The Lock

by Zack Keller

"There's a lock on the basement door back in my childhood home. It’s on the side that keeps whatever is down there from whoever is up here. To be honest, the lock is quite plain. A simple, flecked chain that was once shiny gold bolted onto a dark wood door. Every night when I was a kid, someone would lock it. My mom, maybe. My dad. Perhaps one of my sisters. I never saw who. After dark, I would find that faded brass chain slid into place. Come morning, it would be unlocked.

No one ever said why."

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Just in time for Halloween, read this unsettling tale about the things we try to lock away, and how we can never escape them. Shut the windows, dim the lights, and enjoy.

16 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 27, 2015

About the author

Zack Keller is a writer and director for TV, feature films, videogames and comic books, currently working as a Narrative Director at King and a creator/writer at Dark Horse Comics. After beginning his career at Pixar Animation Studios, he co-created Dick Figures, the highest-rated animated web series on YouTube which earned nearly a billion views and an Annie Award nomination. At Telltale Games, he was a lead writer and narrative designer for such franchises as Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman, The Walking Dead and Tales from the Borderlands. Most recently, he was a screenwriter for Cartoon Network’s animated series Unikitty!, produced by Warner Brothers Animation and The LEGO Group, and wrote the graphic novels Cuphead: Comic Capers & Curios, Creeping, and Hotel REM for Dark Horse Comics.

He lives with his family in San Francisco.