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Timor Infinitum: A Clifton Heights Tale
***Originally published in WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT
Today in Clifton Heights, a troubled young man faces his fears...and drowns in them, coming to learn the following "Time is the fire in which we burn."
"Kevin Lucia's writing is both scary and smart, a lethal cocktail that makes for mesmerizing storytelling." -- Tosca Lee, New York Times Bestselling Author of A Memoir
"Lucia is a true craftsman of the horror story, with a fine sense of the genre's best traditions." --Norman Prentiss, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Invisible Fences and The Fleshless Man
Today in Clifton Heights, a troubled young man faces his fears...and drowns in them, coming to learn the following "Time is the fire in which we burn."
"Kevin Lucia's writing is both scary and smart, a lethal cocktail that makes for mesmerizing storytelling." -- Tosca Lee, New York Times Bestselling Author of A Memoir
"Lucia is a true craftsman of the horror story, with a fine sense of the genre's best traditions." --Norman Prentiss, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Invisible Fences and The Fleshless Man
47 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 28, 2025
2 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Lucia
101 books370 followersKevin Lucia is the ebook and trade paperback editor at Cemetery Dance Publications. His short fiction has been published in many venues, most notably with Clive Barker, David Morell, Peter Straub, Bentley Little, and Robert McCammon.
His first short story collection, Things Slip Through, was published by Crystal Lake Publishing in November, 2013. He's followed that with the collections Through A Mirror, Darkly, Devourer of Souls, Things You Need, October Nights, and the novellas Mystery Road, A Night at Old Webb, and The Night Road.
His first short story collection, Things Slip Through, was published by Crystal Lake Publishing in November, 2013. He's followed that with the collections Through A Mirror, Darkly, Devourer of Souls, Things You Need, October Nights, and the novellas Mystery Road, A Night at Old Webb, and The Night Road.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 22, 2025
Full disclosure: I was sent an ARC from the author but this didn’t have any bearing on my view on this story.
The story:
Mitch is a corrections officer with a specific phobia rooted in a misadventure he had with his childhood friends. Specifically, he has a profound fear of eternity and has now suffered a supposed panic attack at work. Forced to undergo mandatory therapy sessions, he’ll revisit things he believed long forgotten: What happened to him 20 years ago lies at the roots of his phobia and recurring nightmares?
-Certainly not the story the police settled for; about them being so high they got lost in the woods. To make things worse, one of his friends has gone missing and events seem to conspire to bring him right back to where it all began.
I am a huge fan of Lucia’s Clifton Heights stories and this joins a long string of them that I’ve enjoyed. It works well as an amuse bouche for those of us who’ve visited this eerie town before, although I’m not sure I’d introduce new readers to this world via this particular story. Lucia is a clever writer and the concept is quite cerebral. Those with a love of coming of age-tales and cosmic horror will probably feel at home here. My only issue is that the story was a little bit too short for me to feel much of a connection with any of the characters. I still enjoyed it and found it a nice addition to the lore of Clifton Heights. It might be weaker than the previous stories I’ve read set in this world, but I’ll point out that it only pales a little because the other stories have been such a massive hit with me.
The story:
Mitch is a corrections officer with a specific phobia rooted in a misadventure he had with his childhood friends. Specifically, he has a profound fear of eternity and has now suffered a supposed panic attack at work. Forced to undergo mandatory therapy sessions, he’ll revisit things he believed long forgotten: What happened to him 20 years ago lies at the roots of his phobia and recurring nightmares?
-Certainly not the story the police settled for; about them being so high they got lost in the woods. To make things worse, one of his friends has gone missing and events seem to conspire to bring him right back to where it all began.
I am a huge fan of Lucia’s Clifton Heights stories and this joins a long string of them that I’ve enjoyed. It works well as an amuse bouche for those of us who’ve visited this eerie town before, although I’m not sure I’d introduce new readers to this world via this particular story. Lucia is a clever writer and the concept is quite cerebral. Those with a love of coming of age-tales and cosmic horror will probably feel at home here. My only issue is that the story was a little bit too short for me to feel much of a connection with any of the characters. I still enjoyed it and found it a nice addition to the lore of Clifton Heights. It might be weaker than the previous stories I’ve read set in this world, but I’ll point out that it only pales a little because the other stories have been such a massive hit with me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2025
Kevin Lucia's "Timor Infinitum" is a short tale tying in to his Clifton Heights series of stories, though it can be read entirely independently on its own. In fact, as a standalone, the story is open to an allegorical reading which hits hard if you're a bit older and feeling stuck in life or on permanent repeat.
I first read "Timor Infinitum" in one of Kevin Lucia's collections. On the face of it, "Timor Infinitum" is a super-creepy story about Mitch, a man who can't forget being lost, as a teenage boy, in the woods around Clifton Heights, with a couple of classmates, all three ending up in a sort of liminal space (a small abandoned church) where unknown symbols are carved on the walls and sinister things are waiting to happen. After they're eventually found, Mitch remains deeply traumatized by what happened, especially since he can't remember it in full. He develops a phobia of "infinite spaces".
In less than fifty pages, Lucia tells a haunting episode from the life of these three teenage boys, intertwining it, however, with snapshots from Mitch's life as an adult; his worries, his anxiety, his trauma and his missing memory. Inevitably, the resolution won't satisfy everyone, but I personally found it a fitting and satisfying ending to a meditative and suspenseful story about time, adulthood, phobia of liminality, and the injustice of singularly bad choices. Recommended!
I first read "Timor Infinitum" in one of Kevin Lucia's collections. On the face of it, "Timor Infinitum" is a super-creepy story about Mitch, a man who can't forget being lost, as a teenage boy, in the woods around Clifton Heights, with a couple of classmates, all three ending up in a sort of liminal space (a small abandoned church) where unknown symbols are carved on the walls and sinister things are waiting to happen. After they're eventually found, Mitch remains deeply traumatized by what happened, especially since he can't remember it in full. He develops a phobia of "infinite spaces".
In less than fifty pages, Lucia tells a haunting episode from the life of these three teenage boys, intertwining it, however, with snapshots from Mitch's life as an adult; his worries, his anxiety, his trauma and his missing memory. Inevitably, the resolution won't satisfy everyone, but I personally found it a fitting and satisfying ending to a meditative and suspenseful story about time, adulthood, phobia of liminality, and the injustice of singularly bad choices. Recommended!
February 12, 2025
Timor Infinitum by Kevin Lucia
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is a very interesting and complex horror story. Mitch and 2 of his friends had a scary encounter with getting lost in the woods and coming across a strange church. Things happened that they can’t quite remember.
20 years after this incident, Mitch is still struggling with what happened to him and his friends.
Mitch was ordered to attend therapy sessions because of a panic attack he had at work. He also was experiencing nightmares and hallucinations, from this trama in the woods. The therapist questions his phobia- fear of infinity. This all stems back to what happened to Mitch all those years ago. Mitch decides to go back to where it all started at the church.
There’s a lot that happens with Mitch, this mysterious church and within his mind.
I did get a bit confused towards the end of the story, but overall I liked it a lot!
It’s an interesting premise and Kevin Lucia does a good job with this short novella.
Thank you to Kevin Lucia for an arc of this fun read!
This is part of A Clifton Heights Tale series.
*This comes out February 28th and is a great short novella!*
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is a very interesting and complex horror story. Mitch and 2 of his friends had a scary encounter with getting lost in the woods and coming across a strange church. Things happened that they can’t quite remember.
20 years after this incident, Mitch is still struggling with what happened to him and his friends.
Mitch was ordered to attend therapy sessions because of a panic attack he had at work. He also was experiencing nightmares and hallucinations, from this trama in the woods. The therapist questions his phobia- fear of infinity. This all stems back to what happened to Mitch all those years ago. Mitch decides to go back to where it all started at the church.
There’s a lot that happens with Mitch, this mysterious church and within his mind.
I did get a bit confused towards the end of the story, but overall I liked it a lot!
It’s an interesting premise and Kevin Lucia does a good job with this short novella.
Thank you to Kevin Lucia for an arc of this fun read!
This is part of A Clifton Heights Tale series.
*This comes out February 28th and is a great short novella!*
January 27, 2025
I liked how this story is horror with a touch of scifi. It gives a dark, creepy feel to it. But best of all, it makes you wonder how many times it has happened. I had read this story previously and enjoyed it just as much the second time round.
April 20, 2025
Timor Infinitum: A Clifton Heights Tale
By: Kevin Lucia
Publisher: Darkly Dreaming Press
Release Date: February 28, 2025
Length: 47 pages
Triggers: ⚠️ Panic attacks, trauma, dissociation, hallucinations, missing persons, existential dread, memory loss, fear of infinity
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Creepy, Cosmic Mind-Freak in Under 50 Pages
This one’s short, sharp, and weird in all the best ways. Mitch—poor guy—is barely hanging on after a meltdown at work. Mandatory therapy? Check. Haunted past? Check. Flashbacks to a messed-up night lost in the woods with his buddies that still keeps him up twenty years later? Oh yeah, it's all here.
There’s this abandoned church, some carved-up symbols, and a heavy dose of WTF is happening?! that hits just right if you love your horror on the trippy, psychological side. Mr. Lucia knows how to crank the tension while making you question everything—memory, time, and whether you’d survive stepping foot in Clifton Heights (spoiler: you probably wouldn’t).
It’s a quick read, but it messes with your head in a cosmic, "are we stuck in a loop forever?" kind of way. The ending? Not everyone's gonna love it, but it definitely sticks the landing if you’re into moody, open-to-interpretation endings.
Perfect For:
📖 Fans of cosmic horror who want a bite-sized nightmare
📖 Readers who like their small-town stories extra spooky and existential
📖 Anyone who’s ever looked at an old abandoned church and thought, Nah, I’ll pass.
By: Kevin Lucia
Publisher: Darkly Dreaming Press
Release Date: February 28, 2025
Length: 47 pages
Triggers: ⚠️ Panic attacks, trauma, dissociation, hallucinations, missing persons, existential dread, memory loss, fear of infinity
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Creepy, Cosmic Mind-Freak in Under 50 Pages
This one’s short, sharp, and weird in all the best ways. Mitch—poor guy—is barely hanging on after a meltdown at work. Mandatory therapy? Check. Haunted past? Check. Flashbacks to a messed-up night lost in the woods with his buddies that still keeps him up twenty years later? Oh yeah, it's all here.
There’s this abandoned church, some carved-up symbols, and a heavy dose of WTF is happening?! that hits just right if you love your horror on the trippy, psychological side. Mr. Lucia knows how to crank the tension while making you question everything—memory, time, and whether you’d survive stepping foot in Clifton Heights (spoiler: you probably wouldn’t).
It’s a quick read, but it messes with your head in a cosmic, "are we stuck in a loop forever?" kind of way. The ending? Not everyone's gonna love it, but it definitely sticks the landing if you’re into moody, open-to-interpretation endings.
Perfect For:
📖 Fans of cosmic horror who want a bite-sized nightmare
📖 Readers who like their small-town stories extra spooky and existential
📖 Anyone who’s ever looked at an old abandoned church and thought, Nah, I’ll pass.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews