was also always a proud parent, as it were.

I enjoyed writing this book, and now that its the first of my children to see electronic publication, its like the novel is the first of my children to go to graduate school for an advanced degree. I have always harbored the hopes thatsomedaysomeone in Hollywood would read this book and want to make a movie of it. With the CGI effects filmmakers can pull off these days, it would make for one fun scare fest. Who knows? Maybe it will happen.

In any event, I hope you enjoy the book and storieseither for the first time or for a second go-round.

Beastly good wishes!

Rick Hautala

March 21, 2010

Westbrook, ME

UNTCIGAHUNK-THE NOVEL

PART ONE

JUNE 17 THROUGH JUNE 19

Poika on poika vaikka kuinka sen rasvassa paistaa.

A Finnish expression which, loosely translated, means: Boys will be boys no matter how long you fry them in fat.

CHAPTER ONE

The Cellar Hole

Kip Howard was lying on the couch, trying to keep his gaze from wandering out the window. Beyond the splashes of green leaves blowing gently by the window, he could see rafts of white clouds sliding smoothly along the horizon. Sunlight glinted from the wooden windowsill and caught spinning motes of dust.

This is getting to be too much like school , he thought as he shifted uncomfortably, me , wishing I was outside...not in here.

It was the middle of June. The last day of school was so close he could practically smell it; but this...the end of this wasnt in sight. Not this month...not this year...not ever , he was beginning to feel.

So, the voice beside him said gently, you said you had an okay week. Do you want to tell me anything else about it?