He turned his back on her and began walking once more.
“Levi?”
He responded without looking back.
“Believe, Maria. The sun will rise and you will never have reason to fear the dark again.”
And then he was gone.
Ken blinked. “Where the hell did he go?”
Fighting back tears, Maria shrugged.
“He disappeared into thin fucking air. I don’t believe it.”
“I do.” Maria wiped her eyes. “That’s not the weirdest thing I’ve seen him do.”
Ken put his arm around her, awkwardly at first, but then with more confidence. Maria leaned against him. Ken glanced around, but Levi was still absent.
“Who the hell is he, really?”
“I don’t know,” Maria whispered. “I thought I did, but I just don’t know.”
The police sirens drew closer.
“Jesus,” Ken muttered. “Jesus fucking Christ…”
Levi walked home in the darkness, with only his ghosts to keep him company. They followed along behind him, hovering in the corners of his vision. He knew from experience that if he turned to look, they’d vanish. The only time he saw them clearly was when he went to sleep.
Like always, his ghosts cried out in anguish and anger. They threatened and cajoled, but Levi kept walking. He’d learned over time to ignore them. But now, a new voice had been added to the cacophony. A new ghost.
“Be still, Adam,” he whispered. “Be still.”
Levi sighed. He still had a long way to go, and it would be a long time before the sunrise. This night seemed endless. Walking the line between the two, he disappeared into the black.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This book is a follow-up to my novel Dark Hollow. Although knowledge of that book’s events are not necessary to enjoy this book, you might want to seek it out after you’ve read this one. Also, although many of the Central Pennsylvanian locations in this novel are real, I have taken certain fictional liberties with them. So if you live there, don’t look for your favorite Halloween attraction. You might not survive it.…
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This time around, thanks go to:
The Muse and The Familiar—Cassandra and Sam.
The Magic Words—Don D’Auria and everyone else at Dorchester.
The Circle of Protection—Edward Lee, Tom Piccirilli, J.F. Gonzalez, Shane Ryan Staley, Kelly Laymon, Michael Laimo, Bryan Smith, Wrath James White, Maurice Broad-dus, Nate Southard, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, James A. Moore, Chet Williamson, Norman Partridge, Douglas E. Winter, F. Paul Wilson, Tom Monteleone, Nick Mamatas, Jack Haringa, Nick Kaufmann, Lee Thomas, Carlton Mellick, Bev Vincent, Joe Hill, Geoff Cooper, Mikey Huyck, and Mike Oliveri.
The Ritual of Banishing—Tod “T. C.” Clark, Kelli Dunlap, Mark “Dezm” Sylva, and John Urbancik.
The Ritual of Binding—my readers and the members of the F.U.K.U.
Special thanks to Big Joe Maynard; Bob Ford of Whutta Design Agency; and Lynn Butcher and Gerard Houarner for their technical assistance.
HIGH PRAISE FOR THE FIENDISHLY FRIGHTENING BRIAN KEENE!
DARK HOLLOW
“Keene keeps getting better and better. Given how damn good he was to start with… soon, he will become a juggernaut.”
—The Horror Fiction Review
“Dark Hollow is another frightening entry in Brian Keene’s already impressive arsenal. The book deftly combines emotional terror and grisly gore with Keene’s immensely readable prose to create a gripping novel sure to please longtime fans and new readers alike.”
—Dark Scribe Magazine
“Dark Hollow is a powerful novel—it is Brian Keene presenting his “A” game, and that is about as good as reading can get these days. There is no reason to compare Brian Keene to any other author, living or dead. Brian Keene is a unique voice and talent, who is now sufficiently established in his own regard by his already impressive literary achievements.”
—Fear Zone
DEAD SEA
“In this age of an overabundance of zombie fiction what does Dead Sea have to offer that can’t be found elsewhere? Well, an intriguing protagonist, plenty of reanimated animals, a touch of the philosophical, some dollops of introspection, and plenty of balls to the wall mayhem as only Brian Keene can write it.”
—Horror Reader
“Delivering enough shudders and gore to satisfy any fan of the genre, Keene proves he’s still a lead player in the zombie horror cavalcade.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A thrill-a-minute…keep the lights on!”
—CNN.com
MORE PRAISE FOR BRIAN KEENE!
GHOUL
“Bursting on the scene with an originality and flair, it seemed that Keene was responsible for breathing new life into the zombie story for a vast number of hungry readers in the horror genre. With the publication of his newest novel, Ghoul, Brian Keene has finally cemented himself in as a leader of…the horror genre.…”
—Horror World
“If Brian Keene’s books were music, they would occupy a working class, hard-earned space between Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, and Johnny Cash.”
—John Skipp, New York Times Bestselling Author
“Ghoul reminds me of the early works of Stephen King. I got the same head rush reading Ghoul that I did the first time I read The Stand or Cujo or ’Salem’s Lot…Keene’s prose is both disturbing and beautiful… This guy is going to be HUGE. There is no doubt in my mind that I just experienced the future of horror literature and its name is Brian Keene.”
—House of Horrors
THE CONQUEROR WORMS
“Keene delivers [a] wild, gruesome page-turner…the enormity of Keene’s pulp horror imagination, and his success in bringing the reader over the top with him, is both rare and wonderful.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Basic and beautiful, simple yet sublime. Keene is a virtuoso writer of…descriptive talents who can also trip out on the minimalism of American Gothic.…The Conqueror Worms is a… thoroughly enjoyable novel grounded in Keene’s fantastic control over his material.”
—Fangoria
“The Conqueror Worms is a classic monster-pulp novel.…we’ve got Brian Keene now. Exactly the voice the horror genre needs.”
—Insidious Reflections
THE PRAISE FOR KEENE CONTINUES…
CITY OF THE DEAD
“In the carnival funhouse of horror fiction, Brian Keene runs the roller coaster! The novel is a never-ending chase down a long funneling tunnel…stretching the reader’s nerves banjo tight and then gleefully plucking each nerve with an off-key razorblade.…There aren’t stars enough in the rating system to hang over this one-two punch.”
—Cemetery Dance
“Brian Keene’s name should be up there with King, Koontz and Barker. He’s without a doubt one of the best horror writers ever.”
—The Horror Review
THE RISING
“[Brian Keene’s] first novel, The Rising, is a postapocalyptic narrative that revels in its blunt and visceral descriptions of the undead.”