Status Updates From Hellbound Hearts

Prisoners of the Inferno - Peter Atkins ☆☆☆

The Cold - Conrad Williams ☆☆☆

The Confessor’s Tale - Sarah Pinborough ☆☆☆☆☆

Hellbound Hollywood - Mick Garris ☆☆☆☆☆

With a wide lens—perhaps a 14mm, or maybe even a 10—looking up this impressive if weathered stairway, I might be able to capture its growing sense of dread. Especially if I placed the camera right on the floor as it looked up to the next storey, and crept it forward ever so slowly. Yes, this actually might not be such a bad place to shoot, after all. We could spill some blood here . . .

“I found this hidden at the bottom of the cupboard. I think it belonged to your mother.” She shrugged. “It has her name scratched on the lid anyway.” His eyes fell to the box. “I think it is some kind of game. Perhaps a puzzle of sorts.” She shook it, and Arkady heard the pieces rattle inside. “Anyway, it seems poorly made and can have no value, so it is yours if you want it.”

The source of the noise found, it tore Arkady’s tongue free from his screaming mouth before disappearing out into the summer night, leaving only a bloody trail of silence. When Arkady’s mother ran into the bedroom and found her mutilated baby, she couldn’t bear the weight of her own guilt at leaving him to cry. She stood by the crib and hacked at her wrists with the pin from her hair until she bled to death.

“She’s sweet,” Johns said. “She could be yours, if you want her. She wants you.” Gravier stared at him. “What? What are you talking about?” “Girl of your dreams, Detective Inspector.”