This is a terrific collection of four long horror tales, which are book-ended by a framing story. This framing story, as well as the four long tales, takes place in the small town of Clifton Heights, a haunted burg in New York State. The framing story has somewhat of an original Twilight Zone vibe, with the owner of a bookstore discovering some personal journals in a box. These journals contain the four long tales.

This is a collection that should be read in order, since there is some connectivity between the stories. This book is eerie, quiet horror of excellent quality. The first three tales are very good, but the final one, called "And I Watered It, With Tears", is absolutely outstanding, an excellent example of "group of people trapped in one location" horror.

Overall, a terrific collection, one which deserves a wide readership. ( )

ry, Maine, and The Twight Zone.

The proprietor of the bookstore discovers a box he's not seen before and inside there is one, leather-bound, volume of stories about the town he lives in...

The first story within the larger tale is called, "Suffer the Children." Father Ward saw something during his tour in Afghanistan, something that continues to haunt his dreams now that he's a teacher at All Saints Elementary, as well as a local Parish Priest. The result is a delightfully dark and twisted tale of demons and the lost city of Corcosa. If you saw the first season of HBO's True Detective you know that can't be good.

"Yellow Cab" is about a young man who did everything right to get into a good school and ends up throwing it all away and is now driving for Yellow Cab in Clifton Heights. How did he get there? A chilling tale that gave me the creeps more than once. Very effective the way the stories bleed over into one another.

"Admit One" takes place over the years at the Mr. Jingo's, the annual fair that always visits Clifton Heights every August. A bit of fantasy mixed in with the horror in this tale.

And then there's "And I Watered It With Tears," where something as simple as standing in line to pay your electric bill can lead to death, particularly when you live in Clifton Heights.

Kevin Lucas, once again, does an excellent job of weaving all of the stories in this collection into a cohesive volume. Unsettling and entertaining, Through a Mirror, Darkly will leave you wanting to visit Clifton Heights again and again. I just don't want to live there.

Available now in paperback and e-book formats from Crystal Lake Publishing. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read this one at no additional charge.

Definitely recommended. ( )