The stories in this book take place in a variety of settings: the ocean, a futuristic Earth with a toxic atmosphere, a medieval castle, a shoe store, a child’s bedroom, etc. A passage of darkness is waiting in each setting for someone to experience. Below are a few words about each of my favorite stories in this book.
“Love of the Black Lady” – The ocean speaks to Allen, and he loved her. He had no ties and no reason to stick around, so he decides to kill himself. What better way to do it than to let the one he loves take him?
“Between” – This story is short, but it is written as one paragraph, one long action scene. To me, it read like a scene taken out of the middle of a much longer story. Still, this was one of my favorite stories. It put my imagination to work as I tried to figure out what happened before and after the scene that I read.
“The House of Flana” – Has there ever been a relative you didn’t want to visit? If so, you can sympathize with Richard right away. Out of obligation, even though the old lady isn’t really his aunt, he is off to visit Aunt Helen. Before he leaves, he decides to go visit the house where his friend Brian used to live. For some reason, Brian’s family had taken off suddenly with no explanation.
While there, he discovers the reason Brian and his family left in such a hurry. He wishes he had never found out.
This is a truly scary story, one that will stay with you for quite some time after you read it, maybe forever.
“Leap of Faith” – Earth’s atmosphere is now toxic. The survivors that didn’t flee the planet, the Mist Dwellers, have developed their own culture and strange ways. Always in danger, they’ve learned how to survive. This gripping post-apocalyptic story is written in three parts. The ending was good, but I wanted to the story to keep on going. I don’t feel that it should have ended yet.
“Mooney’s Room” – When I was a child, I used to be afraid of the dark, but that was all in my mind. That being said, don’t ever ignore your child’s fear of their room. There could be more going on than you realize.
“Timmy Slides 9½ EEE” – Megan’s superpower is automatically knowing what size shoe someone wears along with what kind of shoe they long for. She is destined to sell shoes. One day a man comes into the shoe department of the department store she works in. This man also has a superpower, one Megan is in no way prepared for.
This story isn’t as long as the previous ones—I would describe it as short and sweet. But this fantastic, strangely erotic story is one you won’t easily forget.
“Babcia’s Forest” – The forest near my grandmother’s cabin was magical. A young lady takes a magical journey through the forest by her dead grandmother’s cabin.
“One Brother’s Revenge” – This is a tale of love and revenge. Randal, the son of the king, has spent most of his life training to be an assassin. His purpose is to seek out the one who killed his brother and exact his revenge upon him.
“Angel of the Blade” – A man who is frustrated with his job and his life has a package delivered to him while at work. This makes his already bad day even worse. But then he opens the package and it changes his entire life—well, what’s left of it.
“Love Letters” – Do you really know the person you’re married to? Do you really want to? This is a love story, and it’s a story of discovering things you didn’t know about the one you love.
When I sat down to start reading this story, it wasn’t my intention to read it all in one sitting. There were other things that I needed to do, but this story grabbed hold of me. Before I knew it, I had read all of it.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to experience the passages of darkness these characters take, I’ve provided an Amazon link for you below.
Amazon Link: Love Letters and Other Passages of Darkness
Favorite Sentences:
Out of that blackness had come the creatures, gray and leathery, lizard-like with humanish faces.
There could easily be a man in an orange and black striped sweater and a human skin mask holding a grappling hook to fillet me with just fifteen feet away and I wouldn’t be able to see him.
The brush line exploded as the death dog crashed through the mossy branches and took the meat from the man’s midsection with one shredding snap of tangled fangs.
Was that what he was to become? An unseen figure who was only referred about in conversation with mysterious deaths?
The figure was so meticulously crafted that he could make out every ripple in his muscles, even the nails on the delicate toes.
New Words Learned:
arete – a sharp-crested ridge in rugged mountains
dormer – a window set vertically in a structure projecting through a sloping roof or the roofed structure containing such a window
enigmatic – mysterious
foible – the part of a sword or foil blade between the middle and point
penetralia – the most private or secret things
stanchion – an upright bar, beam, post, or support, as in a window, stall, ship, etc.
stearin – a mixture of fatty acids used in candlemaking
stolid – not easily stirred or moved mentally; unemotional; impassive.
truncated – cut short
VSOP – Very Superior Old Pale: VSOP cognacs are created from eaux-de-vie aged for at least four years. The VSOP category includes designations such as “Old” or “Reserve.”
https://www.martell.com/en-ww/what-do-initials-vs-vsop-and-xo-mean
About the Author:
R. J. Erbacher lives and writes on Long Island with his wife and three daughters.
Lisa, Thank you for the review. I’m glad you enjoyed the book. I hope your readers will enjoy it as well. -R.J.