Other Voices, Darker Rooms: Eight Grim Tales — H.A. Covington / Harold Covington

Arnold Toynbee once wrote of what he called "the overwhelming sense of sin that pervades human history." In this anthology of short fiction, underground cult novelist H. A. Covington explores the darkest realms of the supernatural and of the human heart. Cold Earth is a laconically unamazed tale of murder and ghostly retribution from beyond the grave, told in the powerful yet simple words of a Norse saga. Old Asgrim tells of a brutal soldier of Oliver Cromwell who made a bargain with the Devil. In Mick The Cutler, a young man tries to save the woman he loves from a terrible evil that only he can see. A genteel private school is haunted by a century-old crime in The Wheelbarrow. In Whisper Her Name On The Wind a young woman risks all to save the people of her village from massacre, and learns that no good deed ever goes unpunished. In Bringing Mary Home, a murderer finds not only the law but a vengeance-seeking I.R.A. gunman on his trail. The Stranger is an ancient immortal wizard who battles a cult and the demon they summon for the life and soul of a young girl. In The Madman and Marina, a 1930s secret policeman in the Soviet Union finds forgiveness and redemption for a terrible betrayal. Other Voices, Darker Rooms is a must-read for everyone who reads before bedtime and doesn't care whether or not they sleep when they turn out the light.