This story is told from the perspective of the ghosts of young women who’ve all been brutally murdered in one particular basement. To make matters more complicated, the murderers in question are two young men, Rolly and Trevor, and one young woman, Sandy, who “may not have led us with a trail of gumdrops and the promise of a candy house, but she smiled at us, laughed openly, so friendly, put us at ease as we slid into their car. Look, they’ve got a woman with them, we thought. They must not be murderers.”

Sandy believes that her position as bait and accomplice keeps her safe; Sandy is wrong.

As we learn more about the ghosts, the author drops tantalising glimpses of their backstories—just enough to satiate, just enough to build a coherent narrative about who they once were and who they now are, and just enough to lay the perfect breadcrumb trail to a dramatic, tense, heart-in-your-throat finale.

First published in Nightmare Magazine, February 2021 and available to read online here